Wednesday wishlist

Today I am not feeling bright and cheerful, so my picks reflect my mood.
There's nothing wrong, just some days are like that aren't they?

I'm wanting to fill in a gap in my wardrobe with a very useful version of the little black dress.

absolutely perfect dress in black by Kathleen meetsMorgan

I just love this new range of shopping bags by VinylLiving who have been making wall decals for a while and have now branched out in a new shop.

birdcage canvas tote by VinylLiving

I love this print, it's a bit sad, but I love the design and the subtleness.

ghost by madelaine

Remember to leave a comment ot go in the weekly draw to win a surprise!

Mad Monday - mad about tea bowls

I'm a bit mad about tea bowls!
I love the aesthetic of tea bowls.

tea bowls from touching stone

Something about the tactile experience of holding a miniature work of art, an artisan created object.
Maybe the history and culture of the japanese tea ceremony comes through as you sip.

The japanese name for tea bowl is chawan 茶碗 and there are many varieties depending on where they were made, shape colour etc.

copper glazed porcelain by BrucesArtStudio

Tea has been drunk in Japan since the 8th or 9th century, having been introduced from China.



Tea was used as a medicine and as a ritual drink. Over the centuries the highly ritualised japanese tea ceremony evolved.
But it was Sasaki Chojiro (1516-92) who popularised the raku form of the tea bowl.

tea bowl by Ogata Kenzan (1663- 1743)

Tea bowls can be formed out of any clay from fine porcelain to the rough earthy earthenware.

kyoto ware

Crimson Shino Tea Bowl 1985) by Kato Tokur

I love the texture of the rough lumpy ones.

raven tea bowl for Owen by Richard Selfridge

I believe this is the aesthetic of wabi sabi - which can be described as the finding of beauty in the impermanence and imperfection of things.


Here are some of my favoite tea bowls made by the craftspeople of etsy -

blushing tea bowl by dbabcock

olive green and orange shino tea bowl by rmoralespottery

cup by khphillips

set of two tea bowls by PotterybyJolene

tea ceremony bowl by TakakiHouse

chawan japanese style tea bowl by ArttoHold

tea bowl by littlebclayworks

shino chawan tea bowl by ralphnuara

three cups of tea charity tea bowl by PrimativePots

For more information about the tea cermony go to wikwipedia or another informative article is here.

7 things sunday - spectacular food at the Malaya

For father's day!

We had a vegetarian banquet and some other dishes.
Some of the vegetarian dishes were spectacular.
All the food was amazing.

1. Sayor Otak


2. Samosas

3. Vegetable SangChoy Bow

4. Szechuan Eggplant

5. Salt and pepper cauliflower



6. Singapore noodles

7. Sayor Masak Lemak (vegatable curry)


Remember to leave a comment to have a chance to win something every Thursday!

Rhubarb Cake

By popular request I share this rhubarb cake recipe.
It's from the Australian Women's Weekly More Cakes and Slices cookbook.



60 g butter
1 tsp grated lemon rind
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup self-raising flour
1 cup plain flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sour cream
6 cups rhubarb (or 1 bunch if you are buying it)
1/3 cup brown sugar extra
1 tsp cinnamon extra

Wash and trim rhubarb. Throw away the leaves and chop the stems.

Beat butter, sugar and lemon rindi e;ectric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add eggs 1 at a time, beat until just combined.
Stir in sifted flour and cinnamon and sour cream in 2 batches.
Stir in rhubarb.
Put in greased 22cm round cake pan.
Sprinkle extra sugar and cinnamon on the top.

Bake in moderate oven (180/350) for 1 1/2 hours.

If you dont have sour cream you can use yoghurt. The other day I used a rhubarb yogurt and a little bit of milk to make up the amount.
I also dont always put the extra sugar and cinnamon on top, but is nice for a special occassion.

Remember to leave a comment if you would like to go into my weekly prize draw.

This week's earrings and other creations

This week I have made a series of simple wire wrapped earrings.

I used to make earrings with these beads and use a bail to hang them, but I love the slightly untidy wire wrapped look.
So I ordered some more of the lovely Czech glass beads as in the last 2 photos, but in many different colours. They are such beautiful quality beads, so transparent, kind of like lollies!


Then I played with paper.
I bought these fabulous french inspired collage sheets from CharmedMemoryCollage and used some of the mountains of card I have to make some gift tags.


Then I got a bit carried away and used some of the leftover images from my scrabble tile necklace phase and made some more tags.


These are very time consuming and I'm not sure that they are a very sensible use of my time.
But, hey! I had fun!

In between I found time to get to the sewing machine and make this lady bug that A had designed for a commission.


Plus a prototype VW kombi for the Old Bar beach featival and kombi fest in October.
I'm waiting for a custom stamp that sugarskull7 is making of the VW logo, so Ican stamp that on the kombi.


What have you been up to this week?

Wildflowers and a Weekly giveaway

Today I thought I would share some lovely Australian native flowers, some from our garden and some from the bush roundabouts.

bush pea

pink spider flower

boronia

grevilliea

hardenbergia

And announce that from today I will be having a weekly giveaway.

All you have to do is leave a comment on any of my blog posts and every Thursday I will draw a winner at random.
The prize will be - a surprise!

You an have an extra entry if you tweet about my blog, or mention it on facebook, or mention it on your blog (one entry for each thing)

Happy blogging!

Wednesday wishlist

Yay! It's the first day of spring and what a beautiful springful day it is!
Warm, the smell of blossoms in the air.
Makes me want to wear bright and beautiful things.

A light shirt dress -

garden party blouse by SecondWindVintage

with a stunning bracelet -

fiesta cuff by windyriver

and, of course my favorite cowboy boots -

ruby phoenix boots by maefairvintage

What are your spring wishes?