Best Bread Ever

I'm not much of a baker, especially bread.  And I'm pretty happy with my Vogels toast with Vegemite and a poached egg on top.  Yum.   But when I discovered this recipe on my favourite foodie website My New Roots the other day, I couldn't resist.  I am converted.  I dare you to try it!  The Life Changing Loaf of Bread

Intaglio etching

We've all been laid up with bugs in my house this week, so there hasn't been much new creative stuff going on.  Nothing serious, just nasty colds.  I'm dying to have that clear headed feeling again that comes with recovering from a bout of illness, where you're full of ideas and have the energy to get into them.

Anyway, I thought I'd post something I made a while ago, in a printmaking class I took.  The first is an etching, made with the skeleton of a day lily from my garden.  We used a zinc plate, painted with a waxy substance (called asphaltum) with the lily sitting on top, which is then run through a high pressure printing press.  The lily is peeled off, leaving an image on the plate, which is then dipped into a bath of acid and the image is etched into the plate.  Ink is applied to the plate and run through the press again with some paper.

It's such an incredibly fiddly process to get right.  If you run the plate through the press at the wrong pressure you can buckle the plate, if you leave the acid in the bath for too long you can bite too hard into the plate and lose the detail in the image, you can put your inky fingers all over the plate, soak the paper too little or for too long.... the list is endless, and I did all of these things and more.  It was so incredibly frustrating!  However there's a moment after you run the plate through the press, when you're holding your breath as you peel the paper up to have a look.  And when you get it right, it's just magic.  The results are worth all the effort.  It's quite an addictive process.  Each time I printed, I thought, maybe if I just ink it up and run it though again I can get something better.

The second print was a bit more straightforward.  It is a drypoint etching, which is a drawing scratched with a needle into plastic, inked up and run through the printing press.   The image on the bottom left is a printed photo of some refrigerated shipping containers.

I'm quite addicted to printmaking.  Unfortunately it's not the kind of thing you can do on your own at home without considerable setup and lots of dangerous ingredients.  But also, there's so much to learn, I think it's best done in the company of someone very experienced.  Maybe I will go and look at the class timetable for next term...

My Creative Space

Another chair done (the one on the right), eight to go.  I spent hours pulling out staples from the old upholstery and it took about five minutes to re-cover it.  Now just have to find some more fabric for the rest!

Check out these awesome crafty folk over at My Creative Space.

Hydrangeas

I have been admiring the beautiful hydrangeas all around our neighbourhood this week.  Unfortunately this is the only flower on all ten or so of our plants this year, possibly due to my over-enthusiasm with the secateurs! Live and learn.... Hopefully they'll come back better than ever next year.

My Creative Space

I bought these oak dining chairs a while ago, and have been waiting for inspiration to strike, or the right fabric to come along.  I have 10 chairs to spruce up and re-cover, all with different fabric (although the right fabric has yet to come along for the rest of them).  The one I re-covered is on the right.  Unfortunately the previous owner went to town with the staple gun when upholstering the chair last time so it was a bit of a mission to get the old fabric off.  1 down, 3 more of those to go.  I'm quite pleased with the result though... looking forward to getting started on the next one now.  Maybe an offcut of a Designers Guild fabric?

Check out these crafty folks over at My Creative Space.  Lots of inspiration to be had!

Lotions and Potions

I bought some ingredients a few months ago, thinking I might make some yummy homemade potions for Christmas presents but December flew by without me even opening the box.  In a fit of procrastination the other day, I  was inspired to try a few of the recipes in this fabulous magazine Action Pack Family Apothecary.  

Here are the few I tried:  Lavender lip balm, Rose and Geranium whipped body butter and a lavender solid body bar.  The lip balm is delish and super easy to make.  And it's quite nice to know that the only thing I'm smearing on my lips is olive oil, beeswax and lavender oil.  The body butter is a concoction of shea butter, coconut oil, almond oil and beeswax.  It's a lovely thick cream that feels a little oily when applied but soaks into the skin quite quickly and made a big difference to my dry summer feet.  I haven't tried the solid bar yet, but it feels quite nice when rubbed on the skin.  I also made a deodorant, from cornflour, bicarb soda, coconut oil and lavender oil.  It makes quite a thick paste that you rub on.  I wish I'd read the instructions right through to the end before I started (always my downfall) that says you can substitute shea butter for the coconut oil.  But, I have been wearing it all day and I don't think I smell like I've been at the beach.  Maybe I'll have to get a second opinion on that though.

You might think I'm a bit obsessed with lavender (true), but when I looked at my stash of essential oils it was full of things like tea tree, clove, peppermint, clary sage, rosemary and lemongrass oils, none of which I thought would be particularly nice in body products.  Think I might have to expand my store if I continue with this.  Always an excuse.... I heard this referred to as a shopportunity the other day.  Hmm...not sure I can bring myself to say that out loud.  

Kokakos and notebooks

I found this wonderful tile at a local garage sale recently.  It lives in my work room, and gives me a little lift every time I settle in with a cup of tea.  I'm sorry to say it took me a long while to realise it must be a kokako.  My New Zealand native bird knowledge is obviously sadly lacking!

Making more little notebooks this week.  The one on the left is covered in a paper bag from Folio Books in Brisbane.  Love that place.

My Creative Space

Lots of making going on around here lately.  Not much posting!   I decided to join in this week's My Creative Space after reading a very inspiring post from Kate over at Fox's Lane.  Here's to getting more involved!

I have been lugging this chair from house to house for approx ten years, with the vague intention of re-upholstering it.  Anyway, I finally got around to doing a night class.  A bit of extra padding, lots of stapling (and just as much pulling staples out) and here is the result.  I should really have taken a better 'before' shot... this photo was taken after I had stripped off the first lot of faded green check.  I came across this amazing Trelise Cooper fabric discounted because it was the end of a roll. (Just as well ... it required 3 and a half metres of fabric due to the large pattern repeat and the original price almost took my breath away).    It's a bit hard to tell from the photo, but the light blue pattern is a kind of velour. Very luxurious!  Now I'm itching to make a start on the next chair in the garage.

Little Red Riding Hood

I recently bought some red wool to make myself a Tessuti cape (which afterwards I regretted a little.  Can an adult wear a red cape?)  Anyway, I just happened to come across a pattern for a little cape in the Oliver + S book - Little Things to Sew that required exactly the amount of fabric I had left over.  It was very easy, and fun to make.  I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  Unfortunately my 18 month old daughter is not so keen.  I managed to get it on her for about five seconds for the photo, but haven't managed to get it anywhere near her since.