A Collection of Thoughts

Oh dear

I have been terrible about getting the sneaks up this  month!
One on site now and here's another one...

Thanks for popping in!
Tamar

Winner :)

Through absolute determination and process of elimination

and the answers

Thanks for playing!
Tamar

April- Sneaks

EEK didn't realise the date -have been lost in the madness of an early Easter -Sneak peeks on site  now!
But here is a little mood board shall we say - showing the feel and look of our April collection
Introducing Breakfast at Tiffany's- Classic blacks cream a smattering of red deep "Tiffany" style aqua and a whole lot more.

PS Don't forget our owl comp.. Keep guessing.

WHO IS WHO Comp

As promised in the March edition of Tarisota Talk we are running a little comp

Want to win a hand made beaded bracelet - of which I just finished and cant get a decent shot off - I'll try again soon and edit this post with the pic ... - Chocolate and cream pearls with a splash of aqua and of course featuring our cute digi owl designed by Jo.
Your task ..
Name the Designer of each of the following owls

and here is a Download owls2.pdf if you want to see the pics up close...

Finally a few tips

Three owls are designed by Chris Millar -  and one by Suz, Ngaire, Mel, Jo, Trac and Nic
No you cant bribe the Dt for the answers as they dont know  actually they have been trying to guess all week and still they don't know - I haven't been helping them.

So we will open it up here - Pop your answers in a comment here and the first one to get it correct is the winner of a one of a kind Tamar bracelet.- The perfect accessory I sure you all need!

Good luck!

Any questions ask...

EDITED  TO ADD *******

Oh its hard so heres some hints

Chris has an owl on every line Jos is already up under influences on the site. and yes you can have more than one guess and Ngaire's is not the one covered in beads.

Tamar

Happy Easter

Easter so longed for is gone in a day.
- James Howel

Easter Craft and Cooking

I promised the girls we would do lots of craft and cooking - and we have done that today all day
They are now flat out in front of the TV and Richard has gone off in search of a real coffee for me - On good Friday- I'm thinking he may have to drive half way to Brisbane to get a Wild Bean one from one of the big servos- He has been gone a while
So I'm typing this up and editing the photos to go with - I took lots  - I have made a very cute Easter Traditions album that I wanted to document some of the things we do at Easter.- The albums sitting waiting for the photos.

So to begin with  our Birds Nests  - This is kind of a made up recipe

You need 3 shredded wheat biscuit bricks ( in the cereal aisle  in packets of 12 )
Dark chocolate about 300 gms
1/2 cup of shredded coconut
Candy Eggs - I found two sorts the larger ones are from Aldi  $3 a packet and the small coloured ones are cadbury
Takes about 15 minutes and then setting time

Break the wheat bricks up - not totally leave some chunks

Break the chocolate up in a separate bowl

Melt the chocolate - I do it in the microwave ( yes all tupperware lovers look away now ) 2 minutes 70 % power and and then another 1 minute 70%

 

Add coconut shredded wheat and chocolate together - Mix roughly  -on a tray lined with alfoil -  place largish tablespoons - Try and place a dent in the middle for the eggs

Add your eggs - Pop in the fridge to set- We will wrap these in cellophane and add some tulle as a bow.

Next was cupcakes .. Like nearly every other blog I have read lately - we used Fiona's idea

Update Richard home with coffee Maccas Cafe

Back to it

A simple cupcake recipe  - we used this one

Ingredients

•    5 cups self-raising flour, sifted
•    2 cups caster sugar
•    375g butter, melted, cooled
•    2 cups milk
•    5 eggs, lightly beaten
•    2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Method
1.    Preheat oven to 190°C. Line two 12-hole 1/3-cup capacity muffin pans with paper cases.
2.    Combine flour and sugar in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre.
3.    Using a fork, beat butter, milk, egg and vanilla in a jug. Pour into the well. Stir gently with a metal spoon to combine. Two-thirds fill paper cases with mixture. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, swapping trays after 8 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining mixture to make 40 cupcakes.

http://www.taste.com.au/recipes/1217/pretty+cupcakes

Talia's job was to unwrap the eggs

they then popped a chocolate egg in each

into the oven

watching and waiting

worth the wait

then icing ( much later in the day ...)  I use Betty Crocker Icing - LOVE it easy always ready to go- and taste good - No it doesn't come green we just make it up like - always have a tub or three ready to go.

how did we decide on colours? Sofia did I have a pink dress and Tali has a green dress so we should do it matching

- five year old logic got to love the simplicity -  so pink and green it was

and topped off with a flower - paper one - We have to remember to tell Great not to eat the flower
(according to Sofia ) - She's right we will.. and probably Richard too.

Next was bunny biscuits - Got the cutters from Target - 3 sizes in a packet

We used Martha's Recipe - from here

Ingredients

Makes  1 Super large bunny 8 medium ones and 8 small ones

    * 2 cups self raising  flour
    * 1/4 teaspoon salt
    * 125gms unsalted butter
    * 1 cup sugar
    * 1 large egg, lightly beaten
    * 2 tablespoons milk
    * 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

   1. Whisk together flour, salt, in a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; add dry ingredients, and mix until incorporated. With mixer running, add egg, milk and vanilla; mix until incorporated.
   2. Transfer dough to a work surface. Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
   3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with nonstick baking mats or parchment paper; set aside.
   4. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared baking sheets, leaving an inch in between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more. Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

These are seriously good- A really yummy sugar biscuit - quite "shortbready" really.

Mixing the dough

cutting the shapes

Ready to bake

icing  with a marshmallow tail - We had lots of discussion about what to do  -in the end I went for simple

There is a sugar cookie icing recipe here if you want .. as soon as I read  egg whites I went back to Betty.

Pink ones are girl bunnies

Chocolate ones are boy bunnies

and the plain ones are Mummy and Daddy bunnies

we moved onto  craft and decorating - we dyed some eggs - this was our first year doing this and I was surprised how easy it was

-

8 eggs - 2 colours each

the girls had fun  even when we cracked open one by accident  and found it was all green inside we put a little chicken in our basket -

  the results were a bit rustic but I'd do it again -we also added in some sugar eggs and the obligatory pink and yellow chicks that are everywhere

I'll show you the final wrap up tomorrow :)

Tamar xo

Easter Bonnet Parade

Hmm after trying to post this three times
and IE 7 freezing on me I have given it the flick and gone to Mozilla Firefox
GRRRR
am less than happy with this waste of time
anyhow I think I'm all good and again
so happier things

The Easter Bonnet Parade was soo cute soo so cute
They danced to all these cute cute candy songs and the chicken dance
and the photos were
as expected truly dreadful LOL

But here  they are  - boring for most of my blog readers but nice for my family and the girls love seeing themselves on Mummas computer .

 

And at the end of the day all sugared up on eggs and craft those gorgeous necklaces open to reveal an Easter Message and a photo.

Tamar xo

Easter Bonnets

So I'm not confident I'll get anything like a decent photo tomorrow at the Hat parade - I attempted to get some tonight - The paint and chocolate is from the  easter boxes we just made and filled with eggs for their teachers - they had to try some eggs - we really did give them a bath beforehand!

Tamar

( Ps Sofia in Pink hat Talia in Blue hat)

Tarisota Talk - March

Is now online ...

Check it out here

Lots of tips and projects and a fun comp all happening this month..

Enjoy

Tamar

PS If you didnt receive an email notification of the newsletter and you know you are subbed you might need to check your email addy with me -I'm having a few bounce :)

Thank you!

Best Laid Plans

so they saying goes - never seem to work out

the plan was for last of the  march stock to have arrived early in the week and the packing to be finished Thursday night or Friday at the latest Basic Grey to arrive Monday and we would pack that Monday night and get it out- we were just waiting on the basic grey component of the packing everything else was done..

Hmm that didn't happen Friday Basic Grey arrived and our Scrapworx Alphas are still in transit - so that meant a chaotic pack of some stuff being right to go and others not and then being able to put the Basic Grey in as well and the double and triple checking to see we had combined multiple orders as best we could.

So a shipping update

Basic Grey Addictions Obsession Inklination Tecknis Limiteds and Combinations of those are all leaving here Monday -  Some Basic Grey and I want it alls have shipped together - particularly our internationals - the rest of the I want it alls will ship Wednesday . If you're not sure and want to check where yours is at please drop me a line. All Basic Grey has gone in overnight bags so the majority of you will be receiving your collections Tuesday.

I get lots of good product and I am always saying how I love this and that but seriously - this is the first time I have got  the Basic Grey Buttons and brads in - They are FABULOUS good sizes strong colors really lovely.

As for the rest of the weekend ..

We had booked ages ago to go to Hot Shoe Shuffle on Saturday night - I spent the whole night thinking  - I should be home working ... but it was fabulous and I'm so pleased we went -

www.harvestrain.com.au

If you are close go see it  - so so  good.

We also went to an early dinner at  The Purple Olive

Yummy food good service and we had a lovely bottle of wine - no idea what it was but good!

Today was spent with High school musical on DVD and the start of the easter bonnet making marathon..

Didn't realise that is what it would be

So the PLAN - yet again ( best laid plans ) according to my daughters

Must have glitter and sparkly brads ribbons baby chickens and eggs

They have to be pretty but not the same Mumma

Right! I'm on to it  - No idea actually.

So I managed to get two straw hats from Target for $4.86 - quick go there if you need one! They were in the adult section but with a ponytail and a floppy rim its all good I think. I can add a bit of felt in the inside if need be I think not LOL

So we started with the planning and finished with the glitter..

and we have on a pink and a green one - we've added eggs from Jo's Elegant Easter download

and flowers and ribbons and sparkly  brads - it still needs tulle and beads and more ribbon I think ..So thats on my Tuesday to do list now.

doodlebug glitter - beautiful colours... ( holy doly she looks like her father in that photo! )

Richard has ghost whisperer out for me on DVD I had better go watch.

Hope your weekend was relaxing - Short week this week - YAY

Tamar xo