Playsuits, sunshine & dog walks

Yeah the summertime is here the sunshine here in blighty is a fickle friend and is often absent so when it is here it is good to make the most of it. I was treated to some new clothes for my birthday and this was a lovely day to give it an outing. I love the vintage feel this outfit has. The only disadvantage to this outfit is it is very easily crushed as you can see my sleeve was very crumpled post cardigan. The outfit is lovely and my favourite colour so I will live the the crumples!

Oh did I mention that Archie has started to do the odd outfit post with me. He is sporting a blue collar and a silly but ever so lovely face. He has accessorised with a yellow bouncy ball.

Outfit Details;

playsuit - Next Clearance

shoes - Clarks (handed down)

scarf - charity shop

Painted Pegs - diy

Sometimes it is the quick and simple things in life that make you smile and considering I always have very long projects on the go I need a regular fix of something I can complete in an hour. Step one buy some cheap wooden pegs like the ones below.

Step two paint them up, I used acrylic paint. Step three see them in action, i used them to hang photos above my desk, and oh yeah my blog award certificate. They would be addition to a children's room or you could glue one side to a board and use it as a noticeboard.

Dandelion & Burdock Cake - Recipe

 

I always think of myself as a cook rather than a baker mainly because I feel there is more freedom in cooking and baking always seams like more of an exact science, but I do love cake so who am I if not a woman up to a challenge. So here is my recipe for chocolate cake with a twist. Not all of my experiments turn out so well but this one did so here it is for you to try yourself.

you will need;

Raspberries to top
250g Butter
250g Self raising flour
Pinch Soda of Bicarbonate
250 ml Dandelion & Burdock
4 tbsp cocoa powder
2 eggs
50ml milk

300g golden caster sugar

method;

1. Preheat your oven to 180C and prepare your cake tin.
2. Cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, I think that this stage is the most important.
3. Sift the flour into the butter with the soda of bicarbonate and whisk the eggs. 
4. Stir the whisked eggs into the flour mixture.
5. Mix the cocoa powder into the milk then add the dandelion and burdock drink and stir this into the flour mixture.
6. Bake for about 40 mins or until the skewer comes out clean.

I hope you enjoy this cake as much as we did. You could try some possible variations such as topping with different fruit or adding a white chocolate cream to the centre like a sandwich.

 

Happy baking

Take Care

Nicolette xo

Little Blog Award Winner

As some of you may have noticed in my sidebar there is a small winners widget. That is because Archie and the Rug was Dorset Cereals blog of the month last February. It is only due to the wonderful support I get from readers that made that possible so I want to say a huge thank you to all of you.

When I started this blog it was a place where I could hide from the heartache in my life a place that was always positive and creative. Over time it has become so much more than that. It has stimulated my creativity, my business and sparked off new ventures. It has also allowed me to meet some truly fantastic people in the on line community and make new friends. Above all it gives me a daily boost to know I am able to produce something that my readers want and find interesting and I LOVE getting comments and emails from you all.

As a reward Dorset Cereal sent me a crate of their product, a certificate (I love getting certificates) and an adorable egg cosy and egg cup.

A huge thank you once again to all my readers and lots of love 

Nicolette xo

My Favourite Camera Apps for Android Phones

This year has been a year for change I got new glasses, I went from these;

To these;

Well the glasses happened around Christmas time so officially last year but within a 12month period so I feel they can still count. You wear glasses? I hear you say well yes I do I am actually quite blind but feel that I look like the nerdy kid in school in my glasses (I was and am the nerdy kid in school btw), so I avoid wearing them in public. I was told off by my optician on my last visit and I now have jump vision as my left and right eye won't work at the same time so I now have a prism in these new lenses. As I now have to wear them all the time (well almost they still come off for most photos) I though I would invest in better frames. My husband chose these ones as he was playing a game called Bayonetta (although I come off a little more Velma), and he has a bit of a crush on her so I now have the same glasses as a computer heroine - you see my nerdy kid defence is not holding up well.

I also need different glasses for reading, (I did say I was quite blind). Here they are;

Anyway where was I? I got a new phone too. I went from a phone that would stay charged all week,  had no camera and could not receive picture messages, to a Samsung Galaxy. I love the time I can waste ahemm I mean use constructively on this phone and one of my favourite things about life and now my new phone is taking pictures.

It will never replace my camera, any of them but it is a small compact alternative for instant snaps and silly effects. So many people are i phone people and the world of instagram is sweeping the blogging world so I thought I would post about my favourite camera apps for android phones. Well my favourite ones so far.

The first one is Camera Effects here are some of the results from this app;

the image above was left without a filter and using the Vignette option on borders.

What I like about this app is that you can take an image and then try out the different effects and borders after. The image above I added white borders and used the cross processing filter.

When Archie and I were out on a walk we saw an amazing vintage car so I snapped it using the magic filter. I think this filter is currently my favourite on the "camera effects" app.

This was the frog spawn from Joe's parents garden (I love new life and spring). I used the auto contrast filter here. This app has a variety of borders and filters I am excited to try the 'lomo' 'holga' 'old mono' and 'magazine filters'

My other favourite camera app is Photo Booth. Here are some of the results from that;

This is pretty self explanatory it takes 4 shots just like a photo booth you can then make them black and white, sepia or a different coloured filter on each so you have a strange Andy Warhol effect (I'm not keen on that one). It also gives you the option of flash, no flash and fill in flash. This is a fun app and I can't wait to take snaps of Joe and I and pretend we're in a booth on a pier somewhere - yes I am that soppy.

Last but not least the "Fx Camera" I was madde aware of this app a year ago via my friend who you can find on twitter under @PaulTOwen he co wrote a book on The Wire so any fans out there should check out his tweets. Well he told me that this camera app can make anything pretty and he is right. You can use this to take photos using a variety of filters my favourites (and the only ones I use) are the 'toy cam', 'polandroid' and 'fisheye' options. The only disadvantage of this app is you have select the 'camera' of choice before shooting so you don't get to play afterwards but that is fine with me.

Here are example of the FxCamera app;

the polandroid

the toy camera

I hope you enjoy finding fun camera apps, did I mention all of the ones I mentioned are free! If you have found any good ones comment below but for now happy snapping Love Nicolette xo

Pretty noticeboard - diy

In my studio and in my daily life I make countless notes and plans I also surround myself with ideas sketches and inspiration. I wanted to give my tired, overworked cork pin boards a makeover. This is a really quick and simple idea for your home and you could coordinate it with any room.

You will need;

• a cork board
• fabric spray glue
• fabric 
• paint (I used acrylic)
• primer

How to;

1. Prime your frame, you can use any white paint.
2. Paint the frame in the colour of your choice. You may need to do more than one coat.
3. After the frame is dry cut your chosen fabric slightly larger than the cork so that you can tuck the edges under the frame.
4. Lightly spray the back of the fabric and the cork with the upholstery fabric glue, (make sure you do this outside or in a well ventilated space).
5. Once you have smoothed the fabric out tuck the edges under the painted frame to make a neat edge and you are finished.

Enjoy your pretty and useful pin boards!

These are blogging notes I use different coloured paper for different categories, such as yellow for recipes, light blue is craft and green is other.

Butternut Squash Ravioli Recipe

I have said it before and I will say it again my man loves pasta so here is another great pasta recipe. One of my favourite things to do is to find a recipe that I trust and then make endless variations, do you do that? You can find the basic pasta dough recipe in this previous post. Remember to omit the saffron and lemon zest from the dough recipe. 

for the filling;


300g butternut squash cut into cubes
3 cloves of garlic smashed
olive oil
semolina to sprinkle
salt and pepper


method;

1. Saute the squash and garlic in a little oil until soft.
2. Mash the squash with salt and pepper until it is all mixed up.
3. Meanwhile roll the dough out until very thin and cut into circles.
4. Place a small amount of the mixture into the centre of each circle. Wet the outside with a little water and place a second disc on top and press to seal.
5. Sprinkle the ravioli with semolina to dry them out and store for at least  hours before cooking them in boiling water.

Once the ravioli are made you can store them in the fridge for up to a week, if you want to stack them on top of one another place some greaseproof paper in between to stop them sticking together. We had the ravioli twice that week. To change it up a little I served it with a little chili oil and balsamic vinegar on the first night pictured above and sage pesto pictured below. What will you serve yours with?

My Current Happiness - Dragonflies

It is my birthday on Saturday so I am allowed to be indulgent and this edition of my current happiness is all about dragonflies. The truth is I love dragonflies and I am even incorporating them into my tattoo design. And guess what all of these items are handmade from in dependant sellers.

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how could I resist a dragonfly with an Archie dog!

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Hummus 3 ways

 

I love to make things from scratch but another thing I love is saving money - I sound very cheap now don't I. The thing is if I save money on hummus I can spend it on things I can't make like shoes. I love hummus it is was one of my favourite snacks and it is healthy too. 

you will need;

1x400g tin of chickpeas

olive oil

salt and pepper 

2 tbsp thaini

8 shallots

2 tsp light brown sugar

2 tsp pesto

2 cloves garlic roasted

method;

1. Put the chickpeas and thaini into a food processor with the seasoning. As the processor is running slowly pour in olive oil. The amount needed will vary depending on the consistency you prefer for your hummus, I don't like mine too runny. You will need to stop the processor every so often and push the rest of the peas down from the sides.
2. Now it is time for the variations. Take out a third and that is your plain hummus.
3. The next third squeeze out the roasted garlic and mix through and top with the pesto
4. Now for the final third. Slowly caramelise the shallots and sugar. then pop into the processor with the final third of the hummus and run again until smooth.

You are done you have a trio of lovely hummus, my favourite is with warm pitta. You can try a wealth of variations, why not try it with avocado!

 

Take Care

Nicolette xo