Etsy!

I've been a fan of Etsy for a while and as I mentioned on Wednesday, I have been planning to open a shop there for some time.  

Well,...it's finally there!  I am still finding my way and I'm not 100% happy with it yet but it's a start.  You can find the shop here with my first products already there.  

My products are made to order so I will be happy for a slowish start but hopeful this could be a good little sideline for me combining getting me out of debt with a hobby.

Recipe: Cheese Scones

At the weekend I cracked out the gluten free cookbook again and made these cheese scones.  I was a little worried about the texture but they tasted nice and went really well with some creamy mushrooms that Nico made.

You can find the recipe here.  I would recommend using more seasoning and cheese.  To be fair, we can't get cheddar here so it may have tasted different because of that but we still had a fairly strong hard cheese.

I'm loving baking at the weekends again!

Sewing Project 2014 - 3 Quilted Baby Name Bunting

 I loved this project and it took just one evening to come up with and create.  I have been wanting to try this for a while and finally got around to it.  It is my first project without a pattern to work from and I am really pleased with the results.

 This also matches the owl I made little Isla for Christmas.  I am planning to open a shop on Etsy to offer these products as made to order as a way of making a little extra money.  It's something I enjoy doing so let's see how that goes.

Worpswede

Delicious cake and hot chocolate - perfect in this weather

On Saturday, we braved the rubbish weather and headed out on our first road trip in the new car.  As it was very cold and rainy we didn't venture too far but we headed north of Bremen to Worpswede which is a town famous for its artists.

This competely freaked me out as we wandered past

 We liked the town but couldn't visit some of the things we wanted to because of the ice that was still laying around getting extra slippery under the rain.  I can't wait to go back when the weather gets warmer.

My wonderful husband and our cutie car

It was so nice to get out and about - I'm really looking forward to future road trips and our next visit to Worpswede.

February Birthday Cards

 As part of my productive long weekend I got a head start on the new month and made my February birthday cards.  Some techniques were ones I had tried before - I really need to update my stock.  I also tried some new ones though.  I finally got out my jewels for these two cards.  I was really pleased with the results although it was a little fiddly.

Project Life - January

Here it is!  The first month of the new Project Life.  I am so excited about this project again.  This month I have got some new techniques going on and I am soo pleased with the spread for January.

First off I love the colour scheme in the coral kit.  Waiting and putting a spread together at the end of month was so much more relaxed and productive.  It's no longer about quantity - cramming in enough journalling or photos to fill two pages - but quality and it works much better.

I used some different inserts for the spread and will be continuing to do that as it allows me to play with the photo sizes and change the look of the spreads from month to month.

I also used the 'month in review' card which was a free dowload from the Project Life Course I took last year.  I really like the effect of having some typed journalling in there as well as the handwritten words.

Talking about journalling, it felt much less forced this month and the overall effect is much more balanced.

I finally figured out how to use some of my new kit - the corner cutter.  I love the rounded corners on the photos - it ties them into the cards better and makes it all look a little more professional.

Also, using a new kit was very refreshing.  I found card stock which tied into my life and projects really well that were missing from the kits I used up until now.

I'm really looking forward to continuing this project next month.  My target is to get pictures of Nico in there - this is to be a project about our family this year so I want all of us to be in there.

The Saturday Update

What a relaxing week!  Work calmed down so much after the crazy, stressful report week.  It was busy as we had three retirement celebrations in two days but luckily it was a short week so we got through it relatively unscathed.  It was really nice to see our colleagues off in style - the leaving dos were real celebrations, especially for the headteacher as there was a lot to celebrate.  

I finished my evening classes this week.  I was sad to say goodbye, but I will be glad to get my Wednesday evenings back.  That and the lower number of classes I will be teaching at school next semester means I can wind down a little bit from next week.  It also brings maternity leave one step closer, eek!

We have had lots of snow this week but luckily it disappeared enough for us to drive safely and I am loving getting out and about it the car.  It was fun to watch Pete out on the balcony.  That's when he wasn't hunting birds through the glass on the front balcony.  We've even had a squirrel out there now that they all want to be fed in the low temperatures.

Having two days off was great - I got lots done including project life for January and lots of organising in the flat.  It feels really good to get things organised around here - it's like we are nesting but also getting closer to achieving several goals.

This weekend we are hoping to get away for a day - make the most of the car, and I hope to get another sewing project under my belt.  We have some friends calling over tomorrow too.  Lots going on.  Have a good one!