Leon Cookbook

 Dave often buys very unexpected, but awesome presents. After declaring that we weren't doing presents this Christmas, he changed his mind and went out shopping, thankfully hours before the pre Christmas Tier 4 lockdown!!

One of the presents he came back with, was a Leon cookbook. I've only eaten at Leon a few times - mainly as I never eat fast food - and am not usually a fan of cook books. I tend to find a recipe I like, only to discover that it contains 7 million ingredients, I've never heard of most of them and only have 3 in the cupboard. 

So I was swayed with this one, when the first recipe I opened the book on was Sweet Potato Falafel. It sounded so good and I had every ingredient (of which there weren't too many) already in the cupboard, aside from gram flour. Thankfully, after the great flour shortage of March/April 2020, I knew that the shop across the road sells gram flour, so that was incredibly easy to locate, and I was set to go!

I also then decided to make Leon Gobi to go with it, as I already had everything for that too (aside from turmeric, which I've since bought!)

These were both incredible! They tasted expensive, so many flavours, and also conveniently Vegan. Perfect timing for making an effort towards Veganuary. 

The next recipe, which Dave was drawn to immediately, was the ketchup. As we're not allowed  out, what better way to spend a Saturday afternoon, than make ketchup. We get through a lot of it, and as I insist on buying it in glass, not plastic, it doesn't come in big enough bottles for him!!

It was well worth the effort!! It's less sweet and more spiced than regular ketchup and so good!!

We next tried the Rogan Josh and I decided to attempt naan bread with it too. The curry was quite long winded to cook, but more in a 'do this then leave for 30 mins' way, so not too time consuming!

Naan bread, it turns out, is way easier to make then I expected. Why have I never made it before!!

It looks beautiful as well as containing lush recipes!!

Cardamom rice pudding. Our milkman has started selling cream in glass jars so perfect timing!! 

I've also tried the falafel with butternut squash instead of sweet potato, and although it was a bit softer (I added more flour) it was equally as tasty!!

There are still so many more recipes to try! I'm also a big fan of the Brazilian beans, Pilaff Rice, and the Cauliflower, Almond & Turmeric Soup. The problem is to choose what to try next!!

Happy New year 2021

 Wow - 2021! That crept up on us!! It's strange how quickly the time goes when you are just staying home!!

So far lockdown January has been a great opportunity to restock after a very busy December. Despite all the lockdown time last year, I still didn't seem to have enough stock for December!

Plans for 2021 - keep sewing! I've got a few new mobile ideas in my head, so watch this space for more!

Staying in is not so hard when we have this lovely view!

My trips out are usually to go to the post office - conveniently across the road!

Lots more names to come I imagine!

Still one of my most popular mobiles!

And most popular of 2020! Lets see if that continues into 2021!

Making Rainbows

I've admired all sorts of fibre art on social media for years, without ever having the time to have a go and make something of my own, so lockdown was the perfect time to have a go and make a rainbow. Especially as the rainbow image was being used in all the support NHS campaigns, it seemed double perfect.

Luckily, being a craft hoarder, I had plenty of wool, piping cord, and ribbon to get started, so quickly did.

I made this little one for me, and hung it in the window, which quickly attracted admiration from the neighbours (we live in a block of flats, and this was in the window facing our shared garden). 

I then made these ones, and posted a photo on social media, and quickly started to get some love!

By this point I'd run out of piping cord, but was sure I had some rope somewhere (no idea why?!?) and I quickly found a bag with lots of different thicknesses of rope! Winner! I wrapped and wrapped, and pom pom'd and glued, until I'd run out of my initial rope stash. 

Luckily our local independent DIY shop was open, and had some sash cord in 2 thicknesses - perfect for wrapping!

I bought a 10m length and was very happy, but then got so many orders, I'd wrapped the entire 10m in one day! So popped back the next day to but another length. And again wrapped the whole 10m, so popped back a third day to buy another 10m!!

By this point, the lovely shop owner enquired as to what I was doing, and why i needed so much cord!! I assured him I was not some sort of murderer/bondage fan, and showed him some photos of my rainbows!

Since then, I've been steadily making rainbows in all sizes and colour combinations, and making good on one of my lockdown resolutions - to use up my entire wool stash!!

They are very therapeutic to make, and I might sneakily add one to every window in our flat (we have 5 - haha!)

Sun Hats

So last year, I finally got round to sewing some reversible fabric sun hats - having been asked for them many many times. It took me a few pattern tweaks, to find one I was happy with, and I sewed them in 2 sizes.

They were so popular, it was great! Unfortunately, I hadn't planned far enough in advance, so sold out pretty quickly!

Since then, a friend asked for matching hats for her new baby, and herself, so I graded my pattern to include baby and adult sizes.

So here they are - ready for launch tomorrow - take a look....

Four Sizes available - from Baby to Adult!

Quarantine Sewing

Wow - how much has the world changed, since my last post. I don't think any of us can have totally adjusted to lockdown yet - I still struggle to know what day it is - and keep wanting to check my diary, in case I miss something - even though my 2020 diary is currently pretty redundant.

However, my flat is full of craft supplies (I reckon I could keep going for a good six months, before I totally ran out of craft supplies!!

I started by updated my mobile stock. I was still quite sold out after a busy Christmas season, and hadn't quite caught up, so I now have pretty much caught up, as well as adding some new ideas, which I've had in my head for a while...

I've also had a few name banner orders - here are some photos of those....

These last few days, I've been busy working on another project....photos to follow....

New Name Banners

I've been sewing name banners for a good few years now, and so get lots of repeat design orders - mint and grey elephants being the most popular - so it's very exciting when I get a new design request.

I especially love when a customer knows exactly what they'd like! Here are some examples of some recent new designs....

Embroidered Llamas & Pom poms

Guinea Pigs

Embroidered Llama & Cactus

UFO & Planet

Hedgehogs & Owls

Happy Birthday Banners

Alongside all my personalised felt name banners, I also make Happy Birthday banners (and Christmas ones too - but it's too early for that yet!!). I love the idea of having a long lasting, reusable banner that can come out again and again for everyone's birthday, and replaces all the terrible single use banners you find in party shops.

The original one I made was in yellow and grey (surprise surprise), but I've since made a range of custom ones to suit other people's tastes too!

Here are some photos...

Which is your favourite? And which colours should I make next??