Aug 29, 2012

Good busy...

Life is busy at the moment...
but...
it is a GOOD busy!

Not chaotic (well, mostly not anyhow)...
Not frenetic...
Not chasing my tail...

But actually feeling productive kind of busy!

I've been fitting in more sewing the last few weeks...



...and the orders keep coming which keeps me happily busy!

My eldest girl - Big Little Miss M - is beginning her sewing journey and so very excited to learn how to sew...

Here she is making shorts for her kinder mascot, Mr Muscles...


Her little legs don't reach the floor yet so I had to put the foot pedal on a step stool for her to be able to reach it... so cute!

The weather is warming up, the blossoms are starting to bloom and Spring is just mere days away!!!

Happy!

♥♥♥


Aug 27, 2012

My heart swells...


My love for these two girls knows no limits nor bounds...


They both, on a daily basis inspire and AMAZE me... with their innocence, their imagination, their view on the world... they amaze me with pretty much everything.

They remind me of how I looked at things when I was a child... how wonderful, happy and free moments could be...

Big Little Miss M got busy with the chalk this afternoon in the back yard... totally unprompted she drew this umbrella with clouds and rain. When I said I'd take a photo she immediately lay down on the ground and posed - holding the umbrella and all... I had to laugh! 


And then there's the swings in the back yard... The girls love LOVE them. It reminds me of my love for them when I was a little girl... How I'd swing and swing, higher and higher, swinging until I felt ill from it all...

Here's Little Little Miss M earlier today, reminding me of such a wonderful feeling...that childhood belief that with your eyes closed, your toes up in the sky and the wind in your hair, that you were actually flying... free... her three year old bliss took me right back...


My heart swells...


xoxoxo

Aug 25, 2012

Life by Instagram... the addiction continues

the_spangler
(ooh look... its actually me! Now you don't see photo's of me too often on this blog - not so super comfortable with that but on Instagram there's a scattering... maybe it's the littler screen size that gives me comfort... hmpf?)
anyway, that's me on instagram...

I've typed some thoughts on my instagram habits before... (here and here)
I'm still hooked that's for sure - everything gets instagrammed...
it's just so handy, quick and also fun!


(my girls and I perfecting the duck-face)

It drives the hubs a little around the bend... he thinks its crazy that I photograph pretty much everything - food, fabric, the kids, the sky, my coffee, wine, plants...

Yep, I think I've covered most the instagram cliché shots... ooh my feet - I've instagrammed them too!

(This is my older brother and I circa late 70's... one day I will convince him to do one of those crazy 'recreated' photo's just for S&G's... I think it'd be a 50/50 chance at being either incredibly funny or incredibly wrong!)



(Big Little Miss M learning to sew... Ted neede some shorts)

Yes, I am pretty sure there are many people out there whom are not the slightest bit interested in what I cooked or ate for dinner, how the sky looks from my backyard, or the cup my coffee was served in at the coffee shop...


But all that said I just can't deny the permeating addictiveness of it all... so if you, like me have an 'Insty' thing... join me as we happily snap stills of randomness and life, capturing memory triggering moments and looking for the beauty that's always there... sometimes hidden, sometimes blatant.

My (pseudo) name is The Spangler...
and I...
I am an Instagram addict!

Feed my insty addiction, tell me about yours, follow my feed, get the 'behind the doors' view into a little slice of my everyday.

xo

Aug 19, 2012

The Rainbow Unicorn Cake semi-tute

Big Little Miss M requested a 5th birthday with everything unicorn and rainbow... so off to Google, pinterest and all about to find some inspiration to make a Homemade Rainbow Unicorn Cake. The final product was a blend of about 5 or so different cakes I'd seen photo's of with touches of my own desire.

The base slab cake that the unicorn sits on is made up of a seven layered rainbow cake.

I made the rainbow, tie die fondant by making up 2 long skinny sausages of fondant in each color and then randomly twisting two colors together and then twisting all the twists into a big thick rope.

I then spiraled them into a snail like shape and then rolled it out thereby creating the lovely multicolored effect. Keep rolling to a minimum as you don't want to end up with a mucky khaki blob of fondant.

To roll it out super thin and smooth I used one of my new favourite kitchen thingys... simply called "The mat" which basically is two large clear food grade sheets of plastic that the fondant is rolled between. It also makes getting the fondant onto the cake super easy... I ordered my mat here in Oz from Cakes by Karen... watch the video on the link when you get a moment - I promise you it REALLY is as easy as it looks!!!

The horn was made using a white and rainbow colored fondant sausages twisted and tapered to a horn shape around a wooden skewer and sprinkled with edible gold glitter with the very tip dipped in glitter for a solid sparkle tip.

The rainbow fondant curlicues were made by rolling multiple color strips of the fondant side by side very thin and slicing strips to curl around a chopstick, sliding them off and setting them aside to harden ahead of time.

The unicorn is made using the Wilton Little Lamb Cake pan. I trimmed off the ears and shaped the head a little whilst also molding legs and the nose using a biscuit cake pop mix.

Now I warn you, it's not pretty at this stage... in fact it's quite fugly. I honestly began to wonder at this point if my girls cake was going to be the most ugly, wrong looking unicorn cake in the history of unicorn cakes!!!

The nose was molded around a small toothpick to make attaching easier. The whole unicorn shape was then crumb coated and butter creamed.

I used white homemade marshmallow fondant to cover the unicorn - this was a little tricky to try to not have too many seams or joins. Believe me I sat and simply stared at my rolled out fondant on the mat and the cake above for quite some time just trying to get my head around how I could get the fondant on and over all the shapes. In the end I just went for it... I know, I know, your probably thinking... reckless, regular wild one here... oh, how domesticated my life is - if only you knew people, if only you knew (we all have background stories don't we that feel like another lifetime ago... maybe I was reckless once but now... fondant brashness is it - for now anyways).

I ultimately used two pieces and had the seam/join below the chin and behind the head where the mane covered most of the join. I rubbed some gorgeous translucent edible glitter over the entire body - but in truth I think the two photos above are about the only two where you can see the glitter sheen/sparkle.

I rolled out some pink fondant to cover the unicorns hooves and the eyes and lashes were cut from colored fondant and then attached with fondant glue.

Grrr... that black smudge above the eyelash irritates the bahjeezus outta me!

I then piped small amounts of butter cream to attach the tail and mane curls. The horn was simply attached with the skewer it was wrapped around and the ears made from fondant were attached into indents with a little fondant glue.

The cake was a huge hit with the children and adults alike and I was very happy with the results... but most importantly - my beautiful birthday girl LOVED it!

It might look tricky or daunting to take on but seriously if you don't try you'll never know... you just might surprise yourself!

If you want the recipe I use for either the buttercream or marshmallow fondant CLICK HERE to go to the post I did some time ago – the recipes are within the post!

And as always I love knowing the SOMEONE is reading along or enjoying my ever so sporadic blogging… feel free to pop a comment my way, say hi, ask me to clarify – as it’s late here and what makes sense to me may, in the light of day be a muddle!

Aug 6, 2012

What's the best bargain you've ever found?

I love savings... it's why I love refashioning thrifted finds into something new and fabulous. I love that you've not only saved at the point of sale but you've also 'saved' both environmentally - reuse, recycle and reduce - and you've gotten that little buzz that comes from finding a great buy! Check out my mostly refashioned tutorial page...


Now, not all things are to be found in the op shop, thrift store, markets or second hand so that means I'm online shopping for a bargain... and they are definitely there to be found. My ventures into the 'blogosphere' led to my discovery of blogs written by super savvy bargain hunters and dedicated solely to coupons and discounts. They detailed, shared and bragged of coupon savings and I loved it whilst still being just a little envious of the massive savings that were to be had - I wish Australia had more of a couponing community and way of sourcing, buying and saving. We are catching on though and I'm excited by it - I love seeking out the best deal via the internet, so bring on more savings down under and YAY to the wonder and brilliance of online bargain hunting and the dot com shopping experience!

Finding the best deals and discounts though can take time and research and then there's always the deal you didn't find till after the purchase... grrr. Its all fun and I'm sure there wouldn't be many among us that don't like to save money where we can... for a holiday, the kids, a special treat, more fabric for the stash (we all have our soft spots, right)?

This all brings me to introduce a new lovely blog sponsor and ever so purse friendly site that's bound to save you dollars... 




Check them out, click on over - there's store coupon savings for everything from A - Z and everything in-between... Accessories, Electronics, Hotels (I'm already sussing out the Expedia coupon savings), SHOES (oh my, I LOVE shoes), Vitamins and more! There's daily deals with huge savings to be pocketed on special listings. Its a lovely, central source and sharing point for coupon savings and great deals. 
Answers.com have been about since 1999 (try asking a question in the search box) and they describe Coupons by Answers as "the newest way for consumers to find and share the latest deals from the most popular online stores.... community-based Q&A expertise to the deal hunting experience to help people like you find the best bargains on the web... you'll find everything from the most popular stores to niche retailers, all offering incentives to get you to shop on their sites."

I'll be scouring the site for any deals that ship to Australia and the online bargains. I'll let you know what I come up with. In the meantime I'd love to know what is the best bargain you've ever found?

I'd also love to know once you've popped over to Answers.com if there's a deal that perked your interest and/or saved you some coin!

xoxo

(PS... Yes, this is a sponsored post however Coupons by Answers.com is a site set up to save you and I money on items, services and products that we were most likely looking to buy anyhow, and any site that sets out to save us money and bring us to the best deal is worth a look - you'll be happily impressed... I know I am! Oh and don't forget to leave me some comment love with your bargain find story!)

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