Snail Orchids, Delicately Fragile and Chocolate Beetroot Loaf Cake

Hello lovely Maddabling readers, I hope this weekend blog post finds you happy and well. It has been another gorgeous sunny Winters day today. Tonight I share with you Snail Orchids, Delicately Fragile and Chocolate Beetroot Loaf . Happy Reading xo♥

Snail Orchids

Quite by accident, I spotted my first Snail Orchids today on a coastal walk. They are the second type of orchid I have seen so far this orchid season. I have never seen these ones up close and they are amazingly tiny yet detailed. 

They are so small that I nearly missed them, they only grow to around 20cm in height. I just happened to look down at precisely the right time.  It's very easy to see where snail orchids got their name from don't you think?

Delicately Fragile

I was fascinated by this delicately fragile leaf that was in our yard, skeletal in appearance, all of the leafy green was gone. It was feather light yet such an intricate structure still remained. 

I love these snaps in black and white, they make it all the more striking. Nature is quite surreal at times, this will be a good leaf-y reference point if I am taken by the urge to sketch again...

Chocolate Beetroot Loaf Cake

I saw this recipe in STM last weekend and have been very keen to try it, not having had success with Beetroot Cakes in the past. This recipe was excellent and made two smaller loaf cakes that are dense and very moist. I made a few substitutions that I will list in the recipe.  

Chocolate Beetroot Loaf Cake

Ingredients: 

1 1/4 cups self raising flour, sifted (I used 1 1/4 Cup unsifted Wholemeal Self Raising flour) 

1/4 Cup Dutch Cocoa, sifted (I used 1/4 cup of Raw Cacao, unsifted) 

1 Cup Caster Sugar (I used 1 cup Coconut Sugar)

125g unsalted butter, melted

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 Cup Milk

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

2 Cups Grated Raw Beetroot

Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 180C

2. Place the flour, cocoa, sugar, butter, egg, milk and vanilla in a large bowl and whisk until well combined.

3. Add the beetroot and mix to combine. 

4. Pour into a 10cm x 21cm (2 litre capacity) or two small loaf tins lined with non stick baking paper. 

5. Bake for approximately 40-45 minutes or until cooked when tested with a skewer. 

6. Allow to cool in the tin for five minutes then turn out onto a rack to cool completely. 

Note: This can be sliced and frozen for up to two months in individual servings.

Readers, I hope you enjoyed Snail Orchids, Delicately Fragile and Chocolate Beetroot Loaf Cake. See you all on Wednesday for a new edition of Wednesday Wishes x

Friday Friends - DUSTy Divas - Australian Artists - Bungleboorie

Happy Friday lovely readers. Did you have a fantastic week? I certainly did. Lots of lovely warm winters days even though we had icy car windscreens first thing in the mornings. Today I want to introduce to you all a new Friday Friend, DUSTy Diva and Australian Artist; meet Anne of Bungleboorie. 

Anne is a very clever creator, with many diverse skills. Let me share some of her work with you now. Being particularly fond of landscape photography, I really felt drawn to "Capertee" - Oil on Canvas. Those rolling hills and clouds! 

I am sure that I have mentioned before that I have a particular soft spot for owls, this Bronze Owl Brooch is no exception. I simply adore it! 

While browsing through the gorgeous works that Anne creates, I found "Little Heron Girl." This is a potrait of Tessa the Little Heron Girl, isn't she beautiful? 

Dear readers, I invite you now to read The Story of Bungleboorie. I personally found this very inspirational. Have a fantastic weekend everyone xo 

"The Story of Bungleboorie"
Where I Live and how it influences my work...
Bungleboorie is an aboriginal, Wiradjuri word, describing an area where I live in the bush in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. It is "pagoda country" with big rock formations and many diverse fauna and flora. 

These include the Wollemi Pine, banksias, boronias, heaths, kangaroos, wombats, quolls, lots of snakes, no crocodiles or mammoths, bush fires, tall eucalytpus trees, owls, black cockatoos and white cockatoos, king parrots, rosellas, lyre birds, kookaburras, poor soils and lots of waratahs.

My studio was a shack I built but burnt to the ground in last years bushfires. I am now waiting for my new studio to be built - a tin shed on a ridge looking out onto the burnt out rock formations in the valley below. 

How did I get started... Before the fire I taught High School art and worked alongside my students often gaining inspiration from them. Children are very free with their art using colour and form to match their dreams. 

Now the journey begins for me working with terra cotta and porcelain clays, making bronze pieces and lampwork glass. During winter and spring I will make 3D and summer and autumn packing up the car with lunch, easels, oil paints, 2 dogs and going "bush" to paint outside. 

Other Inspirations.... Italy, especially the renaissance period...cave art...anything Moroccan especially architecture, Turkish Iznik pottery and many other early art periods...browsing online artists works especially on Etsy. 

Market Plans... I hope to join the Blue Mountains artist's trail and have studio openings and perhaps, interactions with fellow artisans visiting and perhaps working in the studio for a day or two in exchange for a thrown pot or two! 

Perhaps a new phone, my students said my current one is "not cool" and twitter, tweet, Facebook and blog...so as the Lyre Bird in the valley below hails the end of the day, my journey continues to connect to the seasons, the stars, the beautiful fauna and flora and make more art.

Dear readers, would you like to see more? Here is how you can connect! 

You can buy lovely things on Etsy here: 

https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/Bungleboorie

and view her portfolio online here: 

http://www.colourinyourlife.com.au/community/2485-anne-smith/profile

Cupcake Cuties - Wednesday Wishes

Today I share with you five supersweet cupcake treats that are completely guilt free! 

Monday 18th August 2014 marks The RSPCA's Annual Cupcake Day. 

You can see more details and make an online donation here: http://www.rspcacupcakeday.com.au/

I hope you enjoy this Wednesday Wishes wishlist xo♥

Mice with a Cupcake, Mousehole Wall Sticker from LolaMurals

Crochet Cupcake Garland from WildTeddy

CANDY LAND fake cupcake Realistic look for photography session props from shimrita

Cupcake Monster Pillow - Small Orange from dkoss2

"Cherry Collection" 4 Fake Mini Cupcake Magnets from 12LegsCuriosities

Friday Friends - Australian Artists - Pepper Ink

Hello Friday and hello there to all the lovely Maddabling blog readers. Excitement is building in the Maddabling household as we prepare to attend a friends milestone Thrift Shop themed birthday party this weekend. I can't wait to see the outfits that people have put together. This week it is my great pleasure to introduce to you an Australian Creative and Artist extraordinaire - meet the fab Pepper of Pepper Ink!

Pepper creates the most fantastic temporary tattoos. Temporary tattoos that are really special, with lots of attention to detail and intricate designs that are enough to make you think they are the real deal. Let me show you what I mean. Take this divine vintage black and white floral design temporary tattoo. 

Wear your love for your Dad on your sleeve this fathers day - or any day with this set of two Anchor Dad and Roses temporary tattoos - so sweet! 

And if you are stuck for an unusual gift, try a vintage floral gift box. This has seven vintage illustration temporary tattoos and vial of liquiskin shine remover and you choose your gift wrap. Just perfect! 

Readers, I now invite you to take a break from the everyday to read The Fine Print of Pepper Ink. I do hope you enjoy this story as much as I did. Have a fantastic weekend everyone xo♥

The Fine Print of Pepper Ink

My name is Pepper, and I started Pepper Ink in 2012, we make beautiful vintage and custom temporary tattoos. I’ve always been creative and crafty, and when I was looking for my next tattoo I wanted some lovely temporary designs to try out and fill the space on my skin but couldn’t find anything I liked.  So I made some myself, and here we are!

Many of our designs are from vintage illustrations, some are my design and some are from other designers that I’ve met and collaborated with. We also have featured artists and some of those stay on and introduce extra pieces to become part of the collection. 

Ours is a continual process,  we release designs often and at the same time discontinue designs that are the least popular; really our customers drive our collections as we listen to what they’d like to wear and what inspires them the most.

I love tattoos, I like to be inspired and wear beautiful things, and I like to help other people who feel the same.  A lot of our customers are creatives and busy people who like motivation and inspiration. We do a lot of custom work too, for peeps who would like to try out a design or commemorate an occasion. We’ve made tattoos for people who can’t get a real one for medical reasons; one of my favourite is a customer who had a scar from heart surgery and covered it with a beautiful vintage anatomical heart tattoo.

We also design bespoke wedding favors and for tattoo booths- custom tats that can be designed to fit the theme and feel of a special day. Whether you’re having a garden chic wedding, a rustic beer-themed celebration, or a reception filled with bright colors and geometrics, we can create amazing tattoos that you and your guests will be absolutely giddy over! It’s so much fun.

An early highlight was being featured on some lovely and quite prominent blogs, it gave me motivation to know that people liked what we were doing. The ongoing highlight I suppose is choosing my own direction; I tend to not follow boring paths and if something makes me excited, I steer Pepper Ink toward it. Seeing photos and hearing about how people really identify with and are inspired by our designs also always makes my day.

My favourite thing about working in Pepper Ink, apart from working with great people and having awesome customers, is probably working from home. I’ve looked at outside spaces but keep putting it off, preferring for now to work in a separate shared office with two assistants and my awesome housemate who runs an artist collective and consultancy. My dog sleeps under my desk, and sometimes I have a nap after lunch or work late to get a project finished- but I’m always nice and close to home. Business does have a way of filling all of your time, so getting the balance of work/creating/life right can be tricky.

My own tattoos are a story of my changing self and I suppose Pepper Ink is about that too, the growth of a person and what we find inspiring, comforting and meaningful. We aspire to make temporary tattoos worthy of wearing, with designs that are really something inspirational, beautiful and transient that motivate and remind us what’s important.

We’re releasing some new tiny designs soon, and are working on a range of beautiful greeting cards that I can’t wait to see in stores. I’m looking forward to that moment where someone you know in a faraway place calls to say they saw your work in a store they wandered into! As we grow and evolve I’d like to always have my feet on the ground and my head in the clouds, and never lose sight of the fun and creativity that got it all started.

Readers are welcome to use the code YOUROCK for 20% off in the Pepper Ink store! Includes Custom Prints and Collections.  You can find us here:  
www.pepperink.etsy.com  and www.pepperink.com.au

Like us on facebook and be the first to know of giveaways and new designs!  

facebook.com/pepperinktattoo

Find us on instagram and share your ink @pepperinktattoo

Sailor Jerry - Wednesday Wishes

Wednesday Wishes is inspired today by  Norman "Sailor Jerry" Collins. If you don't know his story you can read more here: http://sailorjerry.com/norman-collins/the-man/

Enjoy xo♥

Forget Me Not Mermaid Sailor Jerry Rose from DeviouslySweet

Tattoo Mermaid Skull Metal Frame Purse Bag from LittleMissBabyBlue

Sailor Jerry "Sailor Beware"- ARTWORK - Mixed Media art print on 8x10 Vintage Dictionary page from sherryannshop

Sailor Jerry Bracelet - Large Rockabilly Nautical Skull Tile Cabochon Cuff Pinup Tattoo from DubiousDesign

Made To Measure Black Tattoo Pencil Skirt Dress - Detachable Straps + Belt from  GinAndSinEtsy

National Tree Day, Thrift Shops and Cacao Bliss Balls

Hello readers, did you have a good weekend? I did, achieving most of the things I set out to complete, topped off with a great social skate this afternoon :) Back to business now, today I share with you all National Tree Day, Thrift Shops and Cacao Bliss Balls. Happy Reading ♥ 
National Tree Day
Today marked National Tree Day. National Tree Day is the largest community tree planting and nature care event in Australia. More info can be found here http://treeday.planetark.org/). 

The Purly Queens of Albany marked this occasion by added some knitted colour to Alison Hartman Gardens. I just love public art, don't you? 
note: images are from http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/

Thrift Shops
We have a thrift shop dress up party to go to soon, and I reckon I managed to put together a "relatively" well matched outfit. There is the Thrift Shop coat, the Dark Brown corduroy pants, the Italian leather ankle boots, an unused red leather bag, vintage pale blue beads and an interesting striped top. 

 

If thrift shop sifting is not your thing, but you love the vintage spoils, check out the new Etsy Store - OpShopWin that my friend Natalie has opened. 

Natalie says this about her Etsy shop: 
"I am a rampant op shopper (thrift store to those in the USA)
Love vintage clothing and love recycling fashion" 
You can keep an eye on all the new arrivals at OpShopWin here:
https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/OpShopWin
Cacao Bliss Balls 
I read this recipe in a glossy magazine at the hairdressers and I can't wait to try it. I didn't have all of the ingredients in my pantry this weekend but am very keen to make it during the coming week. 

Cacao Bliss Balls 
Ingredients: 
1 cup whole organic walnuts 
1 cup whole whole organic almonds 
2 tbsp organic coconut oil 
1 tbsp organic honey 
12 organic dates
2 tbsp organic raw cacao powder 
Organic dessicated coconut to decorate 

Method: 
Blend all ingredients except for the coconut oil.

Heat coconut oil on the stove over low heat.

Add melted coconut oil to mix and blend again. The mixture should be tacky and moist. 

Roll into bite sized balls and coat in dessicated coconut/raw cacao powder, then refrigerate for two hours.

Readers, I hope you enjoyed reading all about National Tree Day, Thrift Shops and Cacao Bliss Balls. See you all on Wednesday for a new edition of Wednesday Wishes xo♥