Hello 30s - Day 313 - 330

Day 313:

A pretty little tin of vintage style stamps. These little pretties belong to the lovely Anna. She let me borrow them, so I was able to start experimenting more with texture, in polymer clay, rather than just making canes. 


Day 314:

I started off using the stamps, on a small handful of pieces of Cernit, and quickly became addicted.


Day 315:

These are the baked Cernit pieces, inked up, and drying.


Day 316:

We finally framed the paintings of the chickens. I haven't actually framed any of my work before, so there was a lot of traveling, to and from, Hobbycraft, taking measurements, buying one mount, to check it was the right size, going back for a second, then getting frames to match. I am really pleased though, everything looks so much better in a frame, I hadn't realised. It means that I am now itching to frame everything in sight!


Day 317:

The Cernit pieces finally sanded, and lightly glossed, just enough to give them a slight sheen. I love the rustic look that they have, completely the opposite to my cane work, but probably much more suited to me - yes I am that scruffy little urchin sitting at the back!


Day 318:

So pleased was I, with those initial pieces, that I just had to make more! I was feeling really inspired, so rather than just use the stamps, I decided to make some beads, and doodle on them freehand. 


Day 319:

The finished polymer pieces from day 318. I only have brown, red and green inks at the moment, but I think they look so effective! 


Day 320:

Putting together another zombie cat illustration. Weirdly, I find it so much easier to create an image from lots of pieces, rather than creating it all in one go. 


Day 321:

Taking a photo of the final illustration, to promote it being in my Society6 shop, on my blog. 


Day 322:

Introducing my little vintage button stash. I bought these when we were chicken sitting, in Suffolk. A small cup full, for a £1, which I think is the cheapest deal I have found yet. It was only a small cup, but unlike a lot of places, where I have seen buttons pre-selected in bags, I was able to rummage, and choose the ones that I liked :)


Day 323:

My boyfriend apologises for the state of the plate, he hadn't realised that I intended to show it off. The important thing to realise here, is that is tastes amazing! Spanish chicken with chorizo, and fried potatoes! We shall not talk about how unhealthy it is, ssshhhh! 


Day 324:

Boyfriend and I, drove down to the New Forest for the day. We got up quite early (for us), and were convinced we should go home by 4pm, because it felt like it should have been about 7pm. We had great weather, and stopped first in Lyndhurst, for a spot of brunch, then went on to Burley. Not only did we go for a walk, but we also visited the New Forest Cider shop, (and bought a ridiculous amount of cider), and the Burley Fudge shop. 


Day 325:

I was supposed to be going to a UK handmade meet up, but I was in bed, feeling rough and sulking... as you do. Anyway, as I rolled over in a huff, the sun was coming in through the window, and running through my glass, and it caught my eye. It wasn't anything exciting, but for a split second, rather than feeling sorry for myself, I thought 'huh, that's cool'. 


Day 326:

Playing with threads... that is all. 


Day 327:

I had been having a bit of a clear out, and decided to get rid of a whole stash of old magazines. I wondered if there was anything creative that I could do with them, so I began rolling. 


Day 328:

... and rolling. This is bunch of pages, with glued cocktail sticks, in the corners, drying. Oh and just so you know, at the point of writing this, I still haven't made anything with them. 


Day 329:

Look how big the basil has grown. I'm a proud mamma, I'm not great with plants, but the basil just keeps going. 


Day 330:

Spiced roasted chickpeas. I decided to make these after seeing a recipe on Pinterest. It seemed like a good idea, for a healthy snack, especially as we had a tin gathering dust in the cupboard. They were pretty tasty. There is also a sweet version that I want to try :)

Hello 30s - Day 289 - 302

It's back! Hello 30s! I have finally given out all the cards and presents, that I have taken photos of, so I can now continue with my daily photo challenge, without spoiling any surprises, yeay!!! I do need to get a wriggle on though. The project ends this month, and I already have over 50 photos stored up, that need to be posted. Spit Spot!!

Day 289:

Candied walnuts! I made these for a salad, possibly the tastiest salad, that I have ever eaten. 

It was also possibly the unhealthiest salad I have ever eaten. 

Ho hum! 

These walnuts were so yummy, that half of them didn't even make it into the salad. I found the salad on Shutterbean, make it, it has sweet sugary walnut goodness AND caramalised onions! 

Day 290:

Drawing chickens. Did you see the last Hello 30s post? The one where we looked after chickens? Well that gave me an idea. I had taken some photos of the chickens, so decided that I would try and paint them, for future sister-in-law's (Sandra) birthday. I haven't had to draw or paint anything in a while, so practice was needed. 

Day 291:

I also had to practice painting chickens (on paper silly, I didn't paint any real chickens). All I have at the moment are watercolours, which I find quite difficult to use. I am an oil, or acrylic kind of girl, a bit slap dash, and heavy handed. 


 Day 292:

Meet Floss. Yes she is a bit of an odd little chicken. She was a runt, that should have been for the chop, but Sandra saved her. Floss sometimes get a bit confused, and thinks that she is a cockerel. 


Day 293:

After an hour long walk, and feeling quite disappointed, that I had remembered to take my camera along, but had found nothing of interest to take a photo of. I came across these two swans, and their healthy brood of cygnets, right by my house. 

Day 294:

My Precious!! These are my thumb rings, I love them. They have been lost for so long. I had desperately searched high and low, in a Gollum like fashion, and had just about given up. That was until we decided to do some painting and decorating in our bedroom, and moved everything out. 


 Day 295:

As I mentioned above, painting and decorating, which, as always, turned the house completely upside down. 


 Day 296:

I went along to the first UK Handmade Surrey Artisans meet up, and as well as meeting some lovely creative ladies, I also came away with a stash of cake and biscuits - can't complain ;)


Day 297:

Oh the excitement! You know how it is, when your days are being governed by DIY, it just isn't THAT exciting... but parcels are exciting, even if your parcels are full of door handles. It certainly breaks up the monotony of door painting.


Day 298:

More cake!!! I had taken a cake along to the meet up, boyfriend was a bit put out, so I had to make him another. This is how I know, that this vanilla pound cake is quite good, as boyfriend isn't usually a big fan of of sweet things. Oh, and anyone that thinks vanilla pound cake is a plain cake, shame on you!!! 


Day 299:

Going through the family photos. This is my Mum and I... not that she is going to appreciate me putting this on here. I had spent the day getting her birthday present finished and ordered. I was lucky to have this photo, it was one of a group, that I had sneaked out of the house on one of my last visits. Even trickier was sneaking them back. My folks are planning on moving, and everything is packed away in boxes. I had to hide an envelope on top of a wardrobe, and tell my dad where to find it, so he could put them away. Very James Bond!


Day 300:

The Arty Street Party in Reading organised by Jelly. I went along with the lovely Anna from UK Handmade (and Sakura Jewellery) to help spread the word about UK Handmade. Had a great day, meeting lots of wonderful creative people. :)


Day 301:

It's those door handles again! Honestly, black door handles, hard to find and expensive. (Wickes and Homebase both do some, but do any of them do a matching bathroom privacy lock - noooo!). Oh and you see that door, that was brown... and now... it's not :)


Day 302:

Birthday card for Sandra. As well as painting chickens, I also made a chicken card. You can probably see a theme developing... it is a good job she likes chickens really :) 


Right, only so much blog you can put in one post, there will be another update soon! :)

Hello 30s - Day 274 - 288

Please prepare yourself for many, many, photos. I was away last week, and failed to take my camera cable with me, so I have had to store over a week's worth of photos on my camera. It is time to get up to date!

Day 274:
Boyfriend was out on a bike ride, and I was left on my lonesome. What do you do in that situation? You make homemade rice pudding of course! I had been itching to try it, since seeing this recipe on Joy The Baker. It was very tasty, and was worth making, just for the amazing smell of butter and milk cooking. Honestly, it should be some kind of law, that people have to smell hot butter and milk every day, everyone would be happy :D

Day 275:Little cake slices for the Hansel and Gretel illustration.

Day 276:
Teeny tiny candy corns.

Day 277:
Tea. Sometimes you just need tea. I drink a lot of tea, but on this day I NEEDED the tea. I think it was something to do with, having to redo all those candy corns, for a second time!

Day 278:
I know what some of you might be thinking (I'm talking to you mum!) - not another photo of cupcakes! These, however, were special cupcakes, they were accidental cupcakes. I was making a spiced pound loaf cake, except it wasn't supposed to be loaf shaped, it was supposed to be bigger, so I had lots of mixture left, and voila, cupcakes (and some yummy cake batter for me to snaffle with a spatula) :D

Day 279:
Travelling to Suffolk in the evening. Motorway travel can be pretty dull, but there was some beautiful sky going on.

Day 280:
We were staying at boyfriend's, brother, and sister-in-law's house while in Suffolk, for a low cost holiday, while they were away. We were looking after the garden, and the chickens. I found the whole thing very educational, I now know a lot more about chickens than I did previously.

Day 281:Our garden for the week.

Day 282:
Why, hello Mr Wallbanger!

Day 283:
We stopped of for a drink at a riverside hotel in Beccles. It was very relaxing, sitting in the sun, watching the boats go by. I like the fact this one was called 'Putt Putt'!

Day 284:
Roman Fort. Very cool! It's a fort! And it's Roman!!! Cool!

Day 285:
The gardens at Bury St Edmunds. Immaculate, and incredibly colourful.

There were also some abbey ruins...

... and houses built into abbey ruins - which, lets face it, is very cool!!

Day 286:Dramatic skies over Southwold. I liked it here a lot! A really nice pier, that was classy rather than tacky, a little exhibition of work by Rolf Harris, galleries, and antique shops.

Day 287:
Back home, and this is our new bottle (on the left), that we found in an antiques shop in Southwold. It was straight in front of us, as we walked through the door, and the colour and texture, match our other bottle exactly. It was also the irresistible price of £5!

Day 288:
Our pepper plant seems to have grown even more over the last week. I think they are jalepenos, how do you know when to pick them off, I was thinking that they were about ready?