Peppa Pig, Baked Goods and the good life .....

Well its been a while ... have been busy I guess .....

Here is a snapshot of the last couple of weeks ....

Knitted Peppa Pig for Madalyn .... she loves it.

My Mother's Day gift from Madalyn.

Planted lots of new trees ... Fuji Apple, Two Way Plum, Almond, Quince and an English Plane Tree

cuteness!

getting trailer loads of rocks to make a feature in the garden

my very first spinach and ricotta pie ... AWESOME!

a cute creature we made using bits I found on my walk.

Foccacia ... yum!

English Plane Tree

Crocheted a Beret for Madalyn in her favourite colour.

So just a few of the things that have been happening ..... be back again soon with some recipes and cards.

xoxoxo Carly

I am a robot ......

Hi there :)  Sometimes I wish I was a robot ... then I could just be plugged in to recharge and I also wouldn't be needing (or wanting LOL) to eat all the time.

I made a couple of quick cards with some new goodies I got from Kaisercraft recently.

I used the Technologic 6 1/2 " Paper Pad and the Technologic Clear Stamps.  I coloured in the stamped image with copics.

Busy day for me ... so just a quick post.  Just wanted to share my robot cards with you.

Happy crafting and blogging.
xoxoxo Carly

I would love to enter this into :-
Crafty Catz - One For the Boys
http://craftycatzweeklychallenge.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/challenge-179-this-ones-for-boys.html

Feathery Friends

Good afternoon my lovely craft friends.

Today I would like to share a quick card I made using some techniques I have not tried before.

I have used a Kaisercraft stamp called Periwinkle Birds.  I love bird stamps and I thought this one would be super versatile.  I stamped it on white card with black ink .. but then ran some ink pads over the top to give some colour.  Kaisercraft Splice - Green, Versacolour Vanilla and Versacolour Chateau Grey.

The base card is a piece of white card and I ran an ink pad around the areas that would show using the Versacolour Chateau Grey.

The background patterned paper is from a Prima 6x6 pad called Nature Garden Collection.  I distressed the edges with a distressing blade and then used my Tim Holtz idea-ology plastic ruler to pierce holes all around the edge.  First time ever!  I love this ruler .. its clear plastic and has grid lines and one edge is metal .. so good for cutting with a knife or just tearing off paper.  It also has little holes so you can pierce through!
I then hand stitched using some lovely green cotton (doubled up) and then stuck it on the base card.

It doesn't show up but I did use clear spica pen on the flowers in the bottom right corner.  A Kaisercraft sentiment up the top was the finishing touch.  Once again colouring white cardstock with ink pads.

Very pleased with my card .... and all done whilst my 3.5 year old watched an episode of Playschool and was bribed to wait a bit longer with a bowl of green jelly!  So know I'm off to give her a bath.

Have a glorious weekend ... I hope it is filled with nature, song and of course craft.

xoxxoxoxox Carly

More Chocolate??

Hello :)  Did you eat lots of chocolate over the weekend?  I'm typing this up in advance .. and I sure am hoping that I didn't over indulge.  The Easter Bunny usually forgets to leave me something and this year I won't really mind because I have been exercising and really watching what I eat.

Anyway .. this post isn't really about chocolate .. but a chocolate colour is involved.

Yes it's another Gorjuss Girl stamp. ..and there will probably be some more later in the week LOL.  I'm just loving this image so much.  And I have decided that since my craft time is very limited these days that I will colour a whole sheet of images and then put them together when I get a chance.  I can do the colouring whilst my daughter is colouring you see :)

I really love the colours in this one.  I have used some chocolate coloured textured card stock, a scrap of blue ribbon and the polka dot paper is from Fancy Pants Designs Time for Spring pad.

Oh its nice to be colouring and creating again ...... I hope you are getting things done too .... we need our therapy :)

Big hugs ...

xoxox Carly

Cheesecake anyone? Happy Easter

Happy Easter!  Today I made a cheesecake.  My usual 'low fat' modified version with low fat ricotta, cream cheese and yoghurt .....BUT THEN! I totally fattened it up with layers of fudge and chocolate!

Thought I would share :)

 biscuit base ..... 90 grams crushed biscuit and 45 grams melted butter
Bake base in a preheated oven at 160 degrees celcius for 10 minutes.

 Fudge - 200g chocolate, 25g butter, 1/2 tin light sweetened condensed milk.  Stir in pan until well combined and smooth.  Continuous stirring!

Cheesecake mix - 250g low fat cream cheese

                            250g low fat ricotta cheese

                            250g low fat natural yoghurt

                            2 eggs, 1/3 cup caster sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend it all together in a food processor.

spread some fudge on the cooled base then pour over the cheesecake misture.

 Bake in oven at 160 for 35 - 40 minutes.  It doesn't matter if it wobbles slightly in the middle still.
Let it cool in the oven with the oven door ajar.

Then top with more of the fudge mix ... you will have to gently reheat your fudge pan to make the fudge      
                                                     spreadable.

ok .. things went terribly wrong here ... I wanted to do a thin shell of white chocolate on top ... it wouldn't spread and went lumpy .... I think its the type of chocolate I used :(

but I fixed it up with a good thick layer of melted dark chocolate!

topped with some eggs and then refrigerated until chocolate set.

 This is the end result!  Way too much chocolate on top ... and was very hard to cut through!

Would have been much better with just the thin layer of chocolate on top.  But it's Easter ...... LOL.

and sliced into ..... ooozey ... yummy and very rich!

Happy Easter and I hope you enjoy this post.  Usually I make this cheesecake ... without the fudge and chocolate and it is absolutely delicious!  So if you would like a healthier version perhaps just do it that way.

xoxoxoxoxo Carly

Shimmer and Shine

Hello there.  Are you all ready for Easter?  Madalyn asked me today how big the Easter Bunny was because she wanted to make him a necklace.  Awwwwww.

I have another Gorjuss Clear stamp card to show you again today.  This is called Purrrfect Pals.  I managed to colour a few of them a while back .. and have just been putting together a card here and there when I get a chance.

I made this one into a square .... the paper was so nice but I struggled to match it to anything.  I think its from a Kaisercraft pad called Candy Lane Collection.

I'm really loving this gorgeous stamp.  It is amazing how fun she is to colour .. and the cat doesn't take long.

I hope the week has been treating you well ... and I hope the Easter Bunny visits you and brings you and your family together for a special day.

Big chocolate hugs and bunny whiskers ...

xoxoxo Carly

Hot Cross Buns ... Hot Cross Buns ......

Hi there :)  Well a Happy Easter to you too :)  its almost upon us .. a time for reflection, perhaps a visit to church and of course the over indulgence of goodies including chocolate and hot cross buns.

This morning I made two batches of Hot Cross Buns ... the traditional fruit variety and a chocolate variety.  They both turned out delicious!  So I thought I would share this very easy recipe with you.  Now of course this recipe is half real and half tinkered with ... if you know what I mean ..... especially the chocolate one.

You know me ... I can't stand the huge amounts of fat and sugar in things so I must tweak it ...... but these are by no means healthy!  So don't eat too many :)

This recipe makes 6 good sized Hot Cross Buns.

Ingredients

1  3/4         cups of plain flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon bread improver
3 teaspoons caster sugar
3 teaspoons yeast
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 teaspoons butter (or margarine)
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 to 1 cup of mixed fruit (I used mixed fruit and peel)

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl (except fruit).
Add butter and warm water.
Combine to form a dough.
Turn out onto a lightly floured board (I use a silicone mat from Bosco) and knead for 3-5 minutes
Place in lightly oiled bowl and rest for 15 minutes.
Stretch out dough and add fruit then knead for another 3 minutes or so .. until the fruit is well combined.
Put it back in the bowl and let it rest for another 10 minutes
Dived dough into 6 even pieces and roll into balls.
Place the balls on a greased tray (I use a tray with baking paper to cut back on oils) giving them enough room to double in size.
Allow to rest in a warm area until doubled in size (mine took 40 minutes) (while this is happening preheat your oven to 190 degrees celcius)
Pipe a cross on each one and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and add glaze while still hot.

Cross Mixture is - 1/2 cup cornflour, 2 tablespoons caster sugar (optional), 1 tablespoon plain flour and  3-4 tablespoons of water .... mix to a stiff paste.  Pop it into a zip lock bag and snip a tiny bit off the corner .. voila a piping bag.

Glaze - 1/2 cup caster sugar, 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice and 2 tablespoons water.  Stir over heat until it boils gently.  Remove from heat and brush over the buns while still hot.

For the chocolate buns I did exactly the same except I left out the fruit and added 3/4 cup chocolate chips and I also used a tiny bit less flour and added 1/4 cup cocoa powder.

I hope you enjoy them ....

 the traditional hot cross bun mix

 the chocolate mix .. before the chocolate chips

spread evenly apart on tray   

 doubled in size

 the cross mixture

 the finished glossy, sweet, sticky buns.

mmmm light and fluffy ... YUM!

Happy Easter ... may you enjoy and safe and fun weekend.

xoxoxo Carly