I love you, front row tickets.

And this is why.....

News and Mega Pickles!

Well hello there!

So I want to inform you straight away that the lovely Stephanie over at Pandacub Cafe is having a super giveaway of the prettiest hair pins. And I am shamelessly telling you this so that I get a better a chance to win them! Mwuahaha! (that's my evil laugh)

I think I mentioned before that I am a student. This semester I am taking a grand total of 6 courses *groan* so I have very little time to craft and blog and read all of the lovely books I would like to. But I am frequently telling myself, in a very positive manner, that it will all be worth while when it's all over (not that it always helps). I'm in an integrated program B.A./B.éd. That funny little accent over the 'e' is an accent aigu and it means I'm doing this whole university thing in french, which is not at all my native language. Since I'm very much a canadian and I'm dreadful at math, learning french was a great way to nearly guarantee myself some sort of position when I graduate. Oh how I am really looking forward to that day!

In spite of all that schoolin', I have been crafting a little bit though. I did finish a pair of practice socks from the Two-at-a-Time socks book. They turned out great but being a rather silly girl I completely forgot to take a photo of them before I glued eyes to them and gave them to the kids at my sisters day care. I heard they're being enjoyed though. Right now I'm making myself a new Starling Handbag because my first one is looking very ratty and sad. You can see it here in this rather amusing picture of me with some Llamas.

I'm also wearing a hat that Jennifer made. I'd like to say that she made it for me, but sadly no. I placed it on my head while I was paying her a visit one day and I just never took it off. It lives with me now and I wear it frequently because it is just so darned comfy. I imagine that my poor bag got so tattered because I was so very insistent on taking it with me everywhere, even around very hungry llamas. Here's a better look at the bag before it met the llamas.















I'm dreadfully sorry about the carpety background. When I took these pictures I never thought i was going to be sharing them with the whole wide world. I used the same pink cotton yarn that I used for my sewing machine cosy. But isn't the care bear lining adorable.

And now for pictures of the new handbag-in-progress. Hehehe that would make it hip instead of a wip! Oh dear it appears my silly is showing.

The first picture is pre-frog on the boyfriends bed. And this second one is post-frog on my bed.

Can you tell that I love pink? The colour of this yarn makes me think of ballet slippers. I frogged it the first time because I was finding it too long. The shape I have now is much better for carrying around my books and my brand new camera Mega Pickles. I used him to take both of the pictures above. The name came around when I attempted to say 10 mega pixels. In my defence I was very hungry at the time. He will make it much easier to take pretty pictures of concerts and my crochet work. Plus, the transferring of those pictures onto my computer will be much easier as well!

I do believe I have chattered on enough for today. I really have to go and finish up some papers that are due this evening and tomorrow. My, my, what a procrastinator I am.

Bye for now.

Sometimes I get bored. Like really bored.

And I do things like this...

A low-sugar lemon meringue pie and dinosaur pie crust cookies. I was totally psyched to finally have a reason to use my dinosaur cookie cutters that I got for Christmas. Man, I love dinosaurs. Man, I love pie.

PS. If anyone happens to be in the mood to buy me a gift, I would be super grateful for a rolling pin. Thank you and good night.

Cupcake and Polo

This is the most common spot that you will find the cat. On my bed. Always.

I've been away. I've been crafting but not as much as I should. I'm working on it, I promise.

Just a lil' somethin' that I just whipped up...

Actually, I started it weeks ago, finished the entire crocheted part of it one day at work and then sorta forgot about it. I had seen a similar pattern on another website but at the time I was way too impatient to follow a pattern so I just made it up as I went. I'm not super thrilled with the lining as the tension of the thread was a little wonky when I sewed it but I was too lazy to redo it.That tends to happen a lot as my laziness gets the best of me. Plus, I love making stuff but I loathe repairing stuff. Just the thought of having to hem a pair of pants just makes me want to shudder. Ugh.









I'm off work tomorrow because my mum and I get to go shopping! It's been awhile since we did a good day of shopping together so I'm looking forward to it.

The end.

Crap. So I published this post and then realised that I forgot to mention something else that I made. One of my oldest friends in the world, Allison, who I met back in grade five when I moved back to Greenwood, wanted me to make her a bag. She said she liked my brown and green plaid one so I made her one with the same sort of idea. Instead of the needle felting that I did on my bag, I decided to do some bead embroidery....Fffffffffff......man, did I ever regret that decision. It took fooooorever. I was so bored of it by the end because I was literally doing the same thing over and over again. Sometimes less is more and you learn from your mistakes.





I was so happy to use this fabric again, it's one of my favourites :)

Alright, this time I'm done.

The end (for real)

Winter has come! And Christmas as well, I suppose.......if you want to be that way.

The snow has come and The Pears, Seamus the Jade Plant and Lloyd the Spider Plant wanted to watch.



Usually I get excited when winter arrives but alas, not this year. I unfortunately have to work both Christmas Eve AND Boxing Day, so no Christmas at home for me this year. Single tear. My parents will be in town on the 27th and we'll do a Christmas thingie but it won't be the same. Getting old sucks. Seriously.

But fear not, there are still some things I love about this time of year - candy canes. Actually it's not quite candy canes that I love but rather candy cane flavoured products. Ice cream, Hershey Kisses, cookies, hot chocolate, doughnuts, everything! So I decided to make candy cane brownies! And not only does they have candy canes in them but they are also covered in ganache. Ganache is delicious and rich but is also a super fun word to say. Say it with me - GANACHE. I just like the way it rolls off my tongue.

Candy Cane Brownies

Brownies
1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
3/4 cup cocoa powder
4 eggs
1 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup flour

Add melted butter to sugar and cocoa powder and mix. Add eggs and vanilla. Add flour and salt a little at a time until just blended. Pour into a 9 x 9 pan and bake for 40 - 50 minutes at 350º

Super hard eh? I really don't understand why people make brownies out of a box. It is no more difficult to make it from a box then from scratch. And it tastes sooooooooooo much better. Now back to the recipe.

Peppermint Frosting
2 cups icing sugar
4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 Tbsp milk
Drop of two of red food colouring

Mix all ingredients. If frosting seems too thick, add an additional 1 tsp milk. Once again, this is not rocket science. So easy. Spread on top of cooled brownies and put in fridge until set.

Chocolate Ganache
1 cup whipping cream
4 Tbsp butter
10 oz bittersweet chocolate (I use those baking squares)

Heat cream and butter in saucepan on low heat until simmering. Remove from heat and add chocolate. Blend until smooth. Put in freezer for 35 minutes to set. Stir every 10 minutes while in the freezer so it doesn't get too hard. Spread on top of brownies. Top with crushed candy canes.

Yum!

A stroll in the forest!

First up, Sherwood Forest!



♪♫Robin Hood and Little John running through the forest, jumpin' fences, dodgin' trees and tryin' to get away♫♪



He's got a little staff in his hands too - he wants a piece of the action!

Starling, sweet starling.

I made some bags. I've actually made a tonne of bags but they are all in different stages completeness. Most are like 90% done - add handle or maybe a liner, embellishment, that sort of thing. I know I should finish one project before I start another one but it's not the way I operate. I get bored easily. When I start working on a project for a couple days in a row, I tend to put it down and work on something else for a bit. Below are three bags that I made from futuregirl's Starling handbag pattern that I pattern tested for her back in the spring. Loves.



Now this one I sorta, technically made for my sister. And then I sorta started using it so I'm keeping it for myself. Sorry Beck, I'm sure I'll make something to replace it. Promises.



The reason I kept it was because of the fabric inside. I sooooo love this fabric.



I like this one, it's a little more reserved.



It's even classy on the inside.



This one I made on the 6 hour train ride I took from Halifax to Miramichi a couple weeks ago when I went to go visit my parents and check our their new house (which is awesome by the way). I think I ended up making three or four bags that weekend. My wrists were burning by the end of it. Burning.



I think I might use this fabric again for another bag but one in white or black. Ooooh, black, yeah, black. Now I just need to find some black cotton yarn in Halifax. I swear, I can't find it anywhere.

More travel adventures with Merlin the Crocheted Dragon ♥

Today he went seal watching on the English coast!



And look! Here's another! I can't decide if the seals or Melin is cuter. Tough call.



We're lucky he's in the UK and not Canada. If he were in Canada, he'd be clubbing the seals to death. Oh snap. I made a politically charged joke.

Until next time!

I'm on a pears craze!

I can't stop making them.