Living by the sea...

I had NO idea this place would change so much over Summer when I moved here in September this year.

1. Our local plaza has opened what seems like a 'Holiday Shop' stocking necessary items such as magazines, chips, sunscreen and blow up beach toys
2. We now have to ride our bicycles EVERYWHERE as driving takes far too long (planning a movie at the drive-in soon, we'll call it the ride-in)
3. It's acceptable to wear bikinis/boardshorts at anytime in any place
4. Swimming in the sea is like swimming in a public pool
5. People park their Land Rover Discoveries in the garage and drive their Mini Moke's instead
6. Every house on our street had put their bin out for kerbside collection
7. The carnival AND circus is in town! 
   

But it's still a beautiful place to live... just really really busy.

Rich Hazelnut Fruit Cake...

I made this cake for Christmas hoping to please both traditional Christmas Cake lovers and haters... and it worked! This cake is very dense and moist, it is full of fruit, nuts and has a chocolate flavour.
No glace cherries either!!
It can be made up to 6 months ahead (I made it a month ago).

Ingredients:
2 1/3 C sultanas
2 1/4 C chopped raisins
1 1/2 C chopped seeded dates
1 1/4 C chopped seeded prunes
2 T raspberry jam, warmed, seived
2/3 C Franjelico
185g butter, chopped
1/3 C Nutella
1 C firmly packed brown sugar
4 eggs
1 3/4 C plain flour
1/4 C cocoa powder
1 t ground nutmeg
1 t ground cinnamon
1 C roasted hazelnuts, chopped
1/4 C Franjelico, extra (for pouring over)

Combine fruit, jam, liquor in a large bowl, cover, stand at room temperature overnight or up to one week.
Line base and side of deep 18cm square cake tin with about 3 layers of baking paper, bringing it up 5cm above tin.
Beat butter, Nutella and sugar in a bowl until just combined. Add egss, one at a time, beating until just combined between additions. Stir butter mixture with fruit mixture along with sifted dry ingredients and nuts.
Spread mixture in to prepared tin.
Bake in slow oven for about 3.5 hours.
Brush hot cake with extra Franjelico.
Cover hot cake with foil; allow to cool in pan.

Enjoy!

Extracted from The Australian Women's Weekly - The Christmas Book.

MoniKa with a K...

Monika's mother has always spun wool, so it was only natural for her to pursue something creative involving beautiful linens, natural fibres, vintage fabrics and wooden buttons... walking in to Monika's Wednesday stall in Mornington is like walking in to a natural wonderland. A large red 'K' stands outside and her wares sit in front of hessian lined walls.
In the Summer months you'll find adorable one of a kind hair clips, zip pouches, aprons, pillows, knitted softies, back packs, felt journals, head bands and big roomy sling bags. In Winter her line changes slightly and she adds hand knitted clothing and baby blankets but the pièce de résistance: her mother hand spins wool as part of the stall.
You can find Monika on her stool, making hair clips every Wednesday outside Fat Williams, Main Street, Mornington from 9am to 3pmish.

12 totes...

Just sent these totes off to the lovely Local Shop in Northcote!
Check out the tote at the front, the map of Australia seems to be missing ACT.
Nice.
Local Shop is at 262 High Street, Northcote VIC Ph: 03 9489 8651

Dromana...

A couple of weekends ago I had a little stall at the Dromana Primary School Christmas Market...
The night was a total fizzer and my stall looked exactly the same at the end of the night as it did at the start.

Oh well.

sign...

Shhhhh... don't tell anyone but I decided to temporarily come out of signwriting retirement to make a little sign for my market stall.
It's made from indigo denim backed with my favourite red/white polka dot material, I appliqued some hand-cut white vinyl lettering (sans Teflon foot) and it's all held together with some super cute candy striped bias binding (found in the quilting department at the super Spotlight in Frankston).

xo

Birdie...

Okay, so this blog seems to be more about what I receive in the mail than what I make but I really had to share this one! Last week I sent some old lino to the lovely Liz of Betty Jo. I repainted my old kitchen hutch a couple of months ago and when I went to pull the lino out of the cupboards for a good scrub it broke in to pieces!

She made me a beautiful brooch using the lino I sent...

I've been a fan of her brooches for some time now.

Thank you Liz! I'll treasure this sweet brooch forever.

Squirrel...

Yesterday I received this little guy in the mail from the lovely Andria of Shagpile! I had my eye on it at In.Cube8r, but when I went in to re-stock my cube a few weeks ago it was gone!! I tried to forget about it, but he just kept popping back in to my brain. I decided to have a little look in Shagpile's Etsy Shop and there he was, just hanging out with cute brooches, scarves and necklaces...
He's super cute in real life and so was the packaging!
Love it.

Kevin...

So after procrastinating for AGES I have finally made Kevin (or Kylie)! I'm pretty pleased with him and I will be making more in the next week or so.

Materials:
Torso - Souvenir Tea Towel (of course)
Arms, Legs & Head - Grey upholstery fabric I picked up on sale at Lincraft earlier this year
Eyes and Nose - Wool felt
Ear and tail fluff - Grey Sheltand fleece (from Hovis in the UK)
Filling - Crest-a-lon Fibre Fill

I was wondering... Does it need a mouth?

xo

New Studio...

Here are a few photos of my new studio in McCrae on The Mornington Peninsula. I love my big window and natural light! Oh, and check out those built-in lamps - awesome.

The Lovely Things...

Just received a parcel in the post (birthday present to myself!) from Where The Lovely Things Are! Two beautiful necklaces... the wrapping was so nice I was tempted to just keep them wrapped for a while! They are just so lovely in real life, I can't wait to wear them!

Sea Change...

I have finally made my sea change! Well, I'm still in transit in Rye but we're moving in to our new house in McCrae on the 10th of September (in ONE WEEEK!)

A New Cube...

Yesterday I moved in to a 400mm2 cube at In.Cube8r in Fitzroy. I love having a cube but I'm not completely happy with my display or stock selection, but it's okay as I have the cube for 3 months and I can change it around as much as I like! I think it's needs a bit of height, maybe at the back... also I didn't have time to finish some 10cm zipper coin purses... which is a shame as they are quite popular. But I made a heap of them today so I will pop them in on Friday.

In.Cube8r, 321 Smith Street (near Johnston Street) Fitzroy, VIC.

xo

Custard Tarts...

A few weeks ago I made these Portuguese Custard Tarts for a picnic at the Zoo with my friends... they went down such a treat! Here's the recipe...

Portuguese Custard Tarts

Ingredients:
1 1/3 sheets of puff pastry
3 egg yolks
1/2 C caster sugar
2 T cornflour
3/4 C cream
1/2 C milk
Strip of lemon zest
2 t vanilla extract

Method:
Preheat oven to 200C. Spray a 12-hole muffin tin with oil. Cut sheets of pastry in to 12 squares and press in to muffin tin, then chill in the fridge. Put yolks, sugar and cornflour in to a bowl and whisk. Heat cream & milk in a pot until it just comes to boil, pour over eggs & stir in zest & vanilla. Return to the pot & stir over medium heat until mixture almost comes to the boil. DO NOT BOIL. Remove from heat immediately and take the zest out. Divide your custard between the 12 pastry cases and bake fro around 20 minutes or until tops are browned and pastry is crisp. Cool on a wire rack. Take to a picnic to impress your friends.

Thanks Kate McGhie!

Chair Bag Empire...

A good friend of mine is a school teacher, and she asked me if I could make her students some chair-bags... so, I have been making chair-bags! A lot of chair bags actually, I even had to start my own production line.