The Best Thing I've Ever Made: Bloop

I had to make a special present for Someone Special. And it had to be AMAZING.

Inspired by Child's Own studio's work and Mo, who was made for a friend, I set to work on creating not just a handmade present, but something much more personal.

Based on this drawing by Someone, I set to work on bringing a creature to life, using fleece, felt, buttons, wool and some other bits and bobs...

I made a pattern. I thought that as I only had a front to go on, I could do what I like with his insides and back. He would be fully reversible, and inside-out-able, for reasons which you will discover below... 

He'd need feet.

And a brain, filled with thoughts on a bit of paper (they're not for you to see though). 

The brain comes from one of Someone's favourite books

And a circular double heart of Longing that sits in a pocket in his chest, filled with swan feathers* from swan lake, a shell from Co. Clare, and a lint of friendship ("a lint is a shell's best friend" - Marcel the Shell) - all items with a lot of personal importance.

*no swans were harmed in the making of these feathers 

He would need an old soul. The kind that grannies have.

And a Hot Water Bottom, for snuggling. Plus all those strong pink felt muscles inside for powers of minding.

As his insides took shape, so too did his outsides, with some outside help.

"make it work, designers"

He has the back of a razorback turtle/pig/dragon,

Some sparkle eyes and a distinguished french moustache,

Very stylish wooly hair,

A nose of lavender with tremendous smell detecting/defending ability,

An army patch (from his time in the war),

A terrifying mouth (great for tasting and protecting) and a trendy tie,

And a fluffy back, or a back pack rack, or a flying attack!

And so Bloop came to life... Ready to mind, defend, and snuggle.

The Wall

The Beginning.
I was asked to paint a mural for a primary school so here's the progress so far!

Oriental Rhubarb Chutney

With a present of some home grown stalks of rhubarb and not a lot else in the house I set to work making some jam. It turned out a little spicier than I intended and is probably more aptly named Oriental Rhubarb Chutney than jam!

Ingredients:
1 lb rhubarb
1/2 tsp Chinese five spice
Juice of 2 limes
A few pieces of sushi ginger
2 handfuls of raisins
1 cup water
1 cup caster sugar

Put all the ingredients in a pot and bring to the boil. Then simmer away until everything is nice and squishy and the liquid has reduced down to a syrup.

Pour into sterilised jars, leave to cool and then cover. I put mine into small jars to give to people as presents! It makes about 3 small jars, or one regular jam jar, so you might need to double up the mixture if you want to make a big batch.

Good with crackers and cheese or maybe as a dip on the side of some spicy food!

Sushi and Onigiri

Last summer I went to Japan with two friends and a year later we were still talking about these things we dubbed "yellow chickens" so we decided to recreate them! What we were actually talking about were Onigiri: balls/triangles of sushi rice with different fillings. Our favourite were a kind of chicken curry which we often ate for breakfast in the absence of cereal. Odd, delicious, and probably more lunch-appropriate.

To make them, simply shred some cooked chicken and add curry powder or spices and mix with sushi rice (prepared as instructed on the box). Then shape them and wrap some nori (seaweed) around them if you like. Best served with soy sauce, wasabi and sushi ginger.

We also made some maki sushi with peppers and some miso soup to make a meal out of this.

Green tea afterwards of course!

Summer Berry Muffins

So it's been a strange few weeks and making and doing ended up bottom of the list. But when someone special brought over some blueberries I decided baking needed to be on the agenda. I consulted my favourite books by Lilly Higgins and Nigella and decided on muffins. These are mostly Lilly's lovely blueberry muffins if I'm honest but with the addition of some strawberries (raspberries would be nice too) and I replaced the milk with semi-skimmed.

Ingredients:
8oz plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
2.5 oz light brown sugar
1 large egg
150 ml semi-skimmed milk
40 ml sunflower oil
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 oz blueberries
3 oz strawberries

Set oven to heat at 170 Celsius. (my oven is extra hot though so you might need to turn it up a little).

Instructions:

1. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl and add the sugar.

2. Whisk the wet ingredients together and add to the mixture.

3. Chop strawberries; fold in the fruit.

4. Divide the mixture into twelve cupcake cases (I use silicone ones so I don't need a cupcake tray) and bake for 15-20 mins. It might be nice to sprinkle either a few seeds or a little sugar on the top for a bit of a glaze as well, depending on whether you're going for a "healthy" muffin or not...

5. Leave on a wire rack to cool a little and enjoy with a cuppa! 

Sesame and Lime Macaroons

So I may have become a little obsessed with macaroons in the last wee while... 

These are sesame and lime ones, made for having with The Tea (post-family-dinner) on Easter Sunday.

As with the previous macaroons, these are made from a recipe from a book simply called Macaroons, from the Love Food series, I take no credit for the recipe!

The mix of sesame and lime was unusual and made me think of Asian flavours. Next time I make macaroons I'm going to experiment and come up with a recipe of my own, maybe with wasabi and something... These guys might make an interesting partner to a wasabi and chocolate maybe? Hmmm...

I think I'm going to have to do some make and do that doesn't involve macaroons next though! There seem to be quite a lot of them on my blog these days!

Pistachio Macaroons

They're not quite as glossy as I'd like but mmm pistachio...

I must pack them away now to bring them visiting... otherwise I may continue eating them. 

Who's got the button...?

Some quick and easy make and do:

A birthday present for a button loving friend...

made from a frame, some buttons, some paper, a safety pin, a wee locket and some ink. 

Simples.

Sunday sketching

Mini Oil Lamp

Work in progress pt 1

Work in progress pt 2

Home

As Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes sing: "home is whenever I'm with you..."

A small collage about my home...