The Gold Rush (super-quick-to-make Christmas cards)

This Christmas I wanted to keep things very simple so that I could batch make my Christmas cards in as little time as possible. Staying away from the red and green traditional colours of the season, I turned instead towards a rather glitzy black and gold combo.

Simple supplies include black card, Christmas tree stamp, gold washi tape, gold ink and a gold marker pen.

I love making small cards as I always struggle to fill large areas and these measure a mere 6x9cm.

Wishing all of you a sparkling, crafty Christmas!
x

Speedy but ultra glamorous!

Halloween Pumpkin Cupcakes

These yummy chocolate cupcakes went down a (trick or) treat last Halloween and are perfect for taking to any spooky party or just for sharing with your colleagues at work. You can use any chocolate cake and frosting recipes you like but if you're pushed for time, my favourite cheat is Betty Crocker's Devil's food cake mix and chocolate fudge icing. I won't tell anyone if you don't ;)

To get a really nice ruffle on your icing, I like to use a large open star piping nozzle. It allows you to get a really good height to your cakes.

Now for the pumpkins...

Pumpkins in progress

To make 12 cupcakes:

Divide a pack of ready-to-roll orange fondant icing into 12 fairly equal pieces. It doesn't matter too much unless you want your pumpkins to be identical.

Shape about 6 of these lumps into little balls by rolling between your hands. With the remaining lumps, break off smaller pieces and again roll all pieces into little balls. Some can be flatter, some can be taller for a natural look.

Make a little indent in the top of each pumpkin using a ball-ended decorating tool.

Now take a small paring knife (mine isn't too sharp), and score lines from top to bottom, all the way around the pumpkin, taking care to not cut too deep. Alternatively you could use a cocktail stick or special decorating tool.

You can make these icing decorations in advance if you like and store in a dry, well ventilated place.

Now for the crowning glory: take a whole clove for each pumpkin and gently push the rounded end into the little indent you made. This will give you your pumpkin stalk. Just take care to not munch on this when you indulge as the flavour is very strong (though apparently good for toothache!). You are ready to pop these onto your iced cakes.

So there you have it. Easy-peasy but stunning pumpkin cupcakes. Just finish off with a little sprinkling of white chocolate stars and treat yourself!

Almost too good to eat. Almost!!

Happy baking!

Lu x

Pumpkins on Parade

So here they are in all their glory. Twelve squishy-squashy, last-all-year pumpkins. Finished off with just a little brown felt, rolled into a tube and glued into place. I meant to photograph a tutorial as I went but was so excited that I clean forgot. If anyone's interested though I'll try make one in time for next autumn. Just leave me a comment below. I'm thinking I need a nice wooden basket or trug to display them in now.

Now, onto that knitting I spoke of...

Happy crafting everyone!

Lu x

Autumn Crafting

Hi folks!

I've once again been a very neglectful blogger :( Life has taken a me in a few different directions over the last year but I'm once again starting to feel settled and gearing up for some cosy crafting.

Absolutely the best thing about working from home (other than wearing my slouchies) is being able to embrace my inner domestic goddess. In between working I've been making blackberry jam (with fruit picked from the hedgerows on my countryside walks), baking bread (the smell is heavenly) and preparing this season's sloe gin.

Well with this abundance of sloes on the trees, it would be rude not to make gin!

I'm terrible for getting an idea into my head and not being able to shift it until I've made the idea into a reality. So the other day when the thought of fabric pumpkins to decorate my home for autumn/halloween popped into my brain, I naturally had to do something about it. Which is why this selection of 'petal' shapes are slowly being turned into little plushie pumpkins.

Beautiful fabrics chosen from my local material shop. 1/4 metre of fabric could give me as many as 6 pumpkins!

Slowly but surely, I'm sewing them up and transforming them into these little fruits. (Dark orange one approx 7cm dia.)

Now, here's my confession: I do actually own a sewing machine. Where is it? In it's box. So I'm sewing all of these by hand. Am I crazy? Probably. But I like the control that I have with hand stitching and it truly is a labour of love. I still have a little way to go yet so pop back to see the finished project later :)

Next on my craft radar is a little bit of Christmas knitting. My boyfriend requires (another!!) hat to wear when he's fishing so out come the needles. The yarn has already arrived. Some Garnstudio DROPS alpaca that I ordered from www.woolwarehouse.co.uk It's a super-soft yarn that knits up beautifully. Once again I will be using this gorgeous pattern by La Maison Rililie but sticking to just the stripy pattern for the boyfriend.

Green's not my cup of tea but apparently it's the ONLY colour to have for fishing - boring!

So I bought myself some much prettier colours and I'll get my hat when everyone else's gifts are finished.

Ah well, I'd better get on with these pumpkins and get my bread into the oven.

Happy crafting everyone!

Lu x

Hoop hoop hooray!

The first of the three hoops is complete! I'm looking forward to painting the wood in bright colours when I've finished all three. But the stitching has to go on hold for a brief while as I have a knitting project to complete in time for a birthday. The yarn arrived today (Garnstudio's DROPS alpaca) and it's super soft. Hope it knits up well. 

I haven't done much knitting for men, but I'm sure these rather lovely manly colours should go down well. Just need to choose which ones to use. My weekend's activities are sorted at least :)

Happy crafting!

Lu

It's all new...

So... new year, new job, new stuff for the blog. Life got a bit busy and I'm now proudly the Art Editor of CrossStitcher magazine. But now that things have settled down a little, I've made time for me and I'm getting up to all sorts of crafty adventures. Unsurprisingly, I've started stitching again and am embarking on a set of three geometric hoops of my own design. Here's a sneaky preview for now, then more to follow as I progress...

Absolutely in love with these colours right now. And chevrons too of course!

Happy crafting

Lu x

Birthday Bots!

Look what has just landed on my desk today! Issue 114 of Papercraft inspirations magazine, featuring some awesome robot cards designed by yours truly!

The cards and set tag are made using the lovely illustrations of Naomi Hocking, all of which are available to download for FREE from the Papercraft inspirations website.

The magazine is on sale June 4th, so get it while you can. Also in this issue are fabulously zingy marigold cards, 10 inspirations for using cork, and a masterclass on quilling. Plus don't forget the free gift of a Milton & Co Découpage Card Kit. What's not to love, right?

Happy crafting everyone.
Lu x

p.s. keep your eyes open for a tasty treat in the following issue...