Lemon & Coriander Houmous

I made houmous today! I've tried and failed before so I was pleased that this came out well, and tasted good too. It was very nice with toasted pitta bread.

To make you need:
1 tin of chickpeas, drained
olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
a clove of garlic
about 5 leaves of fresh coriander, chopped.

Blitz the chickpeas, garlic, a good slug of olive oil and the lemon juice in a food processor til its smooth - you may need to transfer to a bowl and stir it yourself as it can be too thick for the processor. Season, add the coriander and stir. Add a bit more olive oil, seasoning or lemon juice to taste, a bit of olive oil will also help to loosen it a bit and make it smoother.

Eat!

Bleurgh....

Hot water bottle by industrialpoppy on Etsy.

What a way to spend a weekend! I have been ill, the sofa has become my best friend and my hot water bottle too.

I have however been able to relax in front of the sofa and do some jewellery making, it was actually quite relaxing. New things in the shop soon, once I can face the smell of the oxidizing solution again (it smells like rotten eggs). One of them are these lovely copper earrings made with beautiful vintage chandelier pieces, they are so sparkly and just a bit of gentle bling!

The Great Winter Coat Search - Part 1

(yes I know its August)

I am looking for a winter coat and I am beginning my search early, because I know when I come to buy there will be nothing but bikinis and flip flops in the shops again!

I am looking for something either in a muted grey/brown colour or something more bold like teal or purple, I'm trying to stay away from black as I always buy black coats.

This is the first jacket I have found, from Great Plains (above), it looks very cosy and I love the colour of it too. But I would like something longer, and a tad cheaper though. Its £80 which I suppose is a good price for something that you could wear for several winters, but my budget is more like £50.

Post any suggestions in the comments please, I'd love some help. And if you can find something handmade then all the better!

A very good find...

I can't believe I haven't blogged about this yet!

As you may know I am having a lot of fun sorting through my newly acquired stash of vintage buttons for my button shop, and amongst the treasure trove I found this very vintage Homepride cloth flour bag which was full of old buttons.

I've never seen anything like it myself before so I did a bit of digging around and asking around and I got this reply from Homepride, it makes for very interesting reading.

"The item was from Paul bros, note it refers to Cambridge mill which was built after 1925. Paul Bros was sold to Spillers in 1945 so unless they used up all the old packaging it is no later than 1945. so is likely between 1925 and 1945. I think the character on the bag was called Tommy Homepride but I've never seen such an early reference to him before, he had a series of books in the 1950's."

So I am hanging on to it, it is safely stored away from cats who like to sleep on important things, until I find something to do with it. I might frame it one day, maybe for my studio or maybe for my kitchen.

If anyone knows anything else about these cloth flour bags I'd love to know!

Piggies..

Since we got guinea pigs a few months ago I have found myself looking for guinea pig related items on Etsy, and there are quite a few!

I especially love nutandbee's guinea pig a go go stickers, I may have to buy them and stick them all over the cage and not care if thats weird.

I also love Zygopsyches fluffy little cuddly guinea pig toys.

This one is called 'Amber' and actually reminds me of my little amber piggy too!

Treasures!

I've been a busy bee on the Etsy Treasuries lately, after a long break from them. I love creating treasuries, browsing through Etsy is great although it does make my wish list a lot longer.

This treasury was last week and was selected for the front page of Etsy, yay! One of the last summery ones I think I am going to do, I'm thinking of autumn more and more now.The inspiration for this Treasury came from the beautiful Cecily Ombre dress by Greygoat, such wonderful colours and a great shape.

My next two are on the site now, both quite autumnal, one a dark maroony brown and another a mossy forest green. Enjoy!


Please visit my treasuries:
here
and
here

happy shopping! ;)

Folksy!

Recently I have been introduced to a new site, Folksy, a UK website for handmade goods which is in its infancy. Whilst I love Etsy it is great to have a UK online presence which allows my customers to pay in UK pounds.

I have spent a bit of time on Folksy this evening and I have listed a few items, more to be added during the week.

My Folksy Shop

Catching up.

I love popcorn, proper homemade rather than the bags you put in the microwave (which always end up in you burning your hand on a jet of steam when you take it out).

We often used to make it with my Mum when we were small . I've not had it for a while so I looked in the cupboard and found a bottle of maple syrup - perfect combo! Its lovely this way as the syrup easily coats most of the popcorn and of course it tastes unbelievable.

There are many other ways of making it requiring melting chocolate and baking in the oven with nuts, it is something I am researching heavily!

In other news (I shouldn't dedicate a whole blog post to popcorn really) I've recently opened a shop on Folksy - a new UK site for handmade goods, which is in its early stages but is looking great already. For my UK customers, you can pay in GBP here rather than USD over on Etsy. Please take a look at my shop here

I also have a great new website, and a banner to match, I hope you like it!

Finds..

Wearit.etsy.com I stumbled across this seller the other day, she favourited my Etsy shop so I thought it was only fair to go and have a look at hers - and I was so pleased with what I found!
There are some beautifully designed pieces, and they are very wearable too. I am quite tempted by the DA DA 2Way black top. I love how simple it is but also how it has that little quirk to it too.

I also found this great bag by mishidesigns (there I go with the handbags again) which is such a great colour and shape.

Oh and how could I forget, theauroravintage
Some really great vintage clothing in here and the prices are excellent. This drop waist floral dress is great..

I'm off to find some money now, anyone seen an open bank vault anywhere?

handmade of the month - august

I am here in a timely manner this month, with my newest pick!
It would seem I am taking on the theme of bags, not on purpose although I think I do have a natural love for bags, purses, clutches and totes.

This month I am featuring Notes - designer of handmade bags and little coin purses. I shared a stall with her at the recent We Make fair in Covent Garden, her creations are so beautiful and very well made, and she was great company at the fair too!

Her brown tree bag will be featured in my blog for the whole of this month, its perfect for fitting everything in, and if you are like me you need to fit everything in!