Wildish

This post I thought I’d show you a few accessories I’ve made for myself. I am a natural red head so I decided to make a set of hair pins that complement my hair colour. I wear them individually or in groups.

The largest size are made with four interlocking circles of wet felted wool/silk blend fleece. They are sewn together and stitched on to heavy duty bobby pins. My hair is long, so I occasionally plait it in a few braids. The largest size are strong enough to secure them in place.

The smaller size are made with three interlocking circles. They are cute by themselves and look dramatic when grouped together or mixed with the larger size.

The flower is made with two kinds of lace which is hand stitched and embellished with a small copper pearl. It is attached to a large sturdy bobby pin. I’ve made a few of these to sell in the past as well.

I’ll be making more of these in various colours for the” Wildish”  Etsy shop which is coming soon. Feel free to click through the images for a larger view.

 

There is a lot of truth in the old saying “a way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” and I would say it’s the way to a woman’s heart as well. This year why not bake your crush or valentine an apple pie?

Pies are easy and ready to eat warm from the oven. Plus if you are having a date over they’ll be greeted with the smell of apple pie which, in my opinion, is one of the most welcoming, comforting and delicious smells.  As an extra special treat you could pick up a nice pint of vanilla ice cream and serve it “a la mode”. Yum!

Apples are the fruit of the apple tree or Malus domestica, which is a member of  the rose family Rosaceae. There are many varieties of apple, the best for baking are firm and flavourful, like the mackintosh.

The apple fruit is a symbol of love. There are many myths from various cultures regarding the apple. In Celtic myths the other word of Avalon was also known as the Avallach, the Isle of Apples, ruled by Fairy Queen Morgan le Fay. Druids considered the apple a magical tree. It is part of the Celtic Ogham tree alphabet, where it is known as “Ceirt”. It is one of the most widely cultivated fruits on earth.

Recipe:

Apple Mixture:

Five large apples peeled and sliced (any firm and flavourful apple will do),
1 tbsp of lemon juice,
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup of white sugar,
1/2 cup of brown sugar,
1 tsp of nutmeg,
cardamom and cinnamon to taste.
I like to add a lot of cinnamon and cardamom, sometimes I add a couple of tablespoons of local honey. It’s best to taste it as you go and decide what combinations you like best.

Crust: Makes one large apple pie with top and bottom crust:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour,
1 cup butter (cold, cut in to pieces),
3 tbsp sugar,
1/2 cup of ice water (approx),
1/4 cup of sliced or chopped nuts (optional)

Cut the flour, sugar and butter together with a pastry blender, or blend with a paddle attachment on a low speed until the flour mixture looks a bit sandy with teeny pieces of butter still visible. Mix in the remaining ice water until the dough forms a ball. Divide in half.

Roll the first half out into a circle on a floured surface. Carefully lift this in to your pie plate and press together any tears. Prick the bottom and sides of the pie crust with a fork and bake for ten to 15 minutes at 400f. It doesn’t have to cook all the way, just about halfway so that it won’t end up getting soggy with apple moisture.

Fill your crust with the apple mixture. Roll out the remaining crust and cut with a heart shaped cookie cutter, layer them around the edge of your pie so that they over lap slighly and put a few in the centre. Bake until golden brown and delicious. =)

 

Brrr, is it ever cold here in Nova Scotia!

These are just a few quick snaps of frost on my window pane, I’ve been staying inside crafting and avoiding the chilly temperatures.

As much as I love the beauty of frost and snow, I am starting to get a bit tired of winter at this point. I find myself dreaming of running maple syrup and courageous crocus blooms slumbering beneath the snow banks, waiting for their first opportunity to pop up. C’mon spring, hurry up!

 

Hey friends,

I just realized I haven’t posted since December, how time flies! January tends to be a quiet month for me, but this year I’ve been busy traveling, catching up with visiting friends and working on new projects.

It’s 2010 and there are so many things I want to do this year! I have always been the kind of person who wants to do everything, but what really drives me is the desire to experiment with materials and ideas in order to create beautiful things. I’m excited to see what I will dream up this year and what projects will finally come to fruition. I think it’s time to tie up a lot of loose ends leftover from 2009.

I started painting again, it’s been a while. I’ve been so busy crafting three dimensional objects that I’ve been neglecting the two dimensional world of images. This year I hope to balance my creative practices and make more drawings and paintings.

So here’s the new one, fresh. It’s 4 by 5 inches, just a wee one. I was working on this one originally for a show, but since this month was so surprisingly busy I didn’t get the chance to finish it until recently.

The surface of most of the figure and landmass is matte, while the sky and lake is painted with layers of shiny gel and iridescent paint. The image seems to change with different levels of light, when it fluctuates the surface of the painting seems to do so as well. Please click through the images below for a closer look.

 

This time my quilted accessories are robot inspired. I used a lot of shiny lame to give these a sci-fi touch, they’re wild. Check em’ out. These would also look great on a suit jacket. They are entirely hand stitched and made with love and care.

 

The Halifax Crafter’s fair was splendid. It was at a new venue this season, the Olympic Centre on Hunter street. It was much larger space with wide balconies, a stage and a large counter at the front where they served snacks and drinks.  Even though it was busy there was lots of room and it felt like people could relax, have a chat and shop. I thought it was a great success!

We have been busy late night crafting and inventing new things here in the craft lab. We’ll be posting galleries of our new designs over the next few days. This time they are inspired by robots, galaxies, stars, science and living forms. Perfect for the fashionable mad scientist on your list. (I’ve been watching a lot of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, can you tell? It’s so good).

First: our new galaxy inspired work. Their shape reminds me of stars swirling around galaxies, and of the massive black holes that live at the hearts of galaxies. That’s really what started me off putting beads and pearls on them.

These are made of two or more interlocking circles, although I do tend to use three at a time. Three interlocking circles are commonly refered to as a triquetra. I was attracted to it originally because I am interested in Irish culture and it is a pre-christian symbol in Ireland. Some say it was a symbol for an early Celtic triple goddess. It is symbol found in many religions and customs around the world, meaning things that are threefold or three inter-related things. It can easily represent many aspects for example elements (fire, water, air) or time (past, present, future).

 

I can’t believe the Halifax Crafter’s fair is this weekend! Come out and see some of our new brooches and hair pins. Free gift wrapping in handmade origami boxes while quantities last.

(The fair is Dec 5th and 6th, 11-5pm at the Olympic Centre on Hunter street.)

 

You can make these oreo or fudgee-o style, depending on how you fill them. Buttercream icing with a splash of Kahlua or peppermint extract is yummy. I love a little chocolate truffle filling with a splash or Grand Marnier best personally. I’ve made large batches of these and filled them with various flavoured fillings. They’ve been very popular…

Chocolate Cookie Dough:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cups (1 1/2 sticks) butter or margarine
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cups Dutch process cocoa powder (fair trade)

Flavoured Buttercream:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup (plus a tablespoon or two) icing sugar
1 tbsp liquor (Kahlua, peppermint, etc)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Truffle filling: I can’t remember my exact measurements for this, but it shouldn’t be a problem since it’s so simple. Chop your chocolate up into small pieces and add hot cream while stirring until it is a spreadable consistency. Add a splash of liquor, such as Grand Marnier, for flavour and to lengthen it’s shelf life.  Delicious.

Method: The dough:

• Whisk together the flour and salt, set aside.
• Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add the egg and vanilla blend just until combined.
• Stir in the cocoa. Next this stir in the flour mixture gradually.
• Divide the dough into two pieces, flatten these into disks and chill them in the fridge until firm (1-2 hrs). This will make the dough much easier to roll out
• The icing is simple, just add everything to the bowl and cream it. Make sure your cookies are completely cool before icing them.

Driving back from checking out the Leonid Meteor Shower…

 

The last of the goldenrod is drying out on the counter in my bathroom.

Winter is close.