Red Brolly

Time.

Some of my very favourite novels.

I love "The Importance of Being Earnest" and "Pride and Predjudice".

 

From Oscar Wilde with Artwork by Laura Stoddart-from the book "Up the Garden Path A Little Anthology".

 

I never seem to get the time any more to smell those roses.

To take time to read and sew just for the pure joy of nothing better to do.

 

 

 

    So- I thought you might like to take a little time this weekend - out of your busy schedules- and just sit in a cosy spot somewhere and stitch.  

                                   Just for the fun of it.

 

 Had to put this photo in somewhere- they're the absolutely last flowers in my garden!  Roll on Spring!

 

 I designed this little pincushion with butterfly, for you to stitch in   your cosy, relaxing spot.

 

  Maybe with some relaxing music playing gently in the background- to take you back to a time when things were not so rushed.....

 

 

    ........And there was plenty of time to smell those roses!

 

  The design I used for the pincushion (to add to your Bunny pincushion) I adapted from the Basket of Pink Cabbages design on a previous post.

  Here are the page 1 instructions for making the "Take Time to Smell the Roses" pincushion:

Download Take time to smell the roses 1

and Download Pincushion-P.2.

As always- if you have any problems- please e-mail me at:

                                 bronwyn@red-brolly.com.au

 

                                  I hope you enjoy the stitching!

 

           

 

Wrap yourselves around these :: Red Brolly chocolate wrappers

Are you a chocoholic? Maybe you're looking for a special handmade gift for someone who is? Maybe you have a friend who is stitching the Blueberry Girls at the moment and would like to give them a bit of encouragement as they sit and stitch?

I had a lot of fun designing these and the girls and I think they've turned out fantastic.

They would make a great gift for someone using also the Bumbleberry Cobbler jar labels and my free printable notepaper. Maybe you have the ladies (& gents) coming over and could use these and my free invitations. I don't know, what do you think? How would you use these?

Anyway, it was a good excuse to open some chocolate. Well?? It needed to be done in the sake of a photo shoot...no other reason ;-)

Would you like to make some Red Brolly Bluberry Girls chocolate wrappers? Here's the how to...(as usual it's for A4 standard sized paper, but, I have centred it and it should print on US paper-the edges will just get chopped- it's the white bits anyway.)

You will need:-

Chocolate wrapper designs

Chocolate bars- In Australia I used Cadbury "Furry Friends" chocolate bars, which were the perfect size. I also experimented with just breaking up rows of chocolate to fit the size needed, and this worked too. You may need to play around a little...and any leftovers would naturally become taste testers!

Glue

Scissors

So, download your free chocolate wrapper designs.Here's the PDF file.

Print out the file. There's 3 different designs to a page.

Cut out the wrappers.

Next, unwrap your chocolate. Tidying up any loose crumbs...

Turn over one wrapper to the wrong side, and place chocolate in the middle of the design.

Once you have carefully glued down one side, fold over the unglued edge and then fold the glued edge on top. Press firmly, but carefully, you don't want the glue to splodge onto the chocolate. I tried to take a photo of this but it was very hard to do and hold the camera and press the button at the same time!

Finished! Now, repeat with the remaining designs, and TA-DA, you have a lovely homemade gift.

 

           

 

From my kitchen to yours...Bumbleberry Cobbler

Just out of the Red Brolly kitchen comes a modern apple crumble recipe...Bumbleberry Cobbler.

It's so delicious and at this time of year (think cold Autumn days if you aren't in Australia) it's a perfect late evening dessert.

So, if you saw my previous post, you would see that you can make a gift out of this by putting the dry ingredients in a jar. I've made some labels for you to use. If you'd like to see the gift version of my Bumbleberry Cobbler then you can read more here.

If you would like to make it yourself, here's the instructions. This will make enough to serve 6. And, you don't have to use apples, you can use a mixture of berries such as apples and blueberries/ raspberries, apples and blueberries/ peaches/pears, even apples and sultanas (just soak the sultanas in hot water for 5 mins before adding). If you don't have fresh apples you can used the tinned variety...just leave out the caster sugar.

You will need:-

125g plain (all-purpose) flour

60g brown sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 cup coconut

1/4 cup rolled oats

1 cup (220g) caster sugar

100g chilled butter, chopped

7 Granny Smith Apples (1 for each person and 1 extra for the pie)

2 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla essence

Vanilla ice-cream, double cream and hot caramel sauce to serve.

How to make...

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (350 F) and line a baking try with paper.

Combine flour, brown sugar, spices, oats and coconut in a bowl, and using your fingertips, rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs.

Keep rubbing...not there yet...

Almost...

Finished.

Spread out onto the tray, sprinkle 1/4 cup of the caster sugar over the top, and bake in the oven for 20 mins, stirring twice. It's ready when it's smelling delicious and cinnamony and is golden brown.

Meanwhile...

peel apples, core and slice.

In a frypan place the apples, lemon juice, vanilla and remaining 3/4 cup caster sugar. Cook over a low heat, stirring, until apples are softened and are warm,gooey and caramelised. About 20 mins.

Starting to look good. Can you smell the vanilla? mmmmm.....

Ohhh...yum, apples are ready.

Divide the warm, vanilla caramelised apples equally among 6 serving bowls. Scatter the cinnamon cobbler topping over the apples. Top with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, a generous dollop of double cream and some warm caramel sauce and serve immediately.

           

Home Sweet Home Recipe :: Bumbleberry Cobbler in a jar & free gift labels

Do you have someone who loves to cook that you would like to give a special gift to?

Here's an idea that's really lovely and delicious too!

Remember recently I gave you free printable bluebird gift tags and also free printable notepaper? Well, I thought that I would combine these 2 designs so you can make a personal gift for that special friend.

...my very delicious modern take on the apple crumble....BUMBLEBERRY COBBLER!

It's very simple, you see, you just need to:-

1. Print off the labels and instructions onto sticker paper....I'm about to give you these in a moment. Don't forget to print your Red Brolly Bluebird Gift tags also, and your free matching notepaper!

2. Cut out the labels and place the designs onto a lovely, clean jar (about a 500ml size jar)- one on the front and the instructions on the back.

3. Carefully put the dry ingredients into the jar.

4. Write a personal message onto your gift tag and attach the Bluebird gift tag with a gorgeous ribbon.

5. Give your friend the Bumbleberry Cobbler and matching notepaper as a special gift.

Would you like the step-by-step instructions...WITH photos?

Ok....

What to do...

Firstly I'll give you the free downloads. Here's the link to the Red Brolly notepaper and here's the link to your Bluebird Gift tags. There you'll can find all instructions and necessary files to download.

Next, you'll need to download and print onto one A4  size sticker sheet the following design. I know that the paper size in the US is a different size, but I've placed the design in the centre so when you do print, it will only be the white edges that will get chopped....make sense??

If you need a JPEG file, click on the design above, this will take you to the larger exact image, and print from there. Here's the PDF Bumbleberry cobbler file should you need it.

Cut out the labels and carefully stick onto the sides of a pretty and clean jar. Stick one on the front and the instructions on the back of the jar.

Next, in your jar place:-

125g plain (all-purpose) flour

60g brown sugar

1/4tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 cup coconut

1/4 cup rolled oats

Now, seal your jar. Cut out your Bluebird gift tag, punch a hole in the top and thread a ribbon through. Write a personal message to the receiver and then tie around the top of the jar.

Tie together with your notepaper....
And...TA-DA! A lovely and special gift for someone who enjoys cooking. All instructions on how to make the Bumbleberry Cobbler are on the back, and ready to make. Tomorrow I'll give you step-by-step instructions on how to make my scrumptious Bumbleberry Cobbler.

On another note, for those in Australia attending or hosting a "Big Morning Tea," I hope that you have all had a wonderful morning gossiping, laughing, drinking tea and also raising money for a wonderful cause.

See you tomorrow...

 

           

The Blueberry Girls Do Perth!

 

            The PerthCraft and Quilt Fair opens tomorrow! 

                           At the Pert Exhibition centre.

 

 

 

 

   ...... And Yes! the Blueberry Girls have flown in by                                    special request!

 

 

  They are all so excited to be in the beautiful city of Perth!

 

So, if you're off to the Show between now and Sunday- please look out for the Blueberry Girls Quilt pattern at a stand stocking Red Brolly                                                products!

Here are some other Red Brolly patterns to keep an eye out for:

   

         The Fun Girls Quilt.

  The Gift Quilt:

 

    Fairy Garden Quilt:

 

 

  The Flower Girls Bag:

  For more information about the Perth Craft Fair,please go to the                                                     website:

                                 www.craftfair.com.au

Pink Cabbages and Baskets!

   

 

                                      Good question!

Remember the Pink Cabbages in a Basket design I was painting for Mother for Mothers Day? And didn't quite get it finished in time?

 

 

 

 

Well I finally finished it! This is the design SJVH was talking about.

 

BUT - now I have it finished it - the question is- "What Do I Do with It?"

 

                         Mothers Day has been and gone.

  I thought maybe you might like to use the design yourselves.

 

 So I've laid it out in a couple of different ways.And- thanks to Cat Nix mentioning this- I've laid it out in the U.S A4 format- so it can be downloaded in the U.S.as well.

 

  The first design is for a party invitation- seeing as the Big Morning Tea is coming up. This is the version that doesn't use much ink.

Works best on good quality paper with the printer settings on "photo"- or for best printing.

  Go to the Layout page to download this design- Download Invitation

 

 

 This is the second layout- and takes a bit more ink to print.

 

 

 

Go to the Layout page for this design Download Flowerbasket invites 2

 

Then I thought maybe you'd like some pretty notepaper to write to all your friends......

 

Download the notepaper design-   Download Flowerbasket Notepaper2

 

  These are large files and may take a bit of time to download.

  So remember....

 

 

                               As always- any problems downloading- please email me at:

                                                   bronwyn@red-brolly.com.au

 

 

 

 

           

Blueberry Girls Bouquet Swizzles

This idea came from one of my readers, Susan Adams and I think it's f-a-b-u-l-o-u-s!

The Blueberry Girls Bouquet Swizzles!

I just had to make them and share the idea with everyone.

As always, I've made some free printable designs for you to use, which you can download here. There's instructions and a tutorial for making them. I just used a long skewer rather than a toothpick size skewer as shown in the tutorial.

Then I placed the skewers into the gorgeous bouquet of flowers...TA-DA!

Bouquet Swizzles!

Great idea Susan! What do you think?

Happy weekending!

 

Another idea for your Blueberry Girls :: Decorative gift tags

Have you printed your Blueberry Girls toppers yet?

Another idea is to use the Red Brolly Girls as decorative gift tags. 

Print your free designs onto card stock, cut out and on the blank side of the tag write a special message.

 Turn tag over and cover with glue, take one long skewer and place in the middle of one side of the tag. Fold the other side over and carefully match up all edges. Press down firmly and TA-DA one decorative tag!

           

Sizzle and swizzle with the Blueberry Girls

Remember I showed you last week how to make these OTT cake toppers, featuring, of course, "The Blueberry Girls?"

COMPLETLY...Over the top...but that's the girls for you!

Well, I've been at the drawing board over the weekend and have been thinking of other things you could do with them. I'll be showing you alternative uses for these cupcake toppers that you can make over the course of the week.

So, to start you off...instead of OTT cupcake toppers, you could make...TA-DA...

...Red Brolly "Sizzle and Swizzle" sticks!

PLUS...use your vase belts and make glass belts! Each person could have a different one for their drinks. Makes it easy to identify who's drink belongs to whom.

Click here for a tutorial on how to make the glass belts.

Instead of gluing the free printable designs onto short toothpicks, use long skewers-like the ones you'd use for satay sticks or kebabs- instead. For instructions and your free downloads, go to my earlier post here.

 

Stay tuned for more ideas :-)

           

Mothers Day.

 

        To all the mothers-  have a great Mothers Day! You deserve it.

 

   I didn't quite get the basket of flowers at the top of this page finished in time!  But had to put them up as my mother always said my painted roses looked like pink cabbages!  So I wanted to do some pink cabbages especially for her.

 

  This is my mum. She was born with a paintbrush in her hand.  Painted just about every day.  We grew up with the smell of turps in our nostrils  (mother was an oil painter). Everywhere we went, mother would take her little leather suitcase full of all her drawing and painting utensils.

 We'd stop frequently, and mother would take out her pecils and drawing pad and set up the easel - and away she'd go. She was very good at drawing quick impressions of things.

  It's a bit sad now, though, as mother has macular degeneration and can't paint or draw any more. All the things she used to draw and paint with such passion- are now covered in fog.

                    These are some of mother's paintings.

 

 

                                 Happy Mothers Day, Mother.