Printmaking

I started a course last night on Printmaking. I  learned how to ink a plate properly and how to ‘Pull’ a print.  I made stencils using torn and cut paper. We used just the three primary colours.  Colour order of printing was yellow then red then blue changing the stencil each time.

After each print was pulled I made a ‘Ghost’ print using left over ink on the plate and manipulating the stencil:

As you can see it is a much paler print as most of the ink comes off in the first pull. 
Can’t wait till next week : )
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I have  been doing a ‘Hot Yoga’  beginner’s class- info here . Which is great. And no I was not very flexible at the start but after 3 classes I can already notice the difference.  I love the warm room to stretch in. It suits me but I can see how some people would not enjoy it.
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Daughter 4 is turning 9 next week. Party this weekend  and the theme is ‘Craft Extravaganza’ . Also Daughter 1 has her year 12 ball Saturday night !
A busy time : )
Rx

Some new recipes

Night and Day cupcakes from Nigella’s book ‘How to be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking’ (Though I have an older copy). Little chocolate cakes with cream cheese topping and grated chocolate. They were a big hit with the family.

South Island Cheese rolls – recipe found here . An easy recipe using cheese and onion soup. Apparently they are popular in cafes in the South Island. I quite liked them but not such a hit with the kids – a bit too ‘oniony’!

A finished project and more underway

Well,  a combination of a wet couple of weeks and a cold going through the family means some projects have been finished and some have had to wait their turn.  I finished crocheting the ‘Granny Square ‘ blanket and sewed it up this weekend . A total of 19 balls of wool and at least 12 colours I think. It looks good on the couch in my lounge :

It’s great for snuggling up under by the fire !  When you crochet the resulting garment is twice the thickness of a knitted garment so it’s toasty warm.
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I have managed to spend a little time in my studio and made these two books from a couple of recycled whiskey bottle boxes.  They turned out quite well I think – I used my new ‘corner’ punch to round the corners of them . Each has about 30 pages of lined, graph and plain paper. Simple pamphlet binding.



Hubby  has already grabbed one – said he will use it for ‘tasting notes’  : )
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I also have made a new screen and have some fabric printing underway :

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And I found this book in a second hand shop and have ‘warped’ my loom again and am experimenting with ‘texture and pattern’ in some sample weaving :

I was really please to find this as the publishing date was 1980 and I don’t think it’s in print any more!

Hope you are keeping warm where ever you are.
R x

Quilting and more macarons ….

A quilt I have been working on – my first attempt at hand quilting . I quite like the effect ( I want the stitches to show)
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A macaron failure. I tried to make vanilla macarons but the mixture was too thick . They ended up more like meringues. However they still tasted ok when I filled them with a lemon curd and mascapone mixture : ) .
I bought this book at  'Bookfeast'  in Petone :

And my first attempt from it didn’t work either. So I’m going to have a go making the chocolate ones again . (the family is enjoying all these baking tests!)
I bought these macarons from one of my local French bakeries but they don’t look like the ‘Luxemburgerli’ or the ones from the book above, and they tasted like Chocolate Brownies.

When I get the recipe and technique right I’ll let you know ..
R x

Bento, Weaving and more macarons…

These are Bento box lunches from last week:
The box on the left is mine and slightly smaller and the box on the right is hubby’s. They contain “Onigiri” rice balls, carrots kinpira (stir- fried carrots with sesame oil, sesame seeds and soy sauce)(hidden under the onigiri in the right hand bento box), sliced red capsicum, beaten egg with a little soy sauce, cooked then folded and sliced, and cooked prawns on lettuce. I buy the prawns already cooked and frozen and just put a few in each bento. They are thawed by lunch time. I found all the inspiration and recipes at Just Bento.
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Here is the scarf I have been weaving – I finished it at the weekend! One more to practice I think. My selvedges are nearly consistent. Weaving is kind of like knitting – the more you do the better your tension and it looks more even.

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A dear family friend who lives in Zurich sent me this link after she had read my blog post about Macarons.  Apparently they are also made in Switzerland only they are called “Luxemburgerli” over there.  They are made by a company who are related to the Lindt family chocolatiers. She told me that they have different flavours depending on what is in season. Currently ‘Strawberry and Rhubarb’ are flavour of the week!

This wonderful looking box contains 6 types of ‘Luxemburgerli’ –hazelnut, raspberry, lemon,caramel, vanilla and chocolate! Wow!
I might try and make some! Vielen Dank  fuer Ihre Email Anne : )
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This book arrived in the mail today from ‘Prints Charming’. The authors are a couple of ladies who live in Sydney and print their own fabric. When I was in Sydney last year I visited their studio and bought some of their fabric.
The book contains screen printing designs and some sewing projects using your hand printed fabric.  I thought it sounded like me.  :)
Rx