Layout with My Mind's Eye

Hello Bloglanders

It's been a while since I did a challenge!!  But, rather late than never. And my contribution for the My Mind's Eye challenge of the month:

I've used leftover bits and bobs from the "Find your wings and Fly" range.  The paint strokes are from Wilna Furstenberg's shop.  I don't follow a lot of blogs (less than 10) but her blog, "iheartblog" is ALWAYS on my list. What I totally love, is that she does a video every week (sometimes more) which shows exactly how she made her layout. Here is the link to one made with the paint strokes.

Problem was, IMPERFECT ME didn't have any paint on hand that fitted my color scheme - SO, plan B.  I scanned the MME bunting that I've used on my layout and opened it up in Silhouette Studio. Then I picked the colors and colored my paint strokes cut file accordingly.  "Print and cut" and another layout done.

I will surely try my hand at the painted ones but you will have to wait a while until I figure that one out. My new year's resolution was that I'd use what I've got ............................. recycle, reuse and re purpose but no new stash!!

That's it from  me for today. Have a lovely weekend and please check back as I'll be sharing some more crafting adventures right here on Play as U Go.

Baby Bags

Good morning Bloglanders

It's very, very busy at Hamman HQ.  We are 2 months away from THE WEDDING and the rest of the world seems to be having babies.  As we have our own business, I did some "gifts from the heart" to give to all our "expecting" clients.

Here they are:

I used all my scrap fabric to make these  "little house bags", then packed it with a spare onesie, nappy, wet wipes and a little toy. Perfect for the new mum to tuck under her car's seat for emergencies!!

I did them X20 and we need more.  Did I tell you that the whole Sunny SA are having babies?? Maybe it's the sunshine!

I'm off to my (very) busy life. Thanks for visiting my blog today and please come back to play as I have lots more to share right here.

PS. Remember to try something new today!

Seed Crackers

Hello Bloglanders

And I'm back to share a five star recipe.  Now, I'm not the world's biggest baker - I love to bake bread, do rusks for my family once a month, cook if I have to and try to stay clear of cakes and pastries.  My little phrase for 2014 (other people have little words; IMPERFECT ME has 3!!) is "TRY SOMETHING NEW". So, still snowed under with the black bridesmaid dresses, I try my something new while feeding the family. This recipe comes from Tim Noakes book "The real meal revolution". It's called Nutty Crackers in the book but as it only contains seeds, IMPERFECT ME renamed them "Seedy" Crackers.

Now, first of all, I'm not following the Tim Noakes diet but I think he has a point and if every recipe in his book tastes as good as this, I'll try some more.

I've altered the ingredients and method and my recipe now looks like this:
INGREDIENTS:
200g Sunflower seeds
60g Linseed (the original recipe called for Flax seeds but I didn't see it and just added Linseed - it turned out so well that I adapted my recipe.)
100g Sesame seeds
2 tbsp Psyllium husks (don't have an idea what this is but I got it from my local health store)
2 cups of water
1 ts salt
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 160 degrees.
Mix all the ingredients together and leave for 10 minutes. (I have forgotten about mine, left it for half a day and it was my best batch yet.)
Spread the mixture on 2 baking trays lined with baking paper. I use 2 jam roll tins and pat it with my wet hands as you want it as even as possible.
Now bake for one and a half hour.
The original recipe says you must turn the trays as it will burn, I didn't do that and mine didn't burn - I've done 6 batches up to date.
Remove from the oven and break into pieces. Once cool, store in an airtight container.

This is what the "sludge" looks like before it goes into the oven:

And when it comes out:

Pieter's Princess is allergic to wheat and even she can eat them. They are yummy on their own but for  a "snacker" like me, they get 12 out of 10 with a dip. Best part is they stay nutty and crisp - I even add the crumbs to soup.

There you have it. My best recipe of the century!! I will never buy crackers again!!

That's it. I'm off to try something new. Have a wonderful week.

On a (Jam) Roll

Hello Bloglanders

As promised .......................................... my Father's Day Jam roll recipe:

Apricot Jam roll

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Beat together the following: (you can do it by hand or use a Kenwood / other appliance)

4 Eggs

4 t Baking Powder

1 cup of Castor Sugar

1 cup of Cake Flour

a Pinch of salt

1 t Vanilla extract

Pour in a greased and baking paper lined roll tin.

Bake until light brown. 

Turn out on a wet cloth.

Spread with apricot jam (I heat mine in the microwave to make it more spreadable).

Roll.

Enjoy with your fave cupa!!

Back to the black bridesmaid dresses for me. I'm at #5 of 8.  Problem is not making the dresses but getting all the young ladies here to fit.  Tomorrow I'll take a pic and show my progress. It's 65 days before THE wedding!!

Thanks for looking at my blog today. Have fun and try your hand at something new.

Father's Day 2014

Hello Bloglanders

I was looking through my blog posts to see what I've done for Father's Day over the past few years and I couldn't believe it's 2 years ago that I did this little card / mini book for my dad. We really do not make a big fuss about any occasion but mostly just something that shows our appreciation.  This is my 2014 Father's Day project:

I used the free Silhouette file that you can grab here, added pictures of my boys and girls, did a "print and cut" on printable magnetic sheet and it's done. (Remember, the file is only free this week!!) And this is what I did with it:

It actually looks like this:

It's going to be used as a picnic basket!!! And I'll use different magnetic die cuts for every occasion. This one will be my Father's day version. I love picnic food and as we have beautiful weather 90% of the time down under in Sunny SA, I put everything in a basket and we spend hours outside on the porch drinking great wine and eating good food. When we do a road trip I also pack picnic food. I think I'll do a magnetic die for the picnic box every time we go somewhere.  It would look great with all the names, occasions and signage. Keep looking back and you will meet my red picnic box again.

I also wanted to share with you the jam roll that I've baked but as my post is getting a bit long, I'll just share a picture and will tell the story in my next post.  I'm NOT the world's best cake baker but have been baking this since I was 10 years old.  Wynand loves it so I bake one for him every year on Father's Day to say thanks for being a great dad to my beautiful boys. Here is the 2014 version:

I'll tell the story and share the recipe in my next post. It is SUPER easy to make. Until then, thanks for looking at my blog. For those of you who have missed some of my earlier Father's Day projects, I'll add links to the bottom of my post and you can check them out.

Have a wonderful day.

Father's day mini mini book

LINK

Father's Day 2011

LINK

Cover for Father's Day mini book

LINK

Mini gifts

LINK

Swing some more Black

Hi there Bloglanders

Sorry for being such a bad Blogland friend but I have the flu and the 8 black bridesmaid dresses is getting the better of me. Did I mention that I still have to seam 100 white napkins??

And I did do some more sewing ................................. (believe it or not - more BLACK). Today was my friend Marelize's youngest daughter's birthday and months ago she added her drawing and measurements for a black skirt to my sewing scrapbook.

And ta da:

I think it turned out wonderful. It's fully lined which means that it can be worn with tights in winter as well as with a little crop top in summer.  Can't wait to hear how it fits. As I felt so horrible today but I'm planning to take her out for cake and tea later this month and then I'll tell you all about it.

Thanks for looking at my blog today.

Use what you've got!!

Hello Bloglanders

It's very, very cold down under in Sunny SA.  We don't get snow - at least only on the very highest of mountains BUT currently it's COLD.  My hands (and brain) seems to be frozen, my house is a mess and we are going nowhere slowly to say the least!

SO, I decided to keep busy. Out came my good old Cuttlebug and some dies. The ones in the picture is from Amy Tangerine's Plus One range and the small ones are from MFT.  And no ordinary paper for me this time round ............................................

Cork, wood veneer, corrugated carton and craft foam. And now I have this:

Everything went according to plan except for the cork that tore quite easily especially with the camera shape. Solution: I added adhesive backing from Sizzix before cutting. Worked like a charm and now I have self adhesive embellishments - ready to go! And I couldn't wait to try them out on a Project Life layout:

And some cards:

I do love the black craft foam best, don't you? Left top I have red corrugated carton and black craft foam. Bottom left - cork and red corrugated carton. Top right is the cherry wood veneer and the bottom one the black craft foam again. I didn't add sentiments as I use these cards for greetings but also as part of PL. When I want to mail one off, I just mount it and add a sentiment. I do keep a box of pre cut cards ready to e use when needed.

This was SO worth my while.  Since I got my Silhouette, I didn't utilize my Cuttlebug at all but I still love it and it's great to use up scraps.

That's it!! I'm off to have a warm cup of coffee.  Think I'll look through my die stash and keep cutting while everything is out. 

Thanks for looking at my blog today. I'll be back. Have fun and remember to try something new today.

Ps. For those of you wondering - I liked the OXOX more than XOXO so I kept it like that - IMPERFECT ME!!!

Cover your cushions with Leftover Fabric

Good morning Bloglanders

I'm still into the 8 Black Bridesmaid dresses. Not funny any more.  I do struggle to see on the black in the evening so I decided to do some other sewing in between. Just to keep me going.

The cushions we use around the pool were in a pretty bad shape.  I think they started out as hand-me-downs from my sister-in-law.  She loves brown, orange and neutrals. I don't.  So off came the hideous orange covers BUT I did not want to buy 16 meters of fabric - too expensive with all the reno going on.

Plan B. I went through my scrap stash and selected all the blue, cream and brownish leftovers. Most of these were used for Roman blinds all around the house and beach house. Therefore the fabric is rather sturdy and perfect for covering cushions. Also, it's washable. Very important in HQ Hamman.

And here they are:

I've added Velcro to one whole side of the cushion. See the one 3rd from the bottom that I've turned around. This makes it much easier to get the cover off to wash. Also, it makes sewing them easier. You do 2 side pieces and a middle section. Sew it all together and turn it out through the Velcro opening. As easy as that. Maybe, some day I'll do a tutorial on this .......................................

What I love about these is that every cushion reminds me of another sewing project. Also, I've used a lot of scraps that would have taken up valuable storage space or had to be purged.

That's it from me for today. Have a Happy Day and thanks for visiting my Blog today.

New Master Bedroom

Hi there Bloglanders

Happy Sunday to you all!! As  promised, the design for our new Master Bedroom ex girlfriend #1 (soon to be Mrs Hamman the 2nd, still can't believe the wedding is 2 months away!)

I think it will be a little while until we get it to this cool, calm and serene look - currently too many builders, dust, clutter and work to be done. BUT ........................... when things get tough and my dreams seem far away, I just look at my mood board and try to focus on what will be.

I hope you will have a wonderful week. Keep calm, try something new and don't forget to DREAM a little!!

Bye
Hazel