Happy Mail

The lovely Janine organised a tea towel swap ... I joined in too, but I got whoever bought for me to send to my Mum! (so I didn't have to wait 72 days hehee).

.

Mum sent me a text to say it arrived so I phoned her and said "don't forget you have to take photos for me!" :-) So here's what I got from Kim. :-)

.

Beautiful card.

Beautiful package.
Lovely bright tea towels and some stamps and trinkets (well that's what Mum said it was!)
Cool stamps huh ... I likely very much. :-)
Thanks so much Kim. Can't wait to pick this up in the next couple of months when we go back for a visit.

.

Here's a wee sneak peak of what I put together for my swap buddy :-)

Did you know that finding nice tea towels in KL is very difficult!!!

.

Thanks again to Janine for organising the swap and to Kim for her lovely gift.

.

Thanks for visiting.

It's Magic!

Not sure if you remember or not, but back in October I received this in a swap from the lovely Trace.

.

We made it for our Christmas lunch we shared with friends last Sunday. :-) So since several of you back in NZ have asked I am going to tell you how I found it!

First step ... READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!! They make it so simple! When you open the "egg" you use one half to measure the milk and the other to measure the sugar. How simple is that! (pity I didn't read the instructions first heheee) I did check though that my sugar measure was the same as it was supposed to be and it was! ;-) The instructions also had handy tips on it which were interesting.

.

So you put it in the mixer and leave it to do its thing ... which at our house generally involves at least two sticky beaks watching the beater go round!

And you watch it beat and beat and beat (I would not and could not make a pav using a hand beater!! Even a hand held small electric beater would take it's toll on your arm just holding the beater!) The mixture got peaks like it was supposed to and how it would if you had made one from scratch.

Beady little eyes kept an eye on it in the oven. Instructions said DON"T open the oven door during the cooking and cooling process ... but when little people swing on the oven door handle the door sometimes opens!
It did spread a little during the cooking process which it said it would.
And looked pretty good when it came out and after it had cooled. But the next day when I went to get it out and decorate it, it cracked very easily. (Never mind that can be covered up by loads of whipped cream!)
We put whipped cream, fresh strawberries, grapes and passion fruit on the top. I am not sure if it was the weight of the goodness on top that cracked it even more or not, but it did crack and slump a bit between decorating and getting it to the table.

Landslide!
Taste wise ... it was good. Inside texture was very like "marshmallow" I thought. Nothing wrong with that - some pavs are like marshmallow, but when I make from scratch they aren't. Not sure if it's because I might cook it a bit longer or what. Not sure on that. Our Chinese friends liked it though because they said it wasn't as "sweet". I think when a pavlova has a firmer outer shell/crust the sugar might be more noticeable? Anyone else think that?

.

So would I use another one? Yes I probably would. I think they would make great gifts because really it's very simple to do (if you read the instructions hehee) And if you like marshmallow type pavs then it's definitely a must have on your shopping list! ;-)

.

So thanks Trace - it was delicious and there weren't any leftovers which is always a good sign! :-)

Surprise!

In July the lovely Janine organised a "winter self-care swap". Tracey had the task of putting together a parcel for me. We were asked to post our parcels out to our swap partners on the 1st of August and Tracey very kindly posted her parcel earlier (on the 26th of July to be exact!) so I would get it around the same time as everyone else. Now New Zealand Post state on their website that this parcel should arrive within 10 to 25 days! Do you know how long this parcel took to arrive? ...... 74 days! Yes you read that correctly! We thought someone else over here decided they liked the look of the parcel and helped themselves! I still can't believe it actually turned up - it hadn't been opened, one of the boxes was a little bit squashed but the contents weren't damaged at all. Fancy that aye ... 74 days! I can't believe it.

.

Now Tracey hasn't met me before but I think she did a fabulous job of choosing things that I would like :-)

Those little red buttons are poppies and they are gorgeous :-) I love them. Will have to use them on something very special! And I am looking forward to trying out that pav mixture! :-)

.

Thank you very much Tracey for such a thoughtful gift :-) And I am so glad it did eventually turn up! (It was worth the wait hehee)
.
In other news I took Aaron & Maddison shopping this morning for Halloween outfits! Aaron wanted to go as a skeleton and no surprises as to what Maddison wanted! A Princess of course!

.

The best thing about Aaron's costume is that it's very light weight so works well for the climate over here and it will fit him for the next 20 Halloweens I think hehee ;-)

Here he is inspecting how he looks in the mirror!

I am pleased to introduce to you "Princess Maddison"! (she has already informed me that she needs a "crown"!! If you please!!!)

After we got the dress she told me she needed "princess slippers"!! So we popped into Jusco and we found some little white sandals with pink flowers on them (I was kinda thankful that the shoes she wanted that had plastic high heels were too big for her!)

What a pair! ;-)
Maddison has worn her sandals (sorry I should say "princess slippers"!) all afternoon and even put them back on after her bath! No guesses as to what shoes she will be wearing tomorrow!

.

Thanks for visiting.

Darkroom Door ATC Swap

Just before Christmas I received the swaps for Darkroom Door's November Seaside Collection ATC Swap that I participated in.

Aren't they cool. Love how that even though we have used the same stamps or photo chips they all look so different. (The left hand ATC holder has two of my cards in it! ;-) )

.

I made two sets which I have already shown - this one using the alcohol ink splatter technique/

And this one using embossing resist and mists :-)
Thanks for visiting.

Darkroom Door Wilderness ATC Swap

In August I participated in an ATC Swap hosted by Rachel Greig of Darkroom Door, we had to use items from the Darkroom Door Wilderness Collection.  I used stamps from this set ... Wilderness Vol 2, using the crayon resist technique.  Not sure exactly what sort of mood I was in when I created these to put "get lost" on them!!!!  heheee

And these are neat ATC's I received in the swap (click pic to make it larger).

ATC's created by (top row left to right) ... Cheryl Townley, Lessa Harris, Sarah Schwerin, Helen Cleary.

(bottom row left to right) ... Judity Beattie, Damaris M, Tracey Strong, Robyn Wood.

To see all the ATC's that were created for this swap, check out the video on Darkroom Door's blog here.

.

I have also participated in the September swap which is using stamps from the Essentials 3 Collection.  It closed yesterday, so looking forward to receiving those in the mail :-)

ATC Swap

Last month I participated in an ATC (artist trading card) swap that was organised by Rachel Greig @ Darkroom Door. We could use any rubber stamps, Montage, Photochips, Filmstrips, and Wordstrips from the Viva La Flora Collection. I received my swap ATC's back late last week. They are very cool and I am thrilled with them. It's amazing how many different ideas can come from 2 stamp sets. Even the colours are different on all of them. Check them out ...
.
From Helen Cleary -
From Robyn Wood - (sorry I have no idea why it's turned on it's side!)

From Vicky Fernando -

From Yumiko Asano -

From Emi -

From Tomoko Shibasaki -

From Sarah Schwerin -

From Atsuko Nakamura -

And mine! I put some UTEE on top of the dandelions for a bit of texture.

And I made a couple more to send in exchange for postage :-) This one is using stamps from the Wilderness Collection.

And these two are using stamps from the Essentials 2 Collection.

Looking forward to the next swap now :-)