A Pretty Black Cat and Some Craft

Hi there! Just a quick post tonight, I love my computer but I spend way too much time on it sometimes. The internet is such a wonderful place, so many lovely people and so much creative work to see and not enough crafting from me. So I thought I would share with you a little picture of my Miss 10 dressed up for her school Halloween Disco. I have never been someone to dress up but I do encourage my girls and they really love doing it, I think I get a bit self conscious and at the moment they don't which is really good. It isn't an elaborate costume, she already had the shoes and clothes and we just went to Spotlight and bought the mask, tail (feather boa) and cat ears. I think she looked pretty good and she had a great night too!

Now on to the craft. I made these last night for my girls teachers because today was Teacher Appreciation Day. They were really fun to make and I got to use some of my new goodies that I bought on the weekend. Tomorrow is the last day of Blogtober and although I didn't post each day I think I beat my record for posts so far!

Have a lovely day my friends.

Smiles Catherine xox
Materials
Cardstock: SU Cameo Coral, SU Real Red
Ink: SU Real Red
Stamps: SU Lots of Thoughts, Hero Arts Dots and Flowers
Accessories: SU Scallop Edge Punch, SU Scallop Punch, SU Circle Punch, Kaiser Rhinestones, Cellophane Bag

Cardsock: SU Chocolate Chip, SU Baja Breeze
Ink: SU Baja Breeze
Stamps: SU Lots of Thoughts
Accessories: SU Twine, SU Jumbo Eyelets, Nestabilities, Cellophane Bag

My Creative Space

Hello and happy Thursday to all of you! I hope that you have all had a great week so far, mine has been busy and I can't believe tomorrow will be Friday! Tomorrow my Miss 5 is going for a play date after school with a couple of friends at the park to ride their bikes so I did some baking tonight. I made some Choc-Chip Jaffa Muffins, I haven't tried them yet but anything jaffa is a winner for me. I am pretty sure I have already blogged cooking, jaffa and my creative space before!:) Would you like the recipe? I thought you might, it's quick, and easy? Here it is Choc-Chip Jaffa Muffins
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups self raising flour
100g cold butter, chopped finely 1 cup caster sugar
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg
3/4 cup chocolate chips
2 teaspoons finely grated orange rind

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius/ 180 degree celsius fan forced. Grease 12 hole muffin pan.
2. Sift flour into large bowl; rub in butter. Stir in sugar, buttermilk and egg. Do not over mix; mixture should be lumpy. Stir in choc bits and rind.
3. Divide mixture into pan holes; bake about 20 minutes. Stand muffins in pan 5 minutes before turning, top side up, onto wire rack to cool.
And I have been trying to get some things made for Christmas not sure if I will be able to do it for everyone I want to do it for but this is the start of my handmade gifts. My friend has two girls, who love to look pretty and after seeing such a great idea over at Tutti Frutti I thought I would give the hair clip holders a try. They were fun to make and didn't take too long. I did buy a set of hair clips and also made the covers for the other clips getting the idea from here.

For more creative spaces stop by Kirsten's blog.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you soon. Bye!

Smiles Catherine xox

A Slow Cooker Recipe for you

Hello there everyone! I hope that you have enjoyed your day today. My day was busy with dancing exams. My Miss 10 did well and was calm about the whole thing so the day was really positive. She is glad that the exams are over so now she can enjoy practising for the Christmas concert.

Cooking dinner can be fun but when you have to do it everyday it gets to be a bit of a chore. So with that thought and a new cookbook for the slow cooker I have been cheating in a way and have been cooking meals in the cooker rather than standing over the stove. I'm sure my family won't want me to do it forever but for now cooking a simple wholesome meal is what I am looking for. Tonight I cooked Potato and Leek soup in the slow cooker and I thought I would share the recipe.

Potato and Leek Soup
Ingredients
4 potatoes roughly chopped
2 leaks, white part only, thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2 prosciutto slices, roughly chopped
5ooml chicken or vegetable stock
500ml water pouring cream, to serve

Put the potato, leek, celery, carrot, prosciutto, stock and 500ml of water in the slow cooker. Cook on high for 3 hours.

Using a hand held stick blender, puree the soup until smooth. Alternatively, transfer the soup mixture to a food processor and puree until smooth. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Ladle the soup into bowls and serve drizzled with cream.

I hope you enjoy the recipe and don't do what I did and forget the extra liquid of water. I was so tired and rushed that I didn't see it written in the recipe, in my defence it wasn't included in the ingredients!(lol) We liked the soup but it was just a bit thick!

Talk to you soon

Smiles Catherine xox

Shoes.......

almost ready for dancing exams tomorrow. I just have to sew some ribbons on to the ballet shoes and then I am done. I'd better go still haven't started sewing yet!

Talk to you tomorrow.

Smiles Catherine xox

Raspberry Suite Challenge #18

Hello everyone and happy Sunday to you! I hope you have all had a lovely day, I spent today celebrating my mother in laws birthday at Southbank with family and going to the Craft and Quilt Fair with a good friend buying things that I really did need of course.

So I thought I would share the card that I made for Dawn's Colour Challenge. I made this with for my mother in law, using a sketch as inspiration from the latest Stampin Up Holiday Mini.

And just a couple of other pictures to show you, the goodies that I bought from the show and a lovely cookbook that my mother in law bought for me which will come in really handy, slow cookers are just the best.
I hope that you have had a lovely day and I will see you all again soon!

Smiles Catherine xox
Materials
Stamps: SU Great Friend
Cardstock: SU Very Vanilla, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion and Wild Wasabi
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip
Accessories: MM Ribbon, SU Button Latte, Kaiser Rhinestones, SU Linen Thread, Corner Punch, Martha Stewart Butterfly Punch

My Place and Yours - My Bedside Table

I thought I would play along again with Pip's game of show and tell. So I will admit that I took a few photos and put them up on my computer and I couldn't believe the dust I could see on some of my things. I really do dust each week but I some how miss the little bits and pieces so I did give it a bit of a wipe and take two, this is photo I have for you.On my bedside table you can see my crystal tray which I bought to go with the crystal jewellery box that my Nan gave to me when I was young. A candle that probably should go in the bin because it's pretty much finished, a little rabbit that my Miss 5 painted and insisted be on my bedside table, some perfume, a crystal butterfly from my hubby, a little keepsake my brother bought back from Scotland and lastly a brooch which was my grandmother's which she wore when she did highland dancing. It doesn't change and I haven't added alot to my bedside table but I just love all the little memories I have of each piece.

Thanks for stopping by and please go and visit Pip for more places.

Smiles Catherine xox

A Bit of a Blue Post!

I'm not feeling blue but what I have to share with you today is blue. Firstly this morning I was in my older daughter's room and there sitting on our side fence were two blue kingfishers, it was such a wonderful site. I raced into my room to get the camera, pulled up the blinds and they flew away but one was still there in the tree so I snapped a photo and then it was gone. It has been some time since I've seen these birds and I just think they are beautiful.
The second bit of blue to share with you today is a card I made for a girl who is turning 9 on the weekend, October is sooo busy it seems and I still have my mother in law to make a card for before the weekend because it's her birthday on Tuesday. Anyway I was visiting one of my favourite blogs My Front Porch and I saw her lovely cards that consisted of a small collage in the corner of the card. I'm not sure if I have left enough space but I thought I would give this technique a try again it was fun.

Have a great day and I will see you tomorrow!

Smiles Catherine xox
Materials
Stamps: Papermania Clear Stamps
Cardstock: SU Whisper White, Kaiser DP
Ink: SU Not Quite Navy
Accessories: MM Button, Prima Flower, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Sam & Lucy Adhesive Bling

Another Anniversary Card

A good friend of mine celebrated her 2nd Wedding Anniversary today and I wanted to make a card to celebrate this special occasion. It will be late unfortunately but I did have more energy tonight so I whipped up this card. My favourite style is clean and simple and I found this lovely blog by Jen called Simple and Sincere and I was inspired by her cards and layouts and came up with this. I love blue and I really am loving using baja breeze at the moment, it's such a pretty blue don't you think?

I hope you have had a great day, I had fun catching up with one of my dear friends, without children, which is a first for a long time and it was really nice. Talk to you again tomorrow.

Smiles Catherine xox
Materials
Stamps: Little Yellow Bicycle, SU All Holidays
Cardstock: SU Whisper White, SU Baja Breeze
Ink: SU Baja Breeze
Accessories: Paper Piercer, Embroidery Thread, SU Button Latte, Kaiser Rhinestones, SU White Grosgrain Ribbon, SU Circle Punch.

A pretty picture for you

Hi there! I hope you are all well. There hasn't been alot of crafting going on here in my house so I haven't got anything to share. I do have a pretty picture to share with you I took in the car on the way home from my Mum and Dad's house. They live in the country and it's always nice to go for a drive and enjoy the peace and quiet. We went to celebrate my Nan's 82nd birthday, it was lovely to be able to see her and celebrate. We all had a lovely time with family. I hope you like my action shot, I thought I would give it a go and it turned out pretty well I think.

I would really like to get some card making in tomorrow so I hope to have something more crafty to share with you.

Smiles Catherine xox

How was your Saturday?

Hello and happy Saturday to you! I hope that you have all had a great day. My day was pretty relaxed making some fudge to take to my Pop tomorrow for a belated birthday present, making a tissue holder to give to my Nan who celebrated her 82nd birthday on Friday and going on a date with my lovely husband to go and see Julie and Julia (a great movie by the way).
I also wanted to show you this quick and easy gift wrap, all I have used is a leftover party bag, folded it over punching some holes in the top and tied some ribbon in a bow to make it pretty. I added a tag and tied it around the bow putting rhinestones on the bow to hide the string of the tag. I then stuck a letter on the tag and added some more rhinestones, easy and pretty too.
And lastly I have a card to share with you that I made for my Nan last night. I did make a little bit of a mistake but didn't want to remake the card and so tried my best to correct the mistake. I stamped the sentiment last and because it was raised on one side the other side didn't come out so I restamped it but it didn't line up so I coloured in the gap. Probably not what I should have done but it was late and I think it gives a good effect? Better luck next time I say!

Have a lovely Sunday, see you tomorrow!

Smiles Catherine xox
Materials
Stamps: SU Trendy Trees, SU Great Friend
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: SU Kraft, SU Old Olive, SU Pretty in Pink, American Crafts DP
Accessories: Button, SU Linen Thread, MM Flower, SU Scallop Border Punch, SU Distresser Kit, Kaiser Pearls, Corner Punch

My Place and Yours

Hello there! I found this new game to play along with called My Place and Yours over at Meet Me at Mikes found via Owlet and thought it would be fun to play along. The theme this week is 'on the shelf' and that is my collection of Better Homes and Gardens Magazines or should I say my addiction. It started back in 2001 my addiction to this magazine, although you can only see a few from that date I decided to get rid of some to make room for some more recent addictions. This started my love of craft/homely magazines and has expanded to me buying many more magazines (card,scrapbooking,knitting etc.etc.) and I can't stop! Oh well I think we all have a collection of something, don't we? Anyway thanks for stopping by! Bye for now.

Smiles Catherine xox

A Birthday Present Finished!

Hello hello! How has your Thursday been? Mine has been pretty productive completing a birthday present and card and getting it all in the mail today ready for the birthday girl, wow finally organised!! I made the little skirt from a Newlook Pattern which I bought the other week but I should have just used the Oliver and S pattern found here which is very similar, I think that the difference is that my pattern is slightly more gathered that the Oliver and S otherwise it is pretty much the same. This is the card to go with the present, I even did a bit of sewing on this card since the sewing machine was still out. Thank you for stopping by and I hope to see all of you tomorrow. Bye!

Smiles Catherine xox
Materials:
Stamps: Think Happy Thoughts
Cardstock: SU Whisper White, DCWV DP
Ink: SU Baja Breeze, SU Pink Passion
Accessories: Kaiser Rhinestones, Sewing Machine, SU Circle Punches, Dimensionals, Martha Stewart Punches

Some Cards for you!

Hi there! I thought I would share with you two cards that I made last night. One of them is for a little girl who turned four on Sunday and loves trucks and the other is for a couple who will be celebrating their 10 year wedding anniversary on Friday. I cased the card from Nicole Heady for the anniversary card, changing the stamps, the nestability shapes, the embossing folder and I added some pearls. Feeling tired and seeing such a beautiful and simple card which I thought would be perfect for an anniversary I decided to make one myself.

I hope that you have all had a good day, and I look forward to seeing all of you again tomorrow. Bye!

Smiles Catherine xox
Materials
Card #1
Stamps: SU By Land
Ink: SU Lovely Lilac
Cardstock: SU Kraft, SU Baja Breeze, DCWV DP
Accessories: Basic Grey Buttons, Kindy Glitz, MM Glitter Letter Stickers, Kaiser Rhinestones, Prima Flower, Dimensionals, Corner Rounder
Card #2
Stamps: SU Fifth Avenue Floral, SU Unknown Verses
Ink: SU Pumpkin Pie, SU Chocolate Chip
Cardstock: SU Whisper White
Accessories: Kaiser Pearls, Nestabilities, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Dimensionals

Day 12

Hi there! Just a quick post for you tonight because I'm trying to stick to some goals that I made for myself today and one of them was to get to bed by 10:30pm so I may be a bit late but I'm going to try my best. I still haven't made the birthday card that I planned on doing tonight so I need to get to that tomorrow. So I thought I would share with you the fabric I bought on the weekend. I bought the Ditto Dots and Sea Beauties by Micheal Miller for some little girl skirts and Kitchy Kitchen by Robert Kaufman for a bag to give as a gift. Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow!

Smiles Catherine xox

A Racing Car Play Mat

Hello there and happy Sunday to all of you! Have you been enjoying your weekend? Today I had to get me housework done which wasn't so exciting but is nice to see a clean house. After all that I needed to get some more sewing done. A great friend of mine has a little girl who celebrated her 4th birthday today and when I asked what she would like as a gift I was told she loves cars, her birthday cake was a truck just like her dad's, so I was on a mission. I found a great idea from a handmade shop to make a car track roll, by just adjusting the pencil roll idea. Running out of time I was going to buy one but she didn't have any girly ones left so I made my own. So just to let you know this wasn't my initial idea but I have altered parts to suit how I like things, if the lady has a blog I will be sure to post and acknowledge her for her idea. One of the ideas I changed was rather than sewing the track markings, I decided to use fabric puff paint, helping to save on time. I used some cute Micheal Miller dog house fabric for the outer piece and the paw print fabric for the inside. Now that I finished making this for her I need to make a card with a truck on it so I will try and post that tomorrow. Talk to you soon, bye!

Smiles Catherine xox

Black

How was your Saturday? Mine was spent with family having a bit of a celebration and shopping for some pretty fabric at this shop. There was so many pretty fabrics to choose from so it was hard to decide but with two skirts and a bag to make I had to buy something. I also walked out with a bag pattern too, so now I need to start sewing!
Today I thought I would show you something that I get to see each night that fills the night sky and that is bats. We have a small nature reserve near our home that has been a home to a bat colony for many years. It looks quite effective against the sky at sunset, this was my first attempt at a night photo, click to enlarge for a closer look. Enjoy your Sunday!

Smiles Catherine xox

I'm Back Already!

Yes I really want to try and keep up this month with daily posts and although I didn't post yesterday, and maybe I am cheating because I am doing two posts in the one day, but I figure it should even itself out in the end. Oh well enough of my rambling just a quick post to show you my finished knitted dishcloth. It's not perfect so don't look to close but I can't wait to make another and to start using it! Have a lovely Saturday! See you tomorrow.

Smiles Catherine xox

Green

I promised you the other day that I would show you some of my favourite things that are green. The first are these lovely pieces of untouched broccoli, the last that remained after the caterpillars had enjoyed the rest. There was no hints of any caterpillars hidden in the broccoli that I had grown all by myself, gee I was so proud to have successfully grown a larger type of vegetable. I had planted half a dozen of the broccoli, I cut the two healthy remaining broccoli and took them upstairs, looking forward to giving them to my family. I washed them and started to cut them up. I had pretty much finished cutting up the broccoli and had them sitting in the steamer ready to cook when I came to cutting another piece off and to my surprise here was a green caterpillar. I thought I had better check the rest of the broccoli before I cooked it to serve to my family and there were at least six caterpillars in the broccoli. I was pretty shocked because I didn't see them they were so camouflaged and because I was going to give my family this lovely healthy dinner of broccoli and green caterpillars! I cleaned the broccoli again and threw out the pieces with the caterpillars on it and steamed up some of the remaining but all we ended up eating was a piece each at the table ever so gingerly, it was really funny and it did taste nice the little bit we ate.(lol)

My other favourite bit of green I enjoy looking at each day would have to be these beautiful rainbow lorikeets. They stop by to visit my feeder each day and they always make me smile.

Thanks for stopping by!

Smiles Catherine xox

A Pillow Case Dress to share!

Hi there it's me again! Another post, two in the one day so I hope that makes up for me not posting yesterday.(lol) I finally finished one of the pillowcase dresses I have been working on. For me I am a bit of a procrastinator and because I am not so confident with sewing I put things off for as long as I can. But last night I finished the dress and to go with the dress I made some hair ties and decorated some hair clips, then into the post they went. I now have to start Miss 5's dress but that might have to wait till tomorrow, now at least I know that I can make one.

To keep up trend with the post where I feature some of my favourite things around my home in different colours, I will do a post with some of my favourite green things tomorrow. Stop by and visit, see you again tomorrow.

Smiles Catherine xox

Pink

Hi there! Sorry I didn't visit yesterday I was busy sewing and just didn't get round to my post, I can't believe I fell off the posting bandwagon already and I was so determined to post everyday.(very naughty) Anyway the other day I promised I would show you some of my favourite pink things in my house. The first is my Miss 5's bedspread it's bright pink and so much fun just like she is. And my other favourite bit of pink is this cute little pink lucky ladybird my mother in law gave me as a gift. The tag says she was made in Byron Bay by Jane Davenport and for the best results to put her in a place to watch over you, for an extra dose of luck to pat her nose 3 times and think happy thoughts.(cute) She has a special place on my bedside table, so sweet .

I will be back with the first of two pillowcase dresses to show you. See you later!

Smiles Catherine xox

Blogtoberfest Day 5

Today I thought I would start the week by choosing a colour a day to add some jazz to my posts or just for something a bit different. So my first colour of choice would be my favourite, blue. I remember having pink as my favourite colour for a long time as a little girl but changed to blue when I got older because I thought the colour was a bit more grown up. (lol) Blue is still a favourite but I love other colours too, even pink! These a some of my favourite blue things in my house, firstly my Pandora bracelet that my husband and girls gave me for my birthday. The beads all have special meaning to me and were given all for a different occasion.

I like technology but don't really keep up with the trends much but I bought myself this little ipod and what exciting music am I listening too, none it has a relaxation CD on it that I play before I go to bed at night.
And I saved the oldest and most precious for last, an embroidery box that my late Grandmother gave to me. She passed away some time ago but she taught me how to embroider and being the only female grandchild it was a really special thing to have her spend time teaching me something she loved. Well thanks for stopping by, tomorrow I will choose pink as my next colour, my Miss 5's favourite. Bye!

Smiles Catherine xox

A Dishcoth in the making

Hi there everyone I hope that you are enjoying your weekend. Just a quick post tonight for you to show you what I have been up to today. While surfing the net I have seen many beautiful handmade dishcloths, ones that have been crocheted and ones that have been knitted. I don't know how to crochet just yet and I can knit simply so I found this pattern that suited me just perfectly. So here it is my dishcloth in progress and hopefully finished soon. Thanks so much for stopping by and I will see you again tomorrow. Bye!

Smiles Catherine xox

Cupcakes and Icecreams

I made this card today for a little girl who turned 6 recently and I have just got round to making her a card. For some reason I am really behind in my card making and present giving at the moment which isn't like me so I have a list all written out so I hope that will help me to become more organised again. The paper was too cute to resist and since it has been a while since a purchase at the scrapbooking shop I just had to buy it. And to go with the card I am trying my hand a making a pillowcase dress without the pillowcase. I know that makes no sense really but I haven't got any pretty pillowcases to use and when you think about it you can make up a pillowcase with pretty fabric anyway so I went to Spotlight today for some fabric. So I bought some fabric for the birthday girl and for my Miss 5 as well, so cute. If you want to give a pillowcase dress a go I found a great tutorial here that I was going to use to make my dresses. Until tomorrow my friends, bye for now!

Smiles Catherine xox
Materials Stamps: None
Paper: SU Whisper White, SU Pink Passion, SU Barely Banana, SU Certainly Celery, SU Baja Breeze, DCWV Glitter Cardstock, DP Doodlebug
Ink: None
Accessories: Kaiser Rhinestones, SU Slit Punch, SU Scallop Edge Punch, American Crafts Glitter Thickers, American Crafts Ric Rac

Happy Friday and a Colour Challenge!

Hi there and happy Friday to all of you, I hope that you had a good day and it's the start of the weekend, yeah! Today I thought I would share with you a card that I made for my Pop's birthday using the colours in Dawn's Colour Challenge. I love the colour combination of this challenge, it would have to be one of my favourites, so thank you Dawn this was a fun challenge card.

I also have joined Blogtoberfest hosted by Tinnie Girl which means I will be trying my best to do a post a day for the month of October, I am looking forward to the challenge. So thank you for hosting such a fun event and for being able to join in the fun.

Thank you for stopping by, see you tomorrow.

Smiles Catherine xox
Materials
Paper: SU Kraft, SU Chocolate Chip, SU Very Vanilla, SU Real Red
Ink: SU Chocolate Chip, SU Baja Breeze
Stamps: SU Sincere Salutations, SU Polka Dot, SU Trendy Trees
Accessories: SU Linen Thread, SU Button Latte, Button, SU Distresser Kit, SU Mat Pack, Dimensionals

My Creative Space

Hi there! Just a quickie post tonight feeling tired after another busy day with the girls playing in the park with their cousins. So my creative space for today is about a cross stitch that I started too long ago for my friends little girl, who is now 2. It is a slow creative outlet so I am finding it hard to get into it but I really don't like having unfinished projects so I've started it up again.

The second picture is of a tin that I decorated quite simply for my Pop to give to him for his birthday filled with chocolate fudge. Thanks for stopping by, go by Kirsty's for more creative spaces. See you again soon.

Smiles Catherine xox