i hate uni

I am feeling completely stressed out about uni! I keep being kicked off the system and my ID card is then blocked - just so much HATE! argh!

Anyway, I'll have to sort that out when I'm at uni next, though I hate the idea of fighting to be put back on the system (having done it once before, I know it is a terrible ordeal).

In other, though not unrelated news, I've finally made my music festival post/choice on my design blog, so annoying, after going to the trouble of designing this blog, I've had to turn around and design one for school... I didn't want it to detract from what I post on it, so hopefully it's neutral enough.

eh. I should head to bed. Maybe I'll have something interesting to say tomorrow, or on Tuesday. night

heralds of spring

This year I turned my hand to gardening and haven't done too poorly (if I say so myself). Mum & I landscaped the front garden but I took it upon myself to plant some bulbs this winter to see if they'd grow at all; and they have started to poke through. They herald the coming spring with their joyous yellow faces and sleek green stems. I know it sounds vain, but I do feel proud of these delicate flowers, the first plants I ever took the time to plant and tend to, the first to survive. Whenever I see them as I leave the house or arrive home I smile.


These budding beauties do however, remind me of the other plants I have bought and are yet to find a home for; mainly my strawberry plants. I have their raised garden bed assembled in the backyard whilst they wait patiently to be planted; I even have a glazed ceramic bird to sit with them in the yard, all I'm lacking is the dirt and soil so that I can get to and plant them... I'm hoping that if they grow I can make sponge cake with cream and (home-grown) strawberries!

little pink cupcakes

It's my cousin's 11^th birthday tomorrow and she decided that instead of taking a cake in to school to share she wanted cupcakes; however, my Aunt's oven died whilst she was baking and so she rang me to come to the rescue.

I used our regular vanilla cupcake recipe and decided to 'risk it' and make a frosting instead of the usual icing I put on cupcakes. I was a little worried about how the frosting would turn out since I had to begin by making a toffee syrup (without the use of a candy thermometre, I only had my iPhone timer to keep track of cooking times) and I've never made frosting before. But it turned out sticky, silky, and glossy - everything it should be; and the cupcakes were decorated with pale pink frosting, pink 100s&1000s and mixed cachous. I really wanted to pipe the frosting on in cute, pale swirls but I couldn't find my plastic piping set, and the metal one only has small piping nozzles, so that flopped.

Oh well, I still managed to create and deliver 28 frosted cupcakes to the excited (to be) birthday girl; and I'm sure she'll enjoy the frosting since it's completely packed full of sugary-goodness!

pouch time

I was having trouble thinking of what to make people for Christmas (yes I'm completely insane talking about Christmas when it's still August, but these things will take time to make); but yesterday my sister bought the cutest mini laptop and I knew straight away that I could make her a lappy-pouch as well as finally get to use my 'One Yard Wonders' book (as I have been dying to).

The pattern seems quite simple and choosing fabric shouldn't be too hard since most things will suit her personality, however she did say she wanted a cover of some sort, as long as it's purple (of course she had to pick the fabric colour which isn't in my stash!). Oh well, I guess I could go to the fabric stores :D

Anyway, I do apologise for the extremely dodgy nature of my picture... of a picture, in a book... yeah, sorry :/

Also, I am kind of jealous about my sister's cute new lappy, not that I'd use a laptop anyway (I lent her mine whilst she's living out of home this year), but I just have a thing for technology and fiddling around with it. So I feel like she's snatched a new toy away from me before I've even had a chance to get bored with it. I'm sure she's enjoying it anyway, since she pilfered my external dvd drive when she left and then called this morning for detailed over-the-phone instructions on what to install to make it work *sigh*.

Voting bites. I'm just putting it out there. It seriously bites especially when you wouldn't trust any of the candidates as far as you could throw them; and any number you write in the little boxes and which ever order you write them in still makes you feel like you've made the wrong choice. However, looking at all the lovely patterns at Thimble Blossoms makes me feel happier (and sad because I need to do my tax before I can buy any).

fabric fiend

I am so very, very happy! the latest bunch of fabrics I ordered from Hawthorne Threads arrived today. I ordered more owl-y fabrics from Alice Kennedy's 'Owl' collection and a fat quarter bundle of Lizzy House 'Castle Peeps' in Cardinal. They were just too adorable to pass up and since there are so many projects I want to work on, I'm sure I'll find a home for all of the fabrics!

I'm definitely sewing everyone's presents this year, so I know I'm going to enjoy thinking about what to make and choosing the fabrics that just have to be bought :)

Though, it is always tricky, what should I make people? I'm thinking bags, table runners or maybe iPhone pouches, but they can be a little inconvenient (I prefer my iPhone case where the phone clips in neatly and is easily accessible when I get a phone call and I don't have to worry about dropping it or fumbling it - I'm a major fumbler).

step back

So, first day back for the Trimester. It wasn't too bad, I definitely wish the classes had been planned better 10:30 - 4:30 without scheduled breaks is kind of ridiculous. Oh well. I can definitely see that it's going to be a busy stressed filled trimester.

I had really wanted to get back into the swing of sewing stuff so that I'll have presents hand sewn for people come Christmas time, but it looks like I'll have to do that after the school year has ceased. Oh well, once its all done, I'm diving head first into 'One Yard Wonders' all the patterns looks so pretty and useful!

And I'm definitely going to redo my blogger theme... I don't know, I'm just not "feeling" this one, at least not at this time. Not too sure where I'll take it, but there'll probably end up being several failed attempts before I'm completely happy with the result.

trashy newspapers

Ok, so this is v1.0. I'm sure some people who see this screen cap within this theme will think me crazy, but I do just want to document it, since I have been told repeatedly that this theme does not suit my personality; so I'll probably be changing it soon.

note to self: don't try to be classy, it ends up looking like an 80's newspaper - apparently.

Oh well, even I'll admit that its not as flash as I'd like, but I wanted simple and elegant... perhaps I'd be better off leaving web design alone... but even though I've never learnt how to do it, I'm still fascinated by it and plunking away at the ol' keyboard and trying random pieces of code to see how things work.