Time to throw in the T-owl 2022 Part 4

 Time to throw in the T-owl 2022 Part 4

The reason that I did not fill in all the Feather details is in two parts. First I only want a Template at present. Second I want to cut out some Card and add Colour to the Owl.

Heavy Pencil

 

Using a Pencil I went over the Outline of the Owl. The idea was to imprint the Template onto the Inside so I could use that for the Inner Drawing.

Black Marker

 

To my Horror I found the Imprint had not come through even after several tries. I thought perhaps using a Black Marker would work.

No it didn’t. Therefore my whole idea has been thrown out. I am going to have to have a complete rethink.

One Eye

 

I had spent so much time trying to get the Template to come through I now was running out of time. My friend would be here to pick me up in the morning and it was now coming up to midnight.

I therefore decided to cut my losses. Instead of doing the Card Feathers I was going to have to Draw them on. This meant that the Card would be quite bland to my mind. I hit upon the idea of adding a Googly Eye

UB40

 

This sparked a spot of inspiration. I added an Inner Sheet of Green Paper and glued it down. I quickly wrote a message on to the Paper. You are 40 Today. I filled in all the Letter O’s with the Black Marker. This would form the base.

Eye-Eye

 

I then selected various sizes and added 3 Googly Eyes. I added my personal message on the opposite page.

My friend arrived and I gave her the Card and she loved it. I then explained what it should have been along with the Rough Sketches,

She quite understood. It goes to show that True Friends will accept stuff that isn’t perfect because they recognise the effort that it put in. That is the Real Birthday Gift!

Triple Treat Time 2021

 Triple Treat Time 2021

It was my Boyfriends Birthday recently. I decided to make him a Cake. So much effort went into it I decided to take photographs and turn it into a blog.

Basic Ingredients

12 Oz’s Flour, 12 Oz’s Butter, 12 Oz’s Caster Sugar, 3-4 Large Eggs, Packet of Marzipan, Large Bar of Chocolate, Teaspoon Baking Powder, A bit of Water and Butter for greasing.

Flavourings

Vanilla Essence, Chocolate Powder, Maple Syrup

Made to Measure

 

My first Challenge is lack of equipment. My scales battery was dead so I was forced to use the old fashioned way of measuring Ingredients by using a Marked Measuring Jug. Therefore a great deal of this recipe was done by eye. So adjust wisely.

Like Breadcrumbs

 

Add Flour and Sugar together in a Bowl. I didn’t have enough Caster Sugar so I ground some Granulated Sugar with a Mortar and Pestle. Then add the Baking Powder and Butter and Mix until you get Fine Breadcrumbs.

Next add the Eggs. The number depends on the size. I put in 3 then thought the Mixture was still a little thick so added another one.

Vanilla Swirl

 

When the Mixture is smooth add the Vanilla Essence. Either use a Capful at a time or use a Spoon. I tend to be heavy handed so put a good dollop in.

Divide in 3

 

Next fun part. I didn’t have enough tins of the right size or shape. Hence the reason it is a Tower instead of a Circle. I used Bread Tins. The Two Outer ones are the same size. I tried to Divide between them reasonably equally. There is more mixture in the Centre one as no more Ingredients are to be added to it.

Chocolate, Vanilla and Maple

 

I added Chocolate Powder into the Left. Technically it should be Coco Powder but I didn’t have any. In the right I added Maple Syrup. I Mixed both well in.

Well Raised

 

Cooking was a little tricky. I preheated the Oven at 180 degrees. With two different sized Tins and 3 slightly different levels of mixture this is definitely a watch the oven recipe.

I gave it a good 20-30 minutes then tested with a knife. The Cakes were all still gooey. Therefore I put them back in and checked every 5-10 minutes.

A Little off the Top

 

After waiting for them to completely cool I used a breadknife to slice off the Tops.

Triple Tower

 

The Chocolate one broke I will simply put that one in the Middle of the Tower. I then levelled off the Edges to make it smoother to cover.

Off Cuts

 

I put all the Off Cuts into a tub. These are ideal for either having with custard or as a base for another Cake. Remember these can be frozen for another day.

Franken-pan

 

My kitchen is often too hot for certain types of cooking. Marzipan can be a nightmare. I did this at 1am but still had problems. I rolled it out flat but it broke on lifting. Therefore the result looks like a Doctor Frankenstein creation.

Smooth Operator

 

In order to make it easier to add the coating I used a bit of water to Smooth down the Marzipan to make it a little more presentable.

Melt Chocolate

 

Break the Bar either of ordinary or Cooking Chocolate and place in a bowl. Get a pan add water and place bowl in. Normally you heat the water first but I started with cold and heated so I could control the melting process. DO NOT LET WATER BOIL DRY OR BUBBLE OVER THE TOP.

Happy Birthday

 

Let the Melted Chocolate cool until it starts thickening slightly. I poured it over the Cake a bit at a time and smoothing it over with a knife. Once completely hardened I added the candles.

Triple Treat Inner View

This is the Inner View of the Cake when sliced.  The amount it feeds depends on how you slice it. We had at least 3 portions each and fed several of the neighbours into the bargain.

Neighbourhood Watch Banner 2019

Neighbourhood Watch Banner 2019

This year I held a triple celebration. It was my Birthday, 20 years of being a resident where I live and last but not least 15 years since I set up a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme I therefore decided to throw a party combining these events

Naturally when making the Banner I picked one of the most difficult materials to work with - Net.

Give me an H

I used Net as I had a large piece to recycle. Speaking of which I sought out bits and pieces of the Owl material I had left. I thought using Owls was ideal for the Watch Banner.

I cut out strips to make the Letters N, H and W. I then glued them together.

Secure Thread

Now came the difficult part. I had to sew the Letters to the Net. First of all I secured the thread with a couple of Stitches.

Sew at Top

I started with the Letter H as that was the middle section and therefore I would be able to place the other Letters evenly either side.

I sewed the Owl material to the Net at the top of both sections of the Letter H.

Missing N

As I feared moving the Owl material around whilst working has inevitably led to pieces coming apart.

Sew Across

I have gone back to all my glued Letters and before adding them to the Net I have sewn them at the cross sections. I then proceeded to go back and finish sewing the H in place at both the top and bottom.

Placing W

Now the H was firmly in place I could measure whereabouts on the Net to place the W then the N.

NHW Placement

In the photograph above you can see the N, H and W sewn onto the Net. The next part was to be able to attach the Banner to where it needed to go.

Holey Hell

The top part of the Banner was going to be attached to the fence by drawing pins. The bottom however needed to be tied.

By time I had finished adding the Letters to the Net this was the state of the bottom. I therefore had to mend the bottom before I could go any further. I had an idea.

Ties for Banner

I folded the Net over and sewed. This mended the rips and provided a section that I could sew the Ties on to.

NHW Banner in Place

Here is the Banner in place. It isn’t meant to be a work of art merely an indicator of where the party is being held. All in all with it being a rush job and the materials I had at hand I was quite pleased. At least everybody found me – and of course the cakes.

Oh What a Busy Sewing Bee I Am – 2018 Part 1

Oh What a Busy Sewing Bee I Am – 2018 Part 1

I have several projects on the go that need finishing so of course naturally I have started a new one. I am not actually procrastinating I do in fact have a good reason to start this one.

Sew Your Own Reversible Shoulder Bag

Last Yule my brother bought me this Shoulder Bag Kit for my birthday. Now my birthday isn’t until summer but he reckoned with brilliant logic by then I should have had plenty of time to finish it.

Reversible Bag Contents

In truth I had put it aside to concentrate on other things so I thought with summer fast approaching I better open the box and see what was inside.

The kit is by The Great British Sewing Bee – hence the Blog’s Title. Inside was one set of instructions which covers both machine and hand sewing. This is lucky as I don’t have a sewing machine. It also has the material to make the kit.

Outer Panel

Wow, how much material? I wasn’t expecting this much. This is just the Outer Panel.

Inner Panel

The Inner Panel is obviously the same length as it is a Reversible Bag. Sorry folks this is going to take some cutting out so I better get on with it!