Blooming

12 March 2010 | 1 Comment

It’s amazing what Mother Nature will do when you take her out of a box and perhaps even go so far as to give her a glass of water.

Though admittedly it did take us a couple of days to notice.

The great escape

5 March 2010 | 5 Comments

Last Christmas the English department at Mum’s school gave her a red amaryllis, which she brought home. There was no suitable setting for it in her library and one of her assistants tasked Dad with taking care of it. Mum’s not the one to whom you should entrust your pot plants while you go on holiday. Unless you like them brown.

“Store in a cool place until planting”, said the instructions. It’s winter and that’s anywhere. Done. Maybe this plant stood half a chance after all?

The box was put on a shelf in the conservatory, with the bulb in a ceramic pot inside, waiting to be brought to life. But soon the box became part of the furniture; the box you see every day, but never stop for a moment to wonder: hey, should we do something with this?

Except this evening, when I caught sight of the box and was suddenly given cause to wonder: hey, shouldn’t we have done something with this?

Tired of waiting for someone to realise that while the instructions don’t actually tell you to remove the pot from the box, it is in fact assumed by many to be a given and so the amaryllis had taken matters into its own hands and started to make its own way out.

We opened the box and discovered another stem trying to make its way out. Cutting away the carboard collar through which the stems had grown, we lifted the pot out of the box and welcomed it to the wide world.

And mumbled an apology about having kept it shut in a box for two months.

Bag and brushes

3 March 2010 | 5 Comments

As part of my ongoing “upgrade” of makeup and whatnot, I wanted a new cosmetics bag. My bits and pieces were housed in a little wooden crate and a couple of little pencil cases I bought in Ecuador. It was all fairly neat, but the moment I took anything out of the crate everything remained collapsed in a heap.

I looked on Etsy for a bag and found one in exactly the right dimensions to fit my shelf, but I didn’t like the fabric, so I continued my search. Then I found Sewfriendzy, who had great fabrics and seamstress Aimee was able to make me just what I wanted.

One big plus on the bag: a bright interior. Why are so many bags are black inside. How does that help me find what I’m looking for, hmm?

I’ve stuffed the bag with all my gubbins, even my new big brushes fit in there. Though actually I put them in first, so I can’t get to them very easily now. Good move. I need to weed out what I don’t want/need and what I want to replace with something better.

And speaking of brushes, I have a couple of new ones for my collection: a MAC 239 and a 150. The 239 is an eyeshadow brush, which is delightfully soft – and quite in demand on eBay, where I made the winning bid! The 150 is a powder brush, so I’ve hiked out the cheap one I had that was liable to powder me with its black bristles as an unexpected gift.

But just look at those two. Aren’t they pretty? I’m loathe to put anything on these brushes. I think I may just keep them as low-maintenance pets.

Forgetfulness and/or denial

20 February 2010 | 3 Comments

I went shopping with Suzy today and we had a marvellously successful day, coming away with half the stock of H&M. In a funky shop called Apricot, where I found myself a long overdue new winter coat, I was perusing the clothes when a little boy appeared next to me. “Hello,” I said. He looked at me with big eyes and then returned my hello when prompted by his Mum. Indicating Suzy, who was standing next to me, he asked, “Is that your Mummy?”
“No, she’s my friend,” I said.
“Where’s your Mummy?”
“She’s at home – it’s ok,” I reassured him.

A little later I met him again in the changing room, where he stuck his head under the curtains to find Suzy an empty cubicle.

“Your Mummy’s at home?” he asked me.
“Yes, she is. How old do you think I am?”
“I don’t know.”
“Have a guess,” I said, playing for time as I tried to remember the answer myself.
“4?”
“No, higher,” I said, still somewhat unsure of my own age.

He was stumped, unable to imagine any age other than his own, and so I told him, “I’m 27″. Suzy promptly poked her head out of her cubicle and corrected me, “No, you’re not, you’re 28!”.

Damn it.

7 Days Winter 2009 mosaic

15 February 2010 | 1 Comment

1. sarkasmo | melly_311 | philoschelle | *Out of my Mind* | Charlotte Hollands

11. Ernie E | Rachiee Roo | Jen*Howard | Matthew Walton | www.flickr.com/photos/tinarina/

The spring run starts on Saturday 20th March 2010

Pixiwoo made me do it

13 February 2010 | 8 Comments

For a little while now I’ve been following the makeup tutorials from Pixiwoo on Youtube, also available at www.fashionface.tv. Professional makeup artists Samantha Chapman and her sister Nicola share techniques and show how to achieve various looks. I’d love to have a makeover, have someone do my makeup and so I tend to fall into a kind of zen state watching these videos.

I’ve always liked makeup. Mum used to be an Avon representative, so makeup was available fairly cheaply and I would read articles on how to apply it. Even from pretty young I’ve been fairly good with makeup, though there is photographic evidence that I used to get a bit carried away with the eyebrow pencil.

Watching the Pixiwoo videos has opened up a world of new techniques and products and in my zen state I have been swayed into thinking that maybe it would be worthwhile investing in some new products – something with a good brand name, something that costs more than £3.

The first was something I didn’t know existed until I watched the videos: a foundation brush. I’d always applied foundation with my fingers, so this is new to me. I’ve bought a MAC 190 brush and while putting the foundation on with it seems fairly easy, I have yet to master standing back from the mirror so I don’t keep wacking it with the brush handle.

So that was the first foray into something new and today I headed to the makeup counters at Fenwicks in Tunbridge Wells to get a couple more bits. Concealer is something of a staple that I don’t really have and so I asked for advice at the Bobbi Brown counter. I thought I’d just be sold X, Y or Z, but I was invited to take a seat and the makeup artist tried out various shades and two different types of concealer, telling me how to apply it and make it stay put. Then there was no hard sell, I simply chose the one I wanted and that was that. Oh, apart from feeling 100 years old, because the girl doing my makeup recognised me from school and turned out to be about 6 years younger than me. I’m not sure I’m happy being old enough to have someone 6 years younger than me and still looking like an adult. But I digress.

The kit holds a pot of concealer, with loose powder in the section below. There’s a mirror in the lid and a little powder puff is included for touching up, but I think a brush would be better, as the girl used when demonstrating it on me.

I also wanted to get a bronzer and the Bobbi Brown girl recommended that I ask for that at the MAC counter as they’d have better colours for me. Using bronzer is a new concept I’ve picked up from Pixiwoo. They use it in particular below the cheekbone, magically adding the definition that I’m definitely missing. Somehow it works subtly without being all Boy George about it. So the MAC girl found me a nice non-shimmery mineral powder and showed me how to apply it. Sold.

Man, this buying new stuff is fun and the makeup counters aren’t anything like as intimidating as they seem when you’re scurrying past them en route somewhere else. In fact I’ve got quite a taste for it now. I feel like I want to tour them all and get makeovers and be all glamorous. This from the person who works at home and so doesn’t bother getting dressed up for the office with makeup and jewelry during the week. Hell, it took me days to even get around to putting on the nail varnish I’d been wanting to wear.

What are you like – do you like getting dolled up, or is it a chore you avoid? Are you a brand snob, or does any old product suffice?

Cupcakes

9 February 2010 | 5 Comments

This is another recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. The brownies were great, but these chocolate and hazelnut cupcakes are marriage material. They’re also a doddle to make: even the fiddly bit turned out to not be fiddly.
You will need:

100g plain flour
20g cocoa powder
140g caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
40g butter, at room temperature
120ml whole milk
1 egg
Nutella

250g icing sugar, sifted
80g unsalted butter, room temperature
25ml whole milk
80g Nutella

Preheat the oven to 170ºC / 325ºF / Gas 3.

Put the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, salt and butter in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or use a bowl and handheld electric whisk if you wish you owned a KitchenAid mixer, but sadly have nowhere to keep one).

Beat on slow speed until you get a sandy consistency and everything is combined.

Slowly pour the milk into the flour mixture.

Beat well until all the ingredients are well mixed.

Add the egg and beat well.

Spoon the mixture into 12 muffin cases and bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the sponge bounces back when touched.

Leave the cupcakes to cool slightly in the tray before turning out onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

When the cupcakes are cold, hollow out a small section in the centre of each one – I used an apple corer.

Fill each hole with a dollop of Nutella. I used two teaspoon handles to get the sticky Nutella off the spoon and into the hole.

For neatness I put the removed piece of cupcake back on top of the Nutella. However I would also recommend the alternative option: eating the crumbs.

For the icing: add the butter to the icing sugar.

Beat together on medium-slow speed until the mixture comes together and is well mixed.

Turn the mixer down to a slower spped. Slowly pour in the milk, then when it is all incorporated, turn the mixer up to high speed.

Continue beating until the icing is light and fluffy, at least 5 minutes. The longer the frosting is beaten the longer you must wait for a finished cupcake the fluffier and lighter it becomes.

Warm the Nutella a little in the microwave to soften it.

Add the Nutella to the icing and stir in by hand until evenly mixed in.

When the cupcakes are cold, spoon on the icing. You also could finish the cakes with a few whole hazelnuts on top.

Note: I found that the quantities for the icing made double what I needed, but these cupcakes are so moist and delicious that you’re going to want to make a second batch straight away anyway, so I’ve not altered the amounts from the book.