Something's Sprouting...

Sprout the seedling inspired bookmark by Connect Design.

This would be a nice enough design if you simply left the seedling peer out from the top of the pages of your book. However, because the rubber allows the leaves to bend and fold away in between the pages and sprout from where you finished your last chapter, that just makes it better.

Seedling on the brain today.

{via} - Design Fetish

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Listening: Fleet Foxes - Lorelai

You eat my seedlings...I drown you in beer!

I'm slightly gutted this morning. I've been growing a lot of plants from seed. I popped them in the cold frame thinking that this would keep them safe from the birds who had dug up my spinach a few days earlier...nope. To be fair, it's not the birds now, they've settled down and left my seedlings alone, now it's slugs and I'm really getting annoyed. First they munched their way through a tray of fennel...then the slugs moved onto my rescued coriander plant - a sad supermarket plant.

At least they were relatively established plants, they're bound to come back with a little TLC, especially now I've smothered the gravel in egg shell and put copper rings around everything. Last night, I even put out beer traps to gently sozzle the slugs. (Well, if you're gonna kill them at least let them go out in a drunken haze). Except, no one touched it and instead of heading to the slug pub, they've eaten my lettuces. The top photo is them yesterday, and now all but about five left.

Now I'm off slug hunting!

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10 minutes later...

So I decided to start, quite logically, in the cold frame, especially in the old pots and crock pots I keep in the bottom....3 pots in, look who I found!

Three inches long, an inch wide, it's no wonder my veggies have been going the way they have given the size of this beast and the half dozen cronies it had in tow! In fact, I'm surprised how few things have been chomped!

They've now gone to the slug pub in the sky.

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Listening: Burl Ives - Ugly Bug Ball

Monday Mood Board: Rust & Green

Row 1:

Doctor Robert by Emily Boyd (Me!)

Untitled via Pinterest

Row 2:

Sunday Morning Wonder by Andrew Pearce

Untitled by Gemma Booth via Pinterest

Green and rusty, burnt orange colours, difficult to pull off, but excellent when done right.

I find it funny how much I love colour and that I end up rarely using it in my work. Anyway, green to ease us away from yellow.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and didn't get too drenched during the epic downpour today. Fingers crossed tomorrow will at least be slightly more summery!

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Listening: City & Colour- Waiting

Monday Mood Board: It was called 'Lellow'

Row 1:

Jonathan Saunders Dress?* via Elements of Style

Ieva Laguna in True Colors for Russh by Will Davidson via Stylizta Stockholm

* I've tried to do reverse image searches and can't find the original but one blog suggests that it's a Jonathan Saunders and that seems feasible from the design.

Row 2:

GLAM by Pam Sattler

My boards of late seem to have gone all yellow. Not surprising, it's been one of my favourite colours since my grandpa Charlie used to sit trying to get me to say "Yellow" and not "Lellow". I must have been four or five, so twenty years later it's still a favourite.

Funny how things like that stick with you.

Hope every had a nice weekend!

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Listening: Coldplay - Yellow

Thistles and other garden treats

This weekend I have mostly been crocheting thistles for the window.

We're still persevering with the woodland window and we've added alliums, a canopy of leaves and some grasses. But next is some more alliums, daisies and thistles. Which will hopefully go in on Thursday depending on how quickly I can get them made up.

I'd have done more this weekend, but I've been out in the garden planting up the herbs the girls gave me for my birthday, including an orange thyme and a chocolate mint, both of which smell phenomenal! Also put in a load of sweetpeas and veggies which have been in the cold frame too long and today I planted our potatoes. It's only the second year we've done them, but hopefully they'll be a little more successful than last years.

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Listening: The Coral - Waiting for the Heartaches

Monday Mood Board: Golden Light

Row 1:

{untitled} by Elle Rowles

Stay Gold by Amy Renee

Row 2:

Dree Hemingway by Tom Craig for Vogue UK June 2011 via Pinterest

Autumn Leaves by Michael Yamashita

October by *Floriandra

Row 3:

Pickering by Simple Tess

For anyone and everyone who's missing the sunshine.

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Listening: Brendan Benson - Cold Hands (Warm Heart)

Recipe: Empire Biscuits

Yesterday I decided to make Empire Biscuits. Which I haven't done since my Masters when we were asked to bring in a traditional dish from our country of origin. This was my contribution, though apparently, despite being a very Scottish treat, they're originally German and were called Linzer biscuits, then German biscuits and then at the out-break of the First World War, they were rechristened Empire Biscuits.

Learn something new every day.

This, however, is based on my granny Betty's recipe, which has always been one of my favourites. Plus I got to use jam I made last year and gluten free flour because my little sister's avoiding wheat for a while. Which, actually makes very light cakes.

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Ingredients:

6oz butter (or margarine if you prefer)

2oz icing sugar

2oz corn flour

2oz plain flour

Method:

Cream together the butter and sugar, then mix in the cornflour and then the flour. Start off using the back of a wooden spoon, then once the last of the flour is added switch to using your hand, it's easier to get it to form your dough that way. Once it's smooth and not sticky, wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge to firm up for five to ten minutes, this will stop the biscuits spreading as much.

Roll out the dough onto a floured work top to a thickness of approximately 5mm (half a cm). I'd go for the thinner side because you'll sandwich the biscuits together. Then I used a 48mm cookie cutter, which is the smallest I have in my set, to cut lots of rounds. The number you get depends on the thickness of your dough, I got 20, but just make sure you have an even number - though an extra is useful, just in case one broke or burnt. Lay them on a baking paper lined tray with a centimetre or so between each.

Place the tray in a preheated oven at 180C until they're golden around the edges. The recipe says 15-20 minutes, but mine were in for 12 as our over runs hot, but even that was a little long. I'd recommend cooking them for ten minutes, then checking as they go from under to over within seconds.

While they cool, make water icing. Mix approximately 3oz of icing sugar and two teaspoons of milk stirred together to make a smooth, slightly thick paste. I didn't measure it properly, but just add more sugar and/or milk until you get the right consistency.

Once the biscuits have cooled down, sandwich them with a little jam in the middle and put a small puddle of water icing on the top, then before the icing sets, finish with a Jelly-tot or glacé cherry.

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They're yummy. One problem when it came to taking a photo for sharing though...Misty.

Yep, apparently Empire Biscuits are like crack to my dotty old cat. Who went from asleep to wide awake within seconds of realising there was a plate nearby. This is seconds before she lunged at the plate in a bid to give my biscuits a try. Also seconds before I pulled it back and almost dropped them all. Not clever.

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Listening: Arctic Monkeys - Black Treacle

Little Boxes | Ticky Tacky

I havent posted anything of my own for a while. Mostly because there's been a lack of anything to actually post. There's a couple of other pieces from this series, but they're not completely finished. I've been stuck with them, so maybe I'll post them another day.

These earrings however, were part of the Christmas gifts for the girls at work, thankfully, both liked them. They're are made of silver, ophthalmic lenses and Amazakoue. Amazakoue being a gorgeous hardwood which I used for one of my degree show chess sets and have had so many chunks lying around the workshop. I keep battering myself with them - as well as branches of thorny rose wood, maple, buddleia, rosemary, lilac, elm, cherry and pine from the garden, which I've been seasoning for the past year and a half. They should be good to use now I think.

Have been having a bad day today. Which is annoying as I'd been feeling better about things lately.I feel like the herbal concoction has been helping and I've been thinking about getting back in touch with friends, thinking about designs, thinking about ordering some silver, thinking about going sorting out the workshop...I couldn't get to sleep two nights ago thinking about a design, but today all I want to do is stay in bed and either have a cry or go back to sleep. I'm not even feeling very bloggy, but I'm pushing myself to try and post more frequently and I've been meaning to post these earrings since Christmas.

Anyway, think it's time for bed. Sleep tight.

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Listening: Scott Matthews - Elusive

Disassembly

Disassembly, by Canadian photographer Todd Mclellan, is a series of photographs which depict items of our technological past, typewriters, rotary phones and wind-up clocks, which have become outdated by the introduction of new technologies. These items have been painstakingly dissected from the items so that every component is revealed. Mclellan then carefully arranges the pieces into a pleasing design which shows how much design and technology was already needed for items we now consider archaic.

link - Todd Mclellan

via - Total Inspiration

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Listening: Regina Spektor - Düsseldorf

Gumball Wars

Gumball Wars from Scott Thierauf on Vimeo.

One of my favourite pieces of animation is Pixar's Luxo Jr. which features the antics of an anthropomorphic anglepoise lamp and it's son. The reason I love it, is that the animators have managed to successfully humanise an inanimate object to the point where, with a tip of its lamp shade, or a wiggle of the stand, you can tell what Luxo Jr. is thinking and feeling.

In Gumball Wars, animator Scott Thierauf has managed to successfully create a similar anthropomorphic relationship between two gumball machines. The two childlike characters portrayed by the red and blue gumball machines have quite different characters, one teases, taunts and sniggers its way through the short and the other stoically takes it, until it's his turn to have a giggle.

As always, good things come to all who wait.

via - Kuriositas

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Listening: Jack Peñate - Spit At Stars

Monday Mood Board: Rainbows On Dreary Days

Column 1:

Bronson Caves by Brice Bischoff

Column 2:

Anthology: Issue Three by Aubrey Trinnaman & Jordan Ferney via Oh Happy Day!

Colors by Justin Waldron

Column 3:

Untitled by Inoka Chui

Anthology: Issue Three by Aubrey Trinnaman & Jordan Ferney via Oh Happy Day!

It's cold and grey this morning and I feel the need for a few rainbows to brighten everything up.

That or for Scotland to stop having such typically Scottish summer weather and let through a bit of sun. If only to save me from putting on the heating! It is June after all!

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Listening: Erik Mongrain - I Am Not

Childhood Confessions

Milk by Milla, a design concept by Christy Srisanan and Erick Barrios gives you a chance to fess up for those childhood misdemeanour's which still linger decades after they happened. Everyone has one, a confession from their childhood, whether it's cheating on a test, or behaving badly because you liked someone, it stays secret, not necessarily because it's too horrendous to tell, more because the time has passed.

"There's nothing purer than a child and Milla knows it. That's why they built their brand upon this truth. This packaging shows childhood confessions and makes us go back in time. Milla brings back the pureness by encouraging people to go to millaconfessions.com and share their innocent memories." (C. Srisanan, 2011)

I've thought of a couple of childhood confessions, then again I'm 26, childhood wasn't that long ago. But if you like this concept and feel the need to confess to something from your childhood, I'd suggest going to Post Secrets. It was the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this design and it's equally anonymous and not a concept design.

Link - Christy Srisanan & Erick Barrios

via - The Dieline

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Listening: Blur - Coffee & TV

An Epic Birthday Cake No.2

I was berated by my sister for not posting enough photographs of my birthday cake after it took her so long to make. I apologise, but I've have to edit all the photos to get the colour right since the kitchen insists on being so bloody orange. Plus I was planning on posting more once I'd done that. Therefore, when I see you next, there's a giant raspberry being blown your way.

Anyway, to satisfy my sisters need to photographic proof that she made a good cake, here are some pictures from during its creation...

Vanilla icing with real vanilla paste, so it was lovely and speckled

Raspberry icing which had fresh raspberry purée mixed through it.

I have to say the layers with pink raspberry icing & the jam were really nice together, it helped to knock the sweetness, which should, I think have been dampened by the lemon which was meant to be in the cake. I'm not keen on lemon in cakes, so Sarah left it out.

Have to say this definitely beats the traditional Vicky sponge we normally make for my birthday...though mum making one into a giant butterfly cake full of summer fruit, was also immense.

Enough photos? If not, blame your own photographic ability, not mine. There's only so much editing photoshop can do! :P

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Listening: OK Go - Love Cats

"I'm vibrating!"

This is how I felt after eating my birthday cake. It was absolutely fantastic, but oh my God, so sweet I could feel my teeth going into shock!

Incidentally, this is an early 90's kids program I watched when I was little called - obviously - Dinosaurs. It was a Jim Henson Production and it was your basic sitcom based around the Sinclair's, an anthropomorphic family of dinosaurs.

This clip also shows a running joke which has permeated all our brains at home. When there's been deadly comestibles made which could lead to a sugar comma, or someone has been over indulging in caffeine...generally any hyperactivity ends with someone remembering the quote, "I'm vibrating!"

Well, my 26 birthday cake definitely warranted it!

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Listening: The Supernaturals - Smile

A Epic Birthday Cake!

My sisters made me a completely, and utterly epic 26th birthday cake...with buttons on it! It was a masterpiece of raspberry & vanilla icing, pink sponge, home made raspberry jam and coconut. And oh, my, God, it was possibly the sweetest thing I've ever eaten!

Thank you Sarah & Louise for a very lovely birthday cake and for all the effort that went into making me a fancy birthday cake...your do realise we're going to have to trump this for your birthdays now?

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Listening: Fleetwood Mac - Go Your Own Way

Birthday Board No.1

Row 1:

Painting Flowers All Time Low by Whenchemicalscollide via Pinterest,

Day Fifty Two by Big Fat Grey Cat

Row 2:

Balloon House by Tim Walker via Pinterest,

Funambula8 by Chick Named Hermia

Rainbow birthdays. Full of party balloons and festivities.

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Listening: Supergrass - Pumping On Your Stereo

Birthday Board No.2

Row 1:

Untitled by Rawrrxamanda,

.birthday wishes. by Amanda K

Row 2:

Ghosts by Emma Freemantle,

Cake by Paul Barbera via Pinterest

A relaxing birthday, with a good dose of sparkle. This looks like a pretty good birthday to me!

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Listening: Death Cab for Cutie - You Are A Tourist