Locked Out!!!!

Yesterday was a day that just didn't go right!

 

I turned up for an appointment a day early and then I managed to walk out my front door leaving the car & house keys sitting on the office desk!

 

No spare keys & my husband was 2 hours drive away! Did I mention this was right on pick up time so I had to run to kindy & school to get the kids!!!

 

It's amazing how ridiculous you feel when you can't get in your house! Luckily enough I managed to get a locksmith onto the job and got a spare set of keys at the same time.

 

So if you don't already have them,  go out and get a spare set of keys. It will save you a lot of hassle.

Rugby Bootees

I had a special order to make last week and it was a great source of inspiration!!

 

My rugby bootees are now available in my felt store.

 

I've been contemplating for quite a while whether to start selling the pattern for my Kiwi Gumboots and think it would be great to add in the Rugby Bootees too!

 

Have a great week & keep cosy!

Wedding Truffles

I thought I'd share a great recipe for truffles today.

 

I made over 100 of these for after our wedding ceremony so people could have a wee treat & a drink while we were getting our wedding photos done.

 

The best thing is you can make these in advance and pop them in the freezer until you need them!

 

Wedding truffles complete with edible glitter!

You will need:

3 packs oreo biscuits (roughly 450gm)

1 tub cream cheese (250gm)

1 pack Cadbury choc melts

 

1. Put all of the oreos & cream cheese into a blender and mix until combined.
2. Chill for 20 minutes.
3. Line a tray with baking paper.
4. Roll into teaspoon sized balls, place on baking tray & chill for 10 minutes.
5. Melt chocolate until smooth and coat balls in chocolate.
6. Chill until chocolate is set.

Now you can either eat your delicious truffles or store them for later!

 

P.S.

You can swap the oreos for mint slice biscuits to make minty truffles too!

Wedding

Well it's almost six months since the "big" day happened so I thought I'd share some pics & the best recipe for truffles ever!

We decided to have a really fun wedding...traditional just didn't suit us.

To start off my wedding car was an orange mustang (dream car!).

We rocked down the aisle to The Blues Brothers "Everybody Needs Somebody" and we were very lucky to have my uncle & a friend playing on electric guitars.

We picked our own vows and once these were done we gave our two children a pounamu necklace to include them in the ceremony.

We had an excellent night with great food...Pig on the spit, salmon, mussels, roast potatoes, salads & for dessert an ice cream bar!

It really was an awesome day and we wouldn't change a thing!

P.S.
Our excellent wedding photographer Chris Mathieson did an awesome job & Pixie Pocket made me an amazing dress!

Making something special!

I've been very busy over the weekend making a couple of extra presents for my lovely daughter who turns seven this week!

I recently had a trip to the Make Café and picked up some beautiful fabric which I thought would be perfect for some pretty skirts. (It was hard not to buy everything...they have such beautiful fabric!)

I managed to find an excellent tutorial here for a super cute & very easy skirt....complete with simple sizing measurement!

I bought a couple of plain t-shirts & appliqued a cut out of the skirt fabric and to complete the outfit I made matching button hair ties and got a pair matching tights!

I can't wait to see what the birthday girl thinks!

Pumpkin, Leek & Feta Puffs

Last night I made these delicious Pumpkin, Leek & Feta Puffs. I've had this recipe for years....I cut it out from a magazine and it is great in winter for something yummy that the kids will eat!

Makes: 20                                      Preparation: 15 minutes                             Cooking: 40 minutes

• 500g pumpkin, peeled & cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 60g butter
• 2 leeks, trimmed, washed & thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 200g feta, crumbled
• 1 pack flaky puff pastry sheets
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
• sweet chilli sauce or tomato chutney to serve

1. Preheat oven to hot, 200dc. Lightly grease 2 - 3 baking trays.
2. Toss pumpkin in a baking dish with oil. Cook for 15-20 minutes until tender. Set aside to cool.
3. Heat butter in a large frying pan on medium. Saute leek & garlic for 4-5 minutes until leek softens. Stir in coriander.
4. In a medium bowl, combine leek mixture with pumpkin & feta. Season to taste & allow to cool.
5. Cut each pastry sheet into 4 squares. Place two tablespoons of pumpkin mixture on one side of each square, leaving a 1cm border. Brush edges with combined egg & milk. Fold pastry over & press together to seal.
6. Brush with remaining egg & milk. Sprinkle with either sesame or poppy seeds.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden & puffed. Serves puffs with sweet chilli sauce or chutney.
8. ENJOY!!!

All I Want For Christmas

 

Hi everyone!

I'm off to Christchurch this weekend for the "All I Want For Christmas Market".

It's very exciting as I am slightly addicted to christmas so can't wait to see all of the lovely stalls there!

I'm also offering $5 off every purchase over $10 for the day of the market too......Just pop over to my Facebook page to grab a coupon!

 

 

 

 

Happy Labour Weekend!

It certainly has been a while since my last post!

 

Time is flying at the moment with wedding preparations and lots more happening in our household!

 

To celebrate the long weekend I'm offering 20% off all items in my Felt store.

Just pop in LABOUR at the checkout.

 

Have a great weekend & hopefully you get to enjoy some sunshine!

Craft Invaders Market!

I'm off to Christchurch this week to have a stall at the Craft Collectives Craft Invaders Market.
I've been very busy over the past couple of weeks getting things ready so now I'm almost done! I can't wait to see what other lovely stalls will be there!

I will also be putting my Felt store on holiday until the end of August so I can spend some time working on getting my patterns ready to sell so you will be able to have a go at some of my designs!
As well as this I will be working on some of the decorations for our wedding in December....It's getting closer now!!!

Okarito & Rainbows

This week has been so crazy & busy!

We only had one night at home together this week between BOT, Fire Brigade, Creative Fibre & Friends of the School!

I spent almost 12 hours at Sophies school on Friday as Hokitika Primary had a Warm Up Winter Market which was an awesome success! It was great to see all of the crafts the kids had made and there was a heap of yummy food & hot drinks...A great excuse to break out and enjoy winter!

I was lucky enough to be able to escape down to Okarito (My favourite place) on Saturday as my Creative Fibre group were lucky enough to have been offered a bach for the weekend. It was great to sit down relax and see what everyone was making and share our creative ideas.

While I was down there I managed to get the first of my Rainbow socks made....I can't wait to wear these!

$8 Sale on Tonight!

I'm having an $8 sale over at my Facebook Page tonight!

Pop on over and grab yourself a bargain!

$8 SALE!!!!!

Winter Encraftment

I'm off to the Winter Encraftment Market on 26 May! So come along and say hello...I'll have lots of lovely things for big & little monsters!

It's very exciting as we get a trip to Christchurch (we haven't been since last year). We're also looking forward to catching up with some family and seeing their new house (after their home was red stickered in the quakes).

We'll also be doing some more shopping for our wedding in December!

Patterns are on their way!

I have finally decided to "bite the bullet" and start making my patterns available for purchase.

It is definitely a slightly scary step in my little business but I have lots of designs stored up in my brain and I thought it was about time I do something with them.

The patterns I am working on this week are my NZ Native Bird Finger Puppets. These are lovely little puppets that can be created with a small amount of wool and will bring children (and some adults) hours of fun!

Kiwi, Pukeko, Tui & Hoiho

More Pillows!

Now that the school holidays are over I can finally get back into the swing of my crafts.

I'm on a mission to use up some more of my stash, so I have created some more cute little pillows.

I have also started to teach myself to crochet....granny heart for a start. I'm making lots of these (with mum making some too) for my wedding at the end of the year. It's a great excuse to learn a new craft and it will be great to have some handmade decorations.

 Pop on over to my felt store to see my other new pillows: www.my2monsters.felt.co.nz

Easter Time!!!

We love Easter in our house but since we found out Cooper is allergic to eggs we've had to find some alternatives the usual easter crafts.

I love making hot cross buns as well as some yummy marshmellow....there is nothing better than homemade marshmallow!

While browsing through the Kings Seeds website I found some easter egg radishes. We have planted ours ready in time for Easter but they would make a great gift for avid little gardeners and the great thing with radishes is that they sprout really quickly. I also found some rainbow carrots which the kids are very excited about too! 

You could even personalise them with these cute printable seed packets.

And if you're not into gardening here a few cute ideas from the lovely people at Felt.

   

nisserandco

$25.00

tinch

$10.00

zippitydoodah

$28.00

Tea Dying, Children's Day & A Little Special!

This week has been a rather busy and fun filled one!

On Monday I got my lovely Good Magazine. There was a great article in there about dying things with tea bags. I couldn't resist having a go and tried out normal tea as well a two of my fruit teas...I had some old doilies that needed something and they come out very colourful.....Now I just need to make something out of them!


Loving the different colours


On Sunday we celebrated Children's Day at Cass Square where the whole area was filled with amazing games, pony rides, petting zoo, crafts, talent comps, food & drink and it was all free! We all had a blast and the kids came home with lots of little prizes! We are so lucky that the community gets together and puts on such a great day for our children!

Cooper aka Spider man working on his necklace kit from Children's Day

Now that March is here and things are cooling down I've decided to run a little special. For every purchase you will receive a free finger puppet. Pop over to my Felt & Etsy and check out all the winter warmers!

Relay for life

During the weekend Hokitika was the host to this years Relay for Life on the West Coast.

My mum was diagnosed with cancer when I was 8 and she is lucky enough to be a survivor. It is a great cause to support and something which affects so many.

Doing a circuit with the family.

My partner John was in the Hokitika Volunteer Fire Brigade Team. The Fire Brigade members did a great job even wearing their full gear while walking the track. The kids & I joined in to do a few circuits of the track & I even had a go carrying the BA (Breathing Apparatus) it was very heavy....I'd hate to think what it would be like having to carry that into a fire!!!

Over $35000 was raised!!!! It  was a lovely family oriented weekend and a great way to celebrate life and remember those lost.

If you would like to know more about the Relay for Life pop on over to their site http://www.relayforlife.org.nz/index

Love! Love! Love!

Tomorrow it's Valentines Day! Here are some lovely gift ideas from Felt for your loved one.

And for some of us who like to make our loved ones a special gift why not pop over to the Destitute Gourmet for some lovely and very affordable valentines baking ideas.

smashpalace

$7.00

onetrickpony

$18.00

bycoulter

$48.00

tinch

$6.00

idear

$6.00

lisajhoney

$25.00

A New Beanie

I have finally finished off the design for my Pukeko Beanie in childrens sizes!

I love the cheeky pukekos that pop up in the paddocks and after making my Pukeko Puppet I just had to make a beanie. I have been playing around with for a while so I am really pleased with the way it has turned out!

My next mission is to make the adult size!

School's Back!

After a very busy weekend we are back into the school routine with Sophie starting back at school today in a new class with a new teacher! Luckily all of her friends have moved up this year and she seemed very happy to back there...telling me "I could leave now" before the bell rang!

We certainly had a busy weekend starting with the local A & P Show where both monsters did very well! Sophie picked up a first prize for her sandsaucer and also her colouring competition and Cooper scooped second prize for his sandsaucer! The flowers came from our school communal garden, the beach & my own garden.

I also finished my holiday project of making Sophie her winter jersey which she is very happy with. The pattern is a basic guernsey but I mixed it up adding some stripes and it also has bright yellow smiley face buttons at the back of the neck.

I also had my last day at my part time job today. I'm planning on spending alot more time on my crafts this year, and hopefully keeping a more regular blog too!