craftjuice

easter sugar cookies

Yesterday Miss M and I made these lovely sugar cookies for all her friends at daycare for Easter.  I sprinkled them with different coloured sugar for fun - note where the fingers had gone into the bowls - I think this is some sort of quality control...

I purchased the most lovely metal cookie cutters from our local kitchen shop - duck, chicken, lamb, rabbit and egg - all in glorious Easter colours!

I packaged them up in cello bags with festive ribbon...Claude looks decidedly unimpressed with the new abundance of Easter chicks...

Easter loveliness!

chocolate easter nests

This morning Miss M and I made these great chocolate Easter nests - too cute! too yummy! I used tiny little candy covered chocolate eggs. Miss M had trouble putting the chocolate in the bowl, rather than her salivating mouth, for melting. A very easy recipe to get kids involved in.

If I made them again, I think I'd use dark chocolate instead of milk for greater contrast with the eggs.

lustful object[s] of the day - moose:art for living

I recently discovered (much to my wallet's detriment) the fantastic Australian-clever-people website Moose:art for living.  (It's logo is a squirrel, which goes without saying, is a sign of fabulousness within.)

About Moose:

Moose: Art for Living is all about creative people. From the incredible artists whose work we sell to the dedicated people working behind the scenes (doing everything from photographing the work to promoting this site), we aim to foster the creative spirit in everyone.

This Australian based website is designed to showcase the products on display as clearly as possible, so that you, at home, can see up close the hard work and effort that lie at the heart of everything on offer.

And it's beautiful - all of it. Jewellery. Textiles (ack!). Space. Art. Fine Jewellery. Paper.  All devine. All lusty. All Australian.

My favs at the momento are these apple tree hoop earrings by Kearnsie. I love the cute message clasps too!  But I like, nay, love the new stuff by The Strutt Sisters too. It freaks my freak.

Sigh... What's a girl to do?!

let easter begin!

There is SO MUCH great Easter stuff to do!

This week I'm planning on doing some great Easter cooking with Miss M.  Here's what I'm thinking...ambitious, but will be lots of fun!

Hot Cross Buns         Greek Easter Bread   Chocolate Nests         Sugar Bunnies

Those sugar coated bunny cookies would be great for the daycare teachers! Now I just need to find a bunny cookie cutter!

I also found some REALLY FABULOUS Easter menu and food idea recipes on the Woman's Day website...! My favourite is the four Easter Brunch menus...they look absolutely delicious and cater for all cooking skills - from no cook to 'wha la!'

The Woman's Day website also has some really great Easter crafts...

Pom Pom Chicks       Easter Tree               Stacked Bunny Box    Knitted bunny!

I'm really looking forward to making an Easter Tree with Miss M! 

status report: saturday, 26 march, 8.11am

Saturday morning tunes...

Finishing: morning coffee! of course.

Thinking about: worlds colliding, even if momentarily.

Just discovered: this great colour palette generator app from Big Huge Labs! FABULOUS.

Cooking: hmmm...feeling a bit cassoulet. or maybe paella. even though its early.

Planning: on getting dressed soon - still in my pjs! laaaaazy morning...

Checking out: how big a paella pan I can get away with that will still fit on my stove top. the bigger the better I reckon. 

Listening to: Babylon Circus, Jason Mraz, Elana Stone and Sola Rosa

I really must: shave my legs. you really needed to know that.

Watching: The Longest Way - watch it. watch it now. it only takes 5 minutes.

Wanting: hugs and kisses

Have just finished: my hip exercises that the chiropractor gave me to do - feeling SO much better! even my feet have stopped hurting.

Needing to: clean up the bathroom - its a little out of control with girl stuff. which is odd. 

Missing: hanging out with Tiff at La Cigale this morning with a coffee and almond croissant.

Hoping: to relaxxx this weekend and recharge - its been a difficult week.

Looking forward to: exploring the second hand shops today to try and find some quackers...

anthropologie

I've always loved the creative, innovative and fresh seasonal windows of US store Anthropologie - their visual merchandisers are wizards!  These are some of my favourite images from their Facebook albums (even though they are not in Australia, I can still live vicariously!)

 

So so amazing.

visual mechandising:The display of products which makes them appealing, attractive, accessible, engaging, and enticing to shoppers in a retail store. Visual merchandising utilises displays, color, lighting, smells, sounds, digital technology and interactive elements to catch customers' attention and persuade them to make purchases. Visual merchandising helps convey the image of the brand and reflects the personality of the target markets that the retail store wants to attract.

Like bees to a honey pot in this case!!  Buzz Buzz.

lustful object of the day - mrs beckinsale's tram cushions

My friends Louise and Eileen will freak their freak to see these gorgeous tram cushions from the very talented Mrs Beckinsale in Melbourne!  I spied them in the latest issue of Frankie (when I was reading it on the bus) and fell in love.

(Speaking of buses - I love my city and working for it, but these people are a bit freaky.)

i really do give a flying duck

I'm a little obsessed with flying ducks right now. I'm on a mission to collect a flock for my kitchen wall - hopefully all flying in the same direction!  I need to begin frequenting op shops and second hand stores (maybe even venture to some garage sales) to start collecting a few sets and see what happens!

I checked out Etsy to see what the creatives can do with a flying duck and here's some of my favourites:

L-R

Top row - 1. Prince Design UK 2. Amanda Jean 3. Muddle and Flow

Middle row - 4. Pillows Collection 5. ePaperCuts 6. DabbleDown

Last row - 7. Rustic Metal Art 8. Prince Design UK 9. Amanda Kindregan

I'm also loving these three light fittings:

 

1. Reining Gifts  2&3. Art and Home

Or you could paint some yourself!

*Quack*

colour in wallpaper

Last week Miss M let me know (in a very unashamed proud-artist kind of way) she'd drawn on the wall under her bed, but she would 'help clean it up'. Yes you will young lady! It was a magnificent example of mono vector art.

Got me thinking about those restaurants where they encourage you to draw on the paper tablecloths and when it would be acceptable to draw on the wall...and look what I found...colour in wallpaper!!! A whole world of keepinginthelines pleasure...

This one by Jon Burgerman...

Or this incredible array of amazing paint-by-numbers wallpapers and borders by Jenny Wilkinson...

And loving this range by Mini Moderns - retro Colour Me wallpaper for, well, maybe adults who feel the urge to keep their shading consistent and within the lines...(my favourite is the C60 cassette tapes!). These wallpapers are also printed with water based inks on paper from sustainable forests.

 

Be great to do your toilet in colour in wallpaper? No? Probably not with a three year old in the house.

And just because its so freakin cool (aka thank goodness they finally found a better use for hypercolour)...check out this colour changing wallpaper that reveals a hidden pattern with an increase in temperature...interactive design. (THIS type of stuff is why I've always wanted to be an industrial designer!)

Kudos to you, Shi Yuan. You are one cool design chick.

sharpies and barefoot shoes

I recently came across this great Sharpie art - barefoot shoes! Dom Chi's custom trompe l’oeil barefoot shoes were made by tracing his own feet over a pair of slip-on Vans first with pencil, he then drew over the lines with a black Sharpie.

He used acrylic paint to fill in the feet. Fantastic!

Check out more of Dom Chi's shoe art on Flickr.

The whole world of Sharpies is just starting to open up to me. For sublime Sharpie inspiration check out their blog (lurvin the Darth Vader mask!) - it makes me want to go and draw on the walls...