Laser Cut Wood Jewellery

So, in my last post I told you I was super busy making some prototypes for some new designs… remember? Well, here are a couple of them.

I've been playing around with laser cutting some of my designs into wood. These particular ones are made using New Zealand Rimu wood, which is sustainable and not on the list of endangered plant species :-)

As the lasers burn through the wood, etching the designs into the wood, it leaves a warm romantic scent of campfire behind, which I love. I started out with some very basic designs as I needed to see how this medium lent itself to my designs.

Now I know what works and what doesn't work so well… it's made it easier for me to go mad designing a whole bunch of new pieces. Lots of animals, lots of new words, lots more fun, lots of people. I'm looking forward too more new designs being ready for release. Hopefully in May!!

So see you soon with more designs and styles including brooches, necklaces, earrings, bangles and rings :-)

If you're after a particular initial on a brooch or earrings, let me know before April 16th, 2010, and I should be able to accommodate your custom requests :-)

You can find these designs and others in my Etsy store HERE and my Dawanda store HERE

Tune in next time for some more updates on what I've been up to and the new designs that are on their way :-)

Gluten Free Ginger Cake with Caramel Icing (Fructose Friendly!)

Okay friends, here is another one of my recipes that is not only delicious, but can also be enjoyed by folks with special dietary needs. This amazingly moist and rich ginger cake is gluten free, and suitable for people with fructose malabsorption or intolerance. Although, just remember that not everyone is the same, so some ingredients may still irritate some people with these conditions, so if you're making this for a friend, perhaps just ask them about the ingredients first to make sure they are suitable for them :-)

Gluten Free Ginger Cake with Caramel Icing (Also Fructose Friendly :-)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup (165g) firmly packed brown sugar

3/4 cup (110g) Gluten Free plain flour

1/2 cup (75g) Gluten Free self-raising flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

125g butter, softened

2 eggs

2/3 cup (160ml) buttermilk

Caramel Icing

60g butter

1/2 cup (110g) firmly packed brown sugar

3 tablespoons milk

3/4 cup (120g) Icing sugar

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 170C (150C fan forced oven). Grease a deep 20cm ring pan or bundt tin.

2. Sift sugar, flours, bicarb, ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg into a medium bowl. Add butter, eggs and buttermilk. Beat with an electric mixer on low until all ingredients are combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat for another 2 minutes or until the mixture is smooth and paler in colour.

3. Pour mixture into prepared tin, bake for about 35 minutes. You'll know it's cooked if you poke a skewer into it and it comes out clean. Stand your cake in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning out, and let it rest on a wire cooling rack. Note: If you have used a ring pan, let you cake rest with the topside up. If you have used a bunt tin, let your cake rest topside down :-)

Caramel Icing

Gently heat butter, sugar and milk in a small saucepan over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil then simmer, stirring for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sifted icing sugar. Drizzle warm icing over cake.

Now your cake is ready to serve :-)

Roller Skating Peacocks and a Busy Week

I have had a great week, including being featured on the gorgeous Calico & Co blog HERE, and I've been very busy working on the prototypes for a new project, a new direction that my work has taken. I'm feeling confident and hope it all works out, and of course, if it does, I'll show you all here on my blog.

In the meantime I thought I would talk about some of the clothes I have been making using rescued, recycled, upcycled and reused fabrics.

I made this top using a combination of fabric that I rescued from a fabric factory before it was sent to landfill (phew!) and some thrifted fabric. I really love the patterns and colours and wished I had more of these fabrics, but this was it. SO this is the only top that will include these patterns. I'm hoping I might JUST have enough left to make a baby top or perhaps some pants.

Both these fabrics are buttery soft cotton/elastine blends, so they have great stretch and recovery as well as being breathable and super soft :-)

I'm not sure why, but when this piece was finished it made me think of the title: "Rollerskating Peacock". Nope, I don't have an explanation for this name, it's just what popped into my mind :-)

This top can be found in my DaWanda store as well, HERE.

What's coming up on my blog? Well, I have a few more delicious Gluten Free and Fructose Friendly recipes from my successful cooking experimentations. And, with any luck I'll be showing you the results of my prototype experimentations as well!!

Chat soon xox

Gluten Free, Fructose Friendly Rum Balls

So, here it is, as I promised, my recipe for Gluten Free and Fructose Friendly Rum Balls! I make these quite often and whenever I take them with me to a party/picnic/etc they are always a hit.

I have Fructose Malabsorption (Fructose Intolerance), which means I can't eat lots of common foods, one of which is wheat, so I often miss out on delicious things. These Rum Balls don't contain any wheat, and incidentally any gluten either, so they can be enjoyed by a lot of people, even those with dietary restrictions.

I took them to a party this weekend and they were very popular. I even had a woman who I didn't know come and sit next to me with a handful of my Rum Balls and exclaim : "Oh boy! Have you had some of those Rum Balls!!!?? They're so good! But you better hurry, they're going fast!" Of course, I was pretty chuffed :-)

Okay, here's the recipe:

Gluten Free/Fructose Friendly Rum Balls

Ingredients

500g Gluten Free Chocolate cake*

1 tin Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 cups desiccated Coconut*

1/2 cup Cocoa powder*

1 tbs Rum*

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Method:

Whizz the chocolate cake in a food processor until it is fine crumbs. In a large bowl place your cake crumbs, tin of condensed milk, cocoa powder, rum, cinnamon and 1 cup of coconut and set the other cup of coconut aside in a small bowl. Mix well until all ingredients are combined. If your mixture is very moist add a little more coconut. Now using about 1 heaped teaspoon of mixture roll it into a ball with your hands then roll it in your remaining coconut to coat, place on a baking tray that you've lined with baking paper. Continue doing this with the rest of your mixture, then place the tray of balls into the fridge for about 1/2 an hour. You can then pack them away in an air tight container for later, or you can eat them all now with some friends :-)

These balls will last for about 1 week in an airtight container in the fridge (if you don't eat them all!)

Makes approx. 40 balls, depending on the size you choose to make them.

*Instead of buying a ready made gluten free chocolate cake, which can be hard to find and quite expensive, you can either make your own from your favourite recipe or you can make one from a packet cake mix (this is what I do). In this case I recommend not using a Mud Cake mix as this is often too moist. Regular Gluten Free Chocolate cake is best. You will also find that a lot of Gluten Free cake mixes will give you instructions for using Egg Replacer instead of fresh chook eggs, just incase you need to avoid eggs.

* You may find that you need a little more than 2 cups of coconut if your mixture is very moist. Coconut is not suitable for everyone who needs to avoid Fructose, so check this beforehand if you are making these balls for someone else.

* Not all cocoa powder is gluten/wheat free, so make sure you check this. Use one that you're familiar with that you know is suitable for you and your dietary needs.

*You might like to add more or less rum to your balls, or use Rum essence instead, or omit the rum or rum flavour all together, the balls are delicious whatever you do!

*If you're not a fan of getting too messy you might like to wear powder free disposable gloves when rolling the balls.

*Of course, this recipe can be made using regular cake too, if you have no dietary restrictions :-)

Alterations:

*If you're making these balls for a children's party you might like to try rolling your balls in a mixture of half coconut, half hundreds and thousands, instead of straight coconut to add a bit of colour and fun!

*Try making the balls with a vanilla cake instead of chocolate cake, omit the cocoa powder, add a dash of vanilla extract and a little more coconut for Vanilla Coconut Rum Balls!!! Oh yeah!!!!!!

I'd love to hear from anyone who tries this recipe, and of any delicious alteration you try!!

Now lets get cooking!!

Choc Leopard Baby Shoes

Well I had a nice day, it was busy, but not too hectic :-)

I made this little pair of Leopard Print baby shoes for a special order that was on it's way to Germany. I made them using one of my original patterns that is available in my JoliBebe store HERE and HERE. The pattern uses such a small amount of fabric that it is perfect for using up those little scraps of your favourite vintage fabric, that you have been saving up for a special piece. It's also a great pattern to make using fabric you have selvaged from a fabulous garment from the op shop/thrift store. Perhaps you found something that is made from great fabric, but the item itself is a bit ugly, or the wrong size etc… Chop it up and make something else with it... like a little pair of shoes for your favourite little person :-)

I knew it was going to rain today, so it was a race against time to get these finished, so I could ride my bicycle to the Post Office to mail them before I got drenched. I wasn't worried so much about me getting wet, but I was worried about my mail getting wet. You'll be pleased to read that the mail and I both survived :-)

I'm not sure why, but these shoes seem to be particularly popular with my German customers. Just like I have one particular hat in my range that is very popular, but has only ever sold to folks in Poland. I know? Odd.

I have a REALLY busy day ahead of me tomorrow. With any luck I'll find a moment to post my recipe for gluten free, fructose friendly rum balls! Here's the link to the recipe:

http://sharalambethdesigns.blogspot.com/2010/02/gluten-free-fructose-friendly-rumballs.html

xox Shara

Hello 2010!

Hello friends :-)

Yes, I know, it's been quite a while since my last Post. Life got busy last year with the business, organising an overseas trip and all the other things that happen in-between.

At the end of last year I went to New Zealand for a holiday and for my cousin's wedding at the gorgeous Craggy Range WInery, near Napier.

I got a lot of shopping done in Napier and here are links to two of my favourite stores KILT and AROHA LAMOUR . I also couldn't help myself and brought home several gorgeous vintage pieces from the multitude of fantastic Antique and secondhand stores around Napier.

And I had a really amazing time, spending New Years Eve at a beach house, watching the fireworks over the bay from our balcony, whilst sipping some fabulous local wines.

After my return from New Zealand I was lucky enough to go camping at Wilsons Promontory with some good friends. Although the weather was a little inclement for the first two days (we all snuggled up in our tents reading, writing and drawing) the weather was perfect for the rest of our stay.

As much as I loved lazing around in the hammock reading, jotting down ideas and working on new designs, I also loved venturing out over the hills and rocks and waves to discover so many new places at the Prom that I hadn't seen before.

I came across two tiger snakes, lots of wombats, a few possums and lots of amazing birdlife, as well as kayaking up a perfectly still tidal river and going to the outdoor cinema. It was brilliant! :-)

I'm back, feeling well rested from two amazing holidays, and I'm ready to get back to work.

I have been working on a whole range of new designs and ideas (it was hard not to be inspired in such amazing surroundings!) and I just wish I had a few more hours in each day to bring them all to fruition.

So, stayed tuned for what's to come in my stores HERE and HERE with a new range of hats & more clothing using upcycled, recycled and repurposed materials. As well as a whole new range of babies and kids clothing and shoes HERE and HERE using the same ecologically sound materials.

It's going to be a big year and I'm going to love every minute of it!

New Embroidery Kits

After many weeks of planning, designing, drawing, testing and printing my new Embroidery Kits are available!
The two themes that are currently available are "Girl Trouble" and "A Skulk of Foxes".
"Girl Trouble" includes several girls of varying size and style, as well as other such "girlie" things as diamonds and bows. And "A Skulk of Foxes" includes lots of different foxes, in various styles, and sizes, as well as rain drops and leaves.
The kits include an A4 sheet of designs, special Transfer Paper so you can easily transfer the images onto your fabric/garment etc, embroidery thread in various colours and easy to follow instructions.
All paper used in the kit is recycled from 100% Post-Consumer waste.

The kits can be found HERE and HERE and HERE

Girl Trouble Sample

A Skulk of Foxes Sample