Just Like Martha

Catching up on some crafting...

Well its been a busy week for crafting...lots of card making and preparations are well underway for Lilly's 13th Birthday Sleepover this weekend (more to share on that later)..

First up an engagement card..

A few Birthdays to celebrate..

I like to make a few cards at the same time, its a great way to use up scrapbook supplies and save on wastage, here the same paper has been used but the look quite different!

A wedding card...

And a Congratulations...

A thank you...

And some more Birthdays....

Here is a sneek peek of the Birthday preparations...this year Lilly has decided to celebrate with a sleepover with just a few special friends...we have lots planned including a photo booth and dessert table, look forward to sharing the pics after the weekend!

Vintage inspired Birthday invites..

Okay that's it for me its back to the kitchen...time for RAINBOW CAKE preparations!

Cruising the Northern Beaches...

We have a visitor from the UK staying with us for a week. Gillian is very familiar with Sydney having lived here on a teacher exchange many years ago, but it had been a while since she had visited the northern beaches....so that is exactly where we went on my day off this week!

Sadly no that is NOT my car, pretty cool huh! It seems there were other people 'crusing the beaches' too!

First stop my favourite coffee shop to visit in Mona Vale... Armchair Collective, with its amazing coffee, tea, milkshakes, treats etc (the list goes on - very yummy place to visit for breakky!)...

Gotta love a bathtub filled with wonderful flowers and plants to purchase..

Lots of yummy treats for sale...ahhh and the homewares are to die for! If you are ever in Mona Vale make sure you stop by for a visit!

We then drove up to Palm Beach driving past lots of wonderful beaches on the way (Newport, Whale Beach and Bungan just to name a few) I had never really noticed befor how the sand changes colour from beach to beach, by the time we had reached Palm Beach the sand is quite an orange colour..

We had a good look around, ooohed and ahhhed at some of the amazing houses then headed on over to The Boathouse for lunch.

Thoroughly enjoyed my roast vegie panini..

Definitely glad I ordered the Chai tea...

Although it was cloudy and overcast the view was still very pleasant...

The flowers on display and ready for sale inside were amazing...

and the putside view pretty good too..

Enroute home we called in to Freshwater (or "Freshie" as we affectionately call it - best beach in the world!!)

Hope you have enjoyed "cruising" with me, I loved showing Gillian our special part of the world xx

Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Today I am sharing shadows from ROME, Italy...and joining in with Shadow Shot Sunday 2 .

The amazing Colosseum, so much history, so many stories to tell....

So many lives lost.....

Just around the corner is the ROMAN FORUM, its an archeological dream and you can spend hours wandering around just imagining what it must have been like thousands of years ago...

And around the corner again we found a quite tree lined street on Palantine Hill perfect for some 'special memories' of our time in such a wonderful city....

Sydney has turned on a magnificent day but a little part of me wishes I was somewhere in Rome sipping on a latte!!!! Ahhh memories xx

Whats in the Cookie Jar THIS VALENTINES DAY?

VALENTINES DAY COOKIES of course!

The girls made a batch last night to share with their friends at school today, the rest will be enjoyed over the coming days in for afternoon tea treats I am sure.

One might even appear with a cuppa later tonight??? It is Valentines Day after all!

The cookies were sourced from Taste and are called "Christmas Cookies", they are easy to make and the inclusion of custard powder in the recipe makes them extra yummy! You can of course decorate them with icing, sadly we ran out of time last night but hey I think they are pretty yum just the way they are!

Shadow Shot Sunday

Playing along with the team over at Shadow Shot Sunday 2!

I thought I'd take a break from posting shadow shots of our holiday to Europe to make the most of the fact that the sun finally came out yesterday in Sydney (for a while anyway)! Not only the sun but a few of our backyard 'critters' as well...

Look closely lurking in the shadows is none other than "Baby Bluey" our baby Blue Tongue lizard (mum is a lot shyer she doesn't come out to bask on the deck very often)...

Not to be outdone in the 'lurking stakes', a few metres away was out very own resident bunny Latte who had found her very own shadows to shelter under!

Happy SSS xxx

Crafty projects to share...

I have had these photos on my camera for a while to share...a couple of cute ideas for easy but effective gifts for a 'special little person'.

Okay so now regular readers would be familiar with my obsession for doillies, I dye them and then use them in all sorts of projects, mosly cardmaking and scrapbooking....they are so pretty what little girl wouldn't love them sewn on to a white t-shirt...

(Hmmm okay so maybe I should have ironed the t-shirt before taking the photo...but you get the idea)

Another simple but effective gift is a door plaque or simple canvas to hang on the wall. I made these for twins to go with a present I already had purchased....

...and yes there is another doillie...

There you have it, I DID say simple BUT effective...happy CRAFTING!

Crafty catch up to share....

Slowly getting back into the routine of work, school and after school activities again after such a long break. February and March are also busy months for us for Birthdays so there has been lots of crafting....here is a few to "show and tell"

Taylor's Birthday card...yes I am still LOVING my collection of dyed doillies (they have kinda become a signature LOL)

Gift bags are such a wonderful way to 'wrap' an unusual shaped item, and they look pretty impressive too!

Gotta love some tuille ribbon for effect...and finally a few Birthday cards to share...

I am determined to get organised this weekend and share some holiday snaps (finally) (other than just the SHADOW SHOT ones..!) here's a sneek peek of some scrapping that has been keepig me busy getting our Europe album together...

See I have not just been slack, I HAVE been busy, LOL, soon I'll share..promise!

Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Hello, Sunday so it must be time to chase some shadows...join in the fun over at Shadow Shot Sunday 2 and see what everyone has been up to.

Today my shadows are brought to you by PARIS...ahhh so many wonderful memories of such a beautiful city...

We enjoyed wandering along the beautiful Seinne River just taking it all in...

Spent a day at the "Louvre" in awe of the magnificent exibitions...

We especially loved the Egyptian section...

Other ancient exhibitions provided wonderful shadow opportunites as well....

Hope you enjoyed some of my 'Parisian shadow memories', enjoy the rest of your Sunday x

Happy Birthday Taylor....

Eeek, I have a 15 year old living in the house!!!! How did that happen? Where did that time go? Our beautiful little baby....

is growing up way too fast.....

Happy Birthday to our beautiful girl, hope all your hopes and dreams come true (and it stops raining long enough to enjoy pizza at the beach with your buddies!!!) xxx

What's in the cookie jar.....for back to school?

Anzacs of course!

You can't go past a good Anzac biscuit (if you are an Aussie that is) so to fill the cookie jar before school started back I made a couple of batches.

I was lucky enough to get the latest Janelle Bloom "My Favourite Food for all Seasons" book for Christmas, lots of wonderful recipes inclusing this good one for Anzac biscuits...enjoy!

1 cup plain flour                1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup caster sugar          3/4 cup dessicated coconut

150g butter, chopped         1 tbsp golden syrup

1 tbsp cold tap water          1 tsp bicarb of soda

Preheat the oven to 160'C (fan-forced), line trays with baking paper. Sift flour into a large bowl, add rolled oats, sugar and coconut and stir to combine. Melt the butter and golden syrup in a saucepan until hot. Combine cold water and bicarb. soda then add to the hot butter and stir until combined (it will bubble). Pour the hot butter mixture into the flour and stir until combined. Roll teaspoonfuls of mixture into balls and leave room for spreading. Bake 12 minutes for chewy anzac biscuits and 15 minutes for crunchy ones, swapping the trays around half way thru baking. Stand biscuits on trays for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool.

These are perfect little 'treats' to add to the girls lunch boxes!