Letter25

22.6.16

Winter Manifesto

A Winter Manifesto

A public written or verbal

declaration of intentions..

So who is in with Julie and Jen on Little Paper Projects Little Summer of Joy project ?

Well of course I am but I shall be joining in with a Winter Perspective.

As the girls have made a lovely Summer Manifesto printable for those in the Northern Hemisphere I have made one for we lucky peeps who are documenting our Winter.

Feel free to download either the image above or the manifesto below.
Right click on the image and save.

This printable was made using the Label That Digital Stamps from Kellies Stamps it is well worth checking out Kellies products.

Please link me or tag me on Instagram with a pic of the way you use this manifesto I would appreciate being able to leave a comment and some love...

Cheers Marie

15.3.16

National Pi Day

National Pi Day

Well it is National Pi Day here - So here is our family favourite recipe to celebrate with today.
Over on Sarah's Project Stir Blog she has a round up of awesome recipes.
Definitely worth checking out here

Ingredients :

Filling

2 medium Leeks washed & finely sliced

8 Chicken Thigh Fillets

1 cup of chicken stock

2 Glasses of a dry white { 1 for the chef -1 for the pot }

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of Olive Oil

Cheese Sauce

60 grams butter

1/3 cup of plain flour

4 cups of milk

250 grams of good swiss type cheese grated -

as you can see I used Gouda.

1/2 teaspoon Fresh Nutmeg finely grated

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

Step 1... Melt Butter in a large frypan and add Olive Oil and Leeks

Cook Gently till bright green and slightly translucent.

Step 2... Push Leeks to the outer edges of the pan and place in

the Chicken fillets.

Turn up the heat and when the pan is hot add the 1 glass of wine.
Now add the 1 cup of Chicken Stock.
Turn down to a simmer and place on lid cook for 20 mins.

Step 3... Make Cheese Sauce

In a small heavy based pan melt the butter and add plain flour cook on high heat, till frothy.

Next add the grated nutmeg.

Remove from heat.

Slowly add milk stirring all the time so as to get a smooth lump free sauce.

Return to heat and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon,

for 10 to 12 minutes or until sauce comes to the boil,

thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.

At this point turn off heat and add the cheese

stir till combined and melted.

Consistency should now resemble a quite thick ribbon.

Your sauce will thin considerably when added to the stock in the pan.

Step 4... Take out the now poached chicken and dice finely, return to pan and turn up the heat to reduce the stock to half.

Stir in the Cheese sauce until the leek mixture and sauce are well combined - allow to cool.

Bake

I have a 4Pie pie maker and I use that to bake my pies.

I use pre bought Borgs Butter Puff Pastry.

I have included a link to the pastry I would make when time permits.

Nigella Lawson Processor Puff Pastry HERE

Baking them for about 10 mins and then checking for nice golden tops.

However if your were to use individual pie moulds in the oven.

I would bake individual pies for 25 - 30 minutes at 180C/200C fan forced oven.

These pies were made by special request from a friend of mine for her neighbour who is presently recovering from Chemo. She wanted something tasty for her that was quick to put a meal on the table for her family when she was feeling unwell.

Notes

Both the pies and the pie filling freeze brilliantly.

Please use the Swiss type cheese it add that lovely sweet nutty flavour.

I hope you enjoy the recipe please leave a comment if your have a question or a wine suggestion.

1.1.16

Project Stir - Story telling through International recipes.

I am so pleased and proud to be one of Sara Schotts Project Stir Ambassadors.

I have waited till January 1st to do this post for a few reasons...

No. 1

I have just become a Nana note not a grandma or grandmother A NANA ! Although if I could possibly find an an ounce of Spanish blood in my heritage I would happily be an Abuela or Italian blood I would be a Nonna for sure. A Yiddish Bubba or German Oma would be just as nice.

But as I am an Irish / Australia I shall have to settle for Nana or the Irish or Gaelic word for grandmother is seanmháthair ((shan a WAW her), literally meaning "old mother."

This term would not be used to directly address a grandparent. Children would use instead Maimeó (MAM o) or Móraí (MO ree). Oooh I am liking the Morai one...

No. 2

My mother couldn't cook ! She tried god bless her but ...... well we didn't starve. So my cooking prowess is self taught.

So my Project Stir story shall begin with me as a Nana { Abuela, Nonna, Bubba, Oma and Morai }

I hope you will join me here in this amazing project where i will hand down my recipes, tips and anecdotes not to mention LOADS of photos - my other passion.

---oo0oo---

So it is New Years Day January 1st 2016 and here is my first recipe for you...

Where else would I be this morning but in the kitchen our Global Pantry Foodie group are meeting for a family lunch and I have been requested to bring my Salted Caramel Toblerone Pavlova Torte.

Ingredients :

6 egg whites at room temperature

2 cups of castor sugar { Australian 250ml cup }

1 1/2 tsp plain white vinegar

1 /12 tsp vanilla

1 Pavlova Magic Egg { from the supermarket

Flaked Almonds enough to sprinkle on top each of the 2 pavlova .

300 ml whipped cream

200 grams Toblerone Chocolate Bar gently melted and cooled slightly.

Decorate:

Dusting of Icing { Powdered Sugar } and Cocoa

Drizzle of salted caramel sauce either homemade or pre bought { the latter being my preference }

Method :

Pre heat oven to a slow heat 150 C / 300 F

Beat egg whites in a clean NO oil bowl.

{To make sure your bowl has no oil in it wipe out with a piece of paper towel moistened with vinegar.}

Beat egg white till soft peak stage

Add sugar 1 tbsp at a time beating well after each addition.

Stop beating and scrape down the sides of the bowl - continue beating until all the sugar is incorporated.

Fold in Vinegar and vanilla.

Cover 1 extra long tray or 2 trays with baking paper. If you want even circular pavs trace circles on the wrong side of the baking paper.

Divide Pavlova mix in half and spread evenly over your 2 circles approximately 2cms thick.

Sprinkle the tops with flaked almonds they will stick nicely and toast at the same time adding that extra crunch in the end product.

Bake for an hour. Turn off the oven and leave the door ajar for several hours or overnight to dry out the Pavlova.

Filling :

Whip your cream and gentle fold through the melted Toblerone bar. The end result should look nicely marbled with some large streams of Toblerone visible.

Sandwich pavlovas together with cream and Flaked almond sides up.

Decorate :

Sift a good dessertspoon of Icing sugar and teas of Cocoa together over the top followed by a light drizzle of Salted caramel sauce.

Enjoy my friends and feel free to ask for help or leave a comment .. Marie

31.10.15

Wow November already.

Well how exciting is my life right now ....
Not only did I make the beautiful and talented Jessica Upton's Colorcast Design team for the Holiday Season but I was also honoured to become a revered CSI Color Stories Inspirations Detective.

Just goes to show all those years of watching :
Columbo
Starsky and Hutch
Charlies Angels
Midsommer Murders
Murder She Wrote
Magnum PI
New tricks
Phsyc
Diagnosis Murder
Death in Paradise
Matlock

Have seriously paid off.

So now to get to work and produce some art/memeory keeping to show case both Jessicas products and the awesome challenges over at CSI Please check them both out you can find links Colorcast here and Color Stories Inspiration here

Thank you both for choosing me to join your teams..

Colorcast Design with Pink Acrylic Hearts

And Halloween with beautiful acrylic Bats ...

Thanks for stopping by - Marie

5.10.15

CSI Colour Stories Inspiration

CSI | Colour Stories Inspiration

No. 176

So the idea is to take this inspiration and knock out a LO. How can you fail ? The inspiration is in the gallery over at Color Stories Inspirations and the Case File tells you exactly what elements to add to your LO. Easy Peasy really ...

They even include the colour panetoned for digi scrappers.

Have i said how much i love this site. You will find the challenge here

So here is my take on No. 176

This LO is of Emily a few years ago at a friends and family Australia Day BBQ. I love any excuse to get out and about with my friends and family and have a great time. The weather is always beautiful and often we find ourselves at the beach .

No. 177

I love this case file it had such a woodsy feel to it. I even made my first You-tube video of picking a mini kit to make this LO.. So here is the end result .

My take on Case File No. 177

We have quiet a few scheduled photoshoots on the calendar every year. Christmas, Australia Day, St Patricks Day, Easter and Halloween. This one is from a St Patricks Day shoot a year when the kids refused to dress up but were happy to wear green and pose. One has to take what one can get I suppose. So there you have it case file 177. You will find the challenge here

Also and even more exciting from my point of view any is that I made a You-tube video! My first!

I did my video on picking a kit to make this LO so if you're interested .......

28.9.15

Day |23 Breakfast on the porch with Brenda Smith

I would to introduce you all to my guest blogger today, welcome to an awesome lady Brenda Smith.
Please join me on the porch for breakfast and a lovely get to know you better chat.......

Good Morning everyone. I am so excited to be guesting here today! Head on up to the porch and chat with me!

My name is Brenda. I am currently residing in gorgeous Virginia, USA. For the last 11 years I have been a SAHM to my 3 kids. This year all of my babies are in school so I am job hunting. Until then my time is filled with housework, crafting, photography and exploring our state.

Isn't it beautiful? These photos are from all different locations within 10-15 minutes of my house. I am so lucky.

Tea Coffee or Bubbly:

I am definitely a coffee person. Recently I learned to make cold brew at home. My life is now coffee complete.

Need I say more? mmmm

Sweets or savoury:

hmmm This is actually a hard one. I love food. Sometime I like to have something sweet and other times I want something savoury. It really depends on the day. Like today I am craving apples but yesterday it was cheese. haha

How/When did you get involved in scrapbooking:

In 2005 my first child started to make all these milestones that I really wanted to get down into memory. At first I started with paper scrapping, just grabbing little bits of things from teh dollar store and an album from Walmart. Then he hit 1. He was into everything. After he tried to eat the glue and paper for the "last" time I started to look for another way. For quite a while I was digital scrapbooking and even designing digital scrapbook products. For about 2 years now I have been back to paper scrapping and even a little hybrid scraps. My kids are old enough not to touch my things or to scrap right along with me. It is so much for fun this time around.

digital:

Impressionist Transfers | Vinnie Pearce Design

Paper:
Cedar Lane | Pink Paislee

What Design teams are you on:

For the moment I am working for Pink Paislee, Paper Camellia, Gossamer Blue and am guesting for Citrus Twist. Digitally(or hybrid) I design for Paislee Press, One Little Bird, Valorie Wibbens, Vinnie Pearce and The Lilypad. It seems like a lot but I like to be busy. I am sure it will slow down after I start working.

Favourite Products / Company:

I love all the manus! Seriously. I don't think I have a favorite but I do love to work with anything Maggie Holmes, Pink Paislee and Crate Paper. My favorite products are paper ephemera and pretty patterned papers. I can create pretty much anything if I have those two things.

Photography equipment:

I shoot most of my candid photos with my Iphone 5s and edit with Pic-Tap-Go and VSCOcam. When I want to get better photos I use my Nikon d5100 with my 50mm and 35mm lenses. Those photos are usually edited in photoshop with My Four Hens actions.

Do you have any hints or tips for taking good photos?:

Basically just pay attention to angles and light. Dramatic light from a lamp or window or back lighting/side lighting photos makes for some really fun and different images. Take photos from all different angles. I love taking photos from above my kids when they are playing. Or getting down on their level to really see what they are doing.

Lamp light at 10:00 at night. Shot with Nikon d5100 + 50mm lens

Shot with Iphone 5s | edited in VSCOcam + Pictapgo

my goals:

I have really reached and gone well over the goals I had for this year. I am working for some amazing people. This year I was even able to add a design position to my scrap resume. Paper Camellia has me designing cards and elements for their Everyday Life kits. Ideally I would love to start creating full scrap kits and maybe posters/cards in the future. For now I am just learning and soaking in all that I have. I am so grateful.

Where can you be found on the web?

IG | FB | Blog | Pinterest | Twitter

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit today. I suppose I should get to cleaning something or prep for dinner. Have an absolutely lovely day!!!

I have so enjoyed this wonderful time with you Brenda and thank you so much for joining me today on the blog.

26.9.15

Day | 25 Music to connect with.

Music In My Empty Nest This Week

Empty Nest bliss this week with all the children away.

I had total control of music genre and sound level {loud} and of the T.V.

How many more years is it before they all fly the nest ???

As I am not a religious or spiritual person I can't say that any particular songs speak to me.

However the music and the beat behind the lyrics is another matter.

I think my family can tell in which frame of mind I am by which type of music is playing on the Ipad.

Funnily enough this it has been set to Classical Play list ALL week.

I wonder what that says about my week at home alone.

Below I have added a few favourites from Classical play list.

The Mission - Ennio Morricone

Theme from Pirates of the Caribbean

My ALL time favourite scene is in the first movie where Jack Sparrow

sails into dock and casually steps of the mast as the boat sinks.

This is a much loved movie in our home.

The Leprechauns

Theme - Fly Away by Emma Townshend

This is my on repeat piece of music at the moment.

Johann Sebastian Bach cello suite no 1 prelude in g major

My Spotify Classical Play List can be found here

24.9.15

Day | 24 Beautiful Blogs

Giving a Little Shout out to

some of my favourite Bloggers .

Lucky I'm a woman and multi skilled.

I can Read a blog, Watch television and Converse with family

all at the same time.

| 1 The Paint Brush Goes Spottie

Leeane is a real life friend of mine and is such an inspirational talent

please check out her blog and tutorials.

I have been following her for many years.

You can too - here

| 2 Tracey Holdyk

Although I have only recently met Tracey through Instagram,

I feel we are kindred spirits.

Totally inspiring soul in everything she does

and how she lives her life.

Please check out her awesomeness here

| 3 Things you should know (for Now)

Brandi is just a mind blowing talent. The Doodler supremo!

Some blogs are easy viewing picture after picture and I like those.

Some blogs are a very worthy read and their inspiration

can be found in the pictures but also in the words.

A generous soul and a beautiful person.

Check here out here

| 4 Purplemailbox

Link to youtube video with Soaphousemama

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F9eOb0-_so)

Now this woman is just so amazing words can barely describe.

I am constantly stalking her you tube.

Please check her out for yourselves here

| 5 Betwixt & Between

Now as she is my daughter I really have to include her - right?

Seriously she is an amazing blogger on so many different levels.

Photography, styling, PL, scrapbooking, out & about.

Soon to be mother will add yet another string to her bow.

Check it all out here

The list could go on and on but these are just some of the wonderfully talented people

out there I visit for inspiration.

Marie

23.9.15

Day | 21 & 22 Quote - Get Creative

Get Creative - Sheesh

Ok so I have had a couple of bad days plus I have had family come to stay.

So consequently I have fallen a bit behind with my daily blogging.

But I was loving it so much I am determined to catch up.

My life is a creative one.....

I am going to incorporate 2 posts today.

Monday - A favourite Quote | In the movie Sister Act 2 Sister Mary Robert says to Rita,

" If when you wake up in the morning and you can't think of anything but singing first - then you're supposed to be a singer. "

I wake up each morning yearning to be creative, to cook, to craft, to photograph so I do.

Just thought I would add my favourite song from the 2nd movie and I might add my favourite hymn.

Tuesday - Get Creative | So after reading the above quote, I get up every morning and my brain explodes with creative ideas in every area of my life, adornments, cooking, gardening, photography, styling and craft.

So today I am sharing with you the above LO that I put together for a challenge over on the Citrus Twist Blog. The Recipe Challenge was from one of their most talented DT members and I would like to say a friend of mine and dare I say A MOST TALENTED scrapbooker - Emma

Recipe :

Die-cuts (at least 5)
layers
stitching (machine or hand)
1 veneer
Cut file (and if you want to be extra tricky, try and use it as a digital stamp and your title)

Day |16 Me VS Me basically.

Todays post is about the online ME VS. the Real Me.

Well todays post is going to be a short one then isn't it - NO DIFFERENCE. End of story.

Ok so if I have to elaborate -

I feel that what you see is what you get either on social media or in person.

Although on social media a photo can show just a square inch of your life and anyone can clean and tidy a square inch.

Anyone can paint their face for a selfie, stage an awesome photo etc. and I am guilty of staging a photo as well. But on the whole people appreciate honesty and real life as well as a great photo. I am all for people improving their photography skills.

I suppose I'm old enough to realise you are who you are and that's a fact. Be who you are whenever and wherever you are. The TRUTH always comes out - always.

So to sum up I am who I am on or off ..........

Marie
Chin Hairs and all ..

15.9.15

Day |15 The Archaeological Diggings of my life.

Over the eons there has many occasions on which I have been asked { scrapbookingly } to notate and document the strata { many layers } of my saddlebag.

Image from seanconneryday.com

So lets tackle this dig chronologically shall we.
Lets delve into cataloging the exhibits.......

Pre historic - aka pre children { foot loose and fancy free with a disposable income }
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