Half Term

It's half-term week here and I am loving the lazy mornings and slightly unstructured days - I am a control freak so my days can never be completely free of routine! After the excitement of yesterday's sporting events (Swansea City being promoted and England's fabulous win against Sri Lanka in the cricket) today has a slower, more relaxing pace. I had a lovely time this morning trying out a new coffee shop in Mumbles:

It's an off-shoot of The Junction cafe in Blackpill and I absolutely loved it. The coffee and toast was sublime and the surroundings - well just inspiring!!! I loved the beach hut/whitewashed style and the little gifts on sale gave me lots of ideas for crafting!

On the crafting front I got a parcel in the post the other day containing some fabulous fabric:

It's from the 'Cherish Nature' range by Deb Strain for Moda and I think it is just beautiful. I love the colour and the gorgeous little bees. It has been bought in a bid to finish a quilt top I started last summer. I've been looking for a while for a complimentary fabric for the quilt background and finally came across this. I have made a start with cutting out 5" squares so I hope to progress further over half-term week! To completion? We shall see!

For Rosie!

My friend Rosie requested a picture of the cut rainbow cake - I am happy to oblige!

Rainbow Cake

I haven't updated my blog for a few weeks. It has not been due to the lack of creative process - just lack of time! I am lucky these days if my body makes contact with some form of chair - life is busy! Fortunately, I love busy - I hate being at a loose end!

Last week my big girl turned six (sob!) - where DID the time go?! I can't quite believe it! We celebrated on her actual birthday with a meal out at Castellamare and then a small tea party with three friends last Saturday. It was the most civilised party I have ever hosted - the girls needed very little entertaining and played happily together (with a little bit of help from husband who instigated a game of 'find the daddy').

I have been wanting to make a rainbow cake for ages but have either lacked the time or occasion to do so. A certain big girl's birthday was the perfect opportunity. Firstly, I baked 6 thin yet colourful sponges

Admittedly, a real rainbow has seven colours but I thought it might be difficult to differentiate between indigo and violet so I settled with six colours instead. I basically made a double batch of victoria sponge mix, separating the mixture into six bowls and colouring accordingly.

Secondly, I sandwiched the layers with vanilla buttercream before covering the whole cake.

Thirdly, the cake was covered with sugarpaste and decorated with a 'Hello Kitty' figure I made from sugarpaste, and lots and lots of flowers.

It was very much admired and consumed by four hungry little girls!