[the 50th birthday project]

Today was a lovely day for a birthday lunch with 'the girls'. One of our friends had her 50th birthday this week, so as is with our tradition of getting together, especially for a milestone, our lunch at a pub overlooking the bay at Sandgate for three or more hours saw us laugh so much our cheeks hurt. There are about ten in our group, and most of us met when our kids were in the same preschool class in 2005. The former 'preschool' kids are now in Grade 7, so I think it's pretty impressive we've managed to maintain our relationship all these years. 

As the birthday girl was getting a Chamilla charm bracelet from her hubby for her birthday, we all chipped in and got a bunch of charms for her, one in particular being the 'circle of friends' which has particular significance as we have a candle holder in this design that we light when getting together at each other's house for a coffee (or wine) get-together.

As a surprise treat, I decided to use my newfound quilling skills and make an extra special card for us all the sign. Here's a step-by-step photo gallery of the process...

First the sketch – I cheated and printed an outline of the number '50' – but then pencilled in the design. Once this was done, I traced it again on a new sheet of paper and went over the lines marking what colour was to go where.

 (above) The pinning, curling and gluing process. I laid a sheet of baking paper over the pattern (so the glue wouldn't stick to the paper) and then pinned it to a double sheet of corflute. (You could use polystyrene or cork for this process.) Each 3mm strip of coloured paper was curled to shape to match the pattern, and the process took several days as you could only do a little bit and then had to wait for the glue to dry. It was also necessary to use tweezers to place each curled piece into place to check, then carefully use the tiniest bit of PVA glue on the edge (applied with a toothpick) to join it to other the other paper strips. Pins were applied in key strategic points to keep the shape. The trick was to not glue a pin to the paper strip (which was something I found out later after I tried to remove it from the board as one piece!). 

(above and closeup) Next the design had to be inverted, and then pinned to polystyrene so the head of the pins were below the edge of the paper strips. PVA glue was applied very carefully to the top edges of the paper, and then an A5 piece of card was placed onto the glued edges and carefully lifted away the pinned sheet. I found this process wasn't 100% successful as the pins caught on some of the strips and didn't stick, so some tricky spot gluing was required on the final card in places. I think next time I attempt something like this I might not do such a large area at one time.

I saw this 'reverse' process of making monogram letters on You Tube (see video above), but in hindsight, I'd have to get a lot better at my gluing before I could do it this way first go, as I did get the odd blob of glue run down onto the baking paper in the initial assembly (which would've then been on the final 'top' of the paper if I'd only used this reverse method. Maybe as I get to be more of a gluing master I can use this 'shortcut'.

I then made a paper frame (using the same method as this birthday quilling project for another friend last weekend), and got a plate holder from the discount shop to display it on.

To finish the piece, a little card pocket was added to the back of the frame where a card was slipped in that we could all sign... the birthday girl was chuffed! Very happy with the result, and one of the other girls (who has her 50th in September) has already put in her order for one... :)

I also decided to make a little paper box to put the charms in, and added a dainty quilled flower and ribbon - Cute!

[paper picture frame]

I'm visiting a long-time friend of mine for afternoon tea today to celebrate her birthday, so thought I'd make a little 'something' to take with me as a gift. We share an art background, so something hand-made is perfect, and also an opportunity for me to practice some of my newfound quilling skills. (I'm still perfecting my gluing skills though, as the shiny glue that's visible on the beautifully texture matt board is not my ultimate desired result. Never mind though, I'm still learning!)

But rather than put these pretty flowers onto a card, I thought I'd make a picture frame to display it in. Instead of getting the timber, mitre box and hand saw out (which I've been known to do before), I've been getting some great ideas from some quilling blogs I've been reading. This paper picture frame is so simple, but looks really impressive!

As the coloured card I had was only an A4 sheet, I decided to make the frame edge 1 x 1cm (instead of the 1 x 2cm in the pattern) so I ended up with a frame size of about 12cm square. This allowed a nice framing matt around the mounted flowers.

I'm pretty impressed with the result, and will definitely be using this on other projects!

[quiche recipe]

Just over a week ago I shared my baking afternoon of lovely winter comfort food. 

Well, I was asked by a very dear friend for the quiche recipe (and also had to give it to my brother's partner as it was a loved meal we shared on my visit the other weekend), so thought I'd post it here on my blog for all to enjoy!

Cauliflower Quiche

CRUSTLESS QUICHE

3 eggs

1 and a half cups of milk

half a cup SR flour

half a diced onion

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

3 bacon rashers of bacon (or ham)

quarter cup of melted butter (optional if you have a non-stick dish)

salt and pepper

Method:

1.   measure milk into a Tupperware shaker, add 3 eggs and then shake. 

(If you don’t have a Tupperware shaker, a bowl is fine, just whisk instead.)

2.  set milk/egg mix aside

3. into a bowl put the rest of the ingredients – 

flour, onion, cheese, bacon, butter and season with salt and pepper

4.  add the milk/egg mixture to the bowl and mix thoroughly

5.   pour mixture into a quiche dish or pie plate

6.  Bake for approx. 30 minutes on 200°C until egg is set and 

quiche top/edges starts to go golden brown.

Makes a great light lunch, or serve with a salad for dinner. Can be eaten hot or cold.

OPTION – MINI QUICHES

Use the same mixture, but pour into a muffin tray. 

Makes approx. 12 - great for picnics, party finger food, or lunchboxes.

OPTION – MIX AND MATCH FLAVOURS

Experiment with your own flavours. A vegetarian version with raw cauliflower instead of bacon works well. Sprinkled with paprika, it’s even nicer. Mushrooms, baby spinach leaves, or capsicum are great  too. Just watch your volume of ‘bulky’ ingredients (so your dish doesn’t overflow).

OPTION – GLUTEN FREE VERSION

Just replace the SR Flour for a Gluten Free flour.

[foil art exhibition]

This morning I got to hang all the beautiful foil artwork the Grade 2 kids did last term – see here for how to make these yourself! 

We're displaying the works in the newly renovated school office for the week.

Don't they look fabulous displayed together?

[winter comfort food]

I thought I'd make some more home-made pea and ham soup this afternoon, then got a bit carried away...

Almost three hours later, I had several warm and tasty meals to see us through the weekend... (clockwise from top left) — pea and ham soup, chicken chasseur casserole, tarragon & garlic butter roasted chicken thighs, a cauliflower quiche (which my youngest had to have a wedge of as soon as it came out of the oven), and in the centre a tasty garlic white sauce.

The kids and I are heading up to Nanango to see my brother and celebrate my nephew's 10th birthday for the weekend, so the soup and quiche will be packed to keep us warm as the temperature dips closer to freezing overnight. What a good wifey I am too, as hubby has to stay home to run an event for his model flying club, so he's all set while we're gone. :)

But wait, there's more... I had some overripe bananas, so also whipped up a hummingbird cake, and as I'd planned to make some home-made LCM bars earlier in the week and had the ingredients already waiting for me, they also got thrown into the mix of things while other meals were simmering on the stove top. YUM YUM!!