Cupcakes

I've never made cupcakes.  I have made fairycakes and other cupcake-like cakes before but have never followed a proper cupcake recipe.  But I love cakes and individual portion size cakes are simple, convenient when you're out and about so I wanted to try them because I think they'd be perfect to take along next weekend when I'm off to Edinburgh for a hen weekend.  As I've two friends with birthdays this week this was the perfect time to trial a few recipes and experiment with icing and frosting recipes.

This was my first batch of Hummingbird Bakery Vanilla Cupcakes. No fancy icing - I was a little late in ordering an icing piping kit - fingers crossed it arrives before Thursday. In the oven at the moment I have red velvet cupcakes again following the Hummingbird Bakery recipe and I'm very much looking forward to trying them later and putting one in my bag for lunch tomorrow.

Making Me Smile Today: Rainbows

One of the lovely things about the rain is when it takes a breath, pauses and the sun comes out or when rainbows, beacons of hope and hope break the sky.  When I finally made it home I went on a rainbow search and here are some of my favourites:

Image Credit: shewatchedthesky

Image Credit: xiwang.love

Image Credit: DCMaster

Image Credit: stevendepolo

Its lovely to have something brighten an otherwise grey day and I have got to try to bake a rainbow cake it looks delicious.  I hope something's making you smile today too.

Hexagons

So I'm taking part in a quiltalong a hexalong actually. I certainly wouldn't have thought I'd be taking part in anything as complicated in a quiltalong let a alone one which involves hexagons and paper piecing. I'm full of surprises me. I'm enjoying it though and I love the pretty colours I'm working with. I didn't however know what I'd be doing with all the hexagons that I was sewing but I was enjoying making lots of pretty three hexagon stars.



I didn't want the quilt - maybe a little ambitious - to solely be based on the three hexagon stars so I've supersized my hexagons so that I can experiment.



This decision was encouraged when I spent a little time looking at some of the lovely hexagons that have made it into Lilly's Flickr Group. So this next week I'm going to get a little more creative and experiment with a few other designs.



But for today I'm enjoying finishing a few of these off and looking forward to experimenting next week.

Happy weekend to everyone, enjoy sewing, shopping, baking, dining whatever you're up to.

Making Me Smile Today: An Upcoming Wedding

This is what I got in the post today.  A pretty wedding invitation from my friend Linsey and her soon to be husband Ross.  It's always nice to receive something which isn't a bank statement or a credit card bill but this was extra special because Linsey made the invitations herself.  The pretty origami heart on the front  made from security envelope is lovely.  I always keep security envelopes and have never found the time to turn them into something pretty that can be enjoyed.  I'm inspired now though so I may be putting down my needle and thread and enjoying some paper play soon.  Maybe I'll think of something to rsvp with....

Weekend Wishlist

I love to buy hand crafted items and I have a very long Etsy wishlist full of lovely things waiting for the right person, time to be bought and given.  I find it hard to believe that last year I hadn't heard of Etsy.  Anyway I thought I'd share some of my favourite items, wishlist or lovely finds and give some local businesses, artists, crafters and artisans a little more online space by sharing a few items that I love.

Screen Printed Abstract Fabric Panel

This screen printed fabric from AstridWeigel on Etsy is lovely and perfect for sewing and stitching I'm on a self imposed fabric shopping ban at the moment since I caved and bought some last week - more on that when I have a chance to take some photos.  I'm imagining using this for simple project and letting the bold colours of the print speak for themselves.  You can find the fabric and lots of other lovely sewn items and textiles here.

I'm also loving these printed cushions from FunMakesGood.  I love turquoise and I love geometric pritns and you can never have too many cushions right?  FunMakesGood also have fabulous patchwork pouffes - and I love partchwork.

 

 Pha Pha Turquoise and Yellow Cushion from Fun Makes Good 

 
Tea Towels always find their way into my favourites they're a great way to bring some fun, art or colour into the kitchen and what's even better is they're functional.  Fun tea towels make the washing up fun right?

 Nom Nom Nom Tea Towel from The Doghouse

The Nom Nom Nom tea towel is from TheDoghouse a must visit for dog lovers with lots of Tshirts, cushions, treats bags and cushions.

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend and their weeks get off to a great start on Monday.  I'm still job hunting but will be doing some temporary work next week which will keep me busy and I'm quite looking forward to it.

Vintage Pocket Watches: Making me Smile Today

Look what I found.  They were never lost admittedly but what a find they were when going through boxes and tidying.



These pocketwatches belonged to my Opa - my German Grandfather maybe they all did - I can't wait to examine more closely.  First look they're not all in great shape ones lost the glass to the front, another has somehome lost its cogs and inner workings.  I'm excited and looking forward to thinking about what I'm going to do with them and I'm wondering what other treasures will be found  when clearing out.

Plum Cake, Plums and Plum Jam

Today was spent in the kitchen with the plums I picked yesterday.  There was  Pflaumen Kuchen (Plum Cake) and Pflaumenmus (Plum Jam) on the go made from the 5kg of plums I picked yesterday.  The plums are actually Zwetschgen that I understand are traditionally used for Pflaumen Kuchen. 













There's still lots and lots of plums out there on the tree so I'll be searching for more plum recipes unless there are any recommendations? 

Luckily I love this cake it's a yeast dough base covered with plums then topped with a crumble mix it's not the family recipe - that's in German and translating the Pflaumentmus recipe was enough for me today and so I followed Nigella Lawson's German Plum Cake recipe from Domestic Goddess.  I actually prefer my plum cake with more plum in relation to the dough base so I'll be modifying the recipe next time.

I was in Berlin at this time last year and I ate lots of Pflaumen Kuchen - actually I spent an awful lot of time enjoying Kaffee und Kuchen and I can't wait till my next visit.  The Plum Cake is lovely served with a big dollop of cream and a coffee I'm sure I'll be snacking on it tomorrow.

Lovely Weekend, Shoes, Sewing and Cake

It's Monday again so I hope everyone had a lovely weekend.  I thought I'd share some of my favourite things from my weekend with you.



Okay not the most sensible being so white - but they are so pretty with their cut out floral feature.  These lovelies were from Topshop and they always make me smile.  They've been tied away today - seeing as Summer seems to be leaving us into a box full of Summer clothes.  I do love a bit of organising.



A little sewing time was had whilst watching The Visitor.  A good film about a lonely, somewhat jaded professor who returns to his long empty apartment in New York to find that it has been let - without his knowing - to a couple.  The film is about immigration, about the development of relationships but what I took from it was the impact that one person can have on others with the simplest act of kindness.  The acting is also really good.  A perfect film to sew to and I was sewing hexagons for a hexalong I spontaneously decided to take part in last week.  My hexagons even have their own box - organisation!



And of course it almost goes without saying there was cake.  Another lemon cake but this time it was Nigella's 'Damp Lemon and Almond Cake'.  I'm not sure about the word damp but it really is moist - I think it's the almonds that give it's moist, denser texture.  You may be able to make that out from the photo.  As I'm not a fan of bitter almond - I don't like marzipan - I didn't add the almond essence and the cake turned out just fine and not too almondy which had been a small concern for me.  Yum.



This is more of a dessert cake than an 'afternoon cup of tea and cake' cake - if you follow what I mean...  We did have it for dessert and followed the serving suggestion of raspberries and creme fraiche and it was delicous sadly no photos.  So here's what I snacked on yesterday afternoon:

Hope everyones weeks are getting off to a great start.  I'm off to pick some plums and enjoy some sunshine - and I thought Summer was leaving us!

Sewing Inspiration and a Hexalong

Didn't think I'd find myself attempting hexagons anytime soon but after browsing around Lilysquilts I was feeling a little inspired and also a little determined that I could do this... we'll soon see.  I have a jam jar full of sweetpeas on my windowsill making me smile and brightening up my day.  These pretty pinks, soft blues and purples are perfect and with these in mind I openened my box full of fabric and started pulling some out.  This was the result.

 All Kona Solids from the bottom up Violet, Woodrose, Delft, Dusty Blue and Pond.  There's also a few prints which i think will look lovely and may well find there way worked into this new project

 

The next question though is what to make - I think I should probably start small so cushion... or shoulder bag... think I need a little more inspiration or does anyone have any suggestions for a good small project involving hexagons?

Bunting Card: Hip Hip Hooray

Today I said goodbye to the baby quilt that I'd been working on when I dropped it off at the post office.  There was of course the last minute hurry trying to finish a card to include with it - yes for some reason although I had the card planned out in my head for weeks I had not gotten arond to making it.  One craft knife, some colourful card, some little foamy stickers later, some string and mini pegs later I had this to show for myself.

Who doesn't love a little bunting.  The mini baby grows were added at the last minute the hanging bunting just looked too much like a washing line and of course new babies also mean more washing.  I also didn't fix the bunting on with glue so that it can easily be removed and strung up if wanted.