Sunday, January 29, 2012

goodbye, sunshine...


We lost our Archie-dog on Thursday & as you can imagine, we're all heartbroken.



He was only three - it was sudden & unexpected & almost unbelievable.


Neither of us felt up to posting about this until today, but Kathryn has written a post on his blog, and in the next month or so, we're going to post some of our memories over there too.


Saturday, January 28, 2012

develop { the teleidoscope }


Although I ended up going with a photo that better fit the original idea for week #4 of The Teleidoscope (Develop), the photo above is probably my favourite.


on flickr
the texture on the top photo is by les brumes

Friday, January 27, 2012

freshly fired...


a little update on the pieces that were in my workspace in this post.


here they are, fresh from the kiln, not even brushed or tumbled yet. (& by fresh, I mean after cooling in the kiln overnight).


the last of them are in the tumbler now, getting all shiny.


in the next few days, some of them will be getting a patina & the hooks & such they need to become finished jewellery.


Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

work in progress...


I spent most of yesterday finishing off some silver clay pieces - sanding, refining, attaching bails...


Almost done - just a couple of pieces still to finish. Hopefully they'll all be ready to fire early next week.


& just in case you're wondering, that's the kitchen table, I'm working at - I generally do my clay work in the kitchen.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

impact { the teleidoscope }


I have a fair number of these, so here are some extras from week #2 of The Teleidoscope - Impact





on Flickr

Thursday, January 12, 2012

new perspective { the teleidoscope }


Some out-takes from my photo for week #1 of The Teleidoscope - New Perspective.



There is a theme for every week & while I don't know that I will have a photo every week,  if I have a decent idea & time to attempt it, I will.



my upload to the group

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

brown sugar spice cake


I baked a double batch of this cake yesterday - & they're already telling me to bake it again. The recipe is from Rachel's gorgeous blog elephantine.


It's really good - dense & moist, with a beautiful spicy taste. I haven't altered this recipe at all, just saved you the trouble of looking up how much butter a stick is. As I said, I made a double batch (adding an extra egg) & it worked really well.


I looked the recipe up on dad's ipad before I started. The photos on elephantine take you through the recipe step-by-step.
& I might have then used the ipad to play on pinterest while the cake was in the oven :)



Rachel baked her cake in mini-bundt pans, but as I (sadly) don't have any, I used our fluted (baba) tins. But you could use a plain round tin. I do want those mini-bundt pans though. & the nice light in her photos.


brown sugar spice cake
 from elephantine

1 ½ sticks butter (6 ounces / 169.5 grams)
1 ½ cups dark brown sugar (well packed)
¼ tsp nutmeg
¾ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
¼ tsp ginger
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
3 eggs
2 cups all-purpose (plain) flour
¾ cup orange juice

Preheat oven to 180C & grease your pan.

Put the butter in a large mixing bowl (it should be very soft, but not completely melted). Add sugar, spices, salt & baking powder & mix with a wooden spoon until well blended.

Add the eggs one at a time & mix until smooth. Add the flour, alternating with the juice, a little bit at a time, mix until well combined.

Pour into prepared tin & bake for 1hr*, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
Remove from oven & turn onto a wire rack to cool.

* the suggestion in the original recipe is 20min for small cakes, or 30min for a single cake, but mine took 1hr (with two cakes in the oven) & I left them in there for an extra 10min once I had turned the oven off. 
& I think 170g butter would work, no need to measure .5g!


enjoy :)


Saturday, January 7, 2012

still to come...


Somehow the new year seems like the perfect time to plot & plan & set goals.

I have a whole list of goals & ideas for this year, but this is sort of the general outline:

~ keep creating & pushing myself to try new techniques & materials
~ better promote my etsy store (which is why I've signed up for this)
~ use my time better
~ do some fun stuff, just for me (like trying some embroidery & attempting to sew a skirt)
~ stay fit & healthy
~ be open to new opportunities & challenges, even (especially) if they're not on my list


...& hopefully I'll have lots of good things to post here :)

another view of the butterfly here.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

that which has been...


2011 was a pretty good year, with lots of fun, happy times - getting featured in SA Life, seeing Wicked, finishing the City-to-Bay, taking photos, making some jewellery (including this necklace), spending nearly a week in Melbourne (still more posts to come!), attending Tim McCreight's workshop & catching up with some lovely fellow jewellers, getting some film developed (still have some other shots to share, too) - & some sadness too.


So, goodbye 2011 & hello 2012, I can't wait to see what this year brings.