Rolleston Market

Two posts in one day? I think that might be a record! I will be back at the Rolleston Community Market tomorrow. If you feel like an outing, pop out for crafts, fresh produce, food and coffee, and come and say hi! I will have a new product debuting, so you can be the first to check it out. The market will be held later than usual, due to it being Anzac day. It will run from 1pm till 4pm on the grassy area next to the Community Centre. If it's raining, it will be held indoors at the stadium. Click here for directions.

Recipe for gluten free Anzac biscuits

I made a batch of these the other day from the Coeliac UK cookbook, and have been asked for the recipe by Mel of Wildflower Designs, so I thought I'd share it on the blog. I've always been partial to Anzac biccies, so was happy to find a recipe for a gluten-free version. They are very easy to make too. The only ingredient that might be a bit tricky to track down is the millet flakes. I popped down to my local wholefood store Piko, who had some, along with what seemed like every other gluten free ingredient you might need!

Ingredients:

110g millet flakes

110g caster sugar

110g desiccated coconut

50g rice flour

50g tapioca flour

50g ground almonds

3 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon golden syrup

110g butter

2 teaspoons baking soda

Method:

Preheat the oven to 160˚

Mix together all the dry ingredients except the baking soda in a bowl.

Put the water, golden syrup and butter into a small saucepan, bring to the boil, then remove from the heat, add the baking soda and stir. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Roll mixture into balls and place onto a baking tray lined with greaseproof paper. Space them sufficiently far apart for the biscuits to spread as they cook. Flatten with a ford and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Leave to cool on the baking tray for about 5-6 minutes, or until firm enough to handle, before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Stash reHash and Quail Island

Stash reHash on Sunday was yet another great success. From where I was standing in line, it appeared to be even busier than last time. I arrived bang on opening time at 11am, and waited in line for 40 mins before getting in – a sure sign of how popular this market is. Due to some bad planning, I wasn't able to stay long, it was literally a circuit round the room for me. I bought some of these beautiful vintage kimono remnants from Cherry Blossom as my token purchase. I have some plans for them, which will be unveiled when I return to the Rolleston Community Market on Sunday. For those of you who can't make it out to the market, I will list them up on felt in the following days. Due to Sunday being Anzac day, the market will run from 1pm - 4pm instead of the usual time.

I had to rush off due to having a ferry to catch in Lyttelton out to Quail Island. We had planned to go the day before, but just missed it, so rebooked it for the next day. My husband had been wanting to go there for a while, as he remembered staying there on a school camp back in primary school. It was a lovely day for it. We walked all around the island, and I took a few photos. With the island being right in the middle of the harbour, the scenery lent itself to some panoramic shots, so I put these together using photoshop's photmerge tool. It is so much faster than doing it manually!

The head of Lyttelton Harbour, with Governor's Bay somewhere in the middle.

These shipwrecks are rather haunting. It is a ship's graveyard, old ones were brought here once they were no longer serviceable to decompose away.

The Port of Lyttelton.

Diamond Harbour

Another panorama with the mouth of the Harbour and Lyttelton.

Stash reHash returns!

After the roaring success of the inaugural Stash reHash, held last year, it is back again for more fabric coveting goodness. Come to the Scottish Society Hall, corner of Edgeware and Caledonian Roads, St Albans this Sunday the 18th of April, from 11am - 2pm.

There will be loads more fabric to peruse, and the Arthritis Society's donated goods stall is yet again going to be overloaded with fabric, notions, haberdashery and other crafty items. If you want it, it's sure to be there. As well as stalls from people clearing out their stashes, there will be three internet fabric shops in attendance. So if you like to look and feel before you buy, this is the perfect opportunity to check out all their fabric.

There will also be coffee available, and yummy baked goodies from the St Albans school PTA. You don't really need any more reasons than that. Look out for me browsing through all the stalls, and quite possibly with an overstuffed shopping bag or two.

Earth Hour candle-lit dinner

Earth Hour has been held annually since 2007, when it began in Sydney. The following year other cities, including Christchurch joined in, to help raise awareness about the need to take action on climate change. Earth Hour 2010 will take place on the 27th March from 8:30pm - 9:30pm, wherever you are in the world. Participants are asked to switch of their lights, and other non-essential appliances for one hour.

One way to join in is to have a candle-lit dinner. These hand-tipped tapers made from recycled convent candles are great for the dinner table. They don't smoke or drip, are fragrance free, and fit into most standard candle holders and candlebras. I have used some modern ceramic holders from nood. They would also look stunning in an antique candle holder.

My range of recycled wax candles also includes floating citronella candles, and recycled tealights. I am also working on a range of soy container candles, but unfortunately I can't guarantee they will be ready by Saturday.

Thanks for all the encouragement received in response to my last post. It's lovely to see how supportive the crafting community is. I'm slowly getting myself sorted into the swing of things, you should start to see some new products soon.

Taking the plunge

After the events of the last few weeks, I think it's time to bring out some cliches and metaphors. I know how much everyone loves them! Anyone who knows me well, will know that the mere thought of jumping into water fills me with a little fear. Which I think makes the title of this post an apt metaphor for my story today.

After being made redundant a few weeks ago, I have kept thinking how this could be the perfect opportunity to work for myself. I often think how if I had more time, I can do more of the things I've been wanting to do for my craft business. However it seemed that the sensible thing to do was apply for a new job, so I did that a couple of times, but my heart wasn't really in it. So I began to think of ways to make self employment work. I could do freelance graphic design work as well as the crafts, and maybe take on temp work while I built something up.

I'd been given the opportunity to meet with a lifecoach, which I took, because I needed someone to give me that final push. You could sum up the whole entire session with two words – 'do it!' She said the best thing to do was to focus all my energy towards it, as that was the best way to get the momentum going, and not worry about applying for jobs or doing temp work. So this week I have begun thinking of myself as self-employed, and looking for opportunities to make it happen. It's a bit scary to not have the security of a salary – though that had already gone, so probably not something to worry about too much. It's also really exciting, as this could go in any direction. As the cliche goes, when one door closes, another opens. I have been busy looking for new ones to open, and have found a few already.

As a footnote, here is another story. When I was a teenager, I went on a rafting trip on the Buller river. After we'd been paddling down the river a while, and negotiated Ariki falls, we stopped next to a small cliff face (2-3 metres above the water). Everyone except for me scrambled up the side of the bank, and jumped into the water. I was encouraged to give it a try, but I was rather scared, as I couldn't swim. It was pointed out to me that I was wearing a wetsuit and lifejacket, so that wasn't a problem. I finally plucked up the courage to climb up the bank and jump off the cliff, and it was awesome, I loved it. I went to go back for another try, but it was time to move on, I'd sat there worrying about it too long.

The moral of the story? You dont know if you don't try. I hope you're feeling inspired, because I most certainly am. I will keep you updated on my progress.

Teacups and Bicycles

An odd combination, I know! I promise I won't try to combine the two, as that will most likely result in some broken china, and maybe a few tears. I went up to Nelson for the weekend, and come back with an interesting haul.

Twelve teacups, sourced from secondhand shops and a kind relative. Once I get some soy wax, I will make these into teacup candles. So if you see any that you absolutely love, and must have, let me know and I'll put it aside for you.

I also brought back this antique silver plated candle holder that my grandmother gave to me when I was a teenager. It needs a good clean, but I think it will look great with some of my hand-dipped beeswax candles in it.

I also picked up a folding Raleigh 20 bike that was just hanging about, waiting for a new owner underneath my parents house. There are a few bikes there, most of which my brothers had raided for parts during their unicycle building/riding phase. This one was the most intact, it was only missing a seat and brake cable. So after a trip to a bike shop and Kmart for a new seat, cable, tyres and a basket, I'll be all set! It's other appealling feature was that it was much easier to fit in my car than one of the larger bikes. It's also blue, so it matches my car, other bike and my helmet! I won't post up pictures yet until it's all ready to go, as it is caked in mud and has a wheel removed so isn't very photogenic at the moment.

In other news, I was made redundant from my job last week (I probably need to update my profile now!) The plus side is I will have more time to spend on my crafts. The downside is that it probably won't be able to pay all the bills for a while. So I'll try to spend a bit more time on it while I search for a new day job.