Shining Star - Silver Fingerprint Charm

In genuine star sapphires there are tiny imperfections and inclusions that reflect light perfectly to form a star in the stone. Every child with Aspergers is like this precious gem, unique in every way. Without the tiny inclusions, there would be no star. My wonderful son is my shining star...

This charm was created using 9g of silverclay. I cut and hand sanded it roughly, hand fired it with a torch, and tumbled it with steel shot for 15 minutes. I wanted it to look more 'rustic' than some of the other pieces I've made, so instead of polishing it to a high shine I just gave it a quick rub over with a silver cloth.

Fruit Cake/Malt Loaf

Ingredients:

1 cup shreddies (any brand)

1 cup raisins (or dried mixed fruit)

1/2 cup soft brown sugar

1 cup milk

1 cup self raising flour

In a bowl mix the shreddies, raisins, sugar and milk.

Stir and place in the fridge overnight

(or for approx 8 hours, until the shreddies have soaked up the milk and are soft).

When you're ready to bake add the flour to the mixture and stir in - it will become very thick and stodgy. 

Pour into a loaf tin and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes on 180 degrees (Gas mark 4).

Can be kept for approx a week if wrapped/sealed.

Flower Cupcakes

Today my daughter and I made cupcakes and I took the opportunity to practice my decorating technique (I'll be making flower fairy cupcakes for my little girls 4th birthday). The buttercream wasn't stiff enough, but I got to try out my new M1 nozzle :0) I sprinkled with lemon sparkle dust and topped with handmade icing flowers.

Eggs are on the Up!

Well it seems that after the initial upset of bringing the chickens home and getting them used to their new surroundings they are now feeling happy and settled as egg production is up to 3 or 4 a day!!!  I'm so pleased as it means that they're well, healthy, and comfy in coop.... it also means we get a delicious supply of fresh, tasty eggs :0)

Some say there's a birthday coming up

It's my sons 9th birthday in March and whilst it seems like ages away right now, it'll suddenly be upon me and I'll be totally unprepared  :0) so I've made a start on some of my makes our little family get together. We won't be having a big party with friends as the anxiety is too much for him (he has Aspergers Syndrome) but I still want to create something special for him - we're going with a Top Gear/Stig theme (he LOVES the programme!). Here are the invitations I've created:

now on to the straw toppers, bunting, cupcake toppers, banner........!!!

Our Girls

We got our second fresh egg today!!!  It seems that the weather is too cold for the girls and as such they've slowed right up on laying (only 2 eggs over 4 days, from 4 hens).  Hopefully as it gets warmer they'll get back into their rthym and we'll be getting 3 or 4 a day :0)

I'm really enjoying having them, even though it means going out into the cold (in my PJ's!) to let them into the garden and give them breakfast, and my little girl just can't get enough - she spent most of today outside with them!

Teddy Bears Picnic

As the weather's been too cold to go out we decided to do something indoors today - a Teddy Bears Picnic.  My little girl and I baked lemon cupcakes decorated with vanilla frosting, topped with mini marshmallows and parma violets :0)

We invited my sister, newphews, and Mum for sandwiches, cakes and strawberry milk (yummy!), and the kids seemed to have a lovely time!

Fresh Egg!!!

The chickens arrived Thursday evening and dispite the weather and the stress of the move to their new home we already have a fresh egg!!!  We've not eaten it yet... it's sitting in the egg rack on the kitchen worktop like a trophy :0)

The children just love them; my little girl has adopted the white hen as hers and named her Lilly, my son has adopted the slate coloured hen which he's named 'Locco'.  We also have Mabel (brown) and PP3 (black), and the 4 of them seem very settled and happy in their new home.

I can't wait for the drier weather to come so we can get out into the garden more with them.

A Touch of Love

I'm really enjoying working with metals at the moment so I made this silver heart shaped charm for my sister.  It has the imprint from her sons finger (I printed directly into the silver) and then I engraved his name. I used PMC Silver which I fired, cut, and finished by hand.  I added a small 16gsm silver jump ring so she can attach it to a bracelet.

I just need to make another now for her newborn...... :0)

Artwork

Today's post is a crafty one, but it's not something I've created myself - I commissioned the artwork for my lounge (red poppy) and my bathroom (blue 'splash')...luckily on I'm on very good terms with the gentleman who created them so I got them for an absolute bargain!!!

New Shoes!

I'm in the market for a new pair of shoes (although I'm sure my husband would tell you that I have more than enough already!) so I need to get my thinking cap on for a way to make a little extra cash from my crafting..... not sure just yet what I should do, but I DO know exactly which pair is top of my list :0)

Celebrate Different, Not Indifference

Today's is not a crafty post, but a post to say how fantastic NAS and Parent Voice have been in supporting myself and the many other parents of children with disabilities in Hampshire and the UK.  The events, seminars, groups, and respite care they promote, organise, and fund are invaluable to so many and shouldn't be underestimated.

Silver Keepsakes

There's nothing like recieving a gift from your little ones which they've made, the problem is what to do with it. We store our kids 'makes' in memory boxes, but it always seems such a shame that it's all tucked away from view.  With this in mind I decided to expand my range of silver makes to include impressions of my daughters handprints and my sons writing (my son has autism and rarely puts pen to paper, so I wanted to capture it!!!).  I will be trying out one of my sons drawings too when I get some more silver!!

This silver keyring is a gift for my husband.

The silver oval will be secured to the bottom corner of a photo frame I have - it contains a photo of my little girl just hours after she was born.

The handprint and writing were scaned onto my PC, scaled down to size and turned into stamps using photopolymer plates.  I used PMC3 Silver to craft the pieces, hand fired them, then tumbled and polished them to a high shine (with both tripoli and rouge).  I'm really pleased with the results :0)