Bank Holiday Sewing

Hello peeps,

Everyone having a good bank holiday?

We're having a lazy day today. We woke up to rain and decided to stay in our comfys and chill.

I had ordered some micro terry towelling fleece to make some dribble bib bandanas for the new arrival... Only 5 weeks to go now! 

There are loads of free templates on the internet and I adapted one that I came across.

The bibs are easy to make and I've used Prym no-sew popper clasps instead of Velcro. They are really easy to attach and gives a more professional finish.

The towelling cost £10 for a metre and the fabric is from my stash... So each bib cost less than £1.50 to make! 

Good ole Ted has been roped in for some modelling....

Ted also modelled my latest finished knitting project.... I still need to pick up some buttons to finish it off! 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!!

Nic and bump xx

The Wedding Cake

Howdy folks,

Sorry I've been a bit quiet of late. I had been busy working on a wedding cake for clients, Kate and Matt, who got married last month. Congratulations!

I was delighted to make their wedding cake for them and they have kindly allowed me to share some photos of the final masterpiece!

So, what did the bride want? Well, all can be revealed now.... Kate requested a three tier wedding cake which was made up of a 12" Chocolate Sponge, a 9" Lemon Sponge with homemade lemon curd and a 6" plain sponge with strawberry jam and buttercream! Lovely combinations!

At our initial meeting Kate came prepared and had photos of what design she wanted. After her consultation she eventually went for simple white fondant icing with floral decorations to match her flowers. I made sugar roses and lilies with ivy leaves and we matched the ribbon to the bridesmaid dresses. It was such a simple yet elegant design.

It took me 6 weeks to make all of the flowers, and to also make spares as I know how delicate sugar flowers are (and how clumsy I can be sometimes - blame the pregnancy!). I was delighted with the outcome as I know how am I so uber critical of my own work. The sponge cakes were made two days before the wedding to allow for icing and assembly.

My primary concern was getting the cake to the venue. It is amazing how heavy three sponge cakes with icing and cake boards can be! Luckily, Mr P drove to the venue with me and precious cargo sitting in the back of the car. He was kind enough to carry the cake in, but he was rather scared of dropping it!

So, here are some photos of the cake and the flowers for you to look at. The cake was very well received and Kate very kindly send me a beautiful photo of her and her new husband cutting the cake on their big day!

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Thank you, Kate and Matt, for allowing me to make your wedding cake!

Cheerio,

Nic xoxoxo

A little bit of crafting...

Hello All,

What with the new edition to our family due at the end of September, I have been putting my crafty skills to use and have been busy making various bits and pieces.

The list of things that I need to complete is endless, but I will get there.

So far, I have been doing some crochet and knitting. As we don't know the sex of the bump, I'm doing unisex projects. I trawled through loads of websites, books and patterns to find simple items to make. I have finished two cardigans and a hat so far, and now I have a knitted hooded jacket and a crochet stripe blanket on the go! 

I've actually got a jumper in this yarn that I knitted myself... using up the yarn!

Crochet cardigan that needs buttons and steaming into shape

The pattern for the stripe blanket has come from Attic 24 (thanks Lucy) and it is full of rainbow colours. I am making it to fit the cot and I am using Paris Drops yarn which is nice to work with (and a snitch at £1.80 a ball). 

The hooded jacket pattern that I am using is from the Ultimate Book of Baby Knits by Debbie Bliss. I felt that this book was the best buy out of them all as it contains a great combination of patterns for baby and toddler. 

Clearly got some way to go before I finish this one!

With the expanding waist line I also brought some lovely jersey fabric to make some stretch skirts for me. I've made two so far, and I have three left to make. They are really simple to make and with the remainder of the fabric I have enough to make some bump bands and some mini skirts for a friends little girl. I have been using this pattern and they really are easy to make! 

Lovely stretch maternity skirts with a wide yoga style waist band... helps keep the bump in!

I have also been doing some art work for the nursery. Again we are trying to tie in to unisex colours that match some of the items that we have brought already - soft blues and greens, purples, oranges, yellows, reds and so forth.

I made this lovely picture from some spare craft paper that I had left over from some previous projects. The red has come out pink in the picture :-( I think I might also do an illustrated alphabet picture too. I am hoping to tie in the elephant / bird theme with the curtains which need shortening and black out fabric added. I am planning on doing some applique along the bottom of the curtains and also to make some fabric storage bags for the nursery. Those little projects should keep me quiet for a while!

Sooo cute... thank god for Ikea Frames! Cheap and successful project!

So there you go, 14 weeks to go and so much more to finish! I'll keep you posted!

Take care,

Nic & Bump xoxoxox

One Year Birthday!

Hello All,

Today I am celebrating my first birthday at Denman! I can't believe where the time has gone! It's been a great 12 months and I am truly blessed to work with such wonderful people.

Of course, as with any celebration, we have to have cake! I do work for the WI you know! So last night I whipped up some cupcakes to take into work to share with my friends and colleagues.

They really have gone down a treat!

Mmm a lovely tray of cakes!

Lilac buttercream with sugarpaste flowers

I've now got requests to make Cornish Pasties for work, so watch this space! I feel a pasty mission coming on!

Lots of love,

Nic xoxoxo

Hello 2013!

Happy belated New Year to you all!

I hope that you had a fabulous festive season. I can't believe that I haven't done a blog post since the end of October. I hang my head in shame. I really don't know where the time has gone. November and December were flat out and then all of a sudden we are almost at the end of January! How'd that happen!?

Anyway, I made a promise to myself that I would dedicate some more time to my blog and to those who follow me. It hasn't helped that the laptop went on the blink and we've only got the new computer up and running.

I have also made a promise to myself to spend some more time in my beautiful kitchen now that I have the kitchen of my dreams.

Christmas was a very busy period for us both in our personal and professional lives.

On the 1st and 2nd of December, Denman College hosted the WI Real Jam Festival and Christmas Fair which was amazing. All the staff and volunteers worked hard to ensure that the event was a success. We also had a staff category for the Jam Festival which I am delighted to report that I won much to my surprise! I did take it a step further and actually made a festive crochet jam jar lid cover! Oh yes!

I entered a jar of Roasted Shallot and Cranberry Relish which scored 18.5 out of 20. I am aiming higher for next year. My colleague, Claire, came second with the most amazing fig, brandy and apple jam which was also very good with cheese. We swapped our winning jars and took them home.

My beautiful crochet lid! Very festive!

And the winning jar...

Paul Hollywood came to Denman and did a cookery demo on the Sunday. Tickets sold out within 18minutes and our Ferris Theatre was full to capacity! I managed to get my bread book signed as well.

Talking of Paul Hollywood, Mary Berry came to Denman the following weekend for a Christmas Cookery Demo and I got to meet her again... any buy another book... and get that one signed! Ahh there are some perks to my job!

Since we are on a work / baking theme, here are my festive cupcakes that I made...

We had a cracking Christmas in our new home with family and friends. It was great to take advantage of the new rangemaster and put it through it's paces over the festive period!

In preparation for Christmas, I even managed to crochet some lovely snowflakes for one of our Christmas Trees. The pattern came from Lucy over at Attic24. They really didn't take very long to make and they really looked pretty on the tree.

The crochet bug has really gotten to me and I do find it easier to do than knitting... though I will never give up the knitting needles... and I made my first crochet bear which will be going to a special little girl next month for her first birthday! I was really delighted with him.

As well as crochet, I have been playing with some new card designs as I was very luckily to be given some Letraset Ink Pens for Christmas from my brother and his wife. They are serious colouring pens for adults!

As well as getting crafty over christmas with yarn and pens, I managed to play in the kitchen with some new gadgets, including my first attempt at crumpets! Thank you Mr Hollywood! They were truly scrumptious if I say so myself!

So that was Christmas, and now to the New Year! It's been a slow start as the weather has been challenging i.e. SNOW! So we have battened down the hatches and have stayed in the warm, cooking delicious delights and baking bread. What else is there to do!?

I can't believe that it will be February next week. I don't know where January has gone.

SO, my promise to you is to blog more... and now that we also have a new camera there are no excuses to take pictures of food and crafty bits... especially when I have several new cook and craft books! There is no stopping me now!

Take care, stay warm, and I'll see you all very soon!

Cheerio,

Nic xoxoxoxox