Recipe Wednesday

Hi Everyone

The recipe for today is a fruit muffin, named Chocolate Fruit Muffin ! - no bright ideas came forth this week !

The recipe is from an old book of mine but I've changed the ingredients a few times and I think this is to be the settled list. Start with two bowls - one for dry ingredients and one for wet. I think this makes the whole thing seem very simple and I can whip up the whole thing in about 6mins. This list makes 12 muffins.

The dry bowl needs : 250gms plain flour, 25gm cocoa powder, 2tsp baking powder,1/2 tsp of bicarbonate of soda, 100gms chocolate chips (any milk,plain or white). Quick stir.

The wet bowl needs : 2 eggs, 85gms sugar (any sugar which will easily mix in),85gms melted butter, 150ml milk. Quick stir.

Combine both wet and dry bowls together. If the mixture is not 'loose' (this will determine how moist the muffins turn out) add a bit more milk. You don't want a runny consistency. 

Place 12 muffin cases in a tin and using two teaspoons divide the mixture into the cases. I like to fill up a spoon and use the other to scrape into the muffin case. Place in a pre heated oven 200C/400F/Gas 6 for 18-20mins. That's it. 

I like to sprinkle icing sugar over the top just before serving.

                           

                            

                            

As you can see, I also added a Flake and some raspberries and .........  cream ! 

Everyone likes this pudding. It needs a bit of planning for mid week but it's in the book because I feel comfortable making it quickly and it needs very little effort. Also not much washing up (always the decider !) The boys gave the pudding 5/5 and my mark is also 5/5. So it's the first 10.

Next time ....... you will love this one or hate it !

Thanks for reading.

The Making Framework

Hi Everyone

The Making Framework has another new project today. It's a beaded pendant for a necklace. The pendant could also develop into a ring or a bracelet but for today we will stick with the pendant.

Here is a quick look at the finished item - which comes in a few different colours and chains :

                   

As mentioned, there is a choice of colours and chains but essentially the project is about creating a single beaded component which will form the pendant. The beading technique is very easy and the pendant is created very quickly. The challenge is to keep all the beads 'tensioned' to give a pretty starburst/flower look. It's possible to create a domed component by tensioning the thread tightly, we will try a range of different tensions to find the one we like. The pendant is heavy enough to hang nicely on the chain and is a good learning project. I'm not sure which one I will make in the workshop ? , I keep changing my mind. 

Last time, the Making Workshop Group struggled with a beading project making small beaded charms (see our invite below). I hoped, I had not turned everyone away from beading. The Daisy Bracelet (also in the invite below) was a great success but the charms proved very challenging. This week , I have a chance to persuade everyone they can achieve a great result and have a nice time too. 

                           

Last time, the group felt stressed out by the relative difficulty of the beading skills required. I do understand their problems, I too felt the same when I was learning how to make the charms. I think the difficulty comes from using very small seed beads and ending up with a small item which lacks structure until complete. 

Today, the pendent project comes together very quickly and the colours are distinct (I think this enhances the beading pattern and allows the brain to understand what comes next - as a result early success is felt ! That's my hope anyway. We need to have a positive experience this time.

While developing these projects ie. The Making Framework Projects, I'm analysing all the skills (in detail) needed to complete each project  - some of these skills are about making decisions and communicating eg asking and giving support etc. I'm not necessarily talking about the craft skill needed when working with certain  materials. Alongside the obvious, I hope to identify some of the soft skills used and/or developed via the project. I will be reporting on this aspect of the project next time.

Thanks for reading.

Make Art Monday

Hi Everyone

My Eyes project is moving on but ....... very slowly. I had hoped to have a finished sketch but not quite there. I've still got decisions to make about the eyes. I spent lots of time developing the eyes for Lee and my sketch has lost a little of the detail. This detail makes the character come alive, so it's very important to get it right. I've decided to make a face shape on the final surface and work on just the eyes. When I'm happy with the detail of the eyes, the remains features will follow. This is my usual way of working with faces but I'd changed the process to get the head shape/size as I wanted. 

Here is a view of the latest sketch with a little colour going on :

                   

                     

I need to keep on reminding myself my aim is to create a series of pieces to accompany this piece - in the original, Lee doesn't have a face so I have made some progress.

Will keep going today and report my progress next time.

Thanks for reading

From Scratch

Hi Everyone

This weeks From Scratch item is a tiny pair of earrings which will use a Fabric Wrap (featured last week) for packaging. These tiny stud earrings are made in my From Scratch workshop using sterling silver posts and polymer clay. The earrings are called Dotty Studs and are available in lots of colours. These are in a green blue clay mix and the Fabric wraps are in a red tiny star fabric design. These pieces combined would make a great little gift or a stocking filler. The Dotty Studs are tiny and are the type of earring I wear all the time. I have lots in different colours. The 'Dotty' bit relates to the beaded end of the post which measures 3mm across. The shape of this particular Dotty Stud is a flat fronted ball, I will change the shape slightly with each pair of earrings so you will get a genuine unique item with every purchase.

I'm offering a custom colour option on the Dotty Studs - so if you have a particular request please get in touch. Here are the Dotty Studs :

                                    

The Studs will have a plastic butterfly on the back but I can offer a silver option upon request. As you can see from the photo the Dotty Studs are tiny(thumb nail photo). I've brushed the silver post to give them a surface pattern which gives them a little extra interest. The Dotty Studs will be on sale for £6.00 per pair - this will be a launch price for a limited time. The Dotty Studs will go into the shops over the weekend and I will feature this item again next time with more colour options and the completed gift packaging.

I'm going to try out my embellished Fabric Wrap idea later today. The Wrap will get a beaded edge - at least that's the plan. Not sure about the Wrap price will publish when finished next time.

                           

Have a great weekend.

Thanks for reading.

Clay Day

Hi Everyone

Clay Day has come around so quickly this week ! - can't believe it's Thursday already. 

I've had a little success with 'beading the bead' - you may remember that this technique gave me lots of grief last time. I've managed to cover a polymer core bead with some tiny seed beads. I love the colour and generally my bead is a reasonably OK re the beading. I'm still not that confident about my process. I can do the 'peyote' technique and I understand about increasing and decreasing to cope with the bead shape but ........... having tried a few more times, I struggle with how neat the end result looks. I'm determined to get this right and will have another go today.

The point of the beaded bead was to add interest to a new bracelet (for me) using a variety of bead techniques. The other specific technique I wanted to use was the carved bead (this also challenged me a few months ago !)

 I now have a suitable range of beads - some to be cured this morning, and then I will be able to construct the bracelet. I've made some sterling silver findings for the bracelet - a hook clasp and some soldered closed jump rings. I think everything is in place and I will make up the final piece today. I can't quite decide if I will use a stretch thread or not ? I have made the clasp but had initially decided on the stretch design. The stretch approach is more practical for me but I also like the idea of introducing silver into the piece ? I will try both and decide. Here is a few images of the bracelet 'to be' :

                              

                     

In addition to the bracelet beads, I've used up some left over clay by making some small beads for stud earrings. I will make some silver posts and will cure the beads with the embedded posts.  I'm trying out some new 'post' designs in this little project. Will report on the outcome next time. The bracelet and the earrings will form the first elements of my new jewellery range (in my personal collection). Next, I'm going to choose an outfit from my wardrobe to base my next clay development.

Thanks for reading.