Tik Tac Toe

August is turning out to be an unexpectedly busy month! I've somehow managed to book myself in to 6 markets days in four weeks in August, so I foresee a lot of running around, and lots more wear and tear on my poor old Oyster card. 

Anyway, my first market day this month will be at Tik Tac Toe - it's moved over to the Lock Tavern in Camden this time, and they're teaming up with Etsy for bingo and prizes! The other stall holders all have Etsy shops too, and Etsy very kindly did a blog post on it last week. 

I'm quite excited to check out the goodies by the other stallholders, especially Heartzeena and LostatSea. In fact, I've got a feeling I may be spending more money than I'll earn. If you're around Camden this Sunday, do pop on over to the Lock Tavern for music, markets and mmm...cupcakes. 

Giveaway Time!

Lissen up, luvvers! The lovely Crystal over on Watermoolen is conducting a great giveaway, with a whole stash of prizes. One of the items she's giving away will be my Keeper Necklace, so if you fancy getting your hands on one, for free, just hustle on over to her blog and enter the giveaway! 

By the way, I'm giving away a Keeper in the 'Berry' colourway (ie, shades of red) but if you think that red is soooo not your colour, you're welcome to get in touch and let me know what other colours you'd prefer. Good luck!

A Jumble Of Cakes

More food photos! I just wanted to show off some off the cakes Yusuf and I ended up making for the Jumble Sale last Sunday. It was a lot of work, but I think it was worth it in the end, we ended up making quite a bundle of money (1 million dollars!). There were quite a few cupcakes left over at the end of the day though, so I went around and gave it away to the other stallholders. 

On the way home, I started chatting to a lady on the bus, and told her I was giving the cupcakes away at the end of the day because I didn't want to carry them home. Her -totally unasked for advice - was that I should have given them to a pub, instead of to the other stallholders, because it wasn't 'a good business plan'. Errr...shut up! They're my cakes and I'll give them to who I want, and certainly not to a hipster pub so they can make money off my hard work!

We didn't just have cakes, we had biscuits and truffles too. Yusuf had a really tasty, moist orange and almond cake, and I'm going to have to pry the recipe out of him when I see him next. 

Rainbow Cake

Some gorgeous cutie turned 31 last Saturday, but unfortunately didn't get the lightsabre laser he was so desperately wishing for. They're insanely cool, but then again, I haven't got an extra £200 lying around right now. So I baked him a rainbow instead. Behold! 

I present - the six layered, six flavoured, megaton birthday cake! Yep, that's right, six different flavours in this one cake. 

The flavours were, from left to right (or top to bottom, depending on how it ends up on your plate):

Red - Cherry

Orange - Orange zest

Yellow - Mango

Green - Pandan

Blue - Blueberries

Purple - Pomegranate and berry jam

I mixed up nearly 2 kilos of batter, and then separated it into 6 portions, before adding the fruits/ flavours and colouring to the individual portions. It took heck of a long time, but it was worth it, if only to hear the Mancreature go 'Wow! Awesome!' upon slicing the cake. 

The individual layers were then sandwiched with pastry cream, before being stacked on top of each other. I left out the frosting, as I had to prepare a wagon load of cakes and biscuits for the Artquest Jumble Sale on Sunday, but if I had to do it again, I may disguise the colours with a buttercream frosting. In fact, I may just attempt it again, because it's the most cheerful cake I've ever made.

Oh, and here's a gratuitous unicorn shot, just because...

Jumble Sale

Alright, listen up, Londoners (or those in London over the weekend)! Artquest are holding their annual jumble sale this Sunday at The Rag Factory off Brick Lane, so make your way out East if you're looking to get your filthy mitts on some goodies. 

Fellow Bake Club member Yusuf and I have got two stalls there. (Yeah, I started a baking club, because I am soooo cool. Deal with it!) We'll be selling heaps of fantastic homemade cakes, biscuits and possibly truffles, and also a bunch of our old stuff - clothes, CDs, badges, knitting/sewing supplies. It's a sorta fundraising event for visual artists and crafters, so your money will go towards helping starving artists buy another pint of beer and a pack of fags. It's all for a good cause!

So, please come along if you're looking for a fun day out, or if you'd like to judge the quality of my baking skillzzz for yourself. I'll try not to poison you (unless you're an idiot, of course). Click over here for the map if you want to find out how to get there. 

Finders Keepers

Coming soon - lots more Keeper necklaces, made with cotton thread from my various dyeing experiments.

Animal House

Ever get the feeling you live in a zoo? Well, it seems like my flat's turned into one recently.

Pair of owls (in the shop now).

Pyramid of tardigrades (also in the shop now. Click here to straight to the listing.)

Lovestruck giraffes. Not yet in the shop, but they might be making an appearance at a craft fair in August. 

A rather curmudgeonly narwhal. Should he be in the shop?

A baby unicorn. This one's all mine, it's going nowhere!