Rock Cakes

These are so simple and quick - I often make them for morning tea for the children.

2 cups SR flour
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
90g butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 - 1/2 cup sultanas
1 egg
milk to mix

Preheat oven to 190 degrees (C) (375F). Prepare a muffin or cupcake tin with cupcake patties.

Sift flour, salt and spices, add the butter and rub with fingers until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Mix sugar in.

Mix together sultanas and lightly beaten egg and add to flour mixture. Stir in milk until you have a thick but not dry consistency. Fill cupcake patties about 3/4 full. Sprinkle with raw sugar and put in the oven.

Bake for about 15 minutes until risen and golden brown, cool on cake racks. My kids love these hot with melted butter. Using the top of the cupcake patty pan as a guide, cut the top off your cake (as for a muffin) and spread both sides with butter. Another delicious way to have them is cooled and split with jam and whipped cream on top.

Winds of change

This week I have done things differently - you may have noticed my absence here and it has been deliberate. Time away from blogging, facebook, twitter and all things online has allowed me some breathing space this week. Not only that - but I have committed myself to taking the children out every day while the weather is fine. What an improvement this has made! Yes, I'm totally exhausted but in a good way. Now to share some of our week with you:

Lemon and poppy seed drizzle cake, recipe here

I love how my 5 year old has such a strong mothering instinct, she attracts little ones wherever she goes.

I love how my children are growing and changing and feel so blessed to be a part of it.

Op shop finds + daytura flowers = happiness!

Enjoying local sights.

Jar makeovers with paper, mod podge, colour papers and ribbon.

I printed out an old picture I like, soaked in tea and dried. Then coloured lightly with watercolour pencil and sealed with mod podge. Attached and layered with mod podge also. Tied a velvet ribbon around and placed some dried poppy heads in. Easy!

I've re - committed to my desire to live fully on baked bread. I'm going pretty well with no bought bread for about 2 weeks. I bake it every second day.

Slow and steady wins the race. I hope I've finished stippling this quilt by M's 4th birthday next month!

Rock cakes are a constant favourite here. I'll try to post the recipe on my other blog sometime soon.

If I haven't visited your blog lately I do apologise - I don't want to become one of these bloggers who expect comments but don't give any. Perhaps you'll decide to remain silent today in protest!

Hope your week has been as productive as mine. God bless!

Dear Reader,

THANK YOU!


To all of you who leave me comments. To all who send an email to say hi and check I'm OK. To all who have sent me wonderful things in the mail to cheer me up. To all who have prayed for me. To all who have gone out of their way just for me. 


Your thoughtfulness and kindness means so very much to me. So, once again THANK YOU and God bless you!


Have a happy day :)

Decoupage

Ever tried decoupage? I had an old wood tissue box cover that has been painted, repainted, covered in fabric and eventually shoved away as I didn't like any of the previous ways I'd decorated. I like it now. A lot.

This was a fairly long process but well worth it and one that I really enjoyed. It's great to have a break from your regular crafts and try something completely different. It's also cool that I already had a lot of the materials I needed to start and the decorative paper is cheap.

In case you're interested in the process I'll give you a brief account. Firstly, 4 coats of cream coloured acrylic paint. This was sanded back to reveal a little of the original black paint on the edges and corners. The images are from a piece of scrapbooking paper that I cut out with scissors and a craft knife. That took patience!

After gluing and drying the images I varnished a couple of times then applied crackle varnish. The effect was much too subtle so I reapplied but still no joy. Moving on, I mixed raw umber paint with flow medium and rubbed on with a cloth to give an aged or antique look. Then I varnished about a trillion times (I seriously lost count of how many coats!), sanded, varnished, varnished....

I'm going to give a final light sand to take a bit of the shine off, and voila!

Now I'm casting my eyes all around the house to see what else I can decoupage - yes folks, a new obsession is born......

Hottie Challenge

After much deliberation I've finished my cover for the Hottie Challenge!

I decided to use a piece of my hand dyed silk that I was keeping for something special. I used free motion embroidery to highlight the colours and patterns of the silk.

I also added beads and some hand embroidery.

The back is made with some of my hand painted fabrics.

I know it's a little "out there" but I really wanted to do something a bit different and reflect my love of colour and patterns.

This one is off to Curlypops Central, then to Open Drawer to raise money for the Margaret Pratt Foundation. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else has come up with :)