Recipe Wednesday

Hi Everyone

Today's recipe is something called FLUVELS - this is our own family made up name  for this dish. 

Here they are :

                       

The puddings are also known as cheesecakes in some homes ! Again, this is one of the quick, mid week puddings.

Start with approximately 4/5 biscuits. I used stem ginger cookies (I didn't make them this time !). Any biscuits would do, it's down to taste and flavours. The biscuits need to be broken up, I put them in a food processor but you could smash them with a hard object inside a plastic bag. I left some bits slightly larger than others - I didn't want a fine powder more of a varied crumb. Divide the crumbs between four glasses. Next, a tablespoon of lemon curd is placed on top of the crumbs in each glass followed by 5/6 raspberries. Make up a creamy whip from mascarpone cheese (250gm), 1 tablespoon of icing sugar, few drops of vanilla extract and a tablespoon of milk and (very important) the rind of a lemon. I use this tool :

                               

For me, using a grater involves difficult washing up and grazed fingers every time! However, either tool would do the job.

Divide the creamy mixture between the glasses and add a small section of chocolate Flake (1 Flake for the whole pudding).

The process is very easy and quick, not much washing up - so for me (the cook) this pudding gets 5/5. The boys decided 4/5 - they are very demanding ! One of the boys suggested I layer the cheese and biscuits to form a few thin layers, rather than 2 thicker layers. This is a brilliant idea and will definitely be adopted next time. The pudding goes into the book.

Next time - Fruit Muffins.

Thanks for reading.

The Making Framework

Hi Everyone

Today, I'm reporting on a new Making Workshop : Gift of Pearls  which took place yesterday in a local Care Home. The class was a group of lovely ladies who live in a local Care Home. 

We had a great time and a planned hour long session turned into two hours ! The time flew by and everyone seemed so engrossed in the making experience that they didn't realise how much time had gone by. All the ladies were quite elderly and some had difficulties in concentration and or dexterity. However, we (the group/helpers) all managed to produce a brilliant range of Pearl bracelets. Each bracelet was beautifully packaged in a floral Gift Pocket and ready to be presented as a gift. Most of the ladies decided to give their makes to a grand daughter and took great pride in telling me about their relatives.

The project was a new take on the well used stretchy bracelet technique but the lovely coloured pearls, mixed with some shiney rondelle beads made a very attractive bracelet. The project kits contained a range of sizes and colour combinations of pearl beads and each bead was considered with great care before stringing and tieing. All bracelets were then wrapped in tissue and placed inside a Gift Pocket. The Gift Pockets were also part of the workshop and all the ladies managed to produce a beautifully finished Pocket along with a co ordinated gift tag.

                                    

                                    

This workshop was a tester for the group - the idea was to check if they could manage the tasks in the timescale and have a nice time. The workshop experience was about having an active (mental) session alongside an opportunity for social interaction. I also wanted to create a project(s) which would challenge the ladies (slightly) but would also allow them to feel a sense of pride in their 'creations'. I think, we succeeded on all fronts and the ladies were asking if I would be coming back with more workshops.

The challenge for me is to devise more stimulating projects which this type of group can manage. The physical and mental limitations of the group (at the moment) are unknown. However, I'm confident if I can present exciting/attractive ideas alongside simple tasks we can surprise ourselves and improve the self confidence and aspirations of this group of ladies. I need to find the right balance and it's quite daunting. However, I'm up for the challenge and feel I've moved on my thinking re The Making Framework (read back on Tuesday's for more background on the Framework ideas). I feel even more committed to the project as a result of the Gift of Pearls Workshop. 

Thanks for reading.

Make Art Monday

Hi Everybody

I've been working with The Eyes Project this week (read back on Mondays for more of the story).The dolls are changing each time I draw them but here is a quick look at an early version of the character without a full head (in the original painting). I've named the doll -  Lee. In the original, Lee has a long neck and I will keep this going.

                           

                    

The sketch needs lots of more work - so it may all change again. I quite like the eyes but they are a bit too high in the centre and and need lots more shade to emphasise them. They need colour too. I'm also going to make a new dress from fabric and my plan is to make some printed fabric specifically for the job. Colour wise, I'm thinking of blues (throughout) which is a change from the original painting.

Hopefully, next time I can have a finished sketch with some colour.

Thanks for reading.

From Scratch

Hi Everyone

From Scratch is introducing my new line of Fabric Wraps - these items will be described as gift wrap and are specifically designed for jewellery. I'm working on the basic fabric squares at the moment but I'm already thinking about developing the square into something more like a storage item eg placing little pockets into the wrap. Here is a looks a the first fabrics I've chosen to use :

                                

The Fabric Wraps are simply pieces of cotton around 25x25cm. I've cut the fabric with pinking shears on this batch but the next batch will have stitched edges and added embellishments. The idea is to produce limited batches with a particular design feature eg beaded edges or buttons.

I've used the Fabric Wraps myself for a while and have a couple of examples to share :

                           

I'm also developing little fabric tags and flowers to embellishments the wraps and will link them (size wise) with my jewellery pieces.

I especially like the way tissue paper works with the wraps, giving them a feel of luxury before opening, slightly soft but structured at the same time. My shops will being selling the Fabric Wraps - each pack will have a Fabric Wrap, ribbon or string, tissue, gift tag and the option of a range of embellishments. I also love the idea of writing directly onto the fabric and have some pens for the job. Will share this idea next time.

                                  

I'm hoping to get the current batch into the shops this weeks. Each gift wrapping pack will be around £3.00 which will include a tag and tissue.

I will confirm the date next time. Hope you are inspired to try this out.

Thanks for reading.

Clay Day

Hi Everyone

Today, I'm reporting on my progress with beading and polymer clay. Last time, I explained my thinking of combining clay beads and beaded beads in a single piece of jewellery, the idea is to cover some polymer beads with very small seed beads and add them to the existing clay beads. Seems simple !! -I tried covering the core bead in the usual way ie stitching little beads all over the core bead. There are many helpful YouTube videos showing how this can be done. I've tried using three different explanations of the technique and have spectacularly failed - every time !

I'm not giving up yet but I did have a poor decision moment yesterday, I thought I could embed the seed beads into the raw clay and then bake the bead. This was never a good idea and I've now resolved to crack the beading technique today. I've found yet another You tube video which goes very slowly and looks like it may help. Here is a look at the clay and the seed beads I'm using :

                            

In order to help develop my beading skills, I've been trying out other beading projects and am particularly impressed with a very simple but quick project which will be a bracelet and a ring. I do think working with these additional little projects has helped my understanding of how beading needs to tackled. Here is a quick look at my progress so far :

                              

I need to make another five or so components for the bracelet and a single for the ring. I will share the final items when finished.

However, my task for today is the achieve something like this :

                               

Wish me luck.

Thanks for reading.