Sweet Cheek Crafts

Along hop the Easter Bunny…..

2011-03-28T22:03:00.000+10:00

Ok, ok so I know I promised to blog about cooking from my many, unused recipe books this week but cooking just didn’t happen in this household today. Instead my little girl & I mostly lounged around in some warmer clothes which was such a pleasant experience given the horrible, humid days of late. I really crave cooler days by around the end of February so for it to be at the end of March & still have melting sticky heat it almost too much for me to bare.

Anywho getting back to today’s post, as it’s only a few weeks out from Easter (unseasonably late this year which is another thing I am not thrilled about) I thought I would link to some fantastic & simply Easter crafts for all my crafty followers.

Easter really is a very understated holiday which I believe deserves a lot more attention & celebration. Christmas has become such a huge fan fare & I don’t see why Easter shouldn't as well. Now that I have a child & another on the way I plan to build Easter up in our home, to be celebrated with as much anticipation as Christmas.

So to kick start the Easter month which is only a few days away let’s start with some adorable handmade gifts:

Fabric Easter Basket

Blog: Sew Mad
(this post is in German however there is a link at the bottom of the post for us English speaking followers)

Secret Pocket Fabric Eggs

Sew Mama Sew

Now let’s move on to some lovely, simple home decorations you can do yourself;

Bunny Bunting

WARNING THIS ONE IS TOO ADORABLE

Dana Made It

Decorative Fabric Eggs

(also great to give as gifts to adults)

Retro Mama

Easter Egg Tree

Martha Stewart

Well I hope you enjoyed this tribute to Easter crafts & that you will joy me this month in celebrating all the brilliance Easter has to offer.

Madeit Monday Roundup

2011-02-07T13:22:00.001+10:00

Well with my daughter's 2nd birthday in little more than a month I've decided to do my first ever MADEIT MONDAY ROUNDUP on handmade gifts for her!!!

This decorative cushion by Tiges and Weince would be the perfect addition to her "big girl" bed.

I am just loving this felt food sushi pack by Life's a Stitch.

All though summer will be gone soon I still have of show off this Sunshine Frill Shorts & Bikini set by one of my all time favourite designers, Tea Pony.

As she'll soon be into pretend role playing I think this Super Hero Mask Set from My Little Hero Designs would be perfect!

For a long time now I've wanted to make a fairy garden for her, don't you think this fairy door, by The Fey Folk, is just devine.

And lastly the perfect playsuit for playing with fairies, by Butterfly Bettsy

To find even more beautiful handmade gift ideas pop over to Madeit right now!!!!

Exciting News!!!!!

2011-01-24T13:24:00.000+10:00

That's right baby no. 2 is on it's way!!!!

For those who aren't aware I had insulin dependant Gestational Diabetes (GD) during my first pregnancy. No matter what I did one of my readings was always too high which resulted in my having to take insulin once a day. This time around I'm determined to make sure I'm able to either beat the whole GD thing or at least escape having to use insulin again. Thankfully though the GD had no affected on my first child & she was born a healthy normal weight of 8 LBs with perfect blood sugar levels after birth. On a plus side though I did lose weight during the last trimester of the pregnancy & was 10 kgs lighter a week after the birth then I was when I fell pregnant. Don't worry I had the weight to lose in the first place!

Today I did my first Low GI shopping for this next chapter in our lives & I must admit I'm really looking forward to this new healthier lifestyle (notice I didn't use the word diet?). I look forward to bringing you all along for the journey. Weekly I will post on my ups & downs, recipes & milestones of the pregnancy.

Cookies In A Jar Tutorial

2010-12-02T09:52:00.000+10:00

So as you may know this year I made the pledge to only give handmade gifts to family & friends, well in honour of this pledge this Christmas I am giving all my playgroup mummy friends their own COOKIES IN A JAR!!!! These are so fun & colourful & just the perfect present for anyone.

Alright so onto the good part, to make these gorgeous little jars here's what you'll need;

1ltr Jar ~ I hoarded my Maccona coffee (200g) jars for the whole year but still didn't have enough so popped into Vinnies & picked spares up for as little as 50c
1 cup Plain Flour
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Bi Carb Soda
1/4 tsp Salt
1/3 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/3 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup rolled oats
100g M&Ms
125g White Choc Chips

Sift flour, baking powder, bi carb & salt together then place in the bottom of the jar. Layer brown sugar, caster sugar, rolled oats in this order, making sure to compress each layer. Finally layer M&Ms then white choc chips. That's it, simple isn't it.

Now the rest of the recipe goes like this which you might like to copy & paste into a Word document then laminate just as I have done;

COOKIES IN A JAR
Prep 10 mins Cooking 15 mins Makes 24

Extra ingredients needed to make cookies
125g butter, melted & cooled
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla

To make cookies, preheat oven to 190C
Line 2 baking trays with baking paper.

Empty jar into a large bowl. Add butter, egg
& vanilla. Stir until well combined. Shape
tablespoons of mixture into balls & place on
baking trays approx. 5cm apart.
Bake for 10 – 15 mins., swapping trays
halfway during cooking or until edges are
lightly browned.
Turn cookies onto a wire rack to cool.
Serve & Enjoy!!!

I hope you have as much fun as I did prepare these gifts & I hope your friends & family love them as much as mine did.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday Feeling

2010-11-05T19:03:00.000+10:00

My Sister's Safari Baby Shower

2010-10-29T17:50:00.003+10:00

I recently had the pleasure of organising my older sister's baby shower. As she had already decided on a safari theme for the nursery I decided it was also a great, out of the norm, theme for her baby shower.

Delicious After Dinner Mint Melting Moments & Chocolate Bars

Aren't this glass bottles fantastic??? I love them to bits!

I just love these jumbo brandy glasses

Noddle boxes for the guests to take home full of lollies

Some of the guests sampling the lolly buffet

Sorry about this photo not sure how I got this terrible blue shade.

Don't the Bird of Paradise flowers just look divine on the table?

And finally the cake, nothing flash but I just had to try my hand at mini bunting.

One last photo of my mum, sister & myself taken at the party.

And the winner is.......

2010-10-24T20:01:00.000+10:00

Comment # 9 - ERICA SWARTS!!!!!!

Congratulations Erica, I'll post of your adorable patty cups tomorrow!!!

The winning entry was picked randomly using http://random.org/

Thank you to all who entered, another giveaway will be held next month!

Robert Gordon Giveaway!!!

2010-10-22T08:29:00.000+10:00

It's competition time at Sweet Cheek Crafts!!!!

So who doesn't love cupcakes???? Nobody that's who!

So today's giveaway is a 50 packet of Superstar Red Robert Gordon Patty Cups!!!! Aren't they just too cute for words, I want a packet of each design all for myself.

Entry into this giveaway as easy as 1..2..3!

All you have to do is;

1. Follow my blog here & comment below this post

2. Follow my Sweet Cheek Crafts Facebook page here

3. Follow my Sweet Cheek Parties Facebook page here

The winning entry will be drawn & announced at 7 pm Sunday, 24th October!

Good Luck!!!!!

Pink Ribbon Morning Tea @ Playgroup

2010-10-21T14:07:00.000+10:00

Well the gods were not kind to us today at all, we were meant to have a lovely sunny day so that we could hold a Pink Ribbon Morning Tea at our regular playgroup. However the weather was less then desirable which meant a change of venue was needed so I put my hand up to have a "wet weather playgroup" at my house so we could still raise money for a worthy cause.

As it was held at my place I was able to quickly whip up a few pretties to help set the right mood for the morning tea.

Here a few photos I managed to snap but please excuse the quality of them as I really have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to manual settings on my Nikon. I hope to undertake an online course in the near future on how to get the best out of our DSLR camera then there will be no stopping me.

Yummy meringues made from the latest Donna Hay Kids magazine

This was my first attempt at Cake Pops & although the very talented Angie from Bakerella has nothing at all to fear from me I still think they turned out pretty good.

The vanilla cupcakes! These gave me such dramas yesterday while baking them.

Luckily I had a little bit of hot pink tissue paper around the place so I could make some cute pom poms to hang from the ceiling fan. I'm going to move them into Sahara's room later today as permanent decorations for her.

October is such a big month with different charity events so as well as donating to the Breast Cancer Foundation I will also be donating 10% of my sales from the upcoming Mummas Fair to Stillbirth Foundation Australia. International Baby Loss Week was held 9th - 15th October this year.

Baby Shower Sneak Peak

2010-10-18T14:52:00.000+10:00

So as you know I've been madly preparing for my sister's baby shower well yesterday was the big day. Although it was a mad rush at the end & many things were missed due to lack of time & unavailability of some finer details but all guests were highly impressed. I received many compliments on my candy buffet & in particular my tissue paper pom poms. Gracefully a work colleague of my sister's who is aspiring photographer took loads of photos but until they are ready I'll just show you a sneak peak of what I took myself (all up I only had time to snap 5 photos after everyone had left hahaha).

Needing a little bit of colour

2010-10-12T19:07:00.000+10:00

Here in Central East Queensland we're experience some pretty terrible weather so I am in much need of a bit of brightness right now. I hope you enjoy the below as much as I did.

Baby Shower Prep

2010-10-07T20:19:00.000+10:00

So with T minus 10 days & counting until my sister's baby shower I thought I would share a few pics of the preparations with you.

Here we have a few off the little fellows that will be making an appearance at the party & cute animal print tissue paper pom poms.

Personalised noodle boxes for the lolly buffet

What's not to love about receiving brown paper packages tied up with string???

I was very excited to unwrap my order from Mon Tresor

Look, look I finally have some retro paper straw & super cute cupcake wrappers. I'm very happy girl now.

Stay tuned for more party preparations & then the big shabang!

3 Years & 3 Times The Love

2010-10-06T07:23:00.000+10:00

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary so I thought I would share a few photos, well more than a few but who can't help but show off their wedding snaps. Photography by Leigh Warner Photography

Lolly Buffet Inspiration

2010-10-05T17:55:00.000+10:00

So with a little more than a week until I host my sister's baby shower I'm in need of some natural coloured lolly buffet inspiration. I hope you enjoy these beauties as much as I so.

As featured on Big Wedding Tiny Budget

As featured on Green Bride Guide

As featured on Candy by Brandi

As featured on Wedding Wire

Look out for my post about my sister's baby shower later this month.

Sahara's 1st Birthday ~ Pretty Bugs Party

2010-10-02T20:15:00.001+10:00

Our beautiful butterfly princess, just the picture of innocence here.

Delicious yummy but healthy food for the kiddies, although the adults couldn't resist either.

Please ignore the ugly tarp backdrop, we totally underestimated the wind on the day. Due to the wind many handmade decorations didn't even get a look in. The beautiful tissue paper pom poms, birthday banner & laminated photos of Sahara (one for each month up until she turned 1) remained in the boxes during the party.

How incredible is my older sister, I gave her a Planet Cake book for Christmas & this what she made for her first attempt at cake/cupcake decorating. Now is that a natural talent or what????

CAKE SMASH!!!

Thankfully mummy thought to bring a few outfits for the little diva, there was three all up during the party.

Please excuse my first attempt at creating storyboards on PSE, I totally have not done justice to Caroline's, from Mihaja Photography, photos which are truly stunning memories we'll cherish forever.

Photography - Mihaja Photography

Clothing - Bee and Me

Cakes - Lisa (my sister)

Styling, stationery & food - Myself

Coffee with my Sweet

2010-10-01T13:17:00.000+10:00

Today Sahara & I had a "Mummy Daughter Date" at our local The Coffee Club. In all of Australia our little coffee shop is in the top 3 The Coffee Club franchises in the country, not bad hey. To show our support Sahara & I helped out by buying a couple of muffins, to be the top store they need to sell as many muffin as possible today. We grabbed one to take home for daddy too.

Doesn't see look so cute in her pretty strawberry dress????

Sahara's babycino, guess where the marshmallow was 2 seconds after this shot???

Our delicious Orange & Poppyseed muffin, we were good girls & didn't use the butter.

Guess who was playing with her camera setting???

Latest Creation

2010-09-15T11:52:00.000+10:00

Good morning (just). So 3 months ago a friend of mine asked if I could make personalised bunting for her son's bedroom. Now I have only been sewing for about 4 or so months so I felt quite excited that she would ask me to try this knowing I had little experience. After a little fabric searching we came to pick the Riley Blake All Stars set (1st, 3rd, 4th & 5th in pic below). Isn't it just fantastic!!!!

After I received the fabric this little project stalled due to moving house, my daughter having various infections & also really just a very big lack of creative motivation which has been affecting all areas of my creative self. But slowly but surely I'm gaining my motivation back so soon there will be no stopping me & I'll be sewing like a pro lol.

Alright so my next step was to decided on which plain colour I would use for the personalised lettering on the bunting, for this I went with Fire Engine RED! I also decided to use red for the ribbon (well actually it's Hem Binding).

I have never before attempted appliqueing anything so I found it extremely fiddly but got it in the end & although there is no way that my work could be sold in a store I reckon I did a pretty decent job.

Most probably wouldn't be as wrapped in the finished piece as I am but I'm over the moon with it & am now going to work on a girly themed one for my own daughter's bedroom.

We need a slogan!!!!

2010-08-25T10:59:00.000+10:00

Dear Blog God, it's been almost a month since I last posted, please forgive my terrible sin.
Our Facebook page http://facebook.com/sweetcheekcraftsau is getting a make over at teh moment & for
our shiny new Welcome Page we need a slogan to go with all the beautiful photos being showcased.

Are you good with words? Can you think of a fun, quirky & original slogan that embodies all that is Sweet Cheek Crafts & the handmade beauties I create?

To enter for your chance to win your choice of product from Sweet Cheek Crafts please email me your slogan to sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com before 5 pm August 31st. The winner will be chosen by myself.
I will announce the winner on the evening of September 1st in honour of my mum's birthday!!!!

And the winner is......

2010-06-27T13:55:00.000+10:00

SIMONE AMIET!!!!!

I HEART GARAGE SALES!!!!!!!!

2010-06-26T11:36:00.000+10:00

I've never really been into garage sales or op shopping but now as I am unleashing the inner craftisian I finally found that love that many of my friends have talked about.

I just wanted to share a couple of my scores from today;

First up I found this old school camera which is the first to be added to my "vintage camera wall art" that I will be having in my new craft room once we move next month.

Secondly I found a cool cane & wooden buffet table that I'm going to sand back & paint white. This will be used as a work station to cut fabric & make boutique wipes cases. I don't have a pic of the table as Matt has to go back & pick it up in the van so he just dropped it straight to our storage shed until we move. I will definitely take before & after shots for you though.

Lastly, after deciding we'd seen enough we headed for home but there was one last sale just around the corner. So I detoured & thankfully I did as I found the perfect retro chair that is now my new sewing chair. It will fit perfect in to the theme of my new room.

Now I'm about to pop out to the post office but I think a trip to Vinnies is in order.

Holy Smokes I Feel So Loved Competition

2010-06-25T12:10:00.000+10:00

Wow so my Facebook page has gotten to over 900 fans :O I'm feeling so loved right now, thank you all so much without every single one of my fans I don't think Sweet Cheek Crafts would be doing as awesomely as it is only 2 months after starting.

To thank you I would like to run a competition and the prize will be a maxi tub of AromaPlay playdough http://aromaplay.com.au/ The delicious scent you will receive is RISE & SHINE - a bright yellow stunner clay scented in lemon and lime to awaken and stimulate the senses. Great after a nap! Just perfect on a winters day don't you think!!!!! AromaPlay is 100% GLUTEN FREE & is an exciting addition to your kiddies playtime. Not only fun and colourful it's natural, non toxic and biodegradable. AromaPlay will liven or soothe your child with the release of aromatherapy oils into the air as they create.

I recently purchased the 7 scent Taste Tester & OMG I fell in love with all of them immediately. I'm so attached to them I haven't even shown my 15 month old daughter as they look too pretty to be played with, or eaten LOL.

With my first market approaching I am also going to be placing my first wholesale order as I really want to support Lana from AromaPlay by spreading the word & getting her wonderful product out there.

To be in the running to win this competition you will need to fit the following requirements;

* Be a Fan/Liker of Sweet Cheek Crafts http://facebook.com/sweetcheekcraftsau

* Be a Fan/Liker of AromaPlay http://facebook.com/aromaplay

* Be a follower of this blog - either via Google Blogger or Network Blogs

* Comment below, can be anything - just your name or even I'M HERE! (comments are moderated so there may be a slight delay in showing up on the blog so if you do not see your comment please allow a few hours before contacting me at sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com)

This competition will run for 48 hours & will close for entries at 12 pm on Sunday, 27th June 2010 (EST Aust. Time). The winner will be drawn by random.org

Sewing & Craft Room to Inspire

2010-06-24T17:48:00.000+10:00

Alright so I've slacked of badly where this blog is concerned but I've been really busy getting out lots of orders so I hope I can be forgive.

Tonight I thought I would share with you some photos of sewing & craft rooms that I'm using as my inspiration. We move in just under a month & the new house has a much bigger room for me to be crafty in. I can see it now French Shabby Chic all the way!

I love the cotton reel holder in this one!

My favourite by far!

Look at all that ribbon, I've been saving up my large coffee jars just for this purpose

OH MY GOSH FABRIC HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This rooms a little plain for my liking but I do really dig all the organisation though

I love how cheeky this wall decal is. I will definitely be getting some decals for my new room

I'm a scrapbooker so this room I am utterly in love with, the follow photos are all of this room!

I love the bird cage!

I hope these photos inspire all of you as much as they inspire me.

WORK IN BEAUTY, CREATE BEAUTY!!!!

SNEAK PEEK!!!! SWEET CHEEK PARTIES

2010-06-17T15:49:00.000+10:00

So as you know I'm starting a new party decor range under my other business Sweet Cheek Parties http://facebook.com/sweetcheekparties well after some stunning designs from Cass at Berry Digital Designs http://facebook.com/berrydigitaldesigns I am finally put together a tiny sneak peek of the first road test party I am doinng, Alyssa's 7th Black Cat party

I hope you like it!

SEW FOR BACKPACK 4 AUSSIE KIDS

2010-06-17T07:59:00.000+10:00

Hello, firstly thank you for taking the time to read this very important message.

I have recently become aware of a fantastic organisation called Backpack for Aussie Kids http://backpacks4aussiekids.com.au/ who have set themselves a goal of providing 1000 backpacks to foster care children around Australia. I won't go into the finer details of the organisation as it's all on their website.

What I am proposing is donating crayon/pencil rolls to this great cause. I as one person can only accomplish so much but as a group I am hoping we can band together to sew as many rolls as possible. So if you can sew & would like to help that would be great.

The rolls take very little fabric to make & Spotlight has some wonderfully bright cotton fabrics that are very inexpensive. I would only ask that you offer to make as many as you think you are able, I will not be setting a min. amount per person.

On Monday, 21st I will email everyone with the pattern & instructions on how to make the crayon rolls. I hope also have adapted the pattern to make it larger for pencils or felt pens.
If you would like to be apart of this please email me at sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com before Monday, 21st June

Warmly
Renee Webb

TASTY TUESDAY - AFTER DINNER MINT CHEESECAKE

2010-06-15T11:04:00.000+10:00

So this week I'm mixing it up a bit & swapping today's post, TUESDAY'S CRAFTY TIP, to TASTY TUESDAY. On Thursday I'll be doing the crafty tip though so no need to worry haha

On Sunday my hubby & I made the most divine dessert & it was so simply. Soon you will realise why I couldn't wait another few days to share this recipe with you.

AFTER DINNER MINT CHEESECAKE

Ingredients Lineup

250g Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint essence
1/4 cup cream
60g dark chocolate
2 peppermint crisp bars
strawberries

Beat together the cream cheese, sugar and essence using an electric mixer until smooth. Add the cream and beat until well combined

Pour the melted chocolate over the cream cheese mixture and lightly fold through to create a swirl. Spoon mixture into 4 serving glasses and refrigerate for 1hour.

Serve topped with broken peppermint crisp & strawberries

For a less rich taste I would recommend chopping up the strawberries & adding to the mixture prior to setting.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

A Breath Of Fresh Air

2010-06-14T15:44:00.000+10:00

My mind is constantly on overdrive and due to this some major changes are coming to Sweet Cheek Crafts.

Firstly I will no longer be selling custom items such as wooden letters, trinket boxes. There are a few reasons behind this with the main one being that Facebook is being flooded with these items & in order to support my other WAHPs I’d rather bow out so there is one less bidding for the business. If you are interested in these items I would highly recommend you enquire at http://loveandlighthandmade.com.au/ her work is totally amazing!

I will continue to stock boutique wipes cases, hair clip holders & soon crayon rolls. These items will be pre-made & listed on my Facebook page. Other new items will be sold in the future but are still only in the trial stages at this point.

Apart from my little family being my main priority I want to put my efforts into building Sweet Cheek Parties. This business will be all about designer party décor or stationery as I’ve heard it called also. I am currently in collaboration with Berry Digital Designs http://www.facebook.com/BerryDigitalDesigns to complete 5 road test parties with various themes. I should have my new Facebook page http://facebook.com/sweetcheekparties updated with photos & prices by the end of July after our first 3 parties have been held. Her e is a little sneak peek of the sort of items I will be offering (my daughter’s 1st birthday party held in March)

Photography by http://www.mihajaphotography.com/

I have long dreamed of making my love of party planning into a business & offering my party décor range is just the start. I hope to move into full blown party planning but that will be further down the track.

My other passion that will be receiving my attention is this blog! I would love nothing more than to have a fantastically successful craft blog with hundreds, no thousands of followers. My blog will have tutorials, recipes, tips, giveaways, swaps & just about anything & everything crafty that I think to put out there in the wide world web.

So buckle up & enjoy the ride because if you stick around I’m sure you’ll enjoy coming on this adventure with me!

MONDAY MADNESS

2010-06-14T09:29:00.000+10:00

Starting this week I will be blogging every Monday morning about Work At Home Parents (WAHPs) that are currently having sales or specials! I hope to turn this regular blog post into your one stop “in the know” place to come for all the sales happening online!

First up we have:-

Jodie from Prickly Pear & she has this great special for you

“June is CMV AWARENESS month, which is the virus my son was born with which has left him with many disabilities...

For this week in June we have 20% off the elastic hair ties.....”

http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/pages/Prickly-PeaR/119638714729539

Cass over at Berry Digital Designs has these amazing offers

“June Flyer Special
June F200 flyers 210x95mm
single sided, full colour
includes design and printing
$85 + Postage (Save $15)
Ends: June 30, 2010”

“June Logo Special
Logo Design $60 (Save $20)
Your final artwork includes:
1 x CMYK hi-res jpg
1 x MONO hi-res jpg
1 x RGB lo-res jpg
1 x MONO lo-res jpg
And 1 x RGB hi-res png (if required)”

http://facebook.com/berrydigitaldesigns

Julie who is a Bright Star Kids agent is please to offer the following

“We have a 15% off sale Mon - wed next week and also orders placed through a agent go into a draw to win a $50.00 voucher”

http://www.facebook.com/brightstarkids.JulieSeccull

The Oz Materials Girls are having a MASSIVE STOCKTAKE SALE on their website with up to 50%, don’t miss out!

http://www.theozmaterialgirls.com/

Terri is an independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator based in Adelaide, she wanted to let us know;

“In the month of June, we are having deals of the week starting every Wednesday. I am also giving everyone who holds a workshop with me a free ink pad in their choice of color. “

http://www.terricrafts.wordpress.com/

Rachel from Snapshot Occasions is offering

“15% OFF TO ALL WAHP (Work At Home Parents)ON ANY ORDER!
THIS LONG WEEKEND AT Snapshot Occasions
SO PLACE YOUR ORDER WITH US THIS WEEKEND!
info@snapshotoccasions.com (ends midnight Monday)”

http://www.snapshotoccasions.com/

Lucy at Savvy Toys has a huge sale album up on their Facebook page & all items are on offer until 10 am Tuesday morning.

http://www.facebook.com/savvytoys#!/pages/Toowoomba-Australia/Savvy-Toys/120783354612447?ref=ts&ajaxpipe=1&__a=5

Kids Clothes Galore and Much More have their Massive Monster Sale so head on over & grab a bargain

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kids-Clothes-Galore-and-Much-More/211356251067?ref=mf

Anneliese from Tutus & Muddy Shoes has a great special at the moment

"Tutus and Muddy Shoes are having 10% off storewide at the moment. People just need to visit our tutus page and become a fan and get the code."

http://www.facebook.com/pages/manage/#!/tutusandmuddyshoes

I hope you all pick up some bargains this week! If you're a WAHP who is holding a sale or specials next week please email me the details to sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com to be included in next week's MONDAY MADNESS!

FUN FRIDAY - CRAFTY COLOURED RICE

2010-06-11T08:13:00.000+10:00

Wow I'm so super dooper excited, today we have our first GUEST BLOGGER!!!

When I saw my friend, Cath's Facebook status mentioning she was trying her hand at colouring rice for her young son I just knew I had to grab her for a guest blog post. So here you have it introducing Catherine Chapman & her adorable son Heath showing us all how to make....

Crafty Coloured Rice

I never really considered using rice as a plaything for my son before, but I found the idea on the internet and HAD to try it out. Its great fun for them, as it sifts through there fingers, and they can pour into cups, bowls etc… even can be used to stick to their drawings. The colours add that extra touch, and will be enjoyed by your kids.
Dying Your Rice

I think the best rice to use, would be any rice that is white, so jasmine rice, long grained rice etc… as it picks up the dye better, brown rice won’t work as the colour won’t stick to it as well as white rice.

In a small bowl (metal or plastic bowls work best as they won’t stain)

Then mix 3 tablespoons of water with 4 – 5 drops of food colouring, depending on how strong you want the colour, stir with a metal spoon till the water and food colouring is mixed together

The next step is to add 1 cup of rice to the coloured water, let it sit for 5 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Then using a sieve, drain the rice and spread the colored rice out on newspaper (make it several layers thick to absorb any excess liquid) to dry. Let it dry for a few hours, 7 – 10 hours.. Works better if dried overnight. You can repeat as many times as you like with the different colors. (I have used blue, green and yellow in the photos)

Once dried, mix colours together, and then let the kids have a play! The rice is best kept in see through jars.

Kids will mix the colours, so if you want to keep them separate, make sure you only offer one colours at a time. For putting out multiple colors at once, egg cartons for example are best to use, just spoon one color into each cup.

The coloured rice should keep indefinitely. However kids may scatter or hide rice around the house, I have already found some in my sons ride-on car, oopsey!

Ideas for the coloured rice
Layer colours in a jar
You can make pretty decorations by simply layering colored rice in a clear glass jar and setting it on the shelf.

Make pictures

Spread glue on a picture and then sprinkle with coloured rice, great to add a special touch to those drawings.

A very big thanks again to Catherine for doing this guest blog spot for us!!! If you try this out or any other of our crafts & tips I'd love to see your photos. Photos can be emailed to sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com

TASTY THURSDAY!

2010-06-10T18:45:00.000+10:00

Seeing how we're in for a pretty cool weekend in most parts of the country I thought I'd share with you a very yummy PEA & HAM SOUP recipe for your slow cooker. Perfect to pop on in the morning then curl up on the couch with the family & have a movie day or go outside to catch a bit of winter sun!

It's funny that I should be showcasing this as my first TASTY THURSDAY recipe as I have never been a fan of this soup, I don't like peas & the sight of green soup is just so unappealing to me. That was until a few weeks ago while staying with my sister. She cooked this up & I thought I would at least give it a taste. I took a taste from a spoon & that was it I love it! So I hope you love it too.

First up is the ingredients lineup

1 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 sticks celery, finely chopped (you'll notice there aren't any of these in my pic, that's because hubby doesn't like it & we're trying it without this time around)

3.5 ltrs chicken stock (this is an approx. amount as it will depend on how much liquid your cooker will take, I have a Kenwood 6ltr but once all the other ingredients are in I can only fit in about 2.7 ltrs)
500g split peas, soaked overnight & rinsed well (I used the no soaking required peas but I still soaked them overnight as I think it helps them break down completely during cooking)

1 bacon hock

bacon bones & cracked pepper (optional)

Now throw all of the above together in your slow cooker & cook on low all day. I put mine on at 8.10 am & we will eat around 6 - 6.30 pm tonight. Check the soup early afternoon, remove the hock, peel off the skin & the meat should just fall off. I then ripped the meat apart & threw it back in the cooker. You can put the skin back in too if you want to get the extra flavour from it, just removed it before serving.

Now serve with some yummy crusty bread & enjoy!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

2010-06-09T15:12:00.000+10:00

Tuesday's Crafty Tip

2010-06-08T13:05:00.000+10:00

Have you got children? Have you got broken pieces of crayon laying around at the bottom of pencil cases???? Then this week's Tuesday's Crafty Tip is for you!

Recycling your child's broken crayons!!!!

You'll need;

broken crayons (all paper removed)
flat baking tray
baking paper *

mini cookie cutters

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Line flat baking tray with baking paper. Place broken crayons on prepared tray.

Put them in the oven for about 8 min. You will need to remain close by and check in on them periodically because they will melt quickly.

Once your crayons have melted, take them out of the oven carefully, and then take a toothpick and swirl the wax around.

Allow the mix to harden but not completely.

When you think the mixture has hardened slightly try using a cookie cutter to punch out a shape. It might take you a couple of goes until the mixture is hard enough to take the cookie cutter. If you muck up that's fine just put those bits in a snap lock bag for next time.

Now you will have some cute little recycled crayons all ready for your child to draw with.

*I use baking paper instead of oil spray so that the crayon wax doesn't have contact with my tray, this way I can use the tray for baking food as well.

Swap Me, Swap You!

2010-06-08T10:23:00.000+10:00

Morning all!!!

So who’s up for a swap? I am!

As you will be aware I just recently received a beautiful gift from my mum, a shiny Janome!!!!! As it seems I’ve taken to sewing quite well & I’m going to test that by running the first ever but definitely not the only SWEET CHEEK CRAFTS SWAP. This one will be all about sewing.

The way I was thinking of doing this swap was having everyone make the same thing but adding their own style to the project. What do you think? I thought I might give you 3 projects & we can vote on which one to do, does this sound like a plan?

Once the project is chosen & all swappers have commented below or emailed in then I’ll do a random draw from two hats to match people up. Each swapper will receive an email from me with their swap buddies info.

Alright so let’s see if any of you are interested in the below projects;

TAKE AWAY SEWING CADDY

TRAVELLING ART SHOW POUCH

TISSUE BOX COVER

Ok so some of you may be thinking that the above projects are easy peesy but remember I’m trying to make this something a lot of us can participate in. The projects will get harder over time I promise & will not always be a sewing project either. This is a crafts blog after all not just a sewing blog.

Count me in I hear you say, alrighty then just email me at sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com with your tutorial vote, your name & email address. You have until 5 pm tomorrow (Wed. 9th June) to submit your email. After this time I will post again to inform everyone of the favourite project & go over the swap guidelines.

Look what I made!

2010-06-07T10:27:00.000+10:00

So after having to deal with this...

I finally got in & sorted out the chaos that was our spare room. My major battle was the fact that all this junk, well it's really not junk at all, has no where to live as our tiny little house is at maximum capacity. \

As soon as the room was tidy & Sahara, my little sweet cheeks, was down for a nap I got in & used my spanking new shiny Janome! I wanted to start small so I decided to create a crayon roll for my 4 year old nephew. Once I had finished it I knew I had the bug, the sewing bug!!!! I just wanted to jump right in & sew, sew, sew. I am so proud of myself, you see it has been some 11 or so years since I was even behind a sewing machine. That was back in high school when I took Home Economics.

I will admit something to you when my hubby bought home this beautiful new toy which my mum had gotten me as a surprise I was extremely anxious. Why you ask??? Well I'm the first to admit I've tried many a new hobby in the past & most have not gone far. I was quite nervous to try attempt my first project in fear I would find it all too hard & give up. But alas I think I succeeded in a BIG way. After I had completed the first crayon roll I just wanted to sew more, so I cut out the pieces last night & as soon as Sahara was down for a nap this morning i got in & whipped up 2 more. The blue/green star roll is the first one I did last night.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my mum for having faith in me & investing in yet another of my hobbies. I promise you I will cherish her (my Janome) forever & create beautiful pieces on her.

Marco........

2010-06-02T19:52:00.000+10:00

Pollo! Phew I finally found myself.

Have you ever had days, weeks, months where you just feel like your coasting through without really accomplishing even the smallest of tasks? If you said yes (I hope there is at least one of you saying “Yes” otherwise I’m just a lazy cow) then you’ll know just how I’ve felt this last few days. First I’ll fill you on my past couple of weeks as a fair bit has been happening here in the big wide Webb world.

As many of you know we headed off down to the Gold Coast the weekend before last to pick up our new car, this is THE GREEN HORNET (TGH)……

She's a brilliant little car & to make things even sweeter we picked up for a steal as well YAY!!!!!!

Our 3 & ½ whirlwind trip was rush, rush, rush with lots of visiting to be done. Hopefully next time we visit we’ll be able to say for longer & take our time to catch up with friends & family.

Isn’t she adorable, I just had to sneak this one in. Taken at my mum’s place during our trip.

On Monday we made the long, exhausting drive home but thankfully TGH didn’t miss a beat & it was an uneventful trip back. Then only after one day back my hubby picks up a tummy bug & decides to share the love so he & I are totally floored for 2 days. I haven’t felt that ill since getting the flu when S was only 7 weeks old. Thank goodness S didn’t seem to get it & she continued to run (well crawl actually) circles around us.

As ill as my hubby felt he still managed to drive around Rocky & pick up this beauty…..

My beautiful & very generous mum had given him some $$ & told him to buy me very first sewing machine!!! How lucky am I????? It did suck having absolutely no energy which meant this little baby sat in its box for days. It’s now set up & ready to go but alas I can’t find my mojo :(

Does anyone else suffer from procrastination when they are surrounded by clutter?????? I hate clutter! I feel as though it totally blocks my creativity. Since being away & getting sick our little beach house is so untidy, clean but untidy. My personal goal this week is to declutter & get all this ideas out of my head & onto the drawing board. Stay tuned as things are a brewing in the SSC world!

Ok ok I’ve rattled on long enough, so I’ll leave you with a beautiful pic of some of my GC friends & I!

Stay Safe & Live Happy!

The winner is.................

2010-05-30T17:42:00.000+10:00

Short but sweet post tonight. Nice picutre heavy post coming in the next couple of days.

Stay Safe x

Holey Doley!!!!

2010-05-29T16:25:00.000+10:00

I'm utterly gobsmacked & can't believe in only 1 month, to the day, we have reached 600 likers. THANK YOU ALL SO VERY VERY MUCH!!!!!

As a way to thank you all not only will I give a special giveaway to the person who referred the 600th liker & a randomly drawn giveaway but I will also offer 20% off all orders, excluding postage, placed from now until 1st June.

The referrer of the 600th liker was Sookyboo Designs & they will receive a hair clip holder of their choice from our Facebook album.

Now for the big blog giveaway........ I will give the lucky person a beautifully custom decorated hanging frame set. In order to enter the random draw you will need to comment below which of my products you like to most. To comment you will need to follow my blog if for some reason you are able to become a follower I will also except email entries to sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com All entries must be received by 5 pm tomorrow night, Sunday 30th May. I was going to use random.org but as there will be both blog & email entries I think I will have my daughter draw the winner again. She had so much fun doing it last time :)

Why no recent blog post you ask.....

2010-05-19T16:55:00.000+10:00

So you may or may not have noticed by I’ve been a bit quite this week well the reason is that my mum gave me the best surprise ever, SHE MADE A SURPRISE TRIP UP TO YEPPOON!!!!! She’s been here since Monday & we’re flying home to the Gold Coast with her tomorrow for a long weekend! If my blog had live video streaming on right now you’d see me doing a happy dance around my lounge room.

This is my beautiful mum with my little princess

I just had to do a bit of a plug for 2 lovely ladies I’ve recently had the pleasure of meeting. They have a little business called See Sam & they make fabulous children clothing & accessories. Be sure to check out their store http://www.madeit.com.au/storecatalog.asp?catid=&userid=8906&show=current&display=gallery&searchtype=0&sortpref=start_desc&startcount=1&endcount=25&page=1or their newly formed Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/photo_comments.php?id=370797398790#!/pages/Rockhampton-Australia/See-Sam/116230585077775?ref=ts

Also I just have to share with you the latest hair clip frame I made up today. I’ve had to use the same button fabric flower as my previous frame but I’ve just picked up some lovely coloured buttons so I’ll be making up a new embellishment for it shortly. I’m picking up more frames this weekend while on the Gold Coast as well as hopefully finding so really cool fabrics.

So until next week when I return from our mini holiday, stay safe & live happy <3

2010-05-15T16:43:00.000+10:00

So the Sweet Cheek Crafts Facebook page made it well & truly over 400 “likers” & I promised I’d do a blog giveaway to those who had become a “follower” of my blog so que the drumroll please…………….

(excuse the massive egg on my daugther's head, she stacked it today while playing)

And the winner is……………………

And coming your way is a personalised monogram letter!

Please email me at sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com with which letter & theme you’d like.

Thanks everyone for joining my blog & I really truly hope you all decide to stick around.

These are a few of my favourite things (enters Julie Andrews, stage right)

2010-05-13T11:51:00.000+10:00

So while once again trying to create order out of chaos of that what is called our craft / computer / storage / pantry / library room I had of those light bulb moments

So anyway as the title suggested I had the idea of sharing with you just a few of my favourite things (is it just me or does anyone else automatically go to Sound of Music when you here that sentence?)

Without the following tools & supplies Sweet Cheek Crafts just wouldn't exist & I'd be in the foetal position in the corner of the room.

First I’ll share my stash of scissors, they range from my big boys which I use for fabrics, ribbons etc right down to my teeny weenies which help keep me sane when cutting out those very detailed paper embellishments.

This next one I have a strong Love Hate relationship with but unfortunately it’s one of the tools I use almost daily. It’s my hot glue gun!

Now boy when I think about these I feel like a little kid in a candy shop, I just love love love KaiserColours. One of my goals in life is to own ever single colour they have. This photo only shows just a few of my paints (I just couldn’t get them all).

Mod Podge, where for art thou Mod Podge! I still can’t believe that my love affair with this wonderful product only begun a few months ago, until then I didn’t even know of its existence, shame on me.

Ok so I have to admit that I have a weird quirk about myself & that is that I love to sand things. I’ll whinge & bitch that I hate it & that it’s so fiddly but really I love it, there is nothing better than seeing the final sanded piece ready to be embellished.

And last but by no means least is all my beautiful fabric cuts. I’ve just recently become obsessed with fabric but I’m quickly learning the names of designer fabrics. Riley Blake is on the top of my favs list for sure. Many of the cuts here are from an awesome little online fabric store called Bubbmia, http://bubbamiafabrics.com/ I can definitely see myself becoming a regular customer of Sheena’s.

So that's all for now, stay safe & live happy :)

Competition Time!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-05-11T08:30:00.000+10:00

We are in need of a logo for Sweet Cheek Crafts & so comes our first ever blog competition.

Are you digitally creative? Do you love to play around with Photoshop or Paintshop? Well we have the competition for you!

We are looking for a unique digital logo that we can use on marketing material such as business cards, stickers, etc as well as as our Facebook logo.

This competition will run for 1 1/2 weeks, beginning midnight Tuesday 11th May. The first week will be open for submissions & the final few days will be open for voters to pick their favourite logo. An album will be created on my Facebook page containing all entries & voters will be required to put "vote" under the logo they love the most.

The logo must not be a mass production type logo such as from vistaprint.com It must include "Sweet Cheek Crafts" somewhere on the logo & be a .jpeg file. All logos must be received at sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com no later than midnight on Tuesday 18th May 10 (Australian EST UTC/GMT +10 hours).

The entry with the most votes at midnight on Friday,21st May will win a Sweet Cheek Crafts gift voucher worth $40. International entries are welcomed however postage exceeding that of local charges will be at winner's expenses.

We would like to give credit to cro-chelle.creations http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Cheek-Crafts/370797398790#!/pages/cro-chelle/121037847920593?ref=ts who thought of the idea for such a fantastic competition. Please be sure to pop over & check our their Facebook page.

By entering this competition you give Sweet Cheek Craft the right to use your entry in any way they wish in the future.

Sneak Peek #1

2010-05-01T13:42:00.000+10:00

Check out some of the beautiful fabrics I have coming from Bubbmia! These stunning fat quarters will be turned in wipe cases as well as new items I am road testing at the moment so stay tuned.

Check back over the next couple of days to see what treasures I find while out hunting for new material & supplies.

Stay Happy

I finally did it!!!

2010-05-01T13:08:00.000+10:00

Well after over a year of procrastination I've finally done it, I've started my very own handmade crafts home based business YAY FOR ME!!!!!

As all my friends on my personal FB page know I've been going on & on about how I should sell my craft items but that I never get my lazy butt into gear. Well I vow to be lazy no more!!!!!!!!

Here are a just a couple of items you can check out on my FB page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sweet-Cheek-Crafts/370797398790

Thanks for reading & I hope you decide to follow my blog which won't just be about my products but about random things I find interesting & funny :)

Enjoy Life & Live Happy!