My sweet girl turned sixteen today…..
….which meant you’d have found me baking a chocolate cake.
Today is also the beginning of the last full week of school for both children. Half Term next week, followed by Study Leave, during which they will only go in for exams. All change around here.
Waving to Sian and happy to see that the zippy bag has arrived safely. I wonder if any of you guessed where it might end up?
Well, not quite. This was me on Saturday, outside the Queen’s Theatre, waiting to see my first ever West End musical. I may have been just a wee bit excited.
It was a London journeying, Brixton Village lunching, Covent Garden wandering, juggler searching, National Portrait Gallery viewing, Soho exploring, Beruit Street food dining, Les Miserables watching, late night tube travelling…..
….birthday celebrating, company of friends enjoying, poppy reflecting, train home by the skin of my teeth catching, fun and exhausting sort of weekend.
Monday is almost over, along with my birthday, for another year. It’s been a good one and thanks to Sian it’s all here, in a nutshell.
Another month has almost gotten away from me and I haven’t made anything at all from my Pinterest boards during June. Never fear, when I came to write the May edition of SIPIDI! I completely forgot what I was going to talk about. I got all excited about my vintage sheets and told you about them instead. Now, back to the cake.
When it comes to Birthday cake, my girl is very fussy. It must have no sugar based icing, of the buttercream or roll out fondant variety, and definitely no jam anywhere near it. Chocolate is always her first choice for the cakey part. I hesitate to call it sponge because she favours more of a brownie texture.
Over the years, I’ve tried many different recipes in a quest for her perfect chocolate cake. The one we settled upon, about 3 years ago, came from a very old Be-Ro cook book and involved evaporated milk. It was a good cake. Light and moist and very easy to knock up in the food processor. I didn’t use the suggested icing, but topped and filled it with a simple chocolate ganache and it was a winner.
This year I tried something new and apparently it was, “The best Birthday cake ever!”
I particularly enjoyed the slice I had, the day after her Birthday, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Rich and moist *and* easy to make. What’s not to like?
Over to you, lovely readers. What have you been pinning this month? Did something inspire you enough that you had a go yourself? Please share. We’d love to see.
All the SIPIDI! info can be found here and the Pinterest board is here.
There was only ever one item on the list that would feature today.
17. Candles
Happy Birthday to my boy. Sixteen today. Where did those years go?
Find the complete Scavenger Hunt list on Rinda’s blog.
PS I realised too late that my camera was still set to macro!
I’m late, I’m late and there’s nothing on my kitchen table to share today. Well that’s not strictly true, just nothing crafty and I don’t think my girl would be up for sharing the very last slice of her birthday cake with you.
I’ve spent the day motivating my boy to study for the last of his English Lit. papers tomorrow and to that end we’ve had a date with the weaver of Raveloe this afternoon. The production is somewhat dated but it did the job.
Talking of my boy, I do have something crafty to share. This card that he drew, for his sister, on her birthday.
Short and sweet again, Julia will be so pleased. I’ll do my best to get round a few desks later. Right now I have Paprika Chicken, a la The Hairy Bikers, to cook.
Yes, it’s the 200th instalment of this weekly hop around the creative workspaces of the world. Ably hosted, as always, by the lovely Julia.
Lunch has been cleared away and before the next round of feeding, I’m taking possession of the kitchen table for an hour, or two, if I’m really lucky. On the agenda today, birthday cards for two of my nieces. Sisters, born within 3 days of each other, although 2 years apart. The eldest will be 21 and we’re gathering for a birthday tea on Friday. I have an idea in mind, but that will probably change once I get started!
Lots of stamps, I like to mix and match the sets, a few punches and a brand new pack of card. I just need to decide on some ink colours, then I’m away. The plastic containers hold leftovers from previous classes, Easter carrots and extra flowers from the Twinchies I made for a swap . The Inchies can be seen in Monday’s post.
I’d best crack on, if I’m going to be finished before I need to start cooking the dinner. Why not see what everyone else is up to, or show us your own crafty space. I’m hoping to get round a lot more desks, this evening, than I managed last week.
This is one of the first sets I bought when I became a Stampin’ Up demonstrator and still one of my most often used. There are a lot of different stamps within the set, which all co-ordinate perfectly to make a wide variety of card designs.
I can’t claim full credit for this design as I saw something similar a while ago, but can’t remember where. I liked the idea of the label stamped partly off the page. I’ve used two of the flowers, the scroll and the label to make this card. There is a third flower in the set, which can be seen on the card I shared on Wednesday.
Pictured again here with some of the other stamps. There is a stem for the flowers, a bird and an ornate circular frame, which would make a great journalling spot on a scrapbook page. Each card uses two shades of ink and two colours of cardstock. I’ve added a sentiment from Itty Bitty Banners, cut with the matching framelits.
Please get in touch, if you would like any more information on the products used, or you are interested in card making classes or hosting a workshop in the North Dorset area. I can be found on Facebook or at angelfishcrafts{at}gmail{dot}com.
Happy Easter everyone. I hope the sun shines on you this weekend.
A few more cards using the postage stamp punch this week.
Another variation on the Christmas design, I made previously, for a New Baby card. I didn’t have any pink or blue seam binding, but I did have plenty of white. I dyed a couple of lengths, with inkpads, to give a pretty good match.
I adapted the 1st Birthday Card to make one for my niece, who was 17 yesterday. Switching the bunny for a heart (also from Perfect Postage) and the abc background for a Happy Birthday sentiment, which reminded me of a post mark.
The Morning Post alphabet is definitely an investment purchase, at £33.95 for the clear mount (rubber) version, but it has so many possibilities. Pair it with the Postage Stamp punch at £14.25 and you can make a wide variety of cards, suitable for different occasions and the letters make great titles for scrapbook pages.
Sale-A-Bration ends on Friday, which gives you a few more days to earn those freebies, if you place an order worth £45 or more. There are lots of great products on offer. For more details about those, or any of the products I’ve shown here today, please contact me at angelfishcrafts{at}gmail{dot}com and I’ll be happy to help.
I think of my stamps and punches as an investment and before purchasing, I always make sure I’ll be able to come up with a variety of card designs using them. The Postage Stamp punch has certainly earned its keep since I bought it.
I’ve used it here to make a 1st Birthday card for a little boy. There’s a prettied up girl version in pink, but that has a recipient in mind and her Mummy sometimes reads my blog. The elements could easily be switched to make it a welcome baby card, birth announcement or christening/naming ceremony card.
If you’re a regular visitor to Stampin’ Up Saturday then you’ll probably recognise this design. I like to get mileage out of them! I did something very similar for Christmas cards last year. I made this in red for a Valentine card and changed to a neutral palette, with a touch of gold, for a wedding card.
Sale-A-Bration is running for a couple more weeks, still time to earn those freebies. Spend £45 and choose from a variety of stamp sets and other products on offer. For more details about that, or any of the products I’ve shown here today, please contact me at angelfishcrafts{at}gmail{dot}com and I’ll be happy to help.
PS I’m having a few technical difficulties getting the new blog up and running. I’ve posted here, rather than miss another Saturday.
I’ve been looking around for birthday food ideas, for my soon to be 15 year old son and came across these inspired cakes at The Idea Room.
They might be a fun thing to make for Father’s Day too. If you don’t have a card yet and would like a quick printable, that will give you a great result, then check out my find from last week. We’ll be making ours tomorrow, while The Mechanic is at work.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend, no matter what the weather is doing in your part of the world. I’ll be back tomorrow with a new blog feature, that I’m going to trial for a few weeks. Maybe I’ll see you there?
I really wanted to share a Jubilee themed story today, but alas I cannot find a single photo of our Silver Jubilee celebrations back in 1977.
There was a celebration of a different kind in our house last month.
Thirteen candles
One wish
These are the only two pictures I managed to take. You have to be quick to catch her unawares these days. No second chance to get a sharper shot, the blur will have to do. Better to have that, than no photo at all.
I’m linking up with Sian today and everyone else who has a story to share.
