Well I didn't die, leave the Internet, or any such thing but just haven't had much time to do this in addition to everything else that goes on in life. Work and home keep me plenty busy and of course finding all those bargains tends to keep one very busy indeed.
In the last few years I've kept to my cake making, jamming, and my latest interest is pickling, just about anything and everything I can. I also have been busy crafting and will be working on something rather big even for me. I have loads of pictures which I've put below with some descriptions underneath....
This is a chocolate box that I got naturally reduced and it was paper/card. I just couldn't throw it away so instead decoupaged it with some paper I had and old books. Well a monster was born I tell you!
This is a cardboard magazine box - it had gotten faded and yes, broken along one side. So glued/taped it back and yep, you guessed it, decoupage to the rescue. I think it is ever so cute and now it's totally usable again. What luck!
This was a gift that I used just plain brown paper I got in a package (no lie!) and then decorated it from my endless stash of crafting things - some are collected from charity shops others I get at the usual shops when they are super reduced (well you would expect no less of me right?!?!).
Just to prove I've been making jam and getting it all reduced, you can see the costings, yes, I'm very lucky in the reduced aisle....
These two are Christmas presents I did one year - yes, I used up some of my coloured coffee filters and cut them up like snow flakes, taped to the plain wrapping and yes, gave it a bit of glitz!
This was a present for my sister, she had sent me all of my niece's photos and videos of her and I put them all onto CDs and then used LightScribe to etch onto the disk a photo and age for her. I knew she had lost a few of them due to a hard drive crash but yes, backups to the rescue!
Valentine's day....yes, I stamped the paper in red, rose, and white. It was plain but cute I thought.
Yup, more decoupage mad for me....! This was a wooden box I had for ages, nothing to do with it until yes, inspiration hit and well, like the magazine holder it just took on a life of its own.
Somebunny's vegan chocolate cake for their birthday....you would never know it was vegan I swear. Please visit this great blog - I've gotten a number of things to make from Traci and it is one of those that is easily adaptable.
All homemade crust and filling quiche. I surprise myself sometimes....and yes, all the stuff in it was reduced (silly - need you ask!?).
My birthday cake one year, my usual Chocolate Pistachio. Yes, lovely....*sigh*
A lovely friend gave me some small green tomatoes and decided to pickle them, I'm really into the pickling now..... We use them for nachos or salads if needed and to a few jars I added some chilies - yes, very good. And waste not, want not, the pickling juice is used for salad dressings. Nothing ever gets wasted if I can help it.
Plate salad in all its various incarnations - it is never the same at our house....but then why should it be? That would be most boring!
Yet another scoop at ASDA this time, yes, more jam! Sadly, everyone wants some so it goes just about as fast as I can make it.
These three pictures are of some quinces from that same person who gave me the green tomatoes. I've never had them and well they are the most delicious things ever. I canned them and we've had them in crumbles all winter long. I've mixed them with pears and apples, a bit of oranges, etc. All great and what doesn't warm you like a crumble and custard?
Well this might give you pause for thought, but it was for a turkey - post-Boxing day shopping and I just hit it right. It was a whopper of a turkey, but cut it up into pieces, and froze for future dinners. The carcass I made stock from (and included my frozen bones I keep for just such purposes) and made a lovely turkey soup with loads of meat from my admittedly bad carving and we had like two weeks of dinners on that alone. Another four from the two breasts and legs which was great. I still have the neck which I'll use to make stock as well when my next batch of bones comes due.
You might want to check back again, I have many surprises up my sleeve....
