Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Major Devolpments (just cannot believe it!!)

Yes, Yes, I know, I know... But Puppy ate my USB cable for my camera so I haven't been able to take any new pictures for here or my on-line shops :(
We made the mistake of not checking that the door from the utility room to the house had been closed properly when we went out to dinner.When we came back Puppy was sound asleep on the sofa with my cable chewed to bits on the floor. In fairness to him it could have been a lot worse!! He didn't poo or wee anywhere just ate my cable curled up in a ball, on the sofa, in front of the stove for a snooze (he's sooo cute).


Anyhooo it's been a busy busy month so far. My personalised plates have taken off and as I work in a Agri & Hardware supply store, I buy my plates there. My boss asked "what are you doing with all the plates"? so I explained and he asked me to bring some in to show him. I did...... and now my plates are on sale in my workplace!! I can't believe it!! I got 10 orders in the first few days!

I just wish I could list them on the sites as the Christmas Clock is ticking!

I also got a message through Etsy from Roisin of Roisins salon Kilkenny who I had supplied a small order to during the summer. She is opening a new store and wondered if I wanted to display my goods. OOOOooohhh yes please!
I went out to the new store which is in the Mc Donagh Shopping Centre Kilkenny and is Gorgeous!! I feel so proud and honored. I also got to see some of the other Irish Etsy sellers work up close, it was great!

So we shall see how it goes but it has just exploded and gotten crazy overnight and I'm loving it!

I have a cable ordered for my camera and I really want to get this blog going in the next few months. So please leave a comment if stop by you it means the world to me.



How cute is he....
Happy Crafting Y'all :)

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Easy Peasy Chocolate Brownie Muffins



Yes yes I know I know!! Once again it's been ages but I've been so busy.
My day job went CRAZY with a total revamp and relaunch of the store I work in.
So it's been late nights and early mornings for ages.

To apologize let me bribe you with some cake :)

On offer today is the easiest peasiest recipe ever!!

My famous
Chocolate Brownie Muffins Yummmmmmmmmmy!!


You will need
300g (2 cups) Self Raising Flour
35g (1/3 Cup) Cocoa
75g ( 1/3 Cup) Caster Sugar
60g Butter Melted
95g Choc bits (chop up favourite bar dark/milk you decide)
75g (1/2 cup) chopped nuts (walnuts/pistachios taste great in this recipe)
Nuts are optional
125ml (1/2 cup) Nutella
1 Egg beaten
300ml (3/4 cup) Milk


Pre heat oven to 200 Celsius/ 400 F/ Gas 5
Now the easy fun part
Put all the dry ingredients in your mixing bowl
Add the wet ingredients to the dry

It will look like this


I hear ya doesn't look great does it.... trust me they will!!

Now Mix with a spoon, not too ,much just enough to blend the ingredients

It should look like this

Spoon into muffin cases and bake in the oven for 20 Min's and your done


Grab yourself a mug of coffee and a good book and curl up on the sofa for a well deserved break.

These muffins are great fresh from the oven and don't last long in our house.

I told you they are easy peasy and they are g
reat to make with kids on a rainy Autumn day

"The Raven" Edgar Allan Poe Mug available in my shop

http://www.etsy.com/listing/55379681/the-raven-halloween-mug

Thanks for stopping by
Happy Crafting y'all :o)

Saturday, September 4, 2010

We're Jamming

Oh Yes!!! At Last At Last!!! It's Here!!
Autumn My Favourite Season.

I have been watching the hedgerows for weeks now. Spotting the flowers, the promise of Fruits to come.
So last Saturday we gathered up our buckets and our new puppy
And off we went
Picking Blackberries!!! Yay!

Our fruit trees are laden down with Apples,Plums,Pears so we got busy picking.

How to preserve all this gorgeous harvest?? Why Jam of course!
It's the easiest thing in the world to make and yum on freshly baked scones or crusty bread. Basically you match the weight of your fruit with the weight of sugar.
I thought I'd share my recipe for Damson Plum and Apple Jam :)

You will need

2.2lb (1kg) Fruit, Decide how much apple you want to mix with the Plums
It really is up to you once your fruit weight is 2.2lb
2.2lb (1kg) Granulated Sugar
12 fl oz (300ml) Water


Sterilise your jars by washing them in warm soapy water then putting them in the oven at 100 degrees for 20 mins or until your Jam is ready.

Place the lids in a saucepan of boiling water and simmer till needed.

Put two small plates or saucers into the freezer

Wash the Fruit
Peel & Chop up your Apples again its up to you if you want nice chunks of fruit or fine slivers.Place in your deepest saucepan with the Plums and all the Water.

No, you don't have to do anything to the plums other than wash them. Believe me this is soooooo easy!

Place on your Hob and slowly bring to the boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 15 mins until the fruit is soft and squishy.

Add the Sugar


And stir until it dissolves.

If you have a timer or stopwatch set to 15 mins then bring the fruit to a rapid bubbling boil and Boil for 15 mins.


You will see the little stones from the Plums pop up to the surface as the fruit boils.

CAREFULLY remove them from the pot. I repeat Carefully! It is Boiling :O)

After 15 mins remove from the heat, take one of your plates from the freezer and spoon a small bit of Jam onto it. Place it back in the freezer for a minute. Now test it for setting point.


Take the saucer from the freezer and push back on the Jam with your finger. If it wrinkles it is ready. If not just put the fruit back on the boil for a few more minutes and test again with the second saucer.

I usually end up putting some from the saucer on a piece of bread "quality control" and the makers privilege ;O) yum!

Once you are happy that setting point has been reached,take your jars from the oven and fill with your gorgeous gooey Jam. Clean the top of the Jar with a damp cloth and seal with lid.

Wipe the Jars with a damp cloth, make your own label (if you wish) and

Congratulations!!! You made Jam!




This recipe makes 3lb of Jam.

Use any fruit or combinations of fruit you like. Experiment have fun!

You can adjust the weights any way you want to get a bigger volume of Jam.

Just equal the weight of fruit to sugar.

If you want to use less sugar the setting will be slower but you could try the Jam Sugar that has Pectin added. Pectin is the setting ingredient found in fruit. High in apples lower in blackberries and plums so it's great to add a few apples to a Jam to aid setting (and flavour).

Don't get worked up about Setting Point. TRUST your instinct. And even if your bottled Jam doesn't set just empty them it back into your saucepan and boil again. Don't worry it Will Work!

You can use frozen Blackberries,Plums,etc just defrost first.

To store a large batch of Apples or Pears just wrap each individual piece in newspaper and they will keep for months.

Jam makers lucky wooden spoon available in my shop


Enjoy Your Jam!

Phew! Long Post!

Happy Crafting Y'all ♥

Monday, August 9, 2010

Festival at Bagenalstown Co. Carlow

Hey All!
Had a bit of great luck! I got a call from the organisers of the Festival Weekend in Bagenalstown to invite me to their festival as a TRADER!!!!
I was so thrilled!!!!
Although it was very short notice no way was I passing up this gift.
The Festival was running from Friday to Sunday but I was only able to attend on Sunday.
I had very little made so I worked through the night on Thursday, Friday and till late on Saturday (Thank God I was on holidays from work).Even though I knew my stall would be small I was excited and nervous, this would be my very first trade stand.


Live Music which included Ray Lynham & Richie Kavanagh. A Photo exhibition with great talents and an open day in the fire station.




Bagenalstown is on the river Barrow so what could be more fun than a Rubber Duck Race on the river. It was great watching all the children waiting for the little yellow ducks, hundreds of them, to come around the bend and when they did, to hear their squeals of delight! My pictures of this didn't come out as I could not battle through all the children to get a good shot :)



But here some lovely pictures of the barge rides and other stalls at the Bagenalstown Festival.







A great big THANK YOU to the organisers from me and to the Heavens for the great weather!


The Festival is a yearly event and you should check it out next year!




























Monday, August 2, 2010

Craft Fair at Ducketts Grove Carlow

Once again it's been eons since my last confession,
But you know how it is girls on holiday from school, work, Etsy etc etc,

Anyhoo I just had to stop by and tell you all about the Fab Craft Fair I attended yesterday

I was coming home from an early morning shopping trip into Carlow Town when I spotted a sign for the Craft Fair in Ducketts Grove.

We had attended it last year and it was fab! So I rushed haome picked up my man and the girls and we headed off.

Held in the grounds of Ducketts Grove Castle a gorgeous setting.


Filled with wonderful crafts which included jewelry, pottery,wood turning & glass painting.

My favourites however were the Traditional Irish Craft demonstrations

Basket Weaving on a HUGE scale


Butter Making, Yarn Spinning
Thatching
And my girls favourite Horse Shoeing


It is wonderful to see these ancient crafts alive and thriving in the 21st century but even more so to see them first hand.

Also included were delicious hand made cheeses and Artisan meats, aswell as hand made chocolates yum!


I got talking to a lot of the crafters and spread the love of Etsy as best I could so maybe we'll get a few more Irish sellers :)













A great day was had by all and I came home full of inspiration

Happy Crafting Y'all :)
Basket Weaving by Padraig Larkin, Co.Offaly www.padraiglarkin.com
Weaving by Mary O'Rourke ,Dublin Dublin Mountain Craft Trail
Hand Thrown Pottery by Marion Graham, Baunreagh Pottery Carlow



Thursday, June 10, 2010

The Fashion Fusion

I want to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to

MISSY FASHION FUSION
from ETSY
at the
Fashion Fusion Blog
for the Wonderful Feature on my Etsy shop!

I am so Proud and Thankful

Missy has a great blog with lots of fashion know how and top tips!

Beautifully maintained with something of interest for everyone

Please drop by and leave a comment :)

Thanks again Missy!

http://thefashionfusion.blogspot.com/2010/05/hot-this-week-spiral-godess.html
YaY!!

Saturday, June 5, 2010

360



I went for a walk this evening, stopped on the footbridge and did a 360 turn taking these pictures on my favourite road.




I just love to stop here it looks like the road goes on forever or a gateway to somewhere


And this is the road I drive every time I go to the shops :)




It's such a fabulous place at anytime of year and as I took these photos the crows overhead were swalking.


Love it!




Happy Bank Holiday Everyone!

Monday, May 31, 2010

I'm a Groovy Find

Work up to a Convo from teachergurrl on Etsy to say she has featured one of my items on her site as a June find!
I'm so thrilled & grateful :)
Here is the item that is Featured

And here is the badge I'm proud to display!

Groovy Gal Designs Online--Home of the Groovy Finds

I'm a Groovy find!!
Happy Monday All :)

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Two Tone Gorgeously Girly Cupcakes


Hello Again,
Gosh I didn't realise it was so long.
I keep forgetting to bring my camera or take pics of the cakes I'm making and then life took over and before I knew it, it's been 3 Weeks since my last confession :)

Anyhooo... Here's a tasty recipe that's handy for a visit from the girls,a princess birthday party or an afternoon treat.

For the Cupcakes you will need

150g/6oz Caster Sugar
150g/6oz Butter/Margerine
3 Eggs
150g/6oz SelfRaising Flour
1 Tablespoon Water
A few drops of pink/red colouring

Pre heat oven to 190C 375F gas 5

Method

1. Cream/ beat sugar and butter/margerine together until light & fluffy
2. Beat in the eggs one at a time following each with a spoonful of flour
3. Sift the remaining flour into the creamed mixture and fold in gently alternately with the water.


4. Divide the mixture into 2 bowls. To one bowl add pink/red colouring.
5.Put a spoonful of each colour into cupcake cases in a muffin tray. Only fill two third of the case as the cupcakes will rise and over flow if they are too full.



6. Put in preheated oven & bake for 15 mins

7. Cool on wire tray

For the Icing You Will Need

100g/4oz Butter

178- 225g/6-8oz Icing Sugar

Few drops Vanilla Essence

1-2 Tblsp Milk



1. Cream/Beat butter until soft

2.Beat in the Icing sugar a little at a time adding the vanilla essence and sufficent milk to give a fairly firm but spreadable consistency.

3.Divide into 2 bowls & add pink/red colouring to one bowl.

4. Put scoops of each colour into icing gun or piping bag and pipe onto cakes starting on the outside working in to form a two tone spiral.

5.Decorate with sprinkles or silver sugar balls


All thats left is to invite the girls round for coffee,cake & chat or just put your feet up and enjoy one all for yourself :)

Enjoy!
I promise not to be away so long next time xoxoxo

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Happy Dance

I would just like to brag I mean blog (lol) about the fact that.....
I MADE IT TO THE FRONT PAGE OF ETSY!!! YES I DID!!!
OH HAPPY DAYS :)


Here is my Pirate Pendant that was featured



And the little badge that I've been dying to use!!!!

LOL
Spiralgoddess does Happy Dance around the kitchen!!!!
Partner raises his eyes to heaven again.....
Daughters join in Happy Dance
:)