Strumpets Crumpets Crafty Peeps Swap - Here's what I got :)

Matching wallet and hanky case.

So after another interesting interaction with the Bosnian and Herzegovinan postal service I got my parcel from Poland. It was well worth waiting for. The gifts inside are so cute and beautifully made.

I love the zip lock part inside the wallet!

And how cool is this - it has my name on it.

And as well as being cool it is very useful.

If you're looking at the things I got and thinking, 'I so need one of those,' then check out Agnes's Etsy shop . If you would like to find out more about her and what she does you can read her blog.

Pickity Picks Giveaway

So for all of you who didn't win anything in my giveaway last week - here's another chance! My Cupcake Bunny is one of the possible prizes in the Pickity Picks giveaway. Click here to enter - and make sure you choose pick 7!

Crafty Peeps Swap

This is the second time I've been part of a swap hosted by StrumpetsCrumpets.

This time my partner was a candy loving, red headed girl from Poland. This is the gift I sent her. She makes the most amazing and beautiful notebooks which she sells in her Etsy Shop - Marysza.

She also has a great blog which you can read by clicking here.

Giveaway winners announced!

I put all the entries into a list randomizer and then used the random number generator to find the winners.

Congratulations to Cybil Morris for winning first prize - the bunny and a copy of my pattern.


And to Jill Price of Monkey Gang for winning second prize - a copy of my bunny pattern.

To everyone else - thank you for entering, and better luck next time!

If you would like to buy a copy of my pattern it is available on Etsy and Ravelry.

(don't tell anyone, but it's cheaper on Ravelry!)

Double Giveaway!

Exciting news: Yesterday I launched my first amigurumi pattern! It is for sale in my Etsy shop and on Ravelry.

More exciting news: To celebrate the launch of my first pattern I am having a giveaway - a double giveaway even!

Prizes:

• First Prize is a copy of my pattern AND the original amigurumi bunny doll featured in the pattern.
• Second Prize is a copy of my pattern.

How to enter:

• Leave a comment here on my blog or on any links to the blog that I post on facebook =1 entry.
• Tweet about the giveaway or share links on facebook = another entry.

Make sure I have a way of contacting you in case you are one of the lucky winners!

The giveaway will close on Thursday 5th May at 21:00 Central European Time and the winners will announced very soon afterwards.

Winners will be chosen using a random number generator.

Ready, steady, go! and may the best person win :)

Happy Easter!

I ate this creme egg today - so what? Well if you know me well you will know that I love chocolate and eat, or as I can now say, used to eat, an awful lot of it. This Easter is extra happy for me because I have saved this creme egg since the day it was given to me - 4th March and kept it for today. I have finally cracked the self discipline and eating thing and I'm happily getting slimmer (not just cos I saved this creme egg, I am on a diet too!). I can honestly say that eating chocolate less often makes it taste better when you do :)

Simnel Cupcakes - my first attempt

I saw a recipe for Sminel Cupcakes on the BBC Food website. They looked yummy and I decided to try making some. Then I found out that you can't buy marzipan here. I decided to make my own and then found out that you can't buy ground almonds either! So I ground the almonds in a coffee grinder. Here is the marzipan:

It doesn't look quite as pretty as it does when you buy it in a shop but it tastes pretty good.

If you look at my first photo you will see that my cupcakes did not turn out as things of beauty! I think I put too much mixture into each muffin case. The tops cooked really well and then started to burn while the insides didn't cook at all. I decided to take the tops off and see what happens so what you see above is a plate of tops!

I had some marzipan left over so not to waste it, or the tops I had cut off, I made these! Everything I made tastes great but I'm not going to win any prizes for presentation this time. Oh and I know there are supposed to be 11 balls on a simnel cake but the balls I bought were kinda big and I could only fit 8!