Origami Box Ornaments

Ez from the adorable blog, Creature Comforts, was kind enough to feature a D.I.Y. on my ornaments. You can check it out here. Thanks Ez!

Illustration

My awesome uncle, KW, started a website called Clash Entertainment. I'll be doing some illustrations for my cousin's, Tobi, fashion articles. This was the first one. Check it out here.

Cookies, Cats & Clutches

Dear Father Christmas,

This year may I please have for Christmas a pretty purse. I promise I have been mostly good this year. And this is too pretty not to have. I will make you lots of cookies and give you an extra large glass of milk. And I make good cookies. I will even let Andy borrow it a bit if he wants. I live at the house with the crazy cat and funky pink chair.

Love,
Sam

It's Begining to Look a Lot Like Christmas

The milkmen delivered our Christmas tree tonight. To say the least, I am excited. I love decorating for Christmas. Andy and I decorated it while listening to Christmas classics. I'm a bit concerned that Belinda will get confused as to why there's a tree in the house and use it as a toilet. She's being watched carefully.

We Make Christmas

Hey, I'm one of the UK's most taleted crafters/designers. Hehe. Five days and counting. Dom dom dom. Oh boy. It's crunch time.

My List

My friend Michelle made her thankful list for Thanksgiving which inspired me to do the same.

My mom. She's amazing, and if you're lucky enough to know her, you'll agree.

That's my dad on his holiday hanging up my washing! What a man.

Wes, AKA Bubba. He's coming in 36 days and I couldn't be more excited!

My England girls. They are all so lovely.

Michelle my Bell. I love her dearly. And thanks for the amazing clutch. I love love love it and cannot wait to find my holiday dress to match it!

Seul Ki who is probably the most gorgeous woman I know. She introduced me the the wonders of Korea.

Tricia is an amazing mom of possibly some of the cutest kids ever. She will be giving me all kinds of advice if Andy and I ever have kids.

Larry for his endless encouragement. I'm getting a camera for Christmas and I'm going to be taking oodles of pictures!

A, Ah, Amanda. I love when you sing and when you draw and when you're crazy.

Allison is one of the most talented artists I know. She encourages me to make art for no one but myself.

But most of all, I'm thankful for this man. He is the love of my life because of him I am the most loved woman in the world.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday next to Christmas. We're not celebrating this year but I thought I'd share my mom's amazing fantabulous cranberry relish (chutney) and stuffing recipes. Isn't that cardboard turkey ace!

Cranberry Relish (Chutney)

2 navel oranges, washed and patted dry
1 cup golden raisins (sultanas)
12 ounce bag fresh cranberries
1 T orange liqueur

Peel one orange, discarding the peel. Leave the peel on the other orange. Cut both oranges into wedges.
Place oranges and raisins in a food processor. Pulse until roughly chopped. Add the cranberries and pulse until finely chopped, but not pureed.
Transfer the relish to a serving bowl. Stir in the liqueur. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
(I think I added just a little sugar. Depends on how tart you like it.)
Makes 6-8 servings.

Cornbread Apple Stuffing

1/2 cup butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup cored and chopped apples
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 1/2 cup chicken broth
3 T poultry seasoning or dry Veggie Stock
1 9 x 13 pan cornbread
4 slices white bread
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 teas. freshly ground pepper
1 cup pan drippings from cooked turkey

Melt half the butter in lg. sauce pan. Set over med. heat. Add onion, apples, and cranberries and saute 5 min. Stir in broth and poultry seasoning. Bring to boil and cook 15 min. While this boils preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put remaining butter in glass 9 x 13 pan and melt in oven. Finely crumble cornbread in baking pan. Tear slices of white bread in small pieces and mix with cornbread by hand. Add eggs and pepper to bread and mix by hand. Pour broth and fruit over cornbread and use lag. spoon to mix well. Bake 1 hour or until crisp around edges. Baste with pan drippings.

Bathroom Bliss

Charlotte and I went to IKEA on Saturday and I got this wonderful cabinet. Ah, organization. Somehow Andy and I acquired two silver car door handles. We turned them into towel hooks. Genius. Listening to Tori Amos on NPR. How I miss NPR although I am thoroughly enjoying BBC Radio one in the mornings with Fearne Cotton. The weather has been absolutely shocking the past week. I'm staying inside making teatowels and drinking coffee.

Cake Toppers

My cake toppers are for sale in Arteria! That's my co-workers adorable knitted cupcakes on the right.

Christmas prep

I got this recipe from The Guardian Weekend last year and have been wanting to try it. I'm making the Christmas meal this year so I thought it would be a perfect time to try it out. I used smaller tomatoes to get more bite sized hour d'oeuvres. I skipped the anchovies. One thing working in a pizza shop taught me - that once that can is opened, the smell does not go away. And I get creeped out knowing I'm eating eyeballs. Sans eyeballs, these little buggers were good.

Tomatoes with herbs

Makes four starter portions.

4 medium tomatoes, ripe but firm

Salt and ground black pepper

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

4 salted anchovy fillets, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

30g panko breadcrumbs

2 tbsp chopped oregano

3 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tbsp chopped mint

1½ tbsp chopped capers

Trim 1cm off the top of each tomato and discard. Use a teaspoon to remove the seeds and most of the flesh, leaving a clean shell. Lightly salt the insides and put in a colander, facing down, to get rid of some moisture.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. In a medium pan, sauté the onion, garlic and anchovy in a tablespoon of oil. Cook on a low heat for two to three minutes, just to soften the onion. Remove from the heat, stir in the breadcrumbs, herbs, capers and pepper, taste and add salt if needed.

Fill the tomato shells with the herb stuffing, pressing down very gently as you go - you want a nice dome of stuffing on top. Place in a greased, ovenproof dish, drizzle over the remaining oil and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve lukewarm.

Exposure

On December 5th, Charlotte, Andy, and I are heading to London for the We Make Christmas fair. I'm featured on their blog today! Also pictures from the Handmade & Bound fair last week here.

Bring Your Brolly

Brolly=Umbrella

Birthday Flowers

Andy got me my favorite flowers for my birthday (above) and cooked me some amazing meatballs. Thanks honey. It's rainy and gross outside so I'm in my studio with Belinda making art.

Have Your Hair Done?

I'm working on the Brunton Road Series II. Have your hair done. Is that the right thing to say? What do you think?

Happy Halloween

Two years ago today, under a table, Andy mumbled those fateful words, "Sam, I really like you." So needless to say, I like Halloween. I love when kids knock on our door and we give them teeth-rotting sweets. I love carving pumpkins and drinking cocoa.

This morning PJ (Papa John) is around re-grouting the tub. It was black and nasty so he's saving my sanity. Don't you think he looks like Danny Devito? He could definitely get work as a stunt-double.

I got the letter below in the post on Thursday. It is amazing. Allison turned an envelope inside-out and drew on it. When I opened it, there was even more amazingness. I love getting letters.