Brain overload

(Black Lace Mini Lined Notebook)

People are driving me nuts today, I could really do without the hassle at the moment. In other news been half a sleep at work does not make for good mood or efficiency.

I'm trying to give myself more of a break when I get home as I usually have tv going and am working on my laptop and its all too much so I don't relax and then don't get enough sleep.

So I actually turned off the tv for an hour and listened to Elbow's Seldom Seen Kid. I think it helped.

Bookmaking and Leopards

(Leopard A6 Lined Notebook)

I've been on a bit of a bookmaking spree the last couple of weekends, and a lot of it has involved leopard print material.

I've made all different sizes and in lined and blank. They are all newly uploaded to my website.

I also made my 2010 diary. It is gorgeous. I've gone for the day to view version but in A6 as I figure it will fit in a bag better.

It is so solid, with lots of pages, which I'm hoping means it'll last out the year. The last diary I made lasted fine, just very grubby and slightly bent corners.

I feel like I'm gonna be super prepared for next year (this will not last).

Custom 2010 Diaries

It's that time of the year when thoughts turn to Christmas and then New Year.

And New Year means a new 2010 diary (which also make great Christmas presents).

This year Pink Flamingo Swizzle Stick is offering custom made diaries - so you can pick your size, fabric and layout.

Yes, layout! Because this year I've added a day to view version, with a page for each weekday and half-pages for Saturdays and Sundays.

The handbound, hardback diaries come in A5 and A6 sizes to suit both those who like to keep it on a desk and those who like to put it in a bag.

I have just finished putting together my first A5 day to view version and the finished product looked amazing.


A thick stack of printed pages with lots of space for writing, which fitted perfectly into the fabric-covered cardboard cover. (I'm planning on making myself an A6 version).

The diaries are designed with lots of handy pages for all your information.
- Personal information
- Dates to remember
- Calendar
- Monthly planner
- Addresses (A5 version only)
- Notes
And a ribbon bookmark so you can find it all easily.

If you want one, they can be ordered through Etsy. They take about a week to make up (though I'm away from home this week so any orders won't be started till Sunday).

Fabric choices

A: Red Leaves
B: Orange Butterflies
C: Yellow and Orange Swirl Flowers
D: Bright Flowers - SOLD OUT in A5
E: Green PaisleyF: Dark Green Retro Flowers
G: Autumn Flowers
H: Lily
I: Red and Blue Daisies
J: Navy Dots
K: Bright Blue Dots
L: Blue Plaid
M: Burgandy Roses
N: Brown Pinstripe
O: Leopard Print
P: Purple Flowers
Q: Cherry Blossom
R: Hibiscus
S: Pink Butterflies
T: Strawberries

Success

I had a super productive day!

I finished off the mini lined notebooks. I love this leopard print material, it's so fun!

And I made cake...cake is far more important.

It's chocolate and vanilla marble cake with chocolate icing and white chocolate buttons. I needed to use up some eggs and this is far and away the best way (the alternative is huge amounts of egg fried rice and that's nowhere near as fun.

Ingredients
175g sugar (205ml, I don't own a set of scales so I use a measuring jug instead)
175g butter/marg (I use the Stork for cakes)
3 eggs
175g self-raising flour (325ml)
Vanilla extract
Tsp cocoa power

Icing
Knob of butter
Icing sugar
Warm water

• Cream butter/marg and sugar together.
• Add flour and eggs and bit at a time and mix in a few drops of vanilla extract.
• When the mixture is well stirred together, blob spoonfuls of half the mixture into a greased baking tray leaving gaps between spoonfuls.
• Mix cocoa powder into the remaining half of the mixture.
• Add this to the vanilla mixture in the gaps
• Use a fork to mix the vanilla and the chocolate together in a swirly pattern
• Bake in oven at gas mark 4/160 for 20min or till cooked through

Most of it is going into work tomorrow, to power two days of paper creation, but I had a small piece earlier and it is very nice. It's not that marbley as I didn't get the fork all the way through the mixture.

Chaotic

This week has not been going well.

(Autumn Teeny Notebook)

I seem to have got less done than normally, I need to learn to not procrastinate.

This evening has been better and glue covered as I've been putting together mini lined paper pages in front of the X Factor.

Tomorrow morning it shall be time to stick them into the card and fabric outer layers. And hopefully get pictures if the weather isn't too grey.

If the weather isn't too grey, I'm also going to tackle the weeds on the patio, which is becoming a little jungle like.

2010 Diaries

A little early but I'm being organised.

I'm offering custom rather than ready-made diaries this year. For two reasons really, to give people a chance to pick the kind of fabric they would like to look at for a year and because if ready-made ones don't sell it becomes a bit of a waste of paper.

The diaries are available in A5 and A6 sizes. I've reworked all the pages for the week to view diaries in both sizes. The extra pages include year views and notes pages.

I've also added a day to view versions. I'm seriously considering making myself one of these for next year.

Gift vouchers

They have arrived at Pink Flamingo Swizzle Stick