What’s Darth Maul doing in the carrots?

Answer: he’s the only figure I could find.

(see here, here and here)

I promise to try harder next time.

Holiday weekend

It’s raining.  Not really enough to soak the garden, which would be good, but enough to make us think that spending this Bank Holiday Weekend at home a good idea. 

We began the weekend in style, with friends at Lumiere, our favourite local restaurant.  These “Tequila Slammers” went down wonderfully – there’s tequila sorbet in the glass, a salt shard in the middle and a lime sphere in front.  The sphere needs to be eaten in one go and popped in the mouth rather than nibbled and it was interesting to see who was gung-ho about doing that and who was, like me, slightly anxious!  No need for anxiety, though – the burst of sweetly sharp lime was spot on and completed the experience beautifully!

Saturday and Sunday were days for fiddling about in my studio, remaking the book and trying to make some sense of the first one.  The postman brought a new addition to my shelves in the middle of all the fiddle – another distraction!

But in between the fiddling, there was some testing to be done.  A group of our friends are tackling the Three Peaks Challenge in August, in aid of the National Ankylosing Spondylitis Society and I’ve taken on the role of chief cook and bottlewasher!  They’re going to need a variety of nutritious and energy-packed snacks as well as a couple of fairly substantial meals so I’m auditioning one or two new ideas including these Crispy Ginger Slices.  They’re a light shortbread base with a ginger variation on Kendal Mint Cake on top – totally yummy and if I can work out a gluten-free version, will be a winner.

 

The good thing about being home all weekend is that the papers have been read and thoroughly digested, giving me plenty of things to consider whilst fiddling about with paper and glue.  I mean, do places really have to be dangerous to be interesting enough to read about?  And I thought long and hard about my opinion on this but resisted the urge to share it in 140 characters.

Best of all, I had time to watch the tulips open

and to make enough of Gordon Ramsay’s Chicken Biryani that there was enough to look forward to for lunch today as well.

Making it better

I decided to have another go at the book yesterday.  There were so many good ideas in the project, I didn’t want to leave it in thin air, unfinished and unloved.  Instead of printing out a whole heap of papers, I fished out a pack of Basic Grey “Euphoria”, complete with sticker set and cut it to US Letter size as in the original instructions.

The result was heaps better.  Eagle eyed WI Craft Judges will spot blobs of excess glue which, they’ll be pleased to note, I have now removed using my nifty glue eraser!  I left the tabs blank, though did for about ten seconds, consider putting the paper through my printer before coming to my senses and thinking better of it!

I made the file folder to fit in the pocket created between two pages, hard to see in the midst of all that patterned paper in there, but it works well and is a useful addition.  That in particular is something I’ll incorporate into other projects.

The spinner fits and works well.  Adds a bit of interactive fun to this kind of book  but I think I need to think carefully about the page content to make sure it’s not just there for the sake of it.

Once it was finished, I couldn’t leave well alone and simply had to cut that shape out.  I put a new blade on my scalpel (why don’t I do that more often?!) and cut through all the layers at once.  Far better, smoother curves and more successful all round.  I’m happier with that.

Not quite how I hoped

Remember this from earlier this year?

I really enjoyed the Mouse Paper Scissors online workshop and without much thought, signed up for the extension “Mouse Paper Scissors Mom”.  Admittedly, our Mothering Sunday had been and gone, and sadly I no longer have my Mum around to cherish.  But still, I thought I’d enjoy working through the workshops and creating a kind of tribute to her perhaps, and learning a few new tricks along the way.

I downloaded the materials and printed the papers out – a lovely selection of soft colours and pretty patterns.  But here, I made my first stumble.  As in the earlier class, all the papers were formatted to US Letter size and only after I’d printed and taken a second look through the files, did I spot the A4 versions.  Duh.

I especially like the idea of asymmetrical pages – working with a ratio of 6:4 left an opportunity to do something on the smaller side, to embellish the edge with tags, frills or whatever.  That’s clever and something I must remember to add to my repertoire!

But here, the A4 paper didn’t quite fit the plan.  Were I to cut the page with the frame to 4”, then it would look a bit odd…the US Letter size paper had the frame located differently on the page, so this wouldn’t happen.  Of course, by the time I’d worked this one out, it was too late to do much about it.  I left that page the full 6”, which is a shame because it contains a tabbed pocket which doesn’t really show up.

I liked the spinner idea too…that small page allowed room to insert a circle of card held in place by a small brad.  That’s another feature I’ll use again, I’m sure.

I’ve finished the structure of the basic book and planned to use today to finish the thing off completely.  But as I took it out of the folder and set to work, my heart sank rather.  I’m really not happy with it and think that perhaps, I’ll start again.

For a start, look at that cover.  My copy of Book Three of Proust’s “A la Retour de Temps Perdu” is missing a few more pages (not that anyone will ever find that out, I’m sure!) and though the frill is a pretty idea, painted with the Chandelier Glam, it’s really messy and the few sparkly stones don’t really do much for it!

Though the pages were cut from the same pattern and I tried very hard indeed to cut them accurately, they don’t really match up.  For sure, there were warnings about the shape being asymmetrical and advice to mark the pattern template with “TOP” and an arrow, which I followed.  But for some reason, it still didn’t really work.

And although I can hide some inaccuracies with a bit of stamping ink and sandpaper, some horrible bits just can’t be resolved at all.

So, I’m a bit disappointed in this one. 

I do, however, have a sheet of the most glorious butterflies, printed first onto card and then onto an acetate sheet so they can be layered together.  I think that means it’s worth starting another book all over again and hoping that, next time, with the knowledge and experience gained on this first prototype model, I might achieve a more satisfactory outcome.

(you’d never believe I worked in Education, would you?  ;-)

Two weeks early

We’ve just been into the garden to bring in the first bowl of elderflowers.

Unlike last year when we were pressed to make our annual supply of cordial before we went on holiday, this year we’re going to have it all done with time to spare.

It’s been a busy couple of days in the kitchen.  With people coming and going here, meetings and get-togethers, Ian here painting the house and a tea party to go to tomorrow, it was time to buy in the stocks of blueberries for my favourite cake (Blueberry and Pear “Emergency cake” from Nigel Slater’s Kitchen Diaries).  I’ve made two so far and will make a third tomorrow morning.  Though the pear and blueberry combination is always a winner, peach and raspberry, apple and blackberry or any other variation on the theme work just as well.

With the aroma of the poached chicken (yes, I finally got around to that!) from lunchtime filling the kitchen too (made to Rose Prince’s recipe, with a delicious combination of cinnamon, cloves and black peppercorns), it’s a good day to be in there.

But I had to share these gorgeous flowers, too.  I bought them in Waitrose yesterday and were unsure whether they were tulips or peonies at first.  Once home, I saw immediately they’re tulips, but the colour and form of the flowers are amazing.

Though the flowers themselves are actually quite small, the stripes of raspberry ripple with a rich vanilla centre create a striking effect and each flower is a delight, especially where the pale green calyx is showing.

Sadly, of course, they smell of nothing at all.