Building up stock

Hello, hello; just a quick one today as I'm about to take a small boy to playgroup! I've mentioned before that I set up an Etsy shop last year, however it is looking rather empty and sorry for itself at the moment so I really need to do something about it! I've decided I need to build up a decent amount of stock first so that I can really show what I can do so I started yesterday by making this little cutie; Watermelon the baby dragon :) What do you think? he's really very sweet and (as with all of my toys) he was made without a pattern so I'm rather pleased with how dragonish he turned out.... & bless his little paws he's only 2 inches high, awwww!

Grrr!

I also made a bit of progress on a birthday present for my hubby but as I spent more time planning and browsing online for inspiration I have done mor plotting than hooking! However do watch this space...

Incidentally how much would you expect to pay for someone like Watermelon?

ttfn x

Crochet goddesses of Blogland...

As you may gather from my blog I love crochet. Though I tend to either completely design my own patterns for projects or adapt patterns to my own designs I get a huge amount of inspiration from browsing online...

Lucy at Attic24 has become something of a legend in the online crochet world for her amazing eye for colour, which she applies to the beautiful patterns she makes. Her blankets in particular are absolutely stunning and she has some excellent patterns and tutorials on her blog. This is a picture of her many glorious blankets. total eye candy;

Tara at Easy (aka Mamachee) has designed masses of patterns that are adorable and fun in equal amounts, some of which are available on her blog and some that you can buy in her etsy shop. The picture shows her "I heart U" hat/headband; I have designed my own version of this idea without having seen the pattern but I only worked it out looking at this picture;

Vanessa at Do You Mind if I Knit? has her a style of work that is very distinctive. Her creations (crochet, knit, paintings, papier mache.... she has many talents! In fact my daughter's very favourite book is illustrated by her.) are beautiful and she has some marvellously clear tutorials. Her two dogs are pretty darned cute too! This is her gorgeous "designer" style scarf, which she has created a quick pattern for;

Finally June from PlanetJune has created some of the most stunning amigurumi that I have ever seen. They are seriously fabulous and I would just love to have time to make them all! These are the easter themed patterns she has made, very seasonal!

I hope you've enjoyed this little peep into my blog reading! do you have a favourite that I might like too?

Christmas present making...

Here are some recent gifts I've made; they've been opened so I can share them now :) hats, bunting, handwarmers, a tortoise and an ornament; making gifts is incredibly rewarding

Tutu much?

What is a girl to do with several metres of tulle and a bit of elastic? The answer is pretty self explanatory; get making tutus! I made a pink tutu for my daughter, posted a picture on Facebook and within a few hours had requests from friends to make four more... Starting with the two green "tinkerbell" tutus pictured here

Perfect brownies

Usually I enjoy the process of baking even more than the result, however with my brownie recipe the results are so good I can't resist them... My husband loves them so much that I sometimes have to whip up a batch in the evening after a difficult day to cheer him up. I developed this recipe by tireless trial & error so this epitome of chocolate pudding is;

Natalie's Ultimate Chocolate Brownie Recipe

200g 70% cocoa chocolate
200g milk chocolate
250g butter
200g caster sugar
4 eggs, beaten
200g plain flour

Preheat oven to 160°C
Grease and line a suitable 8" square baking tin

• Melt the chocolate and butter together in the microwave (in a microwavable bowl) for a minute at a time and stirring in between. It is ready when a tiny bit of the chocolate is left unmelted; stir the mixture until this last bit has disappeared to prevent burning the chocolate

• Add the caster sugar and egg to the bowl and beat until smooth

• Sift in the flour and mix until just combined (it's ok if there's a tiny bit of flour left)

• Add the batter to the tin and spread evenly

• Bake in the centre of the oven for 35-40 minutes until just set in the middle

Cool, slice & scoff!

(delicious served warm with ice-cream)

I'm thinking of adapting this for Christmas by adding a teaspoon of mixed spice or cinnamon & nutmeg to the flour but my husband really doesn't want me to do a single thing different!

The happy hooker...

One of the times that I am at my happiest is when I have a crochet hook in my hand, a large selection of yarn to freely dip into and the time to create something to the pattern that develops in my mind.... The "something" is usually of an amigurumi nature since the moments I have free are fleeting; I even have trouble enough fitting in the creation of these little toys!

My current work in progress is a set of dinosaurs for my son as a christmas present. T-rex is almost complete and Stegosaurus has been finished;


(sorry about the poor quality of this photo; taken on my phone)

Previous projects vary from the cute and fluffy like this baby bear;

and this rabbit;

to the slightly gruesome like Freddie the crochet zombie here;

in fact my first EVER crochet project was a zombie, who you can see in this blog post along with the farm animals that were Logan's Christmas present last year and the little doll that was one of Lyra's...

You see zombies could possibly be described as another "passion" for want of a better word... perhaps a slightly incongruous passion in my usually bright and colourful world! In fact I am planning on creating a miniature army of zombies, some of whom may make it to my Etsy Shop and, you never know, even go to new crochet-zombie loving homes!

until next time xxxxx

a few of my favourite things....

I LOVE baking and decorating cakes, there is something immensely satisfying about the process of creating a work of art that also tastes delicious....

Similarly I LOVE crochet, and by extention the sensory experience that is yarn - the colours and texture come in so many varieties there is always something new that I could choose...

This cake on the cakejournal blog is therefore the stuff that dreams are made of;

There are even instructions on how to make your very own; maybe I'll make myself a birthday cake this year! My own efforts in cake decorating haven't been half bad but aren't a patch on some of the gorgeous creations on that blog.

This is Lyra's birthday cake from this year.....

and this is Logan's....

see, not bad but I'm certainly not a pro!