tiny happy

I made a clutch purse for going out- I wanted something just the right size for my phone, cards, etc. A few weeks ago I came across a bag of soft leather scraps in the op-shop, and cut down to size, leather proved to be a good base for the purse. It's sturdy and strong, and I like the contrast it provides with the retro fabric.

I fastened the whole thing with a pearly metal snap- the first time I've used these before, and they're pretty nifty. Of course I couldn't stop at one clutch (three is a pleasing number, I feel) – isn't that geometric 1980s fabric one-of-a-kind?

Isn't this dark berry-red a beautiful colour. I found an old tablecloth in my fabric stash, it was made from very fine linen and embroidered with red roses. Most of the table cloth was in bad condition, but I rescued the rosy bits to make a pair of matching lavender sachets. Very pleasing.

And another pleasing thing this week came in the form of an iceblock mould that I bought on ebay (Norpro brand, BPA free plastic). The kids and their friends have been devouring iceblocks this summer after school so I thought it would be good to make my own. They look like 'bought' ones, with the wooden sticks and all, so it's all very exciting. For the first batch I filled the moulds with a thick berry smoothie-type drink. They've been a hit, so I'm dreaming up more recipes for next time.I guess any pureed fruit or berries would be good. I imagine feijoa will be a favourite in late autumn.

Also…

– my friend Thea is holding an Easter pattern design competition over at Spoonful zine. Looks like fun, you should give it a go.

– Happy International Women's Day!

– There's been a fair bit to do lately, but I find this piece of music by Estonia composer Arvo Pärt to be a very calming influence.

Have a lovely weekend.

A bit of botany for your Tuesday afternoon.

The Italian parsley in the vege patch has well and truly gone to seed. It's more beautiful like that, don't you think?

And I did this embroidery in mid-summer. When those purple flowers were growing wild on the hills of Wellington.

Thanks for entering the giveaway in my last post. I drew two names- they were rosa in the antipodes and colleen.  Emails are on the way.

I was just thinking that Sunday seems to be cake day around here. We often have friends and family over for lunch which I always think calls for some sort of cake follow-up, and there's school-lunch baking to be done for the week ahead (this one is a favourite).

Today in the kitchen I had lemons and blueberries. So I made this cake which seemed to turn out well: flat and almost pudding-like, sweet and lemony but not too sweet, if you know what I mean. We ate it after lunch, warm with natural yoghurt. Here's how I made it:

LEMON AND BLUEBERRY CAKE

80 grams butter, softened

1/2 cup soft brown sugar and 1/2 cup plain sugar (I think it could be fine to omit one of these sugars but haven't tried it so give it a go if you like.)

1 vanilla pod

1 egg

2 lemons

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1 1/2 tsps baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Cream together butter and sugar(s). Add the contents of the vanilla pod and egg and beat again. Sift in flour and baking powder and tip in milk. Mix everything until just combined. (Add a bit more milk if mixture is not of dropping consistency.) Grate one of the lemons and slowly stir in the zest. Lastly, carefully stir in blueberries. Pour batter into a cake tin lined with baking paper and bake at 170 degrees celcius for about 20-30, until just cooked. Make a lemon syrup by adding the juice of the two lemons to about a tablespoon of sugar and heating until sugar is dissolved. Pour over the just-baked cake. When cooled, sift icing sugar on top.

Action Pack is an online magazine and there's a new edition out today. It's full of amazing hands-on stuff for kids to do and make. And for bigger kids too for that matter. Also, you won't find any ads, just projects like making watercolour paints from the sea and fashioning a fleet of boats with cork sailors.

I contributed to this edition which is based around the theme of WATER. My project is making water crackers. These are very doable for kids and of course, everyone likes to eat them. Also they mean that you almost always have the ingredients to make something to eat: all you need is flour, oil and water. Handy.

Action Pack is put together by the ever-inspiring Kathreen Ricketson (of Whip Up fame) who homeschools her own kids and is currently on a year-long road trip adventure as part of that schooling. She has some free projects offered up here.

Kathreen has kindly offered two copies of Action Pack up for a giveaway, so if you'd like to be in to win, just leave a comment and I'll draw a winner in a couple of days.

A few things happening in the kitchen these days:

– I've rediscovered sprouts. In my early 20s, I used to sprout a lot of beans and seeds for salads and sandwiches, then I got out of the habit. A dear friend always keeps mung bean sprouts in her fridge for Keira to eat when we visit so i finally got organised with my own sprout jar. It's just a preserving jar with a special mesh lid I bought from here (you could easily make your own) and have been sprouting mung beans. Alfalfa is next on the list.

– Arlo is off on a school camp and he needed to pack his own set of plates and cutlery. I remembered a project from my childhood (I'm sure I made dozens of these for siblings and cousins to use when camping and tramping, once upon a time.) You take one tea-towel, sew up the sides, add a casing then thread through some cord. The bag can double as a teatowel, if need be. I added a plastic toggle too. And just happened to have a sailing ship tea-towel in the cupboard, hooray!

– This is my new favourite kitchen thing- a woodland-animal biscuit tin, discovered in an opshop. At first I thought I'd use it to keep cards, etc in but then I realised it would be much better for delicious things (such as these cookies, requested by A to take to said school camp to share with his class.) Double happiness.

A few things from today…

– early morning hillside at a campground far away from the city

– midday by the river, watching kids swim and play

– a few new additions to my etsy shop, including these handmade hairclips

– a boxful of postcards from the publisher arrived. I can start sending these out to my favourite bookstores around the place, now.

Hope your Sunday was a good one, too.

The everlasting (straw) flowers in the garden are still going strong, and they reminded me of an old linen apron in the cupboard which featured a bunch of Tasmanian wildflowers, including my beloved straws.

It was pretty old and I never used it, so it's become a summery cushion to pair up with some outdoor blankets, etc. Good for reclining upon with a sketchbook. Not that there's too much time for that of late.

Speaking of everlasting summers, did you see this amazing clip of Ocean Ramsey, the Hawaiian marine biologist riding a Great White shark? She works to change perceptions about sharks and other marine life. Keira is very inspired as she has been reading a lot about shark finning and marine conservation of late- she wrote a letter to Parliament which you can see on her blog, and even got a reply recently.

Inspired by the deep blue of the morning glory flowers in our garden (i know they're a noxious weed, but isn't that blue/purple brilliant?) I made these earrings. Okay, so I didn't really make them, just found the silver pieces second-hand and thought they would make a good frame for a bit of stitching. Or weaving, primary-school style. I started with quite a complicated multicolour and cross-stitch plan, but eventually went for simple running stitches instead. I don't wear earrings very often (too lazy to find a matching pair in my jewellery box) but this year I'd like to try and make some new ones.

I hope you had a good weekend. It was beautifully warm here, with lots of time for reading, putting things in order, coffee with friends, and generally pottering around. The best kind of weekend.

It was a warm week. The hydrangeas started to brown. Just a little bit, but still. And I've been reading this book- The History of Love, by Nicole Krauss, which is wonderful.