Of Ugly Sock Rabbits and Gingerbread Cakes

Yesterday I finished what I think is the ugliest sock rabbit I have ever made. I'm not entirely sure what went wrong with it, but it just doesn't look right to me. I have named it Wonky...because, well, that's how it looks to me. The boyfriend however, thinks it is lovely, despite it's wonkiness, and has decided to keep it. So we have yet another creature that lives in the bedroom with us.

And here he is - in all his wonky glory:



I also made gingerbread cakes at the weekend. I started out with the intention of making gingerbread men, but on inspection of my baking supplies I realised I had no plain flour. So instead, I cobbled together a cake mix from the gingerbread ingredients.



They actually came out really, really well - they're slightly crunchy on the outside, and really soft, fluffy and moist on the inside. The recipe went something like this:

300g Self Raising Flour
300g Butter
300g Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 and 1/2 tsp Ground ginger
1/2 tsp Ground cloves
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1 tbsp Golden Syrup
Milk

I didn't measure the milk - just poured it until the mixture got to the consistency I wanted! I am from the 'Add ingredients until it looks and tastes right school of baking.

I put them in the oven at about 180 degrees for 12 minutes (ish) and they were perfect! It makes about 20 cakes - by the time I came to take a picture it would appear that the boyfriend and the landlord had got to them!

The recipe is probably not exactly how I made them, so if anyone does make them, I apologise in advance for them not coming out well! Next time I invent a recipe I shall be sure to write it down as I go!

Big Catch Up!

I have the internet back at home! Hooray! And that means a big catch up post of everything I've made while the internet has been down!

First up: Cross Stitch.

I made a post a while back about the two big cross stitches I was working on. Without internet to distract me in the evenings, I've got some more of the Looney Tunes one done:



Next up: Embroidery

I had an idea a while ago about embroidering things on the back of underwear. And now I've done some:







I'd like some opinions on these - not so much the designs, as I was just playing around, but ideas, thoughts, constructive criticisms - I'm pondering whether to sell them, but don't know whether they would sell.

And then we have sock creatures:

I made 2 monkeys and a bunny that were sent off around the world this week, which I stupidly forgot to take pictures of first. One was a monkey for my step-sister's birthday, made from socks with pink and sparkly hearts on them, and the other was a monkey made of fluffy socks for my friends in Finland. The bunny went to Finland too - he was made from black socks with purple red polkadots!

I did make another bunny though, which my boyfriend has now claimed as the girlfriend for his other bunny. He has named her Violet, and here he is holding her:


And finally...(getting there, I promise!) Today is my lovely boyfriend 34th birthday. And so we went to Legoland! We both love Lego! Whilst there, we bought:

The Kraken Attackin' Lego Pirates set (put together by me!):


Lego Minifig shaped cookie cutters (for when I make Gingerbread!):


And a really cool Lego bag (I have a major thing for handbags of all shapes and sizes!)


The boyfriend also bought a mini Lego Bulldozer, but I haven't taken a picture of it!

Oh, and before I forget - my monkey swap present arrived too. It's a gorgeous little monkey from Mel over at Felt Me Up. He also came with a really cute banana:




And I'm now taking part in Meri's 50's B Movie swap!

Woooow, that was a long post!

Monkey Madness!

I'm on a bit of a monkey making spree at the moment, after having spent lots of time making rabbits and monsters, I've gone back to monkeys.

At the moment I'm making a monkey for the Monkey Swap, so no pictures of that yet! I'm also making a dark striped monkey, and I bought some more fluffy socks this morning which I plan to turn into monkeys, as I think they look really quite cute made from fluffy socks.

In other news, I've set up a Coriandr Shop, which hasn't much stuff in yet, but hopefully will do soon.

Also, the Pirate sock creatures I've made are up for sale in my Etsy shop. I also have some better pictures of them too:

I Am Bad...

At blogging it seems.

I seem to have lost a bit of my mojo at the moment - I'm trying to think of ways to revive it at the moment. I am still making things, but I'm not enthused by them really. I'm hoping it'll come back!

I haven't got any (decent) pictures of anything new, but I have added an Etsy Mini feature to the left, as you may have seen.

And here is a (bad) picture of the last sock monkey I've made. It's made of fluffy socks! I don't recommend making creatures from fluffy socks - the bedroom is covered in fluff that's fallen off the socks!

New Job!

I started a new job today! The first day went pretty well, and although I'm very tired I'm also glad that I managed to work for a full day! Having not worked for 3 months it's a big achievement to me!!

Sadly, I think this will mean I won't have as much time to craft - although for the first few weeks I'll only be working part time, as there's so many of us that they need to train!

So, I'm off tomorrow, and plan to use it photographing and listing sock creatures (as there is now an army of them in the bedroom!).

I've made a new Monster since I posted last, and I've 3/4 made a new Bunny, but I haven't had a chance to photograph them, so no pictures yet I'm afraid. Hopefully I'll manage to get pics tomorrow and there'll be a big update then!

So, just a quick update from me, before I go and shower and collapse! I'm hoping I won't fall asleep before Ashes to Ashes start!!