Cute Kawaii

Hello there lovely people. How are you today? Good i hope.

I still feel poorly. I tried to go to work today but they took one look at me and sent me back home. I guess i wasn't looking my best!

Therefore to cheer myself up i've put together another little list of things. This time with a kawaii theme. I think they are all very cute. Have a look and hopefully you will think they are cute too. I hope you do.

Printable milk carton PDF with custom text panel by Paper Glitter here.

Faux taxidermy by Misfit Menagerie here.

Cute plush marshmallow on a stick by Misfit Menagerie here.

Panda bear NYC fabric by Tomodachi Kitty here.

Giant ice cream pillow by Sweet English Suzy here.

i phone toast case by Oh My Cake here.

Honey bear pin set by Em and Sprout here.

Lovely zip pouch by Simbiosis by Julia here.

Knitted bowl of fruit loops by You Cute here.

Domo garland banner by Made by Gwen here.

They are all bright and cheerful and make me smile, which is what you need when you're full of cold. Yes, you do.

Yuk!

I am sick. I feel horrible, all fuzzy of brain and weak of body. Bum.

I need Lucozade and Day Nurse, a fail safe combination. At least i can cuddle up on the sofa and watch movies (but i keep missing the end of them as i fall asleep!). I'll be back fighting fit soon, i hope you are well!

Plums.

Good morning! I hope you are well. I am quite poorly, which is not good. Being full of cold in the middle of summer seems especially unfair, like the world has gone topsy turvy. I've been taking lots of cold and flu medicine though so hopefully i'll be fighting fit very soon.

I saw my dad the other day and he gave me this little punnet of loveliness. Tiny plums, which are very tasty just eaten on their own. Although i think i want to try and make something with them.

I am therefore looking at jam recipes at the moment, i want to find a really good one. Maybe a plum and apple recipe? Or just plum? I don't know yet, i'll have to see what takes my fancy.

I've never had plum jam. I don't think i have anyway, maybe i have and i can't remember. But i do think i would like it. What would you make? Do you have a great plum jam recipe you want to share?

Happy Birthday Moosh!

I have had another lovely weekend. I hope you did too. What did you get up to?

I went to my mum's house on Sunday as it's her birthday today (happy birthday moosh bear!) and she wanted to get all the family together for a lazy lunch in the sunshine.

We had Thai mussels, slow roasted pork, cous cous, pavlova, cheese and biscuits and chocolates with our coffee. I was stuffed! You always know you are going to be well fed when you go to my mum's house.

I also got to try some of the chilli jam i made last Christmas, which was surprisingly tasty (i say surprisingly as i was worried it had set too much). I had a nightmare making it, which resulted in a trip to hospital with horribly painful hands. It turned out i had had an allergic reaction to cutting all those chillies! Not good.

I also made a red onion chutney, from this recipe here. It worked really well and is really good with cheese and cold meats (which is what we ate it with, yummy).

My little brother had brought some fire crackers back from France so we had fun lighting them and boy did they make a noise! It all felt very Famous Five (especially as we were drinking ginger beer). After a while just lighting them got a bit dull so we decided to put one in an apple to see what happened. It pretty much did what was expected. Hee hee.

Niklas is loved!

I have just received an email from the lovely lady who commissioned me to make Niklas for a baby's christening present (a very cute little boy named Daniel).

Do you remember Niklas? He was the crazy looking half Irish/ half German creature i made? Well, they have now had the christening, and he was a resounding success! Yay! That makes me so happy. I can get a little scared when i make things, scared that others may not love them as much as i do. So to hear that they do love him makes me all proud. They love the fact he isn't of the usual girlie baby toy mold, which is what i love about him too.

I have been told that i can share these photos of Daniel and his parents with Niklas with you so you can see his new family. Daniel apparently likes to chew his ears and hold him when he is being changed. I reckon Niklas would be very happy with that.

What book to cook?

Good morning lovely people. How's your weekend going? Good i hope.

I am having one of those weekends when you feel like you should be doing a lot but actually aren't doing much of anything. But that's ok, i'll make sure i get a lot done tomorrow. Hopefully.

I do need to get a wiggle on with a few bits and bobs, but i'll get there. I will of course let you know all about them once i do.

I am in a baking mood at the moment. And have become a little bit obsessed with thumbing through cookery books at home. I think this may be because i'm trying to be healthy, and as soon as i can't have something it's all i want! Luckily i get to do a lot of baking and cooking at work which gets it out of my system. Mostly.

There are some really great books out there thought, with lots and lots of things i want to try. Here are some of my favorites:

1. Nigella Christmas- not really the right time of year to be loving this books, but it is still my favorite. The style of the book is gorgeous as well as Nigella's many amazing super indulgent recipes, which i love (ps i have also just discovered Nigella's website here).

2. Ottolenghi: The Cookbook- a great book with some lovely recipes. One to flick through and drool over. Some of the recipes can be a bit of a faff but it is always worth it. I really want to visit one of their places in London, i'll have to make sure i do next time i'm there. Yummy.

3. Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook- their first book and it is lovely. If you have ever been to one of their stores you will know what i'm talking about when i say it's one of my favorites. Amazing cupcakes which i am quite fond of munching. I want to make every single recipe in this book and just looking through it makes my tummy rumble.

4. Peyton and Byrne: British Baking- I only stumbled across this book yesterday and it is already one of my favorites. Great cozy style with lots and lots of yummy things. Their home made teacakes are jumping of the page at me and i quite fancy making some cinder toffee (just to see the baking soda make it go all crazy).

5. Rachel Allen: Bake- i have to admit (sorry Rachel), i am not a fan of Rachel Allen. Her TV shows annoy me as i don't think she has any personality. Her book however is great. Admittedly, i am yet to make anything from this book but it is one i refer to when i want some inspiration and there are some love looking bits and pieces in there.

I will let you know what i end up making. I'm in the middle of wedding madness at the moment, with the next two weekends taken up with friends tying the knot but, hopefully, i'll squeeze in some quality time in my kitchen. What would you make?

Joshua Davis.

Once upon a time Lawrence and i went traveling for a bit. On one not so sunny day, whilst on the east coast of Australia, we went into a Cash Converters to purchase Lawrence a surf board.

I got a tiny bit restless and started wandering and having a look at what else was for sale in the shop. What i found were two huge prints by Joshua Davis.

We thought that whilst living in a little caravan buying a two big framed prints was probably not a good idea. But i kept thinking about them.

We also had another four months of traveling ahead of us, and couldn't lug about two big prints. But i continued to think about them.

We thought about sending them home but asked at the post office and they said it would cost lots and lots, we were on a tight budget so we decided against it. But it was too late, i had fallen in love with them!

So we ended up buying these two beautiful prints, breaking them out of their frames and rolling them into a tube and sending them home. They now take pride of place in our bedroom and always remind me of our little adventure around the world.

You can find out all about Joshua Davis here. He is a New York based artist who uses computer software to create abstract and interesting shapes. I love his work. He has also created designs for a range of bedding, ceramics, i pod cases and lots of other lovely bits and bobs. We were very lucky with our find- both our prints are beautiful, cost us hardly anything and one is limited edition signed by Joshua himself!