A Work in Progress

pillowbox pdf packaging to download

 

Wow, I'm on a roll! Another pdf template down. Now my new Etsy shop, Go Make Me, is a little less lonely with 4 listings. But I have to say, these pdf's take a good 36 hours to design. My brain hurts

The latest edition to the collection reflects the vintage style of my other designs. What's included: two sized pillow box templates with matching tags and greeting card are fabulous for those important little somethings

Some of the imagery was sourced from antique love letters dated at the beginning of the last century. It's quite voyeuristic, sneaking a glimpse of life way back when. Let me say, Mary Jane was broken-hearted by Jame's indiscretions. Above is just a small token of the many letters that I have. I shot them on a rusty tin and added a border that's available through Noise and Dust Through the Viewfinder Flickr Group to give an aged, grungy feel. I also had fun with a border and texture images on my heart cookie cutters pic. See my previous post on how to make yummy heart cookies

back to school

   

The end of school holidays. No tears, just a tinge of sadness in separation and a tinge of excitement to return to some household sanity. We celebrated her return that evening at our favourite restaurant. Delicious Thai salad with char-grilled chicken brimming with coriander, mint and Thai basil. A cold glass of Semillion on the side.....I love Summer

UPDATE: As per requests here's another shot of the wall. Great texture from something so simple, blocks of wood cut to varying lengths over a large area. Very effective

buttery vanilla cookies with lemon icing recipe

 

As promised, here's the recipe to make the little heart vanilla cookies with the yummiest buttery dough. It makes 20+ cookies depending on the cutter size. You can make the package too....here's the pdf in my on-line shop. It holds 3 to 4, 2" cookies (without flower decoration)

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups of Plain Flour (all purpose flour), plus extra for rolling and dusting
1 cup (250g) firm unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup of icing sugar (confectioner's sugar)
2 egg yolks
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Icing
2 cups Icing Sugar (Confectioners sugar)
Yellow or pink food colouring
Lemon juice
Purchased sugar flowers for decoration (optional)

Pre-heat oven at 175oC (350oF). Place the flour in a food processor and add the butter. Process until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs

Add sugar, egg yolks and vanilla extract and process until just combined into a smooth dough. Wrap in cling wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes before using

Roll out dough or simply push with the palm of hand like we did (see previous entry) onto lightly floured surface. Using your 2" heart cookie cutter, cut into shape. Place them gently onto greased cookie sheets. Chill again for 30 minutes. Bake in pre-heated oven for 10 to 15 minutes until pale golden colour. Leave on sheets until cool

Mix icing sugar and food colouring with lemon juice to taste. Pipe onto cookies with a No 5 Wilton tip. Add flower decoration (optional). Note that the flatter the flower, the more cookies you'll house in box. Line box with greaseproof paper cut into 210mm x 50mm (10" x 2") strips or otherwise grease from cookies will mark the box. Enjoy!

sweet cookies in a sweet box for your sweetheart

Here's a great idea for Valentines Day...yummy cookies to make for your Valentine. A wickedly scrumptuous and buttery iced cookie recipe that I will be publishing soon. Is there really any other way to a man's heart? My daughter and I made these to shoot with the new vintage inspired box and card pdf that I've just designed. You'll find the pdf's at Go Make Me, the perfect package and card for little cookies or any other little treats

You can see my daughter in action below (unfortunately her older cousin painted her nails, much to my horror!). We experimented with a 'stained glass' effect, where you chop up boiled lollies and place them into the cookie mid-way during cooking. It's fun, but it can be tricky

go make me: under mumma's wing

As mentioned in my previous post, I've opened up a new Etsy shop of templates (with not too much in it yet!) Here's the second listing:

Cheep and Chirp babies are protected under the care of Mumma's wing. I'd love to see a whole flock of Mumma's gently swaying in the breeze. Maybe for a birthday party, how cute? Under Mamma's Wing is the latest edition to my Go Make Me on-line shop where you can purchase the pdf to create as many mobile's as your creative juices will allow

The mobile has two sides and color combinations. Luscious flowers on one side and flat color on the other. Hang it where there's some movement of air but not a strong draft. Try it in various places. A corner position against light-colored walls looks stunning or even above a lamp. Have fun!

Full colour pictures are included with the tutorial for easy assembly. The picture below shows what's included with each pdf purchase:

I've opened a new Etsy shop – Go Make Me

 

Mind you, it only has one item so far, and your looking at it!
Due to the large interest of my pillowbox template on my blog, I thought I'd start a new on-line Etsy shop 'Go Make Me'. It will mainly consist of pdf downloadable templates featuring packaging, stationery, paper goods and sewing. 'Monstro's Lunch'  Mobile printable pdf is the first addition with many more to come. I thought this little fellow would look fabulous in a kids bedroom. Held together with light fishing line, it gently sways with any movement. Position a lamp underneath, and patterns play against the ceiling. It's a fun afternoon activity that's really easy to make with a detailed tutorial

gone sailing....

No blog entries lately, but I do have a good excuse...holidays! Lucky us, we've been sailing around New Zealand and Southern Australia. With the internet on board a buck a minute, I thought you wouldn't mind if I skipped a few entries

So here goes...
1. On board We had Christmas and New Year's sailing between Aukland, Tauranga, Christchurch and the Fjords of the South Island. Just spectacular scenery and wildlife. New Zealand is such a beautiful country (great wineries too).The Chef's had decked the hallways with hundreds of Gingerbread Houses. In between, little red trains carrying sweets and elves zoomed through myriads of igloos, santa workshops and Houses of all shapes and sizes

2. Chocolate We hit Melbourne and meandered through the fabulous heritage arcades in the heart of the city. Stumbling upon little independent boutiques with inspiring window displays or yummy gastronomies. One such place was Koko Black. I dare you to stroll past without poking your nose into the shop. Just stand and inhale the chocolatey aromas of tempering chocolate or try their signature Ice Cream Martini; wild strawberry ice cream with Sienna Strawberry ganache and chocolate garnish, chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce and garnish, vanilla ice cream with caramel sauce and bresellience nuts. Why not, it's only calories?

3. Food As if chocolate wasn't enough to whet the appetite, for lunch we traveled to the Richmond Hill Cafe & Larder, Richmond, Victoria. With connections to famous cook and food-writer, Stephanie Alexander, this is a must-see and a must-eat-at cafe. Grab a menu, close your eyes and just point! Believe me, it's that hard to choose!

4. Knitting In historical Hobart, Tasmania you'll find quaint craft shops in heritage buildings and good ol' fashioned local characters up for a chat. If you're a knitter (not like me, but I pretend) you have to visit The Spindle Tree. It's a co-operative of crafters that produce hand-spun and dyed wools from local produce. I couldn't resist this Mohair wool. In another shop, I purchased these Art Viva hand-made knitting needles made from local Tasmanian Oak

5. Fruit As if I hadn't bought enough, I also purchased these fruit, crafted from local Huon Pine. I used them as a prop for my latest addition to my Etsy shop