A culinary success! :D

It was my husband's (still trying to get used to saying that!)  birthday yesterday, and as he has to work all week this week (muchos early starts!) we celebrated early in Manchester at the weekend - we had a lovely time. Last night though, I decided to prepare a special birthday tea for him, and I can happily say it went down a treat! :) I asked him if there was anything he particularly fancied, and he said that he'd love something vietnamese (!)...so, I hopped online and found a lovely recipe on the Good Food Channel's website - Vietnamese Tamarind Beef with Peanuts...for details click here.

I was quite nervous about how it would turn out as I'd never really tried Vietnamese food, let alone prepared it, so I was so relieved when the outcome was good, and my hubby was a very happy chappy indeed! :D

For dessert I made a tiramisu...we spent our honeymoon in Sardinia, so I thought it would bring back happy memories as it was one of our favourite desserts over there. This particular recipe was taken from a great series on the Good Food Channel called 'Rhodes Across Italy' which we watched a couple of months ago; it was fab! Get the recipe here.

So all in all, it was a great success! I'm so pleased he liked it...especially as I'd never attempted any of it before. Can't wait to try out some more recipes from the site! :)

Spring has sprung!

YAY - the sun has been shining and the first tulips have arrived in our garden! :D We've spotted quite a few ladybirds too...could this be a sign of a great Summer?? Ooh, I do hope so - this time of year makes me sooooo happy! :)

Happy Spring weekend everyone; don't forget - the clocks go forward one hour on Sunday morning...bring on the long Summer evenings!

Happy Birthday Gran!

It was my Gran's birthday over the weekend, and when it comes to cards she always likes to receive a handmade edition from me, as opposed to a bought one.....this time I had a bit of a play around with a photograph to create a pretty floral illustration for her.....

I printed the design onto tracing paper to give it a lovely soft feel, layered it up with card, and then added a pretty spring green ribbon to finish. She loved it! :)

More products in the U.S.

My agent returned from another trip to the U.S. yesterday, and brought with him some catalogues from various customers...what a lovely surprise it was to see my very own collection of wedding bags in Shalom International Corp's 2010 range! Here are a couple of snapshots taken on my phone (apologies for the poor quality - oops!) 

As you can just about see, they have named the range 'Something Blue'...to see a couple of the designs in their original guise, click here. I think they've done a lovely job! :)

If you're in the U.S., then keep your eye out for them in stores....

Once upon a time....

...I used to paint; and I mean A LOT. I was asked to dig out a few of my old painted florals the other day for a client, and it made me quite sad to see them all...I'd forgotten how much painted work I actually had, and it made me realise how much I miss it - time to dig out those paint brushes methinks....hopefully soon.

Here's a little taster of how I used to work.....

Have a great weekend everyone - so glad Spring seems to have finally sprung; the sun has finally arrived - happy, happy, happy! :D