Sunday Book Club – BAKE

This is the first part of a two-part book club review based on the books of TV chef and baker – Rachel Allen. Rachel was born in Ireland and learnt to cook at the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School. Here down to earth and simple approach to food makes her books easy to read and follow. I am starting her famous book BAKE.

First written in 2006, Rachel covers a wide range of baking goodies from cakes and pies to casseroles and baked veg. Rachel keeps ingredients and method steps to a minimum as well as sticking to the same size cake and baking tins. Although be warned, even though this reads like an entry-level cook book, not all of the recipes are photographed which means you need a certain amount of confidence with visualising final recipes. My personal favourite recipe is the chocolate Lava Cake on page 93 which is both rich and fool-proof.

This is a good stock cook book to buy someone who is looking to stretch themselves and their baking skills.

Thanks for Reading

BMB

Here’s One I Made… DIY Cruises

Some times you need to make something that is simple to take a present or surprise to the next level.

When questioning what my Brother in Law wanted for his 40th Birthday this week, I was told (very very tongue in cheek) that he would love a Cruise to New York… But as this was a little out of our price range… I decided to see what I could within the budget… Thanks for Amazon and one bath toy and lego Statue of Liberty, I came up with this

DIY Cruises

I decided to take it up a level by making him an “Admit One” card, This took about 2 minutes of googling to find a blank ticket template and suitable Cruise Ship clip art and another 2 minutes playing with fonts… You end up with a quick and easy prop which binds your present together

The Ticket to a Cruise

Some times the smallest projects can raise the biggest smiles and we can forget that our makes don’t have to take hours to be meaningful!

Have a Creative Week

Thanks for Reading

BMB

Here’s One I Made… Ladybird, Ladybird

I am on a roll with my card making this weekend and, for the first time in ages, I have completed a card for some card challenges… This one is for the following Challenges

• Allsorts – A Card with Wings
• Cute Card Thursday – An Eye for Detail
• Sketch Saturday with another great design

The digi image I have chosen is by Digi Garden’s Jacqui, who very sadly passed away earlier this month. I was in two minds as to whether to use this image but Jacqui got such a thrill from seeing her designs used in projects that I want to carry on using them to celebrate her talent.

Ladybird Ladybird

Stash Used

• Card – Papermania
• Cardstock – Oyster Crafts and Papermania
• Digital Image – Digi Garden
• Pens – Promarkers
• Ribbon – Doodlebug
• Stickers – American Crafts

Thanks for looking

BMB

Here’s One I Made… Setting the Scene for an Album

Since early Feb I have been suffering from one of the many bugs which have been doing the rounds… but one of the side effects is that it has increased my desire to scrap and {finally} make a start of my London 2012 album.

Memories of 2012

Part of what was stopping me was the physical act of opening the album up and labeling it because at that point the project becomes real. So this weekend I set myself the target of:

• Making the Front Panel and Tag for the Spine of the album
• Making the Title Page
• Making the Intro Page…

And guess what? I did it!

The Finished Products

I love American Craft D-Ring Albums with different shape pages, it keeps me fresh. But they also have a 10cm panel in the front and room for a Making Memories Tag on the side. These elements make it easy to “brand” an album, to make it a project.

Traditional also dictates that I start the album with a 6×6 page with a simple logo on the front and a “scene setter” behind it… and I feel good for completing these standard elements.

So the next step for me is to get my photos back from Photobox and start on the pages… I have one more standard page I like to do at the front of an album so that will be next project.

Oh and I am also in the mood for some cardmaking.

Thanks for Reading

BMB

Here’s One I Made… A Crazy Scientist Lab

Part of my Challenges for 2013 is to make things with a difference and this month (and probably some of the other months this year I am looking at Lego.

Build Your Imagination

I have always loved lego and some of the kits you can get today are fantastic… And from a Photographic Point of View I really want to do a project with MiniFigures… which in my opinion are some of the most photogenic things you can get.

This weekend I have from building the Crazy Scientist Kit from Monster Fighter Collection… complete with Frankenstein.

The Complete Kit

I think I am going to have more fun with photographing the details then I do with making them and I have a lot of fun making them… Although not from scratch, it’s a very satisfying way to create something in an afternoon which has a lot of detail to it. And the best bit is I can take it apart again and do it again when I feel like it!

Its Alive…!

As I said earlier – I really want to do a Lego MiniFigure photographic Project… I need to remember to make sure I have some in my camera bag at all times

A Dual to the Death with the Monster Fighters

The other good news is that I finally have my table back in the conservatory… so I can start card making again in the next week or so!

Thanks for looking

BMB

Here’s One I Took… Winter Wonderland 2013

Baby… It’s very cold outside… We have a lot of snow in the village and although we were “bravely” made it in to work this morning, we had a short day before heading back this afternoon to take some photos…

This one has been converted to black and white and is behind our house it was so peaceful…

I liked this leaf, it’s probably been dead and hanging off this branch for months and it’s still hanging on with the weight of the snow.

I was just playing around with some close-ups of the concrete slabs we have stacked up in front of the conservatory, I just loved the mini icicles.

All of these shots were taken in “Snow Scene” Mode, which makes life a lot easier when trying to work out whether to use flash or not.

For more hints and tips on taking pictures of snow:

• Geoff Lawrence Website – Lots of great hints and tips for photos in many different circumstances.
• Better Photography Website – Simple and effective advise on how to get the most out of your snowy scenes

Thanks for looking, please keep warm

BMB

Monday Inspiration – Baby Its Cold Outside…

Well winter has arrived… in the West Country we are note due to see temperatures over zero for at least the next week! When I saw this Design Seed… it reminded me of the upside of this chilly spell

This weeks cake of the week is also rich in cream shades, one of the trends predicted for 2012 is more cakes with hidden secrets inside – a bit like this Peek-a-Boo Battenberg Cake… I am not sure I have the patience for this!

As it is still, almost, the beginning of the year – here are a couple of projects which may be of interest. One I am doing myself is an Unfunded Community Yarn Project run by the wonderful Paper Village on North Street… If you are interested drop them a line… These large projects look amazing when finished.

Secondly, it’s that time of year where many photographers look at Picture-A-Day projects, you can now set up your own Photo Journal Here.

Have a great week, keep warm and crafting

BMB