Gothic Lolita Sewing and Other Amusements

Art journals

2011-11-16T22:29:00.001Z

Hello there. You may notice I have a new obsession up on the top left. Unless you happen to be viewing this in your reader. In which case you won't see ... so I'll just tell you. I've swapped my 'Wedding' obsession for 'Art Journal'. Mainly because I got married (yay) and now we are back from our honeymoon (boo) I've been quite into scrapbooking.

Well maybe. More like scrapbooking in the old fashioned way.I've kept sketchbooks for a long time. They are like notebooks where I keep my ideas and lists. Sometimes I stick tickets and things in them. Sometimes I draw. I've been following a group on flickr for a while where people add their sketchbook pages and more recently I've found similar on Pinterest (isn't Pinterest great?). Its very inspiring to see other people's work.

I started looking for more examples of sketchbooks with bits of things taped in but with a less rigid feel than modern scrapbooking. Somewhere between keeping a sketchbook, journaling and scrapbooking I found 'art journals'. The journals which appealed to me most were ones where people made them without a book as a basis. They just start collecting pages together and it takes shape by itself. This reminded me of the way I used to work in college. I'd keep all my notes and bind them up at the end of a project. You have less to carry and aren't restrained by one size or kind of paper.

by ChiekoY on Flickr

from the Hufford House blog

These are also less formal and because it is more of a journal than an album there is less pressure to get everything 'right'. My pages are still taking form, but I might share a few once I really get going. In the mean time, if you like these, I've collected a few more of my favourites on a Pinterest board. I love Pinterest. Did I mention that already?

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T21:05:00.000Z

Trick ... or Treat?

Halloween has actually been going on for a week at our house as last weekend we went to see 'Halloween' at the cinema. It was an original film print with all the lines and crackles - very 70's!

Last night I dressed up as a zombie nurse for a 'Shaun of the Dead' party at an awesome bar near where we live. (For those who've seen it, there were Cornettos and everything ;) Marc 'dressed up' as Rob Zombie for the occasion.

Tonight though, we are staying in waiting to see the kids all dressed up, followed closely by the digitally remastered 'Halloween' on TV.

Happy Halloween everyone!

A trip to the country

2011-09-11T10:00:00.000+01:00

I went for a little get away with some of my lady friends recently. We don't get to see each other very often so we hired a place out in the coutryside and drank wine and chatted for hours.

The place where we stayed was beautiful and even kept chickens and alpacas. The alpacas were lovely. They came over to investigate us, but I think they were dissapointed that we didn't have any food for them.

are you ready for your close-up?

We also visited the town of Ludlow. Some parts of the castle there date back to the 13th century. The whole town is beautiful though, very old-fashioned and full of little independant shops and cafes. I got some really tasty Mango Ketchup from the market.

My awesome birthday and cake

2011-09-08T10:00:00.000+01:00

Its been a while since my birthday. A few months actually, but I really wanted to write about it because everyone made it such a special occasion for me!

Let me give you a little back story. I had a big birthday this year. Okay, I was 30. As you know we are getting married this year so I didn't want to make a big thing about it as all my family would be coming over later in the year the wedding anyway. My folks however, got together with Marc and arranged a surprise party for me. Yep, a real surprise birthday party. I had no idea. I nearly cried when I saw everyone there, I didn't know what to say.

Marc also made me a cake. Remember some of the cakes I've made for him? Turns out he has a talent for baking, himself! Check out his awesome and huge 'cupcake'. I've seen people use this mould before online, but he even used chocolate to make a cupcake 'case'. There was cake inside it too. Very impressive for someone who has never made a cake beyond rice crispy buns.

So I'd like to say another big thank you to all my friends and family for making my birthday amazing.

Caramalised onion and sun-dried tomato palmiers

2011-09-05T10:00:00.000+01:00

These pastry based savouries are perfect for a picnic. They are only two bites big but huge on flavour and use only three main ingredients. Okay it is a bit of a cheat as one of the ingredients is ready made pastry. And I cheated even more by using ready-rolled pastry ... but who's counting?

I think the impressiveness to difficulty ratio is pretty good. They are a bit fiddly, but also very forgiving because of their 'rustic' look.

Ingredients

- 1 pack of ready-made puff pastry (if it's not ready rolled roll it out into a big rectangle about 5mm thick)
- 1 jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- about half a jar of caramelised onion chutney/sweet onion jam
- an egg mixed with a little milk for egg washing
- salt and pepper for seasoning and maybe some herbs (I used a bit of dried thyme)

Method

- Drain and chop up nearly a full jar of sun-dried tomatoes (my jar was about 280g)
- spread some onion over the whole surface of the pastry
- distribute the tomatoes over the top of that and season with a bit of salt, pepper and thyme
- roll both sides of the pastry into the middle (the long sides) and stick together with a little egg
- pop the roll into the fridge for about half and hour (you'll really want to do this or pop it in the freezer for a bit so that it hardens up some)
- start to slice 1cm pieces off the roll with a sharp knife
- lay them on a baking sheet, cover the top in egg wash
- bake in the oven for about 10 minutes at 180c

I actually made these to take to a social at my work with what I think is called a 'potluck' meal in the US but we sometimes call it a 'fuddle'. However I ended up being poorly and not being able to go, so I can't let you know how they went down. Marc seemed to like them!

Wedding plans

2011-09-02T10:00:00.000+01:00

Well hello! I've not been around as much as usual lately as I've been kinda busy with wedding stuff. It seems to take up a lot of my time. Actually thats not -technically- true. It takes up a lot of the time I would normally be blogging or making disasterous recipes.

Some of it has been a lot of fun - I've been making things. Lots of things. Some of them are really easy to do and look cool - like these hearts. I found the tutorial for them over here. I think they make nice decorations even if you're not getting married. I've got a couple strung up in our bedroom which are very pretty.

Some of the other things have been really difficult or taken ages. Mainly is because I had to multiply them by the number guests we have invited!

I'll show you some more after the event, I want everything to be a surprise for people on the day,

Experiments in pasta: Fregola

2011-07-13T23:36:00.000+01:00

Fregola. Fregola? Have you heard of it?

I hadn't seen it before today. I just happened to be watching a programme about Italian cooking and saw them making it. It's a pasta made from semolina. Kinda like cous cous but a bit bigger and weirder. I've never had much success making actual pasta but this turned out really well.

You make it by laying out semolina on a tray and then sprinkling it with water. You swirl it with your finger tips and tiny pasta rubble appears. I think you are supposed to dry it out after that in the Italian sun, which we are supremely lacking ... so I baked it in the oven for a bit.

You cook it in boiling water like any dried pasta for 8-10 minutes. It's very filling. I made it with tomato sauce but it's meant to be good in soup and stuff too. Apparently they save the smaller bits for soup, but I currently do not have a sieve so a colander had to do. You get the picture.

Frankly, I still can't believe it worked ...

Ah, I found the program, it was Lidia's Italy. She explains it way better here: http://www.lidiasitaly.com/recipes/detail/1029

I am rather interested in Italian recipes (and wines) at the moment as we have booked to go to Italy on our honeymoon. Whoop! Very exciting :)

Photography: urban exploration & post processing

2011-06-12T17:16:00.000+01:00

This week the weather has been really changeable. Sunny one minute, raining the next, not great for taking photos. So I ended up bypassing my Saturday morning lie in to take some pictures before the rain started. For a while now I've been planning to investigate a row of houses which have had some of their walls removed leaving them with an odd inside/outside effect. Some demolition work was done after a there was a fire a few weeks ago but I think the houses might have been empty before that.

I've also been playing more with Pinik, the online photo editing software. One of my current favourite features is the 'cross process filter'. It's a bit like the ones you get on those iphone apps which take 'vintage' photos.

Here are a few of the pictures I took and processed. There are more natural looking ones on my flickr if you'd like to see the originals.

Do you think it's cheating to use these kind of filters? I really like the effects but part of me feels you should have to use the appropriate film camera to get them.

Home made granola bars recipe

2011-05-11T21:50:00.000+01:00

Did I mention I'm trying to cut back on my baking? Well, not so much the baking as the eating of the baked goods. These are a bit of an in-between. I'm not sure they can honestly be called 'healthy'. They have about the same calories as a Mars bar, but they do have way more nutritional value. Pretty easy to make too, and very tasty.

Ingredients makes 12 bars

100g butter/marg
200g porridge oats
50g sunflower seeds
50g chopped walnuts
3 tbsp honey
100g light brown sugar
100g dried fruits (I used apricots)

Method

- Put the oven on 160c or the equivalent
- Put the oats, nuts and seeds on a baking tray and toast for 5-10 minutes in the oven
- Melt the butter, sugar and honey together in a pan
- Mix the oats, nuts, seeds and fruits in with the butter mixture
- Tip it out on to a baking tray (25cm x 18ish) which is either greased or lined with baking paper
- Lightly press the mix into the tray so that it will hold together
- Bake for around 30mins
- I suggest cutting it before it cools as it gets quite solid once it has set
- Enjoy for breakfast or as a tasty snack :)

New project: wedding bolero prototype

2011-05-08T14:10:00.000+01:00

Yes, a new sewing project! Wow it's been a long time. I suppose I've had less reason to sew recently but with the wedding planning getting going again I was inspired to start something new.

It's quite exciting actually. I've chosen my wedding dress, I can't show you because it's a surprise, but it's very cool. I did originally think that I might make my own dress, but I'm glad I changed my mind. It's much less stressful to know I can leave that up to someone else.

I do want to make some things though. It seems silly not to use my skills and also it adds a more personal element, knowing you've put work into creating something. Since we are getting married in October I thought a jacket might be in order in case it's chilly. You never know with the weather in this country, it might be a bright autumn day or a dark winter one.

So here it is - a prototype for a wedding bolero/shrug type thing. I started off with New Look pattern 6507. I changed the shape of the front quite a lot and made it shorter. I also thought about maybe making the top of the sleeves a bit puffier? I've been very good and transferred my changes back to my paper pattern for when I make the real thing.

The final one will probably be a different colour so I'll need to find some more lace or create a ruffle for the edge. It's a shame really as that one works nicely!

What do you think?

Easter baking

2011-04-27T21:44:00.000+01:00

I hope you had a nice Easter if that's your kind of thing. We had a lovely long weekend off work and the weather was absolutely beautiful on Friday.

Marc was working on his latest comic creation on Saturday afternoon, and I did some baking. First off I made some cookies with 'caramel cubes' in them. I found a new range of baking bits at our local cake decorating shop. It's a range called 'divine deli's decorate!' I can't find a lot about them online, but they are very tasty and everything comes in cute little jars.

We were invited to have dinner with my family on Sunday and I volunteered to bring dessert. Since it was Easter I thought we might be a bit chocolate-d out, so I went for a spiced apple cake. I'd not made it before but everyone seemed to enjoy it. It had chunks of apple in the cake as well as the slices on the top. The 'spice' was mostly just a big spoonful of cinnamon but it balanced out the sugar nicely. Great with custard too. (I can post up the recipe if anyone is interested.)

Now there is just one more day of work and then we'll be having another long weekend! I'm hoping to start a new sewing project, its been so long since I've sewn anything. However, if it's nice outside, that might all go out the window ...

Now with added Twitter

2011-04-14T14:59:00.000+01:00

Hello there. I am now on Twitter. Actually I was on Twitter before, but now I am tweeting about the things I am interested in on a more regular basis.

That means thoughts about, and links to, other amusements like lomography, photography, baking, cooking, sewing, craftiness and weddings.

So if you fancy following me just click on the button up there on the left. See you there!

Cherry Pie macarons

2011-04-03T20:57:00.000+01:00

As you may know if you've visited here before, I've got a thing pour les macarons. I am now going to have to admit something kind of embarrassing. I also love Warrant's Cherry Pie. It's a classic (though somewhat sleazy) rock tune. So yes, I made sweet cherry pie flavoured macarons and guess what? They taste so good make a grown man cry. Oh yeah.

Biscuiteering

2011-03-26T15:13:00.000Z

Have you ever seen the Biscuiteers website? They make these fantastic iced biscuits that you can send through the post, kinda like sending flowers but more tasty. Their designs are pretty cool and even cooler, at the end of last year, they brought out a really nice book. It's called 'The Biscuiteers Book of Iced Biscuits'.

Its got lots of beautiful photos, recipes for biscuit dough and icing, useful tips and templates you can trace if you don't have any cutters!

So I chose it as part of my prize from the video competition.

Now. It turns out these are a little bit more difficult than your average cookie. Piping icing is not hard to do per se, but piping it neatly so you can tell what it is? That's another story! So here are some pictures of my first attempt at iced biscuits. I've got a long way to go before I'm at Biscuiteer level!

Diana Mini giveaway from Dainty Squid

2011-03-25T10:28:00.000Z

Kaylah at The Dainty Squid is having a giveaway and the prize is this great limited edition Diana Mini camera. The 'Love is in the Air' camera was brought out earlier this year for Valentine's day. Its so cute!

All you have to do to enter is head over there and leave a comment saying which is your favourite item in the Lomography shop. That's it! And this little cutie could be yours.

You'll need to hurry up though as the contest ends today -25th March!

Good luck.

Mango macaron in the wild

2011-03-23T23:46:00.002Z

shhh. If you're very lucky you might see a macaron in its natural habitat.

My second attempt at the Italian meringue method of macaron creation went a bit better than the first. I wanted to try something a bit different this time, so I went for pink shells with a mango filling. I made my own recipe for the filling so I was pleased it turn out okay. It's not the greatest colour, but it tastes good.

I made them a bit thinner this time and let them dry properly before baking them. I also only cooked one tray at a time. They are so temperamental!

Super moon

2011-03-22T18:41:00.000Z

Did you see the Super moon at the weekend? Apparently on Saturday night the moon was closer to the earth than it normally is. I had a go at taking some pictures. These are my first attempts at photographing the moon and the top one got 'Explored' on Flickr. Yay!

Happy Spring!

2011-03-21T22:38:00.000Z

Today is technically the first day of spring. The weather really made the effort and it felt lovely to be outside.

I heart lomography video

2011-03-20T13:10:00.000Z

We had a video competition at my work and I won a prize! We had a mini awards ceremony and everything. It was only an internal event but we had several different categories and I won the gold award for the 'Now you Know' section. The idea was to either teach people something or share something you are interested in. So I made this little film about Lomography. What do you think?

i heart lomography from Other Amusements on Vimeo

Puzzle Box cake

2011-03-11T23:00:00.001Z

I've been very busy in the kitchen this last week with it being British Pie Week, Pancake Day and Marc's Birthday (That's Mr Fiancé to you).

Now, traditionally I ask him what kind of cake he would like for his birthday, (like the year he asked for Resident Evil cakes) but this year I surprised him with my choice. The Puzzle Box from Hellraiser. I've not actually seen the film with it being an 18 and my having a rather sensitive disposition ... but he is a big fan.

This was my first attempt at a cake with rolled icing (fondant?) so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. However it seems that all those hours watching Food Network challenge were not wasted and it went fine.

The inside is solid, quite dense chocolate cake with a layer of chocolate fudge covered in chocolate flavoured rolled icing.

I got the patterns* 'printed' onto icing with edible ink. Cool no? I cut them out and applied them to the outside, then painted on some of the details with edible gold lustre powder like this one. It says you need a 'Rejuvenator Spirit' to paint with it, but the lady in the shop told me to just mix it with a little clear alcohol, like vodka or gin. (or you might use Disaronno if you don't have anything else in ... )

I'm pleased with how it turned out and Marc seemed pretty impressed so I'd say that's a win.

* I was going to draw them out but actually I borrowed the panels from this great layout put together by Gonchir. Thank you for saving me -a lot- of time.

Spring is on its way. Maybe.

2011-03-02T22:32:00.000Z

I'm hoping that spring is on its way. It's still really cold here but this week it's been daylight when I've got up for work. Yay for daylight. I always feel better when I get up and it's light outside; getting up in the dark feels a bit wrong, like it's the middle of the night.

I've battled the cold to take a few pictures. They give me a bit of hope that it won't be winter forever.

These daffodils are already in full bloom in the park!

The very first blossoms are emerging on the tree at the end of our road.

And right outside my house, my herbs are growing again! The sage lasted through the winter but those chives are totally new. Yeah, they are chives not just a clump of grass.

Italian meringue macarons

2011-02-28T22:49:00.000Z

I finally got time to try a recipe from Pierre Hermé's macaron book. I've been a little daunted by the idea and not just because of the French text. Anything using hot sugar has generally been a recipe for disaster in my kitchen (get it, recipe ... for disaster ... heh) and all the macarons in the book are made with Italian meringue.

I thought I'd drag myself away from chocolate, well almost. These are caramel with dark chocolate ganache filling. They tasted pretty good, unfortunately they don't look all that great. The sugar syrup makes the meringue more stable and it was actually easier to get the right consistency but I think I made them a bit thick so they didn't dry out enough. Hence no feet and some cracked shells :(

I also made it way more difficult for myself by making a rather small quantity. I ended up trying to weigh out 14g of egg white! Luckily I now have an electronic scale, but still, I'll not be doing that again. Plus you don't get enough to scoff and they are so tasty!

Beef Wellington

2011-01-30T16:41:00.000Z

We had a bit of a family celebration at the weekend. To avoid too much work in the kitchen we decided to allocate each course of the meal to a different person and I promised to cook something a bit special for the main course.

I looked at a couple of different things, but decided to have a go at beef wellington. Which I've never made before ... or even eaten before.

A lot of the recipes I found suggested that it wasn't a difficult dish to make - just a little time consuming. Which pretty much covers it. This is my recipe which I kind of mushed together from all the ones I read online. There's loads of steps and plenty of waiting for things to cool so it's not something you can do in an hour - but it's worth making if you want something impressive looking. Went down a storm with my family :)

I made roasted baby carrots and potatoes to go with it as they take about the same time to cook.

Ingredients (4-6 people)

600g Fillet beef - from the middle of the fillet
1 pack of ready made puff pastry (I'm lazy I used ready rolled)
250g Mushrooms
150g Shallots
2 Cloves garlic
75g Pâté
6 Slices of ham (or parma ham or some pancakes)
Butter/oil for frying
Flour for dusting
1 Egg for egg washing
Salt and pepper

Red wine sauce/jus

Half a bottle of red wine
1 litre of beef stock
25-50g butter
Dried/fresh thyme

Method

- Trim any fatty or membrane-y bits from your meat and put it in the fridge to keep cool
- Chop up your mushrooms and shallots and garlic really small. Use a food processor if you have one, or plenty of patience to get everything teeny.
- Heat up some oil and/or butter in a frying pan add the chopped up ingredients and cook gently without browning the shallots. Keep cooking until all the water has boiled away from the mushrooms. I should look like a sort of brown paste. Add some salt and pepper. This is called mushroom duxelles.
- Put the'duxelles' into a bowl and leave to cool.
- In the mean time deglaze the pan with a splash of wine and reserve the liquid.
- Wipe out the pan and return to heat.
- Remove your meat from the fridge and pat some salt and pepper all around it. Massage a bit of oil all over it.
- Sear the meat on all sides including the end. Then set it aside to cool again.
- Whilst it cools, deglaze the pan again and add to the mushroom liquid.
- Put the cooled beef back in the fridge.
- When the duxelles (mushroom paste) is cool, mix it with the pâté and put it back in the fridge.
- There is a recurring theme here, everything has to be cool or it will melt the pastry! So before the next step I popped the meat, duxelles and ham in the freezer for 5-10 mins.
- Next put down some food safe cling film. Lay out your slices of ham (or pancakes? some recipes use pancakes for this bit instead) so that they over lap. These will be wrapped around your meat so make sure there is enough.
- Take the meat out of the fridge again and pat it dry with kitchen roll. Add any juices from the meat to the liquid collection.
- Spread some mushrooms/pâté mix in the middle and place the meat on top. Spread the rest all around the beef including a bit on the ends.
- Wrap the ham around the meat and then wrap the cling film around it to hold everything in place. Then back in the fridge to cool again.
- Next roll out your pastry on a floured surface.
- Whisk an egg with a little milk or water and brush it on the pastry.
- Unwrap the meat parcel, make sure its dry, and place it gently in the centre of the pastry.
- Fold the pastry around it making sure that it is well stuck down and sealed with egg wash. Also make sure that there is only two layers of pastry where it joins up or the pastry won't cook through.
- Turn the pastry encased meat onto a preheated baking sheet so that the seam is underneath.
- Egg wash the top and then score several lines lines across the top. Egg wash again and make two slits that go through the pastry, ham and pâté.
- Pop it back in the fridge again, for at least 15 minutes so that the pastry can relax.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes on gas mark 7/220c
- When the pastry is golden brown, remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes.
- To serve, first slice off the pastry at one end then cut 1inch slices. It should be quite pink in the middle.

For the sauce/jus

- Put all the reserved juices/liquids into a pan with half a bottle of red wine and simmer it to reduce it by about 2 thirds.
- Put the beef stock in a pan and reduce by half - add the reduced red wine and some thyme.
- Just before serving add a good blob of butter and mix in.
- Sieve to remove any bits and pour a little over each slice of wellington.

Enjoy!

Win a Diana Mini Camera

2011-01-19T13:20:00.006Z

'For the easily distracted...' is having a Diana Mini week and with Lomography they are giving away a white version of this super cute camera! It takes 35mm film which is still pretty easy to find and get developed and it's small enough to fit in your bag wherever you go. It's a great way to get into fun film photography.

I like mine so much it got a starring role in my title banner.

All you have to do to enter is drop them a line saying which camera at the Lomography store you like best.

Check out some of my Diana Mini pictures on my Flickr.

On location

2011-01-18T22:51:00.000Z

Recently (at my real life job) I've been working on a very interesting project. It has meant that for the past couple of days I have been taking photos at a video shoot. It's been quite an experience actually. I'd never really thought about how much work goes into video production. Each scene is practised and filmed several times and then they film each character in close-up. Also the sound and lighting has to be right each time and the Director has to be happy with the performances and framing of the shots. On top of that all the footage then has to be edited into the finished piece. No wonder films are so expensive to make - that's a lot of person-hours.

There's also quite a lot of waiting around; so whilst I can't share the pictures I took on set, here are a few of the ones I've taken in between takes:

Photography inspiration: Vivian Maier

2011-01-10T22:21:00.000Z

Today I came across the work of Vivian Maier. It's a bit of an odd story. No one really saw her pictures when she was alive; but then a guy in Chicago bought a box of her negatives from a sale of things being cleared out from some kind of storage locker. In fact he has boxes of her amazing prints and rolls and rolls of unprocessed films full of photos Ms Maier never even saw herself. (I wonder why she never got them developed?) Now he is spreading the word about her talent and sharing her work with the world.

Her street-style photography is very modern and she had an amazing eye for an image. Here are a few of my favourites:

You can find out more about her work and the story on John Maloof's blog: Vivian Maier - Her Discovered Work.

Macaron book

2011-01-09T22:38:00.000Z

Happy New Year folks!

Check out this cool book Marc got me for Christmas. It's by one of the top chefs in the world of Macarons - Pierre Hermé. It's got loads of recipes for different flavours including tomato ketchup!

What's interesting is that the basic mix he uses is made with Italian meringue. The recipes I've tried have always used soft meringue. The main difference is that hot sugar syrup is added to the egg whites. Apparently this makes for a more stable meringue which won't deflate as much when you add your other ingredients. It does mean more washing up though and hot sugar...

There's one other issue. The whole book is written in French. Luckily although my spoken French is awful, my reading is okay. Hopefully I'll be able to decipher enough to give it go. Maybe not the ketchup ones.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T10:10:00.000Z

Yes it's true I gave up on my advent calendar. I know, I'm bad. I got distracted by Christmas parties and shopping! And I got a Hello Kitty calendar with chocolates in it :) Maybe I'll finish it next year.

So anyway - here is picture of our Christmas tree. I think it gets better every year, if I do say so myself ;) Or it might just be that I have a better camera than last year and the year before.

Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas and I'll see you next year for more sewing, baking, crafty things, a wedding and whatever other amusements take my fancy in 2011.

Merry Christmas! xx

Advent calendar challenge: day 7

2010-12-07T21:24:00.000Z

Experimental shrinkies icicles.

Yeah, I'll admit, not that successful.
Shards of broken glass? Not so festive.

I've not used the shrink plastic stuff before, but it seems to have potential. A snowflake might be pretty, maybe something a bit more delicate.

There's some new pictures of real icicles on my flickr. Much more appealing.

Advent calendar challenge: day 6

2010-12-06T22:21:00.001Z

Behind door number six is a super sweet candy cane. I'm going to go ahead and suggest you don't eat this one though as it's made from fimo.

I've not used fimo for a long time, but I really enjoyed making this so I might try it again soon.

Advent calendar challenge: day 5

2010-12-05T22:38:00.000Z

We put up our tree today. I love having the twinkly lights on in the living room, it makes it so cosy. The fifth decoration is a present from Santa, all wrapped up ready to go under said tree.

I think it still needs a gift tag to finish it off properly.

Advent calendar challenge: day 4

2010-12-04T21:08:00.000Z

Today's inspiration is Christmas wreaths - I'd like to make one of these, but I have no idea how I'd attach it to my uPVC front door. So here is my tiny tribute to Christmas greenery.

I nabbed this way of making a wreath from Whipstitch, though I've bulked it up a bit by using two rows of plaits and twisting them together. I was going to add some little red berries but I like the texture as it is.

This is a pretty rubbish picture of it - but here is the fabric I'm going to use as the background for my calendar. I've had it for so long I'd totally forgotten about it but I found it right at the bottom of my fabric box. Apparently I bought it in 2008!

Advent calendar challenge: day 3

2010-12-03T21:19:00.000Z

I've been out and about in the snow today. It seems to take twice as much energy to get anywhere and that coupled with a very long week has left me feeling totally wiped out.

Therefore tonight I bring you: The Extremely Low Effort Snowball.

I made it by cutting out a circle from fake fur then sewing a simple running stitch around the edge. Next I pulled the loose thread to draw the edges in together, and stuffed it with poly filling. Finally I sewed over the gap and added the ribbon. (This also a great way to make Tribbles.)

I'm looking forward to putting the tree up this weekend... after a good long lie in.

Advent calendar challenge: day 2

2010-12-02T22:08:00.000Z

When I found a shiny red bead today whilst I was looking for buttons, I knew right away what I would be making. What else could it be except Rudolph's nose?

The rest of him is made from scraps of gold silk and his antlers are twisted jewellery wire.

Did I mention that I also challenged myself to make all 24 decorations from materials I already have?

It's probably for the best as there was 14 inches of snow outside my front door this morning and it's been snowing all day... again.

Advent calendar challenge: day 1

2010-12-01T23:30:00.002Z

Where did November go? I had every intention of making an advent calendar this year and the time has just raced by. Suffice to say we don't have one. And I've seen some lovely designs on various crafty blogs and look at this one on Etsy... So when I saw this post on Whipstich about how she (also) hadn't got round to making her calendar and was therefore having a sew-along - I was hooked.

So from now until the 24th I'm going to try to make something for my advent calendar everyday.

Here is a bit of a rough sketch of how it will work - the 'dots' will all be buttons with a number sewn next to them. Then I'll make little ornaments to hang on each one. The bit at the bottom will be a 'bag' where they can all live next year until it's their turn. It's somewhat inspired by this idea from inchmark. What do you think?

Here is my first decoration. It's a letter to Santa :) I'm quite pleased with it. My embroidery is not so amazing but the envelope actually opens and it has a little letter inside.

Hopefully I'll have time soon to make the backing as well or they might all end up pinned to the curtains. eep.

1 down 23 to go. What shall I make tomorrow?

Monster snow

2010-12-01T22:10:00.000Z

Today the 'festive dusting of snow' we had, turned into 'monster snow'. Monster as in it's now above my knees. That doesn't happen here very often and in the past few years it's been more likely to snow in March than November or December.

I'm caught between the idea of taking some great pictures and not actually wanting to go outside unless I really have to!

1,2,3, Cookies

2010-11-29T21:11:00.001Z

This is my very own recipe. Okay, so you can't really invent a cookie since they're all made from essentially the same elements but this is mine. I'd love to write my own cookbook one day and take all the lovely foody photographs. I'll probably need more than one recipe for that though -so it might be a while...

Anyway, I've called them 1,2,3, Cookies mainly because they are super easy to make! They are made from a mixture of 1oz sugar, 2oz butter and 3oz flour. I've not made an attempt to convert it into volume yet so it's time to get the scales out if you want to have a go.

This amount makes six cookies. That's not very many you may say, but when you live in a household of two people, baking 24 cookies at a time is not such a great idea.

Ingredients

1oz Granulated sugar
2oz Butter/Margarine
3oz Flour (plus a little extra)
6 Glacé cherries
Heaped tablespoons of candied, chopped, mixed peel
1 tsp Golden syrup
Pinch of salt

Method

- Preheat oven to 180c (350f, gas mark 4) and line a tray with baking paper.

- Cream together the butter and sugar and then mix in the syrup.

- Chop the cherries into quarters and mix with the candied peel and about a tablespoon of flour.

- Mix the 3oz of flour and the pinch into the wet mixture until it is starting to resemble dough.

- Gently mix in candied fruit and flour and squish into a ball of dough.

- Separate into six equal balls and space them out on the baking tray - press each one down into a cookie shape. Make sure there is a bit of room between them as they might spread a little.

- Bake for 8 minutes until the edges are just starting to brown.

- Let them cool a little.

- Consume with a nice cup of tea. I'm not a big fan of tea, but Mr Fiancé has to have a cup when tasting experimental baking projects.

Next I'm going to make them with some different flavours like cranberry and white chocolate chunks. If you try this recipe I'd love to know what you think.

Feeling festive

2010-11-27T12:07:00.001Z

I've started feeling quite festive this last week. Christmas markets are popping up and the lights have been switched on in town. It's also helped that it was first a little frosty in the mornings and then today we woke up to snow.

I took all of these pictures within 5 minutes walk of my house, well, except the lights - they are within 5 minutes of my work instead. The last one really makes me think of Christmas cards.

2010-11-23T17:31:00.000Z

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T22:21:00.000Z

Happy Halloween everyone. This year we did his 'n' her's pumpkins. What do you think? Mine is the 'Other Pumpkin'. If you listen carefully you can hear it whispering, "Stay with us in the the Other World where it's Halloween everyday". Mr Fiancé said it was too cute. I actually think it's kinda creepy to have buttons for eyes... and how can anything be 'too cute'?

Making Macarons - attempt 4

2010-10-24T21:07:00.001+01:00

Success! Yay!!

After my macaron 'revelation' the other day I was dying to have another go and see if I'd found the final piece in the puzzle. They came out of the oven really crispy again (blagh) but I filled them anyway and left them in the fridge. 24hrs later - beautiful smooth macarons. I'm so pleased, I thought they had me beat! Mr Fiancé also got to finally try a proper macaron and see what all the fuss is about.

So this time I followed the David Lebovitz recipe again (except I only made half as much in case they were wrong... again).
I left the egg white out while I went into town, so only an hour or two.
I whipped the egg whites until it was shiny but not really stiff.
I did all that tapping on the counter and waiting for a skin to form stuff then I baked them for 15 minutes with the oven open a bit.

I used my favourite chocolate sauce recipe for the filling instead of chocolate ganache then left them in a box in the fridge for 24 hours.

In honour of them finally working out they got their pictures taken on my cake stand with the pretty roses.

Thank you for all your helpful tips!

Flower Market

2010-10-23T12:03:00.002+01:00

Have you ever been to a flower market? I visited one this week to see what flowers might be available for our wedding.

The name conjures up images of row after row of pretty stalls offering a rainbow of beautiful flowers. Unfortunately that's not the kind of market I've been to. This kind of market is more like a wholesale point for florists and grocers. You have to be there at 5am for the best choice and the setting is a lot more industrial estate than market square!

I was also not there at 5am. To be fair it's a half hour drive away so I thought 6.30 was pretty good. I picked up some white roses to have a go at some flower arranging. They didn't look great at 6.30 on a chilly autumn morning, but after they had come out a bit in the warm they looked gorgeous.

Making Macarons - attempt 3

2010-10-22T10:36:00.000+01:00

Third attempt at the macarons! If you've ever had a go at making macarons (or you've seen my previous failures) you'll know there are a lot of variables which can affect the final product including the humidity in the kitchen.

This time I used a recipe from David Leboviz for chocolate macarons. I only aged the egg whites for an hour, I made sure that I didn't over whip the egg whites, I let them set before I baked them and I cooked them with the oven door slightly a jar.

They look a lot better than last time. A little flat maybe - perhaps I was a bit too cautious with the whipping! The taste was okay, but the texture was still the problem. Instead of being soft and fluffy in the inside they were really chewy. I was starting to think I would never get this right, until someone sent me this post from Not So Humble Pie. It includes a quote from Hermé:

"As soon as they're made they're not ready to eat, but they're really at their best after 24 or even 48 hours," he says. "An osmosis takes place between the garnish and the biscuit. When freshly baked this is hard and crisp, but it absorbs some humidity from the filling and its inside becomes more tender while the crust on the surface stays intact."

So maybe that's how they are supposed to be when they come out of the oven?! I didn't bother doing the filling as I thought they were all wrong! Next time macarons, next time.

Pretty tape round up

2010-10-17T20:12:00.000+01:00

Who doesn't love decorative sticky tape? It's great for scrap-booking, journalling, card making and gift wrapping; as well as just looking pretty. It's popping up in lots of independent internet shops at the moment, so here is a little round up of the self-adhesive beauties I've come across this week.

Lace tape

Add lace to everything non-fabric! I also got some tape similar to this from John Lewis recently.

Jewel tape

Nonesuch things, where this tape comes from, has lots of nice things that would make great gifts. I especially like the porcelain keys, but as you may know I have a bit of a key problem.

Owl tape
Papermash has a whole tape section! But I've included this one as I've not seen it elsewhere.

Masking sticker set
Yeah, okay, not technically a roll of tape. But these sheets of stickers come cut into stripes and circles and they are in a tin. Super cute. The site is even called 'cute tape' and they ship internationally. yay.

Mood Fabrics discount

2010-10-05T09:33:00.000+01:00

I always watch Project Runway when it's on TV here and I love it when they go to Mood to get their fabrics. They seem to have everything; especially compared to my nearest fabric shop which is half material and half lino and carpet. Nice.

Now they are finally online! Yay! And you can get a 30% discount* until the 6th October using the code BurdaStyle30 at checkout.

*Offer valid only on Mood Fashion Fabrics and cannot be used on Fashion Fabrics beginning with PV, home fabrics, notions, buttons, trims and accessories or in combination with Mood gift cards. Just so you know.

Making Macarons - attempt 2

2010-10-03T18:00:00.000+01:00

I had another go at making macarons. It was a total disaster.

Last time they looked okay, but the consistency was wrong. This time I tried a chocolate recipe and I aged the egg whites, which is supposed to help; but as you can see they are not even right on the outside.

I think I made the eggs too thick and I didn't leave the oven door open. Why are they so frustratingly tricky?

New project: Camera bag

2010-09-19T11:56:00.000+01:00

I've been carrying my camera about in a really boring protective case which takes up half the space in my bag. Said bag is also being held together with safety pins :(

Seemed like a good time to start work on a camera bag. It's going to be shaped like a messenger bag, with added padding. Hopefully I'll be able to carry my digital camera and one or two of my film cameras and still have space for other essentials like my phone and wallet.

I'm using a thick grey fabric on the outside which doesn't draw too much attention - then on the inside I'm going to use a pretty printed cotton.

It's only pinned together at the moment. I've still got to decide what kind of fastening it should have before I really get on with it.

And the winner is...

2010-08-30T19:48:00.000+01:00

I think it's about time we had a winner in the Brand Altering competition.

I really enjoyed going through all the entries (over 80!) and as I said before, there were some lovely ideas. They ranged from adding a button here and there, to making brand curtains! There were also some beautiful ideas with halterneck designs.

Unfortunately only one person can win the dress. The one I've chosen is a very sweet idea, keeping the general dress shape but adding a custom design to transform it into something unique. The whimsical theme and style work well with the dress and the artwork this person sent is also delicious! It's based on the poem 'The Owl and the Pussycat'.

Congratulations: Pandasquid

You've won a lovely (if a little drab) Baby the Stars Shine Bright JSK. I hope you'll carry out your plans and let us see! Good luck with your alterations. (please send me your email address :)

Thank you to everyone else for your hard work. It just goes to show what a bit of creativity can do for a plain dress!

The inspiration for this competition, (the blog redesign) is also nearly complete, what do you think?

Photography experiments

2010-08-28T17:19:00.000+01:00

I got some of my pictures back this week from my film cameras, with some interesting results.
Recently I've been using my Fisheye camera and my cute little Diana Mini. I picked also up a really cheap flash to use with my lomo cameras, so I've been able to take some pictures indoors too.

Fisheye
First off these, these are from the Fisheye. It can take a picture covering almost 180degrees. I thought it might come out as a circle but I think this lens might have been made for 120 film, so as there's less room on 35mm part of it is cut off. I love how it bends things to fit them in.

Red filter
For this one I made a DIY filter with red acetate from the stationery shop. It's not a very subtle effect! But I think it looks cool here, like a 70's sci fi film.

Light painting
Another thing I wanted to try was light painting. For this you set the camera to 'bulb' then hold the shutter open for as long as you like. I moved the camera around randomly and this is what happened!

Redscale
This effect was a bit more hassle. It's called 'redscale' and is achieved by shooting through the back of the film. In a very dark room under a dark cloth I cut off a large chunk of film and taped it back on the wrong way round.

You could do some of this stuff in photoshop, but it's great fun not knowing what is going to turn up on your film.

You can see more of these experiments on my Flickr at: flickr.com/photos/ra_life/

Thank you for all your creative thinking!

2010-08-24T16:16:00.000+01:00

Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who entered the Brand Altering Competition. There were some really great ideas! I want to have a good look through and make sure I don't miss any of the email entries before I make the final decision. I'll be announcing the winner on Monday 30th, so watch this space.

Super macaron review

2010-08-15T15:35:00.000+01:00

Om Nom Nom. I tried lots of tasty treats on my trip to the capital, luckily I also did tonnes of walking so I've managed not to put on two stone in the process.

So on to the macarons. I visited four different places and as a 'control' I always chose chocolate as the first flavour and caramel as the second. And I mostly chose the small macarons where I could. I went to Laduree, Pierre Herme, Maison du Chocolat and PAUL.

Laduree Burlington Arcade and Harrods:
£1.50 each

I found the staff at Laudree quite rude. Maybe they treat you better if you buy more?

I found their macarons to be the most delicate and had a beautiful shape. They have a thicker filling and the texture was slightly lumpy.

Laduree paper bag from Burlington Arcade.

Very uniform and smooth looking.

Pierre Herme Selfridges:
£1.85 each

The staff were helpful at Pierre Herme and talked with me about the different flavours. The macarons where slightly thicker than Laudree and very smooth. They were less cakey and the salted caramel was delicious. They had a stronger flavour.

Packaging from Pierre Herme in Selfridges.

Chocolate macaron with cocoa dusting.

Maison du Chocolat Piccadilly and Harrods:
2 for £3.50

The staff here were very nice, the shop is elegant, well spaced out and air conditioned to keep everything cool.

They like to package things up so they are a real treat.

The macarons were delicate and had a very smooth filling. They are slightly smaller than the Laduree offering, but it's more of an experience buying them.

PAUL many locations:
Large macaron £2.80

I went to the one at Covent Garden - the people are generally nice though the cafe is quite upmarket. Everything is more expensive if you eat in.

I had the large chocolate macaron, not entirley fair since it was a bigger size, but it tasted like the most divine brownie in the world. Very fudgey, but still light.

Paper bag from PAUL.

Tasty giant macaron.

My personal favourite was the PAUL macaron. It wasn't quite as delicate some of the others but it tasted great. Laduree and Pierre Herme had some very pretty packaging if you were buying larger quantities but I prefered Maison du Chocolat as a shopping experience.

I might have another go at baking my own now I know how they are supposed to taste.

Brand altering competition/giveaway

2010-07-25T13:32:00.001+01:00

It's giveaway time! As I hinted before this competition is all about transformation and redesign.

What you can win

First things first, the prize is a Baby the Stars Shine Bright JSK.

It's a lucky pack dress and it's never been worn but I think it needs a little makeover. I know some people don't like the idea of messing with brand pieces, but this dress isn't getting any wear as it is.

Front

Back

How the competition works

To enter you'll need to describe in words or pictures or both what you would do with this dress.
You might want to do very little -like just add an applique or you might want to completely change it and make it into a short skirt. You could dye it, cut it up, add a print or pockets.
Then I'll pick the best idea and you get the dress. After that it's up to you!*

You'll also need to follow the blog somehow - through the follow button or through your reader. You can send your entry to my email if you prefer - but please leave a comment so I can make sure everyone gets included. (gothiclolitasewing@gmail.com)

Please leave your entry by Sunday 22nd August 2010 (midnight GMT) and I'll announce the winner after that.

Details

I've removed this bow from the front, but that will be included. It's got shirring and lacing at the back.
Measurements are: (unstretched - fully stretched)
Bust: 34in 87cm - 42in 107cm
Waist: 28in 72cm - 36in 91cm
Length: 39in 100cm
but since this is an alteration challenge - you can change it to your own size.

I really hope someone can give this dress a new lease of life and actually get some wear out of it.
Lets see your creativity! Good luck x

Other info:
International entries are welcome and I will send the dress as a gift but you will be responsible for any customs duties applied by your country.
I only have this one dress so if it gets lost in the post or anything unfortunately there won't be anything I can do.
If you win - it's your dress, so you can give it to a friend or sell it on ebay if you really want. Just so you know it's not worth a whole lot of money - especially since it doesn't have a print or any special embroidery.

*It really is up to you after that - you can do what you want with it. I would be cool to see if you did alter it, but there's no pressure :)

Super cuteness from Artbox

2010-07-24T23:29:00.000+01:00

I'm back from my trip! I had a great time and consumed plenty of macarons. Whilst I'm tranferring all my (many) photographs, I thought I'd tell you about a cool shop I found. I came across this lovely little place in Camden, though they have three locations in London. It's called Artbox.

They sell total cuteness in the form of stationery, bags and toys. Amongst other things they have loads of stickers and notebooks with a little panda (the one on the left there) which as well as being cute have inspirational messages, like 'live the life you imagined' and 'I believe I can fly'.

Suffice to say I bought a bag full of goodies including some post-its to use in my scrap/sketchbooks. The prices are good and the staff were friendly and helpful. So I was pretty pleased when I saw they have a fully stocked website too. Yay!

Stand by for the giveaway I mentioned (very soon) and then my super macaron review from the Other Amusements Tour of London.

Musical note embroidered lace

2010-07-18T18:01:00.000+01:00

I came across this lace on Etsy today and thought I'd share it with you as I've never seen any like it before. It's from Parkersupplies and is also available in black.

I've not bought from them but I am tempted as they've got some other nice things in their shop too, like lace appliques and wooden alphabet rubber stamps.

Wedding invitations

2010-07-07T16:00:00.001+01:00

I've not written anything about wedding planning have I? I don't want to bore you with it but sometimes my 'current obsession' should really be set to wedding.

I've been looking at stationery like this huge set from Spark. First I thought, why would you ever need all those bits and pieces? But then when I think about designing my own set, I want to make everything. You get to use different shaped envelopes and bits of ribbon and there's so much opportunity to apply your design. You don't need them, but it sure sounds like my kind of fun!

A lot of wedding stuff has been like that actually. Dresses, cakes, craft, design and photography - pretty much covers what I ramble on about here. So I'm looking forward to researching all this and maybe showing you some of the cool things I come across in wedding world.

Fairytale necklaces

2010-07-06T23:19:00.000+01:00

Sometimes you need a little fairytale in your life. If you're feeling down it reminds you that there is magic in the world and that anything can happen. You might find a great new chocolate shop or even your prince around the next corner!

Here are a few of my favourite necklaces to help you keep your faith in the magic:

Topshop Keys and Clock Pendant
£28

Oliver Bonas Key to my Heart
£18

Disney Couture Keys Pendant
£36

Okay, I really like keys.

Juicy Couture You are the Fairest Pendant
£55 (reduced from £78!)

Disney Couture 'Drink Me' pendant
£19 (reduced from £30!)

A lot of the Alice related stuff is on sale now since the film is out on DVD.

Redecorating and things to come

2010-07-04T14:43:00.000+01:00

In a couple of months 'Gothic Lolita Sewing and Other Amusements' will have had the dubious honour of reporting my project related triumphs and disasters for three years.

Due to there being less emphasis on the 'lolita sewing' and more on the 'other amusements' recently and the fact that it's had the same layout the whole time; I'm thinking it's time for a little redecorating.

Whilst this is going on I've got a great giveaway for you, it's mainly for the sewing lovers but is open to everyone - so watch this space for more information.

I think you'll like it most, lovely loli ladies; there's brand involved ;)

Exploring the city: Sheffield

2010-06-28T12:00:00.001+01:00

Here are a few of the photos I took when I went exploring with one of my friends.

Urban Exploration Lite

2010-06-27T10:39:00.000+01:00

Urban Exploration is about documenting abandonned buildings and other spaces you don't usually get to see, like drains and tunnels. It involves ropes and torches and dangerous places.

It's one of those activities (like Roller Derby) that I wish I was cut out to do.
Unfortunately I'm not good with climbing (or skating for that matter).

So this is my version - it's mainly about taking a closer look at what's around you.

Charles Baudelaire, who wrote in 1850's Paris, was fond of the term Flâneur. Technically it's a french word meaning stroller, saunterer or loafer but he uses it more as a concept to describe "a person who walks the city in order to experience it".

I think he was talking about 'gentlemen' who were out experiencing the city, perusing 'the poor' and them returning to their comfortable abodes. But modern people with busy lives can also find a few moments to look at what's around them. Even if it's just on your way to work you can start to see the different textures of the streets. Notice the dérive. Another French word, literally meaning drift.

The sudden change of ambiance in a street within the space of a few meters; the evident division of a city into zones of distinct psychic atmospheres; the path of least resistance that is automatically followed in aimless strolls (and which has no relation to the physical contour of the terrain); the appealing or repelling character of certain places...
—Guy Debord, Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography

So Urban Exploration Lite is about documenting the spaces that you may walk past everyday and not actually see. It could mean noticing the patterns in floor tiles or photographing the beauty of urban decay. It's something you can do anywhere, anytime and (as long as you use your common sense) it's a lot less dangerous than climbing inside burnt out buildings after dark.

Where have I been?

2010-06-26T22:01:00.000+01:00

I've been working a lot! But I've managaed to fit in some fun stuff as well, for one I visited another country house. Actually Haddon Hall is "a fortified medieval manor house dating from the 12th Century".

It's a fabulous place. You can look round a lot of the house and gardens including the chapel; but the owners actually live there so obvioulsy you can't see their bit!

I think the chapel and the kitchens were the most interesting parts. In the chapel you can see where they had religious scenes painted on the walls. They are just outlines now, but everthing would have been in full colour back then. In the kitchens you can see huge dents in the wood where they cut the food. Apparently they used to have their meat chopped up really small as they didn't have enough teeth to chew it.

I took loads of photos. I seem to have taken one of every flower in the garden. There are some more on Flickr if you'd like to have a look.

Adventure planning: Other Amusements Tour of London

2010-06-04T21:32:00.003+01:00

I'm quite excited about this new adventure.

In a few weeks time I'm taking a trip to London for a couple of days. I've been to London before, but there has always been a reason, like a gig or a show or for work. This time I'm going to all the places I never had time to go on other visits! This is the Other Amusements Tour of London.

I'm looking forward to going to the cupcake shops I had to walk past in order to catch trains, fabric shops which were already closed for the night and the Lomography shop - since it's my newest obsession.

And most of all I'm looking forward to trying some macarons from the top bakeries like Ladurée (the top picture) and Pierre Hermé (the second picture) maybe even PAUL,Yauatcha and La Maison du Chocolat if I don't feel sick by then...

Any other recommendations? What would you do with a day in London?

Tidying up

2010-06-03T23:02:00.000+01:00

Just in case you were wondering where the lolita shopping and sewing links had gone; don't worry, they've just been tidied up and given their own space.

They were getting montrous and starting to clutter things up, so now you can find them here or by clicking Lolita Links in the 'Go to' section on the sidebar.

Japanese crafty goodness - Yozo Craft

2010-05-25T22:40:00.003+01:00

I'm a sucker for cute crafty items as you may know from my recent ebullient posts about Happy Tape and Martha Stewart punches. So I was in my element when I came across Yozo Craft. It's jam packed with the cutest Japanese stationery, stickers, buttons and stamps. Check out the great camera stamp and that tape measure ... er.. tape!

Zoyo Craft is run by the same people as Cottonblue on Etsy where they sell some lovely Japanese fabrics. They also have an Etsy shop called 3point5dollars where, you guessed it, everything is $3.50.

I've not purchased anything yet, but it looks like you can choose Airmail or EMS shipping and also pay with Paypal.

These sewing themed stamps are top of my list I think. Anything catch your eye?

Easy flat bread

2010-05-23T18:44:00.002+01:00

I've been eating red pepper jelly with everything since the food fair yesterday!

This afternoon I was looking for something else to devour it with and decided to have a go at making some flat breads. It's really easy to make and only has 3 basic ingredients - flour, oil and water.

This amount makes enough for about 4 flat breads which are around 6 inches across (enough for our snacks!) but you could double or triple it up.

Ingredients:

1cup self-raising flour (for plain/strong flour add 2tsp baking powder and a pinch of baking soda per 3cups)
1tbsp olive oil
1/3cup cold water
1/2tsp salt
I added a sprinkling of dried thyme and a bit of italian seasoning I found in the cupboard.

Method:

- Mix flour, salt and any other flavourings in a bowl
- add the oil and water to form a dough
- knead until it's a bit more shiny
- cut into pieces and roll out each piece
- heat up a griddle or frying pan coated with a little oil
- cook on each side for a minute or two - just watch for when it starts to bubble up on the first side or brown slightly
- enjoy warm with tasty dips - or make it into a mini pizza!

Adventures at Kedleston Hall

2010-05-22T18:49:00.003+01:00

Today has been a gloriously sunny day. It's been about 25°C which is pretty warm for round here! In honour of such an auspicious occasion I decided to go on an adventure. Namely, to the food and drink fair at Kedleston Hall.

Kedleston Hall is an amazing country house built in the 1760s. The fair is held annually in the grounds between the house and the river. Very pretty.

I had a good look round the fair and then investigated the church and the grounds. I didn't go into the house this time, but I might go back and check it out one day when it's not so hot.

I sampled quite a few tasty things including these cupcakes (had to be done!) and some red pepper jelly (as in jam, not the dessert!).

I took lots of photos, some on my film camera; so we'll have to wait and see how they come out. If you'd like to see something a bit more instant, I've put some more pictures on my flickr.

Mini scones

2010-05-16T16:10:00.002+01:00

Today my finacé is feeling a bit under the weather so I made some scones to cheer him up a bit.

They are great for people who prefer savoury snacks since they are more bread-like than anything. (And a nice change for those of us who consume chocolate like it's going out of fashion...)

My recipe is in ounces for this one, I've made an attempt at a conversion to the US system but it doesn't seem to translate to well.

Ingredients:
8oz Self-raising flour(1 3/4cup Plain four + 2 tsp baking powder)
1oz Sugar (3 tbsp)
2oz Butter (4 tbsp)
pinch of salt
1 egg
1/4 pint milk

Method:
Delia uses a slightly different recipe but there are some good pictures of the method on her site.
- Preheat oven to 220c/190c fan/425f/gas7 lightly grease and flour a baking tray
- Sieve the flour into a bowl with the salt
- Add the butter (room temp) and rub into crumbs
- Add the sugar and mix together
- Beat the egg together with enough milk to make about 1/4 pint (about 2/3 cup) liquid
- Add about half of the egg/milk to the bowl and mix with a knife - if it is still dry and not starting to stick together add more of the liquid. When it starts to form a dough lightly knead it into a ball
- On a floured surface, roll it out to about 1/2-1 inch thick and cut out circles (or other shapes)
- You can use some of the left over liquid to brush the tops of the scones to make them brown nicely
- Bake for about 10 minutes
- Enjoy with butter and jam, or jam and clotted cream for a real treat.

It's got to be raspberry jam for me! When my Grandad was alive he used to make it; the best kind, with the pips in. I miss my Grandad, and my Granny - I used to cook buns with her when I was little and eat glacé cherries.

Instant photography

2010-05-14T23:35:00.000+01:00

I took the film from my Panda Cam in to be developed. Apparently it has to be sent away and it won't be back for three weeks!

So here's something a lot more speedy - instant in fact.
This is just the post box round the corner, but I took it with the Fuji Instax Mini10 which takes these great credit card size photos. (It uses Instax mini film the same as the 'new' polaroid 300 camera.)

I've never really used a polaroid-type camera before, it's great fun getting your pictures straight away. I like the way they look - very retro. Not so great is that the camera is kinda noisey and the film works out pretty expensive per picture (50-70p each!)

Cupcakes and macarons at Fancie

2010-05-12T21:36:00.001+01:00

I wrote a post a couple of years (yes, years!) ago about some luscious cakes we had at an event at my work. At the time the woman who created them was just starting out. Now its a tasty cupcake empire!
The company is called Fancie and is based in Sheffield UK.

They have a really cute little cafe/shop on the outskirts of town and recently opened a kiosk right in the city center.

Check out the cupcake I consumed yesterday and yes...

...macarons.
I tried my first (not made by me) macaron. Chocolate flavour and it was delicious. I require more.

This many will do nicely.

or maybe this many.

Pretty Happy Tape!

2010-05-10T21:11:00.000+01:00

I came across these great rolls of tape a little while ago and was really taken by the colours and patterns, especially all lined up in a box like that.

It's a kind of Japanese masking tape called Washi paper tape.
It looks like it would be great for crafts, scrapbooks, notebooks or just taping up parcels and presents!

You can get tonnes of different flavours too. Check out Happy Tape for buying lots of great combinations and JuBella for a collection of lovely ideas.

New toys - Diana Mini and Panda-cam

2010-05-09T22:21:00.000+01:00

Remember a little while ago I showed you my Smena Symbol camera and starting talking about Lomography? Well since then I've picked up a couple more cameras.

The top one is the Diana Mini - which takes normal 35mm film but you can take a half picture -so you get twice as many photos per film. It's pretty small, only about four inches across and very light.

The second I call the Panda Cam! It's teeny tiny. The camera is only the middle bit and is about an inch across. The bits on the sides are actually the film sticking out. It takes 110 film like the cameras I had as a kid in the eighties.

You can only take outdoor pictures with this though as it has no flash.

I've not developed any film from the Panda Cam yet, but here is one from the Diana Mini. Well technically one and a half joined together by chance.

I've signed up for a 'film swap' through the Diana Mini Love blog,
so I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens with that.

If you are interested in seeing some more of these kind of pictures - check out the lo-fi sets on my Flickr :)

Other amusements

2010-05-09T17:43:00.000+01:00

You may have noticed that there have been rather a lot of 'other amusements' round here recently and not so much 'gothic lolita sewing'. One of the reasons for this is that my sewing machine is broken, *sob sob*. But also I've been doing lots of other things and I want to talk more about them.

So, what I really want to say is;

Dear Lolita,
I'll always love you Lolita, it's not you - it's me. It's true that I've seen some wedding dresses which are much more beautiful than yours; but that's not it, honest. I've changed. I want to persue other interests. I hope we can still be friends.
Best wishes,
ra_life xxx

From now on I'll be talking about whatever I am currently obsessed with, I think you'll still like it. Lolita will still be a part of things, just in a more healthy balanced way. Hopefully I'll be updating more often too!

New favourite cookie recipe

2010-04-25T16:37:00.001+01:00

I got a new book a while ago which looked to have lots of great recipes for lovely treats such as cookies, cupcakes and brownies in it. I tried a couple out and was quite dissappointed with the results.

So it was back to the internet to find something yummy that actually works. I found these chocolate cookies!
They are quite soft and chewy, like a brownie-cookie. I love brownies so thats a great combo for me!

Also no eggs in these, but they do have yogurt. I suppose they are low fat, still plenty of sugar though.

This recipe makes 12 good size cookies.

Ingredients:
1 cup Self-raising flour (or plain with 1/4tsp bicarb)
good pinch of salt
4 tbsp butter/marg
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
7 tbsp cocoa powder
1/3 cup plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Method:
- Preheat oven to about 180°c (350°f). Line two trays with baking paper or whatever you normally use.
- Measure out the flour and salt and chocolate chips into a mixing bowl.
- Melt the butter in the microwave or over a pan of hot water.
- Add the sugars, cocoa and vanilla to the butter and mix up to form a sandy goo. Add the yogurt and mix it in.
- Add the chocolate gloop into the flour and mix until combined.
- Use a spoon to make six blobs of mixture on each tray, make sure they are quite far apart.
- Pop them in the oven for about 10-12mins (depending on your oven)
- After 8 minutes mine looked really puffed up so I squished them down a bit with a fork them left them for another 2 minutes.
- Let them cool for a bit on the tray.
- Even better the next day, just like brownies.
- nom nom nom

I found this recipe over here The Little Chef (no, not that Little Chef another one) who in turn found them here Orangette.
Wherever they came from orignally they officially rock!

Costumes from The Duchess

2010-04-05T17:40:00.001+01:00

Last weekend I went to a big sewing show. There were lots of stalls selling beautiful materials from hand dyed silks to plastic buttons but possibly the best part was the exhibition space. Many talented textile artists had their work on display. I enjoyed seeing what people could do with fabrics not involving clothing - especially the 3d forms.

However I thought you guys might be intersted in this bit - there was an exhibition of dresses from the film The Duchess. They were freaking amazing. The fabrics were so detailed and rich. They looked pretty heavy though, check out those bustles.

Adventures in Lomography

2010-03-27T15:07:00.001Z

I've been getting more into photography recently so I started looking at some fun ways of taking pictures without getting into the expensive realm of digital SLRs. First I looked at Polaroid cameras - although Polaroid have stopped making instant film (I think they'll be back!) Fuji still make cameras and 'Instax' film. This is how I came across the PoGo printer. Its a tiny device that prints wallet sized stickers straight from your digital camera or phone! (its been out for a while but it has come down in price a lot recently.)

Then I began looking at film cameras. I was charmed by Lomo photographs I saw on people's blogs and on Flickr. Lomography uses cheap old Russian film cameras (or reproductions of them) to make images which are creative and experimental.

I now have a Smena Symbol (in the picture). I loaded it up with some colour film and went out to take some pictures around where I live and work. I'm really pleased with how they came out:

High street finds: bow ring

2010-03-14T21:44:00.001Z

I've been trying to save some money recently so I've not been hitting the shops as frequently as I'd like. However, last weekend I was shopping with a girl friend and spotted this little beauty at Accessorize. It didn't break the bank at £3 and I've worn it twice so far without it breaking itself.

There's also a black version which they call the 'Mega Bow' and for good reason. I tried it on and it pretty much covered three of my fingers!

When buttons are biscuits

2010-03-02T13:00:00.001Z

Due to my current minor obsession with button shaped things, I made some button biscuits! I must admit that I was rather inspired by a post at Forty-sixth at Grace. Her un-baked cookies look so lovely in pastel colours.

Mine are not such a pretty shade but tasted pretty good. Not too sweet (a nice change after the fudge incident) more like a shortbread biscuit. I had to add some extra flour as the mixture was a little sticky and it really does help if you refrigerate it for the times suggested. I am very impatient and tend to stick things in the freezer for 5 minutes and hope for the best. I used a skewer to do the holes in the middle.

Even the recipe is cute! It can be downloaded via Forty-sixth at Grace as a beautifully illustrated page by Eva Juiliet.

My first trip to the ballet

2010-02-26T13:35:00.000Z

Last week I went to the ballet for the first time. I like to try new things and though I enjoy going to the theatre and live music I'd never been to any kind of dance performance before. So I decided it was time for a new experience.

As a novice in these things I choose a classic, Swan Lake to start with (performed by the Russian State Ballet of Siberia). I looked up the story before hand so that I would know what was going on but it tells you about it in the programme anyway. I found it quite enjoyable. I think I enjoyed the swans dancing more than the men, they seemed to have more variety of movement. Although having said that the 'bad guy' was very dynamic.

It was great to hear a live orchestra play too. There wasn't a pit so you could see all the instruments and really feel the music.

I loved the swan skirts! They were pretty much horizontal. The ultimate in uber-poof?

My friend tells me that this is a very traditional presentation of the ballet and that modern dance can be a lot more passionate and creative. I did enjoy the costumes and spectacle of Swan Lake so I wonder if I'd miss that in something more abstract? Maybe I'll try that next.

Valentines creamy fudge hearts

2010-02-14T23:01:00.004Z

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today I had a go at making fudge. It's one of those recipes that people avoid as it's hard to get right. I wish I'd known that before I set out! ha ha.

I don't think I got it quite right. Everything seemed to go okay - but the texture isn't very creamy it's more like a sugar mouse. (Which is fine but they are way easier to make, you don't have to boil sugar or anything). These are also VERY VERY sweet.

If you'd like to have a go, I got the recipe here: creamy fudge hearts, it's on the Martha Stewart site.

I only made half the quantity suggested and I'm glad I did as anymore would have bubbled over the top of the pan! To be fair it does say what size pan you need but I don't really get what a quart is. Anyway, you need a BIG pan, a jam/candy thermometer and lots of patience.

The fiancé would like to add at this point that VERY VERY sweet is an understatement.

EDIT: They tasted much better the next day! Still sweet but a lot more creamy.

When buttons aren't really buttons

2010-02-13T11:00:00.011Z

As someone who likes crafting all kinds of things I was really taken by this cute paper punch.

Not only does it cut out little buttons, it embosses them as well! They'd be lovely in a scrapbook or on cards for people who like to sew.

It's a Martha Stewart product which I've never seen the UK before. They seem popular though - they are sold out on a lot of craft supply sites.

I'll show you the results as soon as I get my hands on one of these little beauties.

Finding interesting materials

2010-02-07T17:10:00.005Z

Sometimes I feel the kinds of fabrics and notions available are a bit limited. There are lots of online fabric shops but quite often they seem to stock quite similar products. So I've started looking in different directions for interesting materials to make my clothing more unique. Here are few ideas:

Scope out charity shops.
Although there are some ugly things in charity shops they can be a good place to find small amounts of a fabric - say for an applique or a bag. Velvet can be very expensive and you may not need a whole meter so finding a velvet skirt for £1.50 could be a great buy. Recycling is good for the planet too!

Try a flea market.
I find these really good for buttons. I've seen some really cool military style ones and you can usually get a deal if you buy a few, I've even had them thrown in free when I was buying something else!

Fairs for 'other' hobbies and interests.
This weekend I visited a historical reenactors kit fair. It's not a past time in which I partake but they had lots of 'period' dresses for inspiration and a great leather supplier. I got the clasp in the picture which I really like, I'm thinking about putting it on a cape. I had a good chat with a lady about making cloaks as well.

Almost-antique-shops.
I'm not sure what these are really called, maybe just a cheap antique place? They always have loads of brooches and sometimes vintage lace and ribbon.

Dance wear.
For something a little more spangle-y try the notions sections of dancing fabric shops. You might need sunglasses to get past all their neon Lycra but they tend to have rhinestones and sequins to the nth power.

I think the main point is to look outside the lolita world for supplies in the way we look outside for inspiration!

Pictures, snow and inappropriate shoes

2010-01-10T17:24:00.015Z

I decided to try out my coat in the snow!

I don't usually do pictures like this but then we don't usually have snow like this.

I didn't know if my coat would be warm enough, but it was fine. My main problem was lack of appropriate footwear.

I do actually have some very warm gloves and boots but they are both black and I didn't want to spoil the look. They do match my hair better though!

Thanks to my lovely fiance for being my photographer and standing out in the cold while I messed about.

Model: me (with chilly feet) Photo man: Fiance Clothes: Beret & Brooch - Primark, Coat - made by me, Blouse - Baby, Skirt - made by me, Tights - bargain from TK Maxx, Shoes - one of those replica places.

Macarons in the UK

2010-01-06T13:00:00.002Z

You can now mail-order macarons from Bougie in the UK! I really want to try some but they are rather expensive treats.

Couture Sewing Techniques book

2010-01-02T17:10:00.003Z

This is one of the books I got for Christmas. Although it's called Couture Sewing Techniques I actually found it a great introduction to the idea of couture in general.

For example, did you know that Haute Couture garments are pretty much all hand sewn? That really made me think. I always assumed you needed a machine to make clothes properly but you would actually have a lot more control sewing by hand.

The book explains the process that couture houses go through to fit clothes for each client - usually making a totally new pattern to flatter the individual figure! Then the author shows lots of useful techniques starting with hand sewing stitches and going on to different hems, bindings and fastenings.

I thought one of the most useful sections was about facings and backings and how they are used to keep the item in shape. This isn't really mentioned in most sewing technique books apart from a little bit about interfacing.

It does feel a little old-fashioned in places. Mainly I imagine because couture is now such a small industry most of the examples are historical and a lot of the clothes shown are ~~kinda ugly~~ not so inspirational.

I do like that this book has been written with home sewers in mind though. Everything is explained and there are photographs and diagrams where required. It's easy to see where you would be able to apply the techniques to your own work - even if it's not totally hand sewn.

I've fallen for...

2009-12-27T12:40:00.003Z

... an Angelic Pretty item.

They have this star shaped bag at the moment and I want one!

What is happening to me? It's so tacky and 80's and way too expensive.

It has inspired me to have another go at making a handbag though. I was going to try something like a heart shaped one, but maybe I'll try a star instead.

Also I got a couple of nice books for Christmas that I'd like to tell you about.

I'm lucky to have a few days off now until I have to go back to work so I might even have time to do both.

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T08:29:00.006Z

Every year I say that I am going to make a Christmas dress. Guess what? No Christmas dress AGAIN! I am starting to think I will need to begin making it in June if I want to get it done...

Hope everyone has a lovely time!!

It's nearly Christmas

2009-12-21T22:03:00.005Z

I love Christmas time. And not just the big day. I love shopping for presents and making Christmas-y things and watching Christmas songs on VH1.

I've tried something new this year - edible tree decorations. I used Nigella's recipe from her Christmas book (recipe also available here) to make these sort-of-gingerbread biscuits.

Next time I think I'll use a lot less pepper than she suggests. They still taste nice but, yes, peppery. I tried a few different cutters like hearts and bells but the tree shaped ones came out best. I really like their traditional look, especially with the red ribbons.

I was going to make cards again too but I didn't have time as I was designing engagement announcements. *giant grin* That's right my man and I got engaged!

And the winner is...

2009-12-01T19:08:00.005Z

Today is the first of December - giveaway day!
Lets get straight to it. I went to random.org to pick a random number and the winner is:

jinjin_tcg

I'll be getting in touch soon to find out what size you'd like and to get your address :) I hope you'll show us if you do make yourself a coat.

Thank you so much to everyone who entered! Sorry there could only be one winner this time.

Also a few people asked about buying patterns - I'm working on this - hopefully I might have something sorted out after Christmas. I'd like to finally open my Etsy shop but I need a little time to draft some different sizes first.

Last day to enter the pattern giveaway!

2009-11-30T14:16:00.003Z

I'll be picking a winner tomorrow so make sure you enter today if you want to win!

Lolita coat pattern giveaway - Enter here

If you are in the mood for giveaways you might also want to enter this one:
Gothic lolita calendar giveaway over at Ribbonlicious.

Good luck!

Faux fur removable coat collar

2009-11-29T21:41:00.004Z

I've been busy this weekend with some top secret projects but I did have time for a teeny little bit of sewing...

Continuing with the winter theme I thought I'd do a fur collar for my coat. It's faux fur on the top and pink wool underneath. I made a couple of 'pockets' at the front to tuck the real collar into so it's totally removable.

I think it could do with a bigger better ribbon. That one just happened to be handy.

And what do you think of that brooch? It's kinda big but it's all sparkly and a bit vintage. I had hoped that it might make the whole thing look a bit less sweet and more elegant/classic. Maybe a more classy ribbon would do the trick.

Warm spiced apple drink recipe

2009-11-26T21:51:00.006Z

Seems like a lot of people's favourite part of winter is that feeling you get when you can finally be toasty warm and cuddled up with a hot drink!

This is one of my favourite spots for a hot chocolate, especially while out shopping. I don't drink coffee so I'm a big fan of hot chocolate.

Last winter I visited a friend on a feezing cold day and she had made a warm spiced apple drink which was just as delicious, not to mention a lot healthier. So I thought I'd share the recipe - it's really easy.

All you need is a litre of apple juice, a cinnamon stick, 3 whole cloves , a couple of strips of orange zest and a pinch of ground allspice.

Pop all the ingredients in a pan and simmer very gently for around half and hour. Make sure to remove the spices before serving in warmed glasses or mugs. Enjoy!

Lolita pattern giveaway!

2009-11-16T20:55:00.004Z

It really doesn't seem like that long, but today is the two year anniversary of this blog! I've learned a lot in that time about Lolita fashion and sewing; and yes, I'm still learning.

I've been thinking back and one of the most annoying things I found when I started making Lolita clothes was the lack of patterns available. I found the ones in gosu rori hard to figure out - especially as they weren't quite my size. So, as any long time readers will know, I started out adjusting commercial patterns with varying levels of success.

More recently I've been drafting my own patterns, which is so much better and I love it!

Now, to celebrate two fun years of Gothic Lolita Sewing and Other Amusements I'd like to make a paper pattern for one of you. Since its winter round here I thought a coat would be a nice idea. It would be in your size (UK 8-24) and I'll include some construction notes so you know how to put it together. And I'll post it anywhere in world.

So if you are interested in my little giveaway - here are the rules:
1. you must be a follower (but you can sign up now if you have been reading!)
2. leave a comment on this post and tell me your favourite thing about winter!
♥♥♥One of my favourite things is seeing the Christmas trees all covered in tiny sparkly lights with pretty baubles and decorations. Gorgeous.♥♥♥
3. you can't enter with an anonymous comment as I won't know who you are. ha ha.
4. please leave a link if you write about it on your own blog! Not everyone has their own so you don't have to make a post to enter or anything.

I'll be picking a winner at random on the first day of December, good luck!

Maniac nurse costume

2009-11-01T13:04:00.005Z

I hope you all had a spook-tacular Halloween! Ours was very special and the trick-or-treaters we had all looked amazing in their costumes!

Last year I dressed up as a spooky broken doll and the year before that I was evil Alice so this year I decided to change it up a bit and be... a brutal maniac nurse covered in blood.

I put it together pretty quickly, in just a few hours, so it's not lined or anything. I used the pattern from my coat so I could wear it over my clothes and to get that double breasted look.
The blood splatters are on separate patches and tacked on so it can easier get more or less bloody.

What were you for halloween?

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T20:06:00.004Z

One of my favourite holidays is upon us and I felt compelled to make a spooky costume to greet our trick-or-treaters.
Pictures tomorrow!

Mwaah hahah hhah ha!

New project: Pink lolita coat

2009-10-19T20:52:00.003+01:00

It's that time of year again when we start thinking about winter coats. I know I've got a perfectly good coat from last year, but it's not really a lolita shape... I think this is a perfectly good excuse to have another go at making a lolita style winter coat. I might actually finish this one!

So here is a quick 'in progress' shot. I drafted the pattern myself - its quite similar to a dress block but it has a little less waist shaping and is a bit bigger so you can fit a nice warm cardigan underneath. It's going to have a double breasted front. (Though I think I've got it fastening the wrong way in the photo!) The main parts are sewn together but the collar and hem are just pinned so far.

Overdress/waistcoat - finished

2009-10-11T13:05:00.009+01:00

This week I've finished the waistcoat that goes with my three tier skirt. I changed the design a bit so it's a bit more like a tailcoat - except it's still a skirt at the back.

I've also got a blouse that matches! No I didn't make that one, its actually from Baby. I think I still need to make a tie or something to go with it, maybe a very thin bow?

Anyway, I'm pleased with the way it looks, though it's not especially flattering on. I might make another one at some point and make the front extend down further. I'd like to make it from better fabric, maybe something a bit thicker and also put some lacing at the back as the mid section seems to be really calling out for it on this picture.

Shopping: Ghost Love Jewelry

2009-10-09T23:19:00.015+01:00

I was actually looking for something else entirely when I came across Ghost Love on Etsy.

I was really taken by their jewellery and their cool logo. A lot of the designs combine gothic and victorian themes with a bit of steampunk; but are still classy and not too costume-y.

I think the hair clips are just lovely. I don't know what they are like in real life yet, but here are a few of my favourites from their shop:

Overdress/waistcoat - In progress

2009-09-24T20:55:00.004+01:00

I've started work on the waistcoat style overdress that goes with the tiered skirt I made.

It looks a bit iffy at the moment but its not sewn together or anything. I'm having a go at draping on the dress form rather than drawing a flat pattern. I've not tried making something this way before and I'm not sure the shape is quite there yet; the gap at the front of the skirt looks a bit funny.

The other problem is the length. I thought it would be good if the waistcoat was shorter than the skirt but I think I'll add a ruffle to the bottom make them a bit more even.

I'd like to find some better fabric but I am going to use these buttons - they are the same as the ones on this waistcoat.

I'm starting to think about making a blouse to match too, maybe with a big neck bow.

Crêpes and hot chocolate fudge sauce - recipe

2009-09-07T20:32:00.007+01:00

Crêpes are much lighter than pancakes and very tasty. These recipes are really easy and don't need any special ingredients. I am so impressed with how well this sauce works, there must be some kind of magic involved.

I've put the american measurements on here as they are easier for this kind of simple baking and you can double them up quickly for more people. No pictures again I'm afraid - they just don't stay around long enough!

Crêpes (makes 4)

1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup water
pinch salt
1 tbsp melted butter (or oil)
1/2 cup plain flour

Mix egg, milk, water and butter in a bowl add salt and flour last. Beat till it's smooth.
(I put it to one side at this point while I made the sauce.)
When you are ready put a frying pan on a medium heat and add a little butter or spray oil.
Put 1/4 cup of the batter in the middle of the pan and swirl it around.
After about a minute the edges will start to lift slightly and look a bit crispy - slide a fish slice or something similar underneath and flip it over to cook on the other side until it's slightly brown.
Serve folded over with chocolate sauce in middle. yum.

Magic hot chocolate sauce (plenty for 4 crepes or even 4 ice creams)

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp flour for runny sauce or 2 tbsp for super thick sauce
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp butter (or oil)

Mix the sugar, flour, salt and water together in a small pan with a whisk then add the cocoa and stir over a medium heat until it starts to boil.
It suddenly goes really thick and gorgeous!
Take it off the heat and stir in the butter and possibly a drop or two of vanilla or coffee.
Let it cool slightly.
Try not to eat too much of it before the crêpes are ready!

(I found these recipes here and here.)

Three tiered skirt/under skirt

2009-08-30T14:42:00.005+01:00

Some time ago I saw an Alice and the Pirates waistcoat and started thinking about an outfit based around something similar. So here is the first part, an off-white, tiered underskirt.

I started off using the method described by the weekend designer which I was talking about previously. The pattern calls for two 'quarter sections' meaning it would form a half circle skirt. But, I soon realised that it wasn't going to be frilly enough. So, I've used three 'sections' for this one. It meant that the waist was way too big - but I left it that way so that I could gather it into the waistband.

It only took an afternoon but I used a full three metres of fabric for this skirt! I'm quite pleased with it except I don't have an off-white blouse to match... yet.

£100 black dresses

2009-08-29T14:20:00.009+01:00

Lolita is expensive, we all know that. It's one of the main reasons I like to sew my own things. However, brand things are nice too. So what to do? Well here is a selection of 2nd hand dresses available at the moment for just £100. (they were all still there as I write this, but obviously they may sell at any time!)

Meta/Tokyo Rebel
I was quite tempted by this one actually - but I think it might be a bit long on me.
waist: 33in
bust: 36in
length: 36.5in

Angelic Pretty/Closet Child
I doubt this one will hang around for long.
waist: 28in
bust: 32in

BTSSB/Clothing Drop
waist: 23-39in
bust:27-43in

Atelier Pierrot/Clothing Drop
waist: 23-43in
bust:27-43in

BTSSB/Tokyo Alice
Its says width: 43cm which I presume is the flat measurement, meaning about 33in. I does have back shirring.