Sunday 24 July 2011

Michiko

One of my latest illustrations, "Michiko" the Geisha doll, now available as a print in various sizes. Click here.

I love lazy Sundays

I love a Sunday that involves pottering about the house, enjoying the garden, eating good food, catching up on all the papers and supplements you've failed to read for the last month and just generally chilling. Today was one of those. And on my pottering day, here's a few things I rustled up which you might want to try yourself.

Homemade Potpourri


A nice chore I like to do is deadhead my flowers in the garden and collect up all the flowers/ petals to make my own potpourri. I add a few sprigs of lavender to my mix and simply leave it to dry in the airing cupboard (making sure to stir it each day so that all the petals dry). Then once dry, I simply add a scented oil. This mix can then be stored either in a pretty vessel or placed into sachets to scent drawers or wardrobes. They also make lovely little homemade gifts for that personal touch.


Sundays for me are all about eating good home cooked food and crumble today went down a treat. Here's my own personal recipe which is a very much chuck-it-all-together-and-enjoy recipe!

Homemade Crumble with Vanilla Icecream

Ingredients for the filling:
Handful of raspberries
Handful of Blackberries
2 apples
dash of water - approx 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons of brown sugar or more if you have a super sweet tooth

Ingredients for the topping:
Cup of plain flour
2 large tablespoons of marg/ butter
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon of dessicated coconut

1. Place all ingredients for filling into pan and simmer until mix is rich in colour and well stewed. I normally simmer for about 15-20mins on a low heat. Always sample the mix as you may want to add more sugar depending on how sweet your tooth is.
2. Whilst your mix is simmering, chuck all the crumble topping ingredients into a bowl and mix together with your fingers until the mix is of a breadcrumb texture.
3. Once your filling is stewed, place into an oven proof dish and allow to cool.
4. Once filling has cooled, spoon over the crumble topping and place in oven for 15 minutes or until the top is golden brown. I usually bake it at 200degrees in an electric oven.
5. Serve with good old vanilla icecream!

Crumble is a great idea for using up sad old fruits that haven't gone bad but are a shame to throw away. I do this often with apple and rhubarb which go great together.

Anyway, that's enough from me today folks. Have a good week.

Sunday 17 July 2011

Bexhill's new wind shelters




On my Sunday stroll today, I was quite excited to see Bexhill's striking new structures designed by Duggan Morris Architects. These controversial shelters have been the talk of the town.

Thursday 14 July 2011

Sundown Silhouette



As the sun sets, the orange sky beams through our dining room creating a pretty silhouette that lasts only for a moment. Catch them when you can. x

Sunday 10 July 2011

Ay-ya Babushka Babushka Babushka ya-ya


One of my latest illustrations now available as a print or Tshirt at Society6.

Prints starting from $18 USD / £11.21 BGP
Tshirts $22 USD / £13.70 BGP

Tuesday 5 July 2011

Dear Photograph

I've been really moved by the blog Dear Photograph; a blog of people's photos from all over the world. The idea about the blog is that the photos are made up of a person holding up their old photo in the exact location that the photo was originally taken, bringing the past back to life. Such a beautiful idea.



Source: Design Milk

Monday 4 July 2011

Thrifty Finds #005

Hennessy XO Cognac Decanter. Hospices of Hope, Tunbridge Wells.