Took my blog for a coffee yesterday.....

Here is what I said:

Dear Blog,

I know I have not been paying you any attention.  I have been indulging in a few of my latest crushes (pinterest, google reader, instagram, blood orange gelato)

 Right here, Right now, I promise to you I will think of you daily.  I will nourish you with my words and ideas,  I will share with you the wonders I come across on this big wide world of Internet land. I will give you a spring spruce up!

If nothing else, I promise that from this day forth, I will be mindful of your existence.

Lets be friends again....

xoxo
craftyclaudes

Jamie does Greek Salad...very very well!

We recently finished watching the "Jamie Does...." series which was screened here in Sydney on Ten.  Every week Jamie took us along on his culinary journey around Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and other beautiful and food exciting places.  We enjoyed the series so much that we bought the book.   Our first recipe to try was the Greek Salad, here it is:


We served it with a cannelini bean mash and some crusty bread.  Delicioso!!   I have had many Greek salads before, as they are refreshing and punchy and interesting.  However, this one used Dill and Mint as the herbs (usually I use Oregano)  I think that is what made it.  Very fresh.

You can get the recipe free from Jamie's site


Give it a go.....your taste buds will thank you ;-)

Paper garlands - A simple project....

Well....I have finished all my projects for market. Thirty two pieces. All done - phew!  A big achievement for both Maves and I.  So this weekend we will have fun photographing them and thinking about what markets we will sell our wares at this Christmas season. Yay to us!   Upon finishing all the little pieces I decided to continue on my crafty crusade and got out my paper stash.  After focusing on fabric, felt, beads and thread for a few months, it was nice to go through all my pretty papers and try out my brand new paper punch.

I started making lots of these:

Then when I had a bunch of them ready I ran them through the sewing machine.  

In between each shape, I would leave a little thread to give them some room to just hang out

and voila!!  A paper garland :-)

This was by far the quickest project I have ever made.  Plus now that I have tried it, I am thinking Christmas decorations and filling the apartment with pretty garlands.  Just don't tell Martino.  He might think its a little too girlie.   But I loved how these turned out and now that spring is here and our apartment is filled with light and beautiful breeze, these little guys will flutter away and add a festive feel to our place. 

Sweet!