Craft Fair Preparations

I've a little craft fair coming up on Friday night so I'm busy getting a few things ready. It's a good incentive for finishing off some lingering craft projects such as...
... these blobby glass fridge magnets.

This one's my favourite, so I've kept it! It's jazzing up my fridge right now and looks rather nice even if I say so myself.

It's useful to have cheaper items to attract browsers who aren't really interested in investing in one of my mirrors.

I also have quite a few jewellery items. I discovered the pleasures of playing with beautiful glass beads and pendants a couple of years ago and became quite distracted by them for a while!
The photo above is an old one of a bundle of bracelets. I don't have any recent photos of my jewellery but I will take a photo of my table display at the craft fair before they're all sold (haha!) to put in my next post. I'm not planning on making any new jewellery items to sell as my main focus is my leadwork.

I'll therefore be taking these leaded mirrors...
The event is within walking distance and involves wine and cheese so I only want to take what I can carry! It's a fundraising event for A's nursery and to be honest the wine is usually more popular than the stalls so it's not worth the effort taking all my mirror stock along.

Among the mirrors above is one that I just finished this week...
...it's a new design. I'll see if it's popular before I'll make any more.

I will also take along a couple of suncatchers including this one...
... the robin is one of my favourite design motifs, regardless of the time of year.

October has turned into a very busy month. Craftwise I'm also working on three personalised mirrors which I need to finish before the 31st. My crochet has had to be hidden away to prevent it distracting me!

Tiffin (with recipe) & Chocolate Caramel Shortbread (amongst other things...)

The other day...

...I posted this little suncatcher off to Eire, it should have arrived by now, hope they like it!

I originally made one in red and one in purple. Both are now sold and I'm not making any more! I made the design a little too complicated for the size of the suncatcher and therefore for the price at which I can sell them.

That afternoon, I picked some peas...

...I love peas!...

...they're just so scrumptious straight from the pod...

... and I love the curlywurlyness of them as they grow.

On Thursday I was having some Mums & children over in the afternoon and was hosting our fortnightly craft evening so I made some...

...TIFFIN - very easy & tasty (no baking required!), here's how:

8 oz (225g) unsalted butter
4 tblsp golden syrup
2 tblsp cocoa powder
16 oz (250g) broken biscuits (tea biscuits or digestives or ginger biscuits or mixture - I like 8 oz ginger nuts & 8 oz rich teas!)
1.5 cups raisins
12 glace cherries, quartered.
8 oz (225g) chocolate (milk or plain or a combination - I mix 4 oz milk & 4 oz plain)
1 tblsp brandy/whisky (optional)

1. Melt the butter, golden syrup and cocoa powder in a saucepan.
2. Break up the biscuits (easiest method is to put them in a plastic bag then bash & roll with a rolling pin - you want a mixture of small and larger sized crumbs so that the tiffin has some crunch to it)
3. Add the bashed biscuits to the melted mixture in the pan along with the raisins, cherries and brandy (if using)
4. Stir until well mixed.
5. Place the mixture in a tin lined with non-stick baking paper or foil and spread evenly (make it quite thick - 1.5 cm or so - don't feel you need to spread it out over the whole tin. The quantites I use fit a 19 x 30 cm tray exactly).
6. Melt the chocolate (I use the microwave) and spread it evenly over mixture.
7. Refrigerate for a couple of hours.
8. Slice into squares & eat!

I also made some...

...CHOCOLATE CARAMEL SHORTBREAD!

I ate about 5 pieces of the chocolate caramel shortbread for lunch today, it was delicious! The recipe is from Nigella's How To Be A Domestic Goddess, but can be found on many internet sites, just search for "roxanne's chocolate caramel shortbread" and you should find it straight away! The caramel is made using the microwave so it's much faster to make than the traditional method of boiling it on the hob.

Today (Friday) it is rather a rainy day.


Unfortunately, I forgot to put away the deckchairs last night so they'll be a little soggy!


As is Muck, but he doesn't mind!

I took a few more random garden shots while out with my camera in the rain...


A little peek of the back garden.


Japanese anemone


The view from the what we call the back door (it's actually on the side of the house, as is the front door for that matter!)


A close up of the pebbles on the picnic bench, these are the ones I brought home from our summer holiday in Ireland.


The jackdaws on the chimney pots as seen from the back door.


Jackdaws again.


Shed door birdie.