I HEART GARAGE SALES!!!!!!!!

I've never really been into garage sales or op shopping but now as I am unleashing the inner craftisian I finally found that love that many of my friends have talked about.

I just wanted to share a couple of my scores from today;

First up I found this old school camera which is the first to be added to my "vintage camera wall art" that I will be having in my new craft room once we move next month.

Secondly I found a cool cane & wooden buffet table that I'm going to sand back & paint white. This will be used as a work station to cut fabric & make boutique wipes cases. I don't have a pic of the table as Matt has to go back & pick it up in the van so he just dropped it straight to our storage shed until we move. I will definitely take before & after shots for you though.

Lastly, after deciding we'd seen enough we headed for home but there was one last sale just around the corner. So I detoured & thankfully I did as I found the perfect retro chair that is now my new sewing chair. It will fit perfect in to the theme of my new room.

Now I'm about to pop out to the post office but I think a trip to Vinnies is in order.

Sewing & Craft Room to Inspire

Alright so I've slacked of badly where this blog is concerned but I've been really busy getting out lots of orders so I hope I can be forgive.

Tonight I thought I would share with you some photos of sewing & craft rooms that I'm using as my inspiration. We move in just under a month & the new house has a much bigger room for me to be crafty in. I can see it now French Shabby Chic all the way!

I love the cotton reel holder in this one!

My favourite by far!

Look at all that ribbon, I've been saving up my large coffee jars just for this purpose

OH MY GOSH FABRIC HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This rooms a little plain for my liking but I do really dig all the organisation though

I love how cheeky this wall decal is. I will definitely be getting some decals for my new room

I'm a scrapbooker so this room I am utterly in love with, the follow photos are all of this room!

I love the bird cage!

I hope these photos inspire all of you as much as they inspire me.

WORK IN BEAUTY, CREATE BEAUTY!!!!

SEW FOR BACKPACK 4 AUSSIE KIDS

Hello, firstly thank you for taking the time to read this very important message.


I have recently become aware of a fantastic organisation called Backpack for Aussie Kids http://backpacks4aussiekids.com.au/ who have set themselves a goal of providing 1000 backpacks to foster care children around Australia. I won't go into the finer details of the organisation as it's all on their website.

What I am proposing is donating crayon/pencil rolls to this great cause. I as one person can only accomplish so much but as a group I am hoping we can band together to sew as many rolls as possible. So if you can sew & would like to help that would be great.

The rolls take very little fabric to make & Spotlight has some wonderfully bright cotton fabrics that are very inexpensive. I would only ask that you offer to make as many as you think you are able, I will not be setting a min. amount per person.

On Monday, 21st I will email everyone with the pattern & instructions on how to make the crayon rolls. I hope also have adapted the pattern to make it larger for pencils or felt pens.
If you would like to be apart of this please email me at sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com before Monday, 21st June

Warmly
Renee Webb

TASTY TUESDAY - AFTER DINNER MINT CHEESECAKE

So this week I'm mixing it up a bit & swapping today's post, TUESDAY'S CRAFTY TIP, to TASTY TUESDAY. On Thursday I'll be doing the crafty tip though so no need to worry haha

On Sunday my hubby & I made the most divine dessert & it was so simply. Soon you will realise why I couldn't wait another few days to share this recipe with you.

AFTER DINNER MINT CHEESECAKE

Ingredients Lineup

250g Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint essence
1/4 cup cream
60g dark chocolate
2 peppermint crisp bars
strawberries

Beat together the cream cheese, sugar and essence using an electric mixer until smooth. Add the cream and beat until well combined

Pour the melted chocolate over the cream cheese mixture and lightly fold through to create a swirl. Spoon mixture into 4 serving glasses and refrigerate for 1hour.

Serve topped with broken peppermint crisp & strawberries

For a less rich taste I would recommend chopping up the strawberries & adding to the mixture prior to setting.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

FUN FRIDAY - CRAFTY COLOURED RICE

Wow I'm so super dooper excited, today we have our first GUEST BLOGGER!!!

When I saw my friend, Cath's Facebook status mentioning she was trying her hand at colouring rice for her young son I just knew I had to grab her for a guest blog post. So here you have it introducing Catherine Chapman & her adorable son Heath showing us all how to make....

Crafty Coloured Rice

I never really considered using rice as a plaything for my son before, but I found the idea on the internet and HAD to try it out. Its great fun for them, as it sifts through there fingers, and they can pour into cups, bowls etc… even can be used to stick to their drawings. The colours add that extra touch, and will be enjoyed by your kids.
Dying Your Rice

I think the best rice to use, would be any rice that is white, so jasmine rice, long grained rice etc… as it picks up the dye better, brown rice won’t work as the colour won’t stick to it as well as white rice.

In a small bowl (metal or plastic bowls work best as they won’t stain)

Then mix 3 tablespoons of water with 4 – 5 drops of food colouring, depending on how strong you want the colour, stir with a metal spoon till the water and food colouring is mixed together

The next step is to add 1 cup of rice to the coloured water, let it sit for 5 minutes, stirring after 2 minutes. Then using a sieve, drain the rice and spread the colored rice out on newspaper (make it several layers thick to absorb any excess liquid) to dry. Let it dry for a few hours, 7 – 10 hours.. Works better if dried overnight. You can repeat as many times as you like with the different colors. (I have used blue, green and yellow in the photos)

Once dried, mix colours together, and then let the kids have a play! The rice is best kept in see through jars.

Kids will mix the colours, so if you want to keep them separate, make sure you only offer one colours at a time. For putting out multiple colors at once, egg cartons for example are best to use, just spoon one color into each cup.

The coloured rice should keep indefinitely. However kids may scatter or hide rice around the house, I have already found some in my sons ride-on car, oopsey!

Ideas for the coloured rice
Layer colours in a jar
You can make pretty decorations by simply layering colored rice in a clear glass jar and setting it on the shelf.

Make pictures

Spread glue on a picture and then sprinkle with coloured rice, great to add a special touch to those drawings.
 
 
 
A very big thanks again to Catherine for doing this guest blog spot for us!!! If you try this out or any other of our crafts & tips I'd love to see your photos. Photos can be emailed to sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com
 

TASTY THURSDAY!

Seeing how we're in for a pretty cool weekend in most parts of the country I thought I'd share with you a very yummy PEA & HAM SOUP recipe for your slow cooker. Perfect to pop on in the morning then curl up on the couch with the family & have a movie day or go outside to catch a bit of winter sun!

It's funny that I should be showcasing this as my first TASTY THURSDAY recipe as I have never been a fan of this soup, I don't like peas & the sight of green soup is just so unappealing to me. That was until a few weeks ago while staying with my sister. She cooked this up & I thought I would at least give it a taste. I took a taste from a spoon & that was it I love it! So I hope you love it too.

First up is the ingredients lineup

1 onion, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

2 sticks celery, finely chopped (you'll notice there aren't any of these in my pic, that's because hubby doesn't like it & we're trying it without this time around)

3.5 ltrs chicken stock (this is an approx. amount as it will depend on how much liquid your cooker will take, I have a Kenwood 6ltr but once all the other ingredients are in I can only fit in about 2.7 ltrs)
500g split peas, soaked overnight & rinsed well (I used the no soaking required peas but I still soaked them overnight as I think it helps them break down completely during cooking)

1 bacon hock

bacon bones & cracked pepper (optional)

Now throw all of the above together in your slow cooker & cook on low all day. I put mine on at 8.10 am & we will eat around 6 - 6.30 pm tonight. Check the soup early afternoon, remove the hock, peel off the skin & the meat should just fall off. I then ripped the meat apart & threw it back in the cooker. You can put the skin back in too if you want to get the extra flavour from it, just removed it before serving.

Now serve with some yummy crusty bread & enjoy!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Tuesday's Crafty Tip

Have you got children? Have you got broken pieces of crayon laying around at the bottom of pencil cases???? Then this week's Tuesday's Crafty Tip is for you!

Recycling your child's broken crayons!!!!

You'll need;

broken crayons (all paper removed)
flat baking tray
baking paper *

mini cookie cutters

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.

Line flat baking tray with baking paper. Place broken crayons on prepared tray.

Put them in the oven for about 8 min. You will need to remain close by and check in on them periodically because they will melt quickly.

Once your crayons have melted, take them out of the oven carefully, and then take a toothpick and swirl the wax around.

Allow the mix to harden but not completely.

When you think the mixture has hardened slightly try using a cookie cutter to punch out a shape. It might take you a couple of goes until the mixture is hard enough to take the cookie cutter. If you muck up that's fine just put those bits in a snap lock bag for next time.

Now you will have some cute little recycled crayons all ready for your child to draw with.

*I use baking paper instead of oil spray so that the crayon wax doesn't have contact with my tray, this way I can use the tray for baking food as well.

Swap Me, Swap You!

Morning all!!!

So who’s up for a swap? I am!

As you will be aware I just recently received a beautiful gift from my mum, a shiny Janome!!!!! As it seems I’ve taken to sewing quite well & I’m going to test that by running the first ever but definitely not the only SWEET CHEEK CRAFTS SWAP. This one will be all about sewing.

The way I was thinking of doing this swap was having everyone make the same thing but adding their own style to the project. What do you think? I thought I might give you 3 projects & we can vote on which one to do, does this sound like a plan?

Once the project is chosen & all swappers have commented below or emailed in then I’ll do a random draw from two hats to match people up. Each swapper will receive an email from me with their swap buddies info.

Alright so let’s see if any of you are interested in the below projects;

TAKE AWAY SEWING CADDY

TRAVELLING ART SHOW POUCH

TISSUE BOX COVER

Ok so some of you may be thinking that the above projects are easy peesy but remember I’m trying to make this something a lot of us can participate in. The projects will get harder over time I promise & will not always be a sewing project either. This is a crafts blog after all not just a sewing blog.

Count me in I hear you say, alrighty then just email me at sweetcheekcrafts@gmail.com with your tutorial vote, your name & email address. You have until 5 pm tomorrow (Wed. 9th June) to submit your email. After this time I will post again to inform everyone of the favourite project & go over the swap guidelines.

Look what I made!

So after having to deal with this...

I finally got in & sorted out the chaos that was our spare room. My major battle was the fact that all this junk, well it's really not junk at all, has no where to live as our tiny little house is at maximum capacity. \

As soon as the room was tidy & Sahara, my little sweet cheeks, was down for a nap I got in & used my spanking new shiny Janome! I wanted to start small so I decided to create a crayon roll for my 4 year old nephew. Once I had finished it I knew I had the bug, the sewing bug!!!! I just wanted to jump right in & sew, sew, sew. I am so proud of myself, you see it has been some 11 or so years since I was even behind a sewing machine. That was back in high school when I took Home Economics.

I will admit something to you when my hubby bought home this beautiful new toy which my mum had gotten me as a surprise I was extremely anxious. Why you ask??? Well I'm the first to admit I've tried many a new hobby in the past & most have not gone far. I was quite nervous to try attempt my first project in fear I would find it all too hard & give up. But alas I think I succeeded in a BIG way. After I had completed the first crayon roll I just wanted to sew more, so I cut out the pieces last night & as soon as Sahara was down for a nap this morning i got in & whipped up 2 more. The blue/green star roll is the first one I did last night.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my mum for having faith in me & investing in yet another of my hobbies. I promise you I will cherish her (my Janome) forever & create beautiful pieces on her.