Knitting and Stitching Show Haul

On the weekend, the lovely ladies of Trinket Trade and I, went to The Knitting and Stitching Show. You gotta keep tradition going! I must say, the show has changed a lot since the first year. I have to be honest and say that I preferred it in it's first year. There was a bigger emphasis on all sorts of craft, like papercraft, cake making, knitting, crochet and stitching. It went from three floors, to one and there are about 3 papercraft stalls, none of them stocking stuff like the first year. There were so much more bargains to be had! This year the focus was mainly on knitting and stitching, hence the name 'The Knitting and Stitching Show', but it was nice to have the other stalls in previous years. 

I went with a shopping list, the majority of which was focused around scrapbooking and papercraft. Thus, I was a bit disheartened to find that the scrapbooking stall I was hoping for was not there. I can't even remember what it was called from the previous years, but I know I loved it! Someone help me out? 

This year I bought a lot of fabric because the fabric was just too gorgeous to pass up! There were ideas whizzing around my head of what I could make, so at least I was feeling inspired! 

I also signed up to Mollie Makes! It was on a special offer and it's really such a lovely magazine! It will inspire me further!

Aren't they gorgeous!! I am so excited to get sewing with them. Check out Favourite Fabrics for more lovely fabrics!

I can't remember the stall where I got these from, but I really could not resist! I think I bought these after I said "That's it! No more fabric!!"

Watch this space for future sojoey creations!

Vanilla Cupcakes

Vanilla cupcakes are one of the very few things that I feel comfortable making. No need for the recipe, because I've made it so many times, it is stuck in my head! I like that my cupcakes are most of the time, successful. There are so many recipes out there that could fail very easily but these seem to taste good even if they go a little bit wrong. I was going to take step by step photos for you, but then I ended up not having much time to bake them. So you just have the finished product. 

Ingredients
8oz Butter
8oz Caster Sugar
4 Eggs
8oz Self Raising Flour
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
Milk

Method
1. Soften (but don't melt, less than 30 seconds in the microwave) the butter and mix with sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add eggs and beat them in until just mixed.
3. Sift in the flour and mix well, but don't over beat. It should just be mixed well together and not further than that.
4. Add vanilla and mix a little.
5. If the texture is a bit thick, add dashes of milk until it is a little thinner. You should aim for a ribbon dropping consistency, maybe a little thicker than that actually.
6. Place spoonfuls in baking cases and bake for 8-12 mins in a 180'C oven.
7. Allow to cool before icing with buttercream.

Ingredients
1 block Butter
4 cups Icing Sugar
1/4 cup Milk
Vanilla Essence

Method
1. Soften butter by mixing to a nice smooth consistency.
2. Add icing sugar and milk and mix until all the ingredients are combined.
3. Add vanilla to taste, usually 1 tsp and a little bit does it.
4. You don't want it too thick because it has to go through the piping nozzle. If it's too thick, add some more milk. If it's too thin, add some more icing sugar.
5. Place a nozzle at the end of a piping bag and pipe onto cakes in a circular motion.
6. Decorate with sprinkles and then enjoy!

Things I Love: Smash Journal

The other day I went shopping, to Hobby Craft and they have a whole section on Smash Journals and it's all so very pretty, but also so very expensive. So after I saw them, I added them to my internal wishlist of things that I'd like to have at some point, but when I'm richer! Hahaa!

Not so long ago, I bought a grab box. I saw that the lady I bought it from had some other stuff for sale, Smash Books in particular! There was an assortment of Smash products for less than the price of a Smash Book at Hobby Craft. So I bought it, and it arrived this morning. It's all so lovely and pretty!!

The pages are all so nice! I like the photos in them and the patterns in them. When I've done a page, I'll show you all. I also have some more pages from my other 2013 scrapbook to show you!

 In the grab box I got a little while ago, there were a couple of wooden arrows and they added a nice little touch to my scrapbook pages. I tried looking for some elsewhere, but I could not find any! Thankfully, Cat was nice enough to share some of hers with me. You should check out her pretty blog, and see the other things she has for sale!

Things To Do 30/07

While scrolling through A Beautiful Mess, I found these loooovely tutorials that I will definitely have to try out at some point.

DIY Wrapping Paper from justb.
Paper Flowers from 100LayerCake

DONE- Bleach Painting

I actually did something that I intended to do. The tutorial for this bleach painting came from Lune for a feature on A Beautiful Mess. The steps are outlined in great detail on there, but here are a few shots I took during the process! 

I need to get actual chalk or fabric chalk because I could only find a white pencil so it was a bit hard to see the outline. Painting it at first was scary because I didn't know how the bleach would react with the fabric, but it all turned out well and now all my family want one! I'm gonna do some more once I've been to buy more dark t-shirts!

Things To Do 20/05

Bleach Painting- I've already bought a black vest so that I can try this lovely tutorial originally by Lune, but featured on A Beautiful Mess. I discovered it on Blythe Ponytail Parades. I'm waiting for the weather to be good and not rainy like it is now. It needs to hurry up because I'm getting impatient!!

Bokeh Photos- I've wanted to do this for ages! I even bought a bokeh kit with lots of different shapes. I just haven't got around to doing it. It is on my to do list and I will do it soon! (photo credit DIY Photography)