DanielleQ: Curiouser and Curiouser

Wattleseed Carrot Cake

2009-11-11T16:28:00.000+11:00

This is one of my mum's recipes, amended a little and with the addition of Outback Pride's ground wattleseed.

Ingredients

1 cup wholemeal self-raising flour
1 cup plain flour (white)
1 tsp bicarb of soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons Outback Pride Ground Wattleseed
1 cup raw sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
4 medium carrots

Step One

Sift flours, bicarb of soda, cinnamon and wattleseed into a large bowl. Add sugar and oil, and mix well.

Step Two

Grate the carrots and set aside. Put eggs and sour cream into a separate bowl and mix well.

Step Three

Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture and combine until smooth. Add the grated carrot and mixed well.

Step Four

Grease and line two loaf tins, or just one round baking tin. Pour in the cake mixture. Bake at 180 degrees for about 45 minutes, pierce with a skewer in the middle to check if it is cooked through.

Step Five

Stand for a few minutes, and then turn onto a wire rack to cool. When cool, spread with the Cream Cheese Frosting and serve.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Combine 120g cream cheese, 1 teaspoon lemon rind (or try Ground Lemon Myrtle for a herby lemon tang!) and 30g butter. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups sifted icing sugar and stir until smooth.

Winner

2009-11-10T07:54:00.000+11:00

I got Sienna to pick a winner for the 'i love dirt' giveaway out of a hat, and the lucky person is...

Sylvia!

So off the book shall go all the way to Germany. Probably with me at the end of December, though, as I have already taped shut a parcel for you which will be heading that way today - yay!

I also wanted to share today these beautiful gifts the kids recently received from that very same lovely crafty dame - Sienna has been prancing about wearing the apron and although the other tees are too big for their respective boys at present I am sure they will pop up in many photos later on :)

Thank you so much, we love them! And what a great idea, this hand-made feel of personalising pieces as gifts - what a clever chook Sylvia is :)

2009-11-08T08:02:00.000+11:00

More faves from yesterday afternoons shoot - I was pretty grumpy because of my top wisdom teeth having totally cut through (my right one is hurting a lot) and the kids got pretty crazy, but it was worth it to get some fun shots!

Love Love Love this photo

2009-11-07T19:11:00.003+11:00

091107-Reeze01, originally uploaded by DanielleQ.

Kell, Reeze and I did a photo session at a local studio this afternoon (I took the photos - Reeze was itching to, but time ran away and also we all got too exhausted I think with the 5 crazy kids running around).

Just looking through and editing some this evening but this is an absolute fave already. Reeze looking so gorgeous and vibrant, one of those private joke kinda things ;)

Jonathan Livingstone, anyone?

2009-11-07T09:51:00.000+11:00

Heartbreaking reminder

2009-11-06T21:55:00.002+11:00

Ava's Rule - Click image to enlarge or click here to read more

Roly-Poly

2009-11-06T21:41:00.001+11:00

There he goes...

at 3 and 3/4 months old, Cedar is 6.4kg and 64.7cm long! I love this Sooki Baby romper, it reminds me of my dad :) (click to enlarge)

oh my. LOVE IT

2009-11-05T13:12:00.000+11:00

Sunny days, sweepin' the clouds away...

On my way to where the air is swee-e-e-et,
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

(I just love Google's homepage image for Sesame Street's 40th anniversary!)

'i love dirt!' giveaway

2009-11-05T09:31:00.000+11:00

"I Love Dirt! presents 52 open-ended activities to help you engage your child in the outdoors. No matter what your location—from a small patch of green in the city to the wide-open meadows of the country—each activity is meant to promote exploration, stimulate imagination, and heighten a child's sense of wonder."

Due to a lucky win I have just received a brand new copy of this fun book - the only thing is, I already have it! So it's time to share the love...

To be in the running to win 'i love dirt!' simply leave a comment on this post telling me your favourite season! Mine is Autumn :)

For an extra entry, post a link back to this blog on your blog, facebook or twitter and leave a comment showing me where the link is (it doesn't have to be to this giveaway, just to the blog in general - why not use one of the fun new 'Curiouser' widgets from the left sidebar?).

I will draw a winner on Monday 9th November, after 9:30am Melbourne time.

Congratulations Sylvia and Jeff!

2009-11-04T19:58:00.005+11:00

40_wochen_3, originally uploaded by SylviaK.

"Spencer Lionel King is here! Mom and baby doing fine. Papa proud. We will rest a few days but see you soon."

He was born on 3rd Nov - that is, 4th Nov here in Melbourne, when Ash, Cedar and I had just walked back from dropping Sienna off at school!

Can't wait to see photos :) Can't wait to meet him!

Squirrels and tree hugs

2009-11-04T18:32:00.000+11:00

Some fun finds on etsy today...

Squirrel Village by cindymindypindy

Forest scene mushroom gnome hut by cocoondesigns

In the Garden charm necklace by HazelnutCottage

The Owl and the Pussy Cat Art Print by Printspace

Tree hug by laurageorge

Off

2009-11-03T11:18:00.002+11:00

to the beach...

Yay

2009-11-02T13:23:00.000+11:00

I'm all excited, the lovely folk at OmniConnect have redirected my parked domain (ok ya da ya da), anyway

www.danielleq.com now points here to this blog :)

Yay!

Jeans Baby and Ash Smash

2009-11-02T11:14:00.000+11:00

Earlier in the year I mentioned that I entered Huggies Jeans for Genes day photo comp - well, I was one of the 10 national winners with this photo of Cedar - yay!

Cedar has his 4 month check this week, a little early (10 days before he is 4 months), now that I think about it but whatever ;) I am curious to see his weight and length, I think he has grown SO MUCH he is a big baby now! It doesn't last long, does it, the whole new baby thing. He's into 00 now, though his Cotton On 00 romper is a bit short but they are small sizes there. He now: giggles, munches on his fists and tries to clutch toys to his body. At the moment he is grizzling because he didn't have a long enough sleep!

Ash is the next one up for figuring out, at this point he has speech therapy and is booked in for early intervention next year. There is an Early Learning Centre not far from here which offers afternoon sessions once a week for early intervention on a referral basis, and Ash was referred by the local Maternal and Child Health Nurse. He is going to have a psych assessment this term, on the recommendation of his speech therapist, and I'm keen to see where that goes. Not that any assessments change who he is, but as with Sienna's Aspergers it is helpful to know if we are reacting and teaching the best way for them.

I love my kids, they are so fun!

In the meantime, I am LOVING this song, and yes I heard it on the Where the Wild Things Are preview (can't wait can't wait!)

How to sleep in a tree

2009-11-01T08:55:00.001+11:00

Back in March I started turning Sienna's bed into a four-poster tree and after some more work yesterday I'd say it's basically finished. On the wall are the gorgeous Love Mae Twitter Birds fabric wall stickers that we bought from here. Bedspread and pillowcase are Pip Studio (from Bed Bath 'n' Table here in AU). Reminds me of this photo on flickr, though a lot more vintage-y homemade and girly in style! I'll try to get a better photo later, had serious white balance problems with this one.

How it's done:

Step One - Get a secondhand bed, preferably white metal with removable tops on the four posts.

Step Two - Cut down cherry plum saplings which are springing up like mad in the garden, and select four, cutting to size (may require some testing, you want it about 6 ft high but how you cut the branches depends how far down the posts you can get the branches to go.

Step Three - Paint the branches white. I didn't do this until later but it would have made life much easier to paint them before putting them in the bed.

Step Four - Tear up long strips of white cotton voile or other fabric and wrap all the main branches, stitching the ends in place as you go with a needle and thread.

Step Five - Insert and stitch into place various artificial flowers (we've gone for plastic kitschy ones I bought ages ago from here when they were still on etsy) at key points around the branches. Perhaps add a bird, dragonfly, butterflies, little toadstools like we have or whatever sparks your imagination. We are supposed to put the nest from this photo at the top but I'm quite fond of it as a photo prop at the moment so we'll see how it goes.

Step Six - Go to sleep and dream like a little bird...

Etsy for Baby

2009-10-31T08:20:00.000+11:00

Just some of the stuffed baby blocks and balls now up in my etsy shop - still to come, stitched baby hats!
And look at this cute view...

MOvember

2009-10-30T14:05:00.000+11:00

Sponsor Ben for Movember - Changing the face of Men's health

Left of Centre

2009-10-29T22:40:00.000+11:00

This month I had an article on pages 88-92 of Scrapbook Creations (issue 71) as well as the colour team layout. It was mostly about how to do arty / freestyle scrapping while maintaining a sense of design and balance. Wonder Boys - above - was my favourite layout from it! Also in this issue I was mistakenly credited with the cover layout, but it isn't my page at all - credit should have gone to Cindy Couacaud.

She doesn't need "fixing"

2009-10-28T23:32:00.004+11:00

I bought a new Allison Strine pendant for myself recently and it arrived today, the day my little girl becomes 6 years old. Allison had this in her store worded towards sons (the much higher percentage of ASDs), but she changed mine for me at my request, as this is just how I feel about Sienna. Funny little Sienna has had quite an eventful year really, a couple of medical issues and a range of tests and assessments for various reasons. Most recently she was diagnosed with Aspergers, an Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Someone said to me how do I feel about her being "labelled". I don't really feel like it's a label as much as an explanation - it's not who she is, it is a condition which explains the way she sees things, ways which are not always obvious to others because they are different. It also explains why she struggles to regulate her emotions. This is great for her as having that understanding increases our empathy for her at times when she can seem on the outside to be, quite frankly, a real brat.

Someone else said to me "sorry", and as much as I see that this expression is coming from a loving place, I don't feel that it is something to be sorry about either. Sienna hasn't changed - she is who she is, wildly creative, quirky, crazy, funny and cute. Recognising Aspergers will just help us understand her better. And as someone who has always been a bit different from the norm, I'm happy to teach her about the positives of having such a unique perspective. Though I do realise it's fair to feel sorry for us having to deal with the more difficult behaviours. But it's not that big a deal, it's just what we need to work with to have this wonderful, fascinating girl in our lives. I'm grateful to have her, I love that she is quirky and has such a wonderful imagination and instinctive creativity.

One of her latest ideas is that she is the Queen of the world. Apparently Cedar is the King! In her own world they are the two most important people, (um, poor Ash - left out!). Funny little thing. On that note, here is another photo of the little man, lying beside the Australian Cedar tree that Pop planted for him after he was born - cute!

Aunt you cute

2009-10-27T12:20:00.002+11:00

All together now - "Awwwwwww"
Cedar and his favourite Auntie. OK, the only one of them that he's met, LOL, but still, he adores her :)

To market to market

2009-10-26T20:58:00.003+11:00

Yesterday I had that market stall at the Burrinja open day, and the most success I had was with Sienna's secondhand clothes :)

Of my art and craft items, I sold one rattle ball, one singlet and one little canvas (to an adorable little girl, only about 7 years old!) It was a handy test area though to gauge responses to my work and crafty creations - the stuffed balls and blocks seemed to appeal a lot (they rattle too!). As is usual, many people found my art different and fascinating, which is nice. I think I need to step out of Upwey if I actually plan on selling it though ;) Probably inner city would be more receptive, methinks, for the artwork, and a handmade kids market would be perfect for the hats, blocks etc. Down the track when I have the energy. Perhaps.

AND in the meantime you'll see this lot, and more, in my etsy store soon. I've also gone through and reduced the prices of some of the mixed media already in there to match my market prices.

And just for the cuteness factor, my littlest boy today...

Can You Say Burrinja?

2009-10-24T17:57:00.004+11:00

Get Into Art! is Burrinja Cultural Centre's annual open day, and this year the local council-run childcare centre has organised a "Children's Market" in the grounds as part of the event. Burrinja is in Upwey and the excitement begins at 11am tomorrow, 25th October!

I have booked two stalls and have been getting ready with my latest creations - a pile of stuffed baby blocks and balls. I've also got a range of stitched hats, Cedar is modelling two of them in these pics, and a few new canvases and art prints. I'll also be selling some secondhand clothes and my friend Kate's handcrafted hair clips :) I plan on offering custom hats for ordering, as well as custom canvases (with a selection of my photography to choose from). This is what has been going on today...
And this is one of the new canvases, 10"x12" and 2" deep, that will be for sale and available for ordering at $40 each ($35 for this exact one at the market). Talk about ways to keep busy, which is really the last thing I need LOL - next up, crafting for Sienna's school festival on the 14th!

little man

2009-10-20T09:11:00.002+11:00

Making stuff

2009-10-18T20:35:00.003+11:00

I've been making stuff this weekend, with a house full of not-quite-well people! Actually Sienna was fine today, and Ash slept away a lot of the day but ended up quite chirpy and feeling much better by dinner. Anyhow, making stuff. Sewing some stuff for the Burrinja market where I have a stall next Sunday, made this layout for a competition and the bingo flowers for a swap!

I'm All Over It

2009-10-12T14:55:00.000+11:00

Trippy video, fun song!

I'm All Over It Video

Jamie Cullum|MySpace Music Videos