A new addiction

Decor Tape by RetroNaNa

Stationery! This is not good, the bead addiction (closely followed by the addiction to ribbon) is bad enough. I have been drooling over many things this week, in preparation for Christmas presents but also to add that extra touch to my orders.

Upcycled envelopes by GirlIndustriesShipping labels by the Craft Pantry

You should also stop over to Lupin's blog, she's been covering packaging much better than I have and there are some beautiful ideas on there! I very much agree with her about brown paper being lovely for packaging. :)

Chocolate Heaven

Double choc chip cookies, originally uploaded by lazygiraffe.

I am not responsible for any diets broken by this blog post.

Today I made double chocolate chip cookies, I have recently managed to perfect making brownies, after several failed attempts in the past, so I have been a bit brownie made recently and fancied a change.

I know these are still chocolate but cookies are something quite different :) They are much better with tea (or milk of course) too.

These are adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe (I can't bear Nigella Lawson herself but she does have some great recipes) which was really really heavy on the chocolate. I admit to having to tone it down a little bit - for the sake of my health and the fact that I didn't have 500g of chocolate, which is what the recipe required. Instead I used 100g of chocolate and about 75g for the chips. I used chopped up dark chocolate rather than cooking chocolate chips as I prefer to use proper chocolate.

These are great soft cookies and they are so chocolatey but not too cakey and bakey so they aren't too dense. These are the best ones I've ever made. The only problem with these is that you have to wait at least 5 or 10 mins for them to crisp up a bit and the chocolate to set before stuffing your face.

If you have broken your diet with these, you probably won't care anyway because they are too good.

Update

I don't know where the last 10 days have gone, it doesn't seem like 10 days since I blogged - well thats my excuse for being lax anyway ;)

I've been very busy today, I have used my day off work well and created lots of great stuff for the shop - very much aided by a lot of the supplies I ordered arriving at once today! All in my Etsy shop right now.



xxx

First try..

First ring, originally uploaded by lazygiraffe.

I made my first ring this week!
I have been wanting to make rings for the shop and I couldn't wait to try them out once I got my ring mandrel. This one is from a tutorial on MacFarland Designs blog (where she also has lots of other tutorials, I am trying out earwires next) for a simple rosette ring.

This was also spurred on by the loss of one of my rings down the floorboards the other day (I am cursing the landlords inability to lay them without 1cm gaps).

Its good for a first go, the wire wraps could be neater and the back is a little warped, but I love it all the same! I did this using 24g silver plated wire, not brave enough to use the expensive sterling wire yet ;)

I am hoping to introduce some simple beaded wire wrap rings to the shop, made with vintage beads and different kinds of wire. I think copper would be lovely.

Blog love

I love a good food blog, and yesterday I found this one, Simply Breakfast. The clue is in the name! A blog about breakfast, I love it. Great for a bit of foodie inspiration, not what you would normally find but I just love how simple the idea is. Plus it has given me a bit of inspiration to change my usual cereal or toast! I feel a bit shameful for having coco pops this morning now ;)

xx

which day?

I have been looking at calendars on Etsy lately (suddenly realised how quickly this year has gone by, almost 2009!) something which I never thought about buying from Etsy, there are so many beautiful calendars in wonderful designs. As you know I love the seasons, they are mirrored in my work, so I love all of the images portrayed for each month in these calendars.

First one that caught my eye is from seventyandsunny - a mini calendar with gorgeous seasonalillustrations. You should also check out alyson's blog for wonderful photographs, fashion picks and inspiration.


This next one is purely for sheer cuteness, it is from The House of Mouse - maker of little felt mice in various guises - my favourite is Yoda Mouse! This one is definitely designed to cheer up a dull day.

This last one isn't technically a calendar, its a diary but I love it so I had to include it. A luxurious custom made day book, hand bound and hand printed. I am always making notes, although probably too messy for such a nice book, and this would be perfect for keeping all my to do lists, notes and ideas together. By Transient Books.


xx

Light in the Dark

So yes, the nights are drawing in. I love the bright and cold days of autumn, all the rusty colours from the falling leaves but I'm not a huge fan of winter. As much as I love a cosy night in by the fire, wooly jumpers and Christmas in reality winter is mostly a gloomy affair in this country! It has definitely felt like winter these past few days, with hardly any proper daylight today in particular, I miss autumn!


Its nice to be thinking of Christmas (I know, I said it, Christmas!) when its getting a bit gloomy which is what inspired my newest pair of earrings. These are fantastically festive, they glint and sparkle and are so feminine, perfect for Christmas parties. They are made with nice chunky brass chain and vintage glass pearls in a beautiful champagne gold colour, they are dimpled too which makes them really unique. In my Etsy shop right now!


Thank you also to snapdragonbeads for the vintage sheet music booklet she sent me, the cover makes for a gorgeous background for photographs, it really goes with my vintage jewellery.

I am working on Christmas gift upgrades this week, so I hope to have some nice pictures to show you what I have on offer for your gift wrapping needs. I have just ordered some really beautiful ribbon, in chocolate brown and also teal (not very Christmassy but I can't ever resist teal) for my orders. There is also an extra special addition to my gift upgrades, which I will be blogging about as soon as I receive them! I love packaging , can you tell?

xx