Monday, November 29, 2010

Paperdoll Booklet

It was a lovely long weekend, I hope you had a nice one too.  =)  We had a delicious traditional turkey feast on Thursday, headed out to the mall on Black Friday and tried to lay low the rest of the weekend.
I was so happy to find The Black Apple's Paper Doll Primer at the bookstore.  If you are a Black Apple fan, you'd probably heard about it already.  But if you haven't seen it yet, you have to see it in person.  The little booklet includes many many adorable and whimsical illustrations by Emily Martin.  It has lots of different lovely characters, vintage clothing and backdrops.  The clever thing about her paper doll is that the feet part stands as a base so that hopefully the delicate legs won't get bended over time.  It is simply a must have for Black Apple fans!

Have a nice week!  =)

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!

On this special day, I want to Thank You again for your kind and generous support.  May your kindest heart filled with the warmest joy!  =)
Our feature this week is created from a lovely piece of Liberty fabric.  It is from a very beautiful and delicate collection, called Pepper.  The tiny size of the vintage style motif and the softest hand of the fabric makes it perfect for little doll fashion.  =)
Navy Pepper Vintage Child Dress
 Have a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

the little mushroom is ...

here
and there!
 I'm so happy to share with you that my little painting is included in the current issue at Literacyhead and is featured at {KID} independent.  Both are wonderful websites.  Literacyhead is an awesome online magazine which specializes in teaching children through art.  {KID} independent is a lovely place filled with indie style for moms and kids.  Their oddball-alphabet section is kind of like an ABC pictorial which is perfect for the little ones too.  
Happy Tuesday!  =)

Friday, November 19, 2010

Read & Eat

Gardening is one of favourite things to do.  That includes a lot of visits to the nurseries and reading a lot of gardening books.  There are two nice books I've read recently about vegetable gardening in small space.  They are both pretty easy to read and cover most of the basic topics like compost, pest control, plant characteristics and companion plants, etc.  And of course, a lot of tips on working with small space.
Grow Great Grub by Gayla Trail
One Magic Square by Lolo Houbein
I had a little spare time yesterday to catch a lunch at Corner Bakery Cafe.  I was glad I did.  The Pesto Cavatappi was so delicious.  It was very creamy and those crunchy breadcrumbs had completed the dish perfectly.
Have a happy weekend!  =)

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Feature of the Week

Little Girl Dress
Happy Thursday!

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

The Fluffy Chocolate Cake

This little delicious recipe by Nigella Lawson has been on my mind since I came across it in the Better Homes and Gardens October issue.  Despite the golden syrup sounded so good, we were too lazy to drive down to the British mart.  So I've substituted it with two extra tablespoons of orange juice and tried out the whole wheat pastry flour instead of using all-purpose flour.

make one loaf with 9x5x3 pan
10 tablespoons of melted unsalted  butter
1 cup of dark brown sugar
1 cup of whloe wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
3 tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of orange zest
5 tablespoons of orange juice
Preheat oven to 325°F.  Line the pan with parchment paper and grease the sides of the pan.  Put butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat it until smooth.  In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda and cocoa powder.  Beat 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients into the sugar mixture and then beat in one egg.  
Add two more spoonful of dry ingredients and then beat in the other egg.  Gradually beat in the rest of the dry ingredients, then the orange zest and the orange juice at last.
 Pour batter into the pan and bake for 60 minutes.  Test the center with a toothpick and it should come out clean.  Let it cool in the pan for a little while before removing from pan.  Allow the loaf to cool completely before slicing it.
 A little note between the recipes, our loaf took longer in the oven than the original recipe possibly because of the little twist on the ingredients.  The sweetness is just right for us so if next time I will use golden syrup, I might take some sugar out.  There are two wonderful ingredients I would recommend to try, the whole wheat pastry flour from Bob's Red Mill and the Cocoa Rouge, red Dutch process cocoa, from E. Guittard.  Despite the low in acidity of Dutch process cocoa may have affected the chemistry with baking soda, the cake is still very delicious!
Happy Baking!  =) 

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Feature of the Week

 Brown Blossom
I have to admit that I was pretty glad to see more Littlest Pet Shop Blythe in store now. Despite that they don't have sleepy eyes and not as cute as the Takara Tomy ones, the accessories are super adorable!
Scooter
Cold Weather Cute
 Happy Thursday!  =)

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Craft Hope

I was so delighted when I discovered the book, Craft Hope, by Jade Sims.  It is such a lovely story of a devoted heart who brings a lot of smiles around the world.  Please check out her website and the charities.  Get involved as simple as making some pillow cases and donate to ConKerr Cancer.  Together, we can bring more smiles to the world with one step at a time.
Happy Tuesday!  =)

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Feature of the Week

 Thank you so much for your generous support and your kind and sweet words!  I'm excited to announce that the wait is over because the black ruffle shirt is finally available at the little mushroom!
 And of course, I couldn't stop working on some new vintage child dresses.  They are getting more and more adorable.
Red Floral
Navy Blossom
Have a lovely Thursday!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Nice Books

I was so delighted to find another lovely craft book by Cath Kidston, Sew!. It covers many wonderful and mostly easy craft projects like Make!. I personally find the projects more practical in this book.beautiful little note books
A lovely lovely book by John Peacock, Children's Costume. This comprehensive book makes a very good and handy reference for my little fashion design projects.

Happy Tuesday!