Oh yer, I did a blog interview...

Did I mention that I did a little blog interview over at babalisme? This is the link, it's a really cute blog from Indonesia, and I really like that the post is called 'Cuteness Invasion'. 

This is Ginger, (above), and Wendy, (below), which I mention in the interview!

Goodnight!

B.

Thank you Miss Aine!

Look what arrived today, all the way from County Kildare in Ireland! I won him in the Sew Mama Sew giveaway day from Miss Aine. How delightful to have a pressie turn up in the post when you've had a million other things on your mind and had forgotten you won something. I've called him Albie, I really like that name.

The postie people must have thought us innocent gals were passing around more than just soft toys, but the pamphlet inside advised that whilst they had opened the package, they deemed it suitable and had not needed to tamper with anything... never had that happen before, so it was all rather exciting!

I'll also take this opportunity to remind Ammie that I need your address so as to post Sam the bunny your way, haven't heard from you since you claimed the prize... :)

B, x.

Souvenirs

Ok, so I am running late with EVERYTHING this week, seriously. I even have a book at the library waiting for me to pick it up... that never happens, I'm usually there 5 minutes after receiving my email that it's arrived... (sad, but true!). This is my Words and Pictures for the week, or maybe I should say last week...

I don't really collect proper souvenirs, but when I was cleaning up my room last week (there's a first time for everything), I was looking in my jewelry boxes, I was fixing them up and putting things back in place when I noticed the way that organise my bits and pieces. It's always been a subconscious thing that I do, I have three boxes, one for important stuff, meaning things that have been given to me or which have sentimental value, another box which is full of things with no sentimental value at all, which I generally acquired whilst working at the op shop, and another which is just random stuff that I bought for myself, which kind of fits in the middle somewhere, it's not important, but I do attach meaning to it.

Looking through the important box evokes every kind of emotion imaginable, from sheer happiness, thinking about my Mum and how she gave me a crown charm and told me I was her princess one day when I was about 6 years old, to the bangles Mike gave me successively over the years of our relationship... how I love them, how I love him, and how I clung tight to the first one he gave me while I was at his funeral. There's a bunch of cheap and tacky stuff in there too, like the beaded ring I made with a girl in my street when we were about 12, the senior badge for Narromine High School, and the funny rings that Joe gave me when he was working in a toy shop a few years ago. All these things are kind of souvenirs to me. They all have so much meaning and importance (hence their placement in the importance box!), and they all mark different times or events in my life. I love them!

More Words and Pictures over at Meet me at Mikes, although, they're probably up to a new topic by now!

B, x!

Recipe Monday, appears to be on Wednesday this week!

I need to share with the world the best ever brownie recipe. It's really quite divine, and simple as... I was far too lazy to cook the mocha chiffon cake I had in mind on the weekend, so instead whipped up a batch of these on Saturday (and another on Sunday, because they make it through the night...)

Ingredients:
115g unsalted butter
240g castor sugar (confectioner's)
3 medium sized eggs
80g plain flour
70g cocoa powder (I prefer Nestle... it really seems to make a difference in this recipe)
1 tsp baking powder

+ a hand full of nuts or choc chips or whatever you have, chopped roughly... I think macadamia nuts make this dish just that little bit more divine!

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 165 degrees Celsius; Line a 600g loaf tin with baking paper.

Cream the sugar and butter until smooth and pale, gradually add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until well combined.

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder, and fold through the butter mixture along with nuts or chocolate bits.

Pour the mix into the loaf tin and bake for 30-50 minutes... broad spectrum I know, but I bake for about 35 minutes, which leaves you with a fudgy, yummy, moist centre, but cooked enough to stay together.

Leave the brownies to cool for a little before serving... Yum yum!

Enjoy!

B.

Glebe Markets here I come...

Well I have a stall booked at Glebe Markets for the 4th of July! We drove up to Sydney early yesterday morning to book and prepay a stall, and that was the only date that wasn't sold out, so in almost a month, I'll be selling my wares in Glebe... which is kind of funny, because when I moved to Sydney from the country as an 18 year old, Glebe Markets was like such a big deal... I remember the first time my friend Monica took me there, and it was so, so cool. All the colours, the people, the clothes, the food... I felt like I finally understood where I wanted to be, and I used to go there every Saturday on my own on the way up to Mike's house. I soon ended up with an oversupply of very cheap second hand clothes with funny names and logos, and unique, handmade jewelry... and a taste for the potato salad from the salad stall... that was 10 years ago!

I also managed to get some nice Japanese paper that doesn't involve flowers, pink or other extreme girly-ness... I need some for the boy bug labels, and it's taken quite a great deal of hunting. I'm really happy with it!

Plus, Joe's brother has been staying with us this weekend and I have managed to recruit him for The Toy Society, he really likes it and he's going to involve his kids in the whole process, which I think is so exciting, I would have loved it when I was little!

Check out my raspberry flavoured biscuits... they kind of look funny, but they are delicious, and they're just a standard biscuit mix with a few mashed frozen raspberries... easy!

Whole new batch of cats and bunnies coming along!

And my bug hairstyling techniques are getting better!

Excited about the markets!!!

Plus, I reduced the price of some of the older stock bugs in the Big Cartel Shop, so check it out if you're interested!

Goodnight!

B.

Stuff... and giveaway update!

Well, I have been really busy and a little sick, so I've been a little absent from my blog for a few days... so this is what has been happening around here...

NEW TOYS! Shock horror, I know!

Meet Petal, Sam & Ainsley!

Gordon, ready for his trip to California, to live with Casey.

Gordon's likes and dislikes... he says 'no' to lion taming!

Queenie, ready to go to live with Toni!

A new design... I found myself photoshopping my carpet clean in this photo... virtual vacuuming!

Drinking copious amounts of coffee... invented a ham, cheese and mustard scroll... yum yum!

Got this awesome book from the library... I think I need to buy it. I LOVE IT!

Looking out the window at all the rain...

So much rain!

Now, I said I was going to do a giveaway for people following the blog, so the giveaway is Sam, the spotty bunny up there... so it'll work this way...

The first follower to make a comment on this post wins him!

And a little bunny will be going out to Messy Mama because I was so amazed with all the entries I received!

Oh, and I made up a Blinking Flights Facebook page, separate from the Giveaway Group page, because it's easier to contact people this way, I'm going to post any sales, giveaways etc. through that page! Sorry, to be a little confusing, I'll still keep the Group however. Hope this makes sense to people!

Ok, well Goodnight, and I'll be sending out that bunny tomorrow if I get a comment tonight!

B, x.

Wollongong for beginners...

Gret left a comment a little while ago asking me about fun crafty/market stuff to do in Wollongong, you see she lives in Sydney and is going to be coming down to "the 'Gong" as it's known, in a little while...

Well, I haven't been ignoring your question Gret... I've been umming and arring and biting my nails, and wondering how I on earth I can put it politely... Wollongong doesn't really seem to have that scene going on at all. There are markets and craft things happening from time to time, but not in a funky, vibrant, young people kind of a way...

There are some art things happening, there's a nice simple contemporary gallery called 'Project' in Keira St, right behind Myer and the skate park in town, and there are markets happening every Friday in the mall in Crown (the main drag), and they are good in terms of yummy Thai and Indian food, and there is an awesome gozleme stand that should not be missed, they also sell gourmet and fresh produce which is great... but in terms of art or craft, it's all pretty non-existent I'm sorry to say...

They've just started markets on a Saturday and Sunday in Flinders St (practically the highway), near North Wollongong station, but they are small, and more of the Paddy's markets variety than anything else.

What I can recommend...

Relax, forget about shops, and concentrate on sight-seeing, picnics (if the weather is good), and that kind of thing. Gerringong, Kiama and Jamberoo are lovely, they are a little south of the 'Gong, and the drive there is awesome, green rolling hills, it all used to be rainforests before colonisation, and they do have markets once a month...  (click here for details, this guide is usually pretty accurate). To the north is also pretty cool, places like Stanwell Park are pretty and they have some nice cafes and art galleries.

The Botanical Gardens are also awesome if you're into that type of thing (and I am), you can sit for hours, chill and/or explore!

Other than that... Wollongong is a very industrial town, with extremely high unemployment, particularly youth unemployment. It was built on the steel works, which is downsizing constantly and has been for as long as I can remember. It has its upsides, but it certainly has its downsides... and if it wasn't for my postgrad studies, I wouldn't be here at all... 

If there is some mysterious craft scene that I am completely unaware of, I am happy to be corrected, because I'd love to join in, but I've been here a little over 2 years, and I haven't seen or come across anything like it yet.

Well, there we go... I said it!

B.

Any fun suggestions for Gret, and for me, would be totally welcome!