Summer decoupage

Decoupage is one of my favourite crafts, but somehow it seems that I'm doing everything else more than decoupage. The thing is, I prefer not to work with paints and glues and lacquers inside when I can't keep the room well aired because of the cold weather. Moreover, since I don't have a designated working space, a room just for this, I have to think what kind of air am I going to inhale while sleeping or doing other things.
Anyway, when the finer weather came, I got reminded of my dear decoupage by a full rack of supplies in a supermarket in Ljubljana (Slovenia) where I was on business at the time. I bought quite an amount of supplies: beautiful tissues, an unfamiliar but (as it turned out) very good brand of glue/varnish, many cool wooden items to work on. This caused an instant swarm of ideas how to use all these great things, so I got my equipment out in the garden and let myself enjoy the work and its latter rewards!

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The first thing I worked on was this cool wooden vase. I was in a very good and positive mood at the time, and working outside, I decided to go with flowery designs to celebrate the beauty of nature and the summertime. The size of the vase was just perfect and has made the work fast and easy.

The second project was a very small wooden box that I loved very much for its size and shape. I decided to decorate not only the outside of the box but also its inside, influenced by the works of my aunt Marina who creates the most amazing decoupaged cardboard boxes under her brand name Mashtaria (see her works on Facebook HERE). Working on this little box was a little bit more difficult because it required more concentration and preciseness. Again, lovely flowers and vibrant colours!

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I cannot even start to explain how happy I was with both the outcomes. I am really just a novice in decoupage, but the great thing with this craft is that one does not have to be a pro to make beautiful pieces. Mistakes are allowed and even welcomed, and can lead one in unexpected directions when trying to come up with creative ways to fix a "problem" (again, a wise thing my aunt Marina told me some time ago).
I kept them both for a while, waiting for right occasions and right persons to give them to: the box was a gift for my dear friend Dina who returned back home from a long, long journey and who I've missed very much. The vase is still with me, but soon to be given to someone whose work and positivity I admire very much. I enjoy crafting, but I enjoy giving and bringing smiles to dear faces even more!

Fourth polymer clay workshop

After quite a while, we have organized the fourth polymer clay workshop. All the girls were very excited, but in the end, only three of us attended. It was somewhat disappointing turnout, but the workshop was great in the end anyway!
Ana was our lovely hostess and our tutor too (all in one!). We did blending and created some cute canes.
We also tried my new extruder for the first time. If there wasn't for Ana's husband to lend his hand, the extruder tryout would have been a big disappointment - it was simply too difficult for us girls to press the clay out of it!
In the end we finished with, not many, but some very nice and colorful items that will make great jewelry.

And to make things even better, Ana prepared for us incredibly delicious chocolate cupcakes with banana flavoured topping. Perfect ending of the evening!

Carrot cupcakes

OK, so it was not "tomorrow", but I think it is still timely enough.

I've been planning to try myself at baking carrot cupcakes for ages, and now that I'm on vacation (3 posts on the blog in few days - isn't it obvious?) I have decided that I should be waisting no more time.
I have found the recipe on the Internet, since no carrot cupcakes or cakes are in any of the recipe books I have at home (carrot cakes are not common in Serbia, although my mom does have a recipe for some other carrot sweet). I know that it is risky to use a recipe that has no references, but it was my only option and luckily the risk has payed off.
To be honest, I did change a few things in the recipe (I realized only too late that I was missing some of the ingredients), so I didn't use the raisins at all and instead of walnuts I used a mixture of hazelnuts and almonds.

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The final outcome was great! This recipe is really superb. It was easy to prepare, didn't take a lot of time either. The cupcakes are very tasty and they bake to be nice and soft. The only thing that I would perhaps change is to put a little bit less sugar in the glazing, and to use baking powder instead of baking soda (because I personally don't like the way baking soda affects the taste, even though only slightly). I'll definitely try this recipe with these alternations, and let you know how it turns out.

All in all, I definitely recommend this recipe and I hope that you'll enjoy it as much as I have!