Follow these links to the Index Blogs:
Blogs 1-50
Blogs 51-100
Blogs 101-150
Blogs 151-200
Blogs 201-250
Blog 51 - Rosemary Grilled Chicken
'I love chicken and there are few herbs that compliment chicken as well as rosemary. Today I'll show you how to make delicious chicken with very little effort.'
Blog 52 - Crunchy Coconut Cookies
"Who does not like cookies? Few would answer in the negative. Yet so few of us have time to bake. I have good news for the busy ones and for the ones who keep busy with baking. You can buy these cookies from A Pretty Talent (or place an order if they're out of stock), or you can follow this easy recipe and bake them yourself! You can buy the home-baked cookies here. First, I have to admit that this is not my own recipe. Usually I adapt a recipe to my own liking, but this one is so perfect that I have not dared change it. The book I found the recipe in is titled Bak met Gemak 101 Resepte and I bought it from Boeke op Uys. They have an awesome range of children's books that any child could get lost in as well."
Blog 53 - Designing and Making a French Beret with Cap Part 1
"A friend invited me to go along on a seaside holiday and after contemplating it for about half a second I agreed. At the time, I had just made myself a handbag and was still feeling very impressed with it. You can read all about that in earlier blogs. Naturally it started me thinking that I should take the bag to the beach with me, something I had contemplated happening when designing it already. Now I saw an opportunity to make myself a matching cap for my beach excursions. When studying fashion design, I had loved making hats more than anything else and I am still looking for excuses to do so."
Blog 54 - Ginger Biscuits
"I have lost count of how many ginger biscuit recipes I have tried out, failing to find one that satisfied my taste buds. In the end I found the perfect recipe through experimentation. A word of thanks on the side to my friends and family who had to suffer the consequences of this search and experimentation. Let me share my secret with you. Those of you who do not like to bake, or simply don't have the time to do so, can buy my home-baked cookies here."
Blog 55 - Designing and Making a French Beret with Cap Part 2
"In the first part of this series we have conceptualized the design of the beret we wanted to make. It is time to start drawing up a pattern. I don't know how many of you are interested in the mechanics of drawing up a pattern, but I'll walk you through the process. Alternatively, you can buy the pattern online on APrettyTalent.com by following this link."
Blog 56 - Chicken Livers outa Africa
"Not everyone likes chicken livers, but those of us who do tend to be passionate about it. Here is my own delicious recipe for making chicken livers with an African twist."
Blog 57 - Designing and Making a French Beret with Cap Part 3
"We are finally at the point where we start to work with the fabric in making our beret. Let's recap quickly. In Part 1 of this series we conceptualized the idea. Then we designed the pattern in Part 2. This pattern can also be bought online here. Today we will cut out the fabric and start constructing the beret. My little niece insisted on modeling the beret, even though it is way too big for her. I love how adorable she looks in it. So did her mother and promptly asked me to make some hats for her kiddies. Show me an aunt who would turn down such a request! I have already started working on this and will write a blog about the process soon. So watch this space for some child-sized hats real soon."
Blog 58 - Amasi Rusks
"Today I will show you how to bake my famous Amasi rusks. These sell out as quickly as I bake them and I am sure they will be a great hit for you as well. If you want to try them, but are not into baking, you can buy them ready-baked or place an order here."
Blog 59 - Designing and Making a French Beret with Cap Part 4
"We have been designing and making a french style beret with a cap over a span of three blogs already and this is blog is the last in the series of four. In the first blog we conceptualized the idea. The second blog saw us designing the pattern. In the third blog we worked on the fabric layout and started construction on the cap. In today's blog, we take things quite a bit further by finishing the cap and attaching the head band. From there on out it is a few short steps to the finish line. Let's get started."
Blog 60 - Rich Man Poor Man Rusks
"Rich Man Poor Man Rusks are my favourite rusks and I am thrilled to be sharing this recipe with you. Those of you who are not into baking, can buy the rusks online from APrettyTalent.com or even place an order for a specified date with Marietjie@APrettyTalent.com. Buy the rusks here."
Blog 61 - Easter Egg Baskets for the Kids
"Every aunt should make it a priority to spoil her nieces and nephews a little. This I firmly believe. With Easter coming up, I did not want to miss a golden opportunity. I decided they should all get a little basket in which to collect Easter eggs when I sent them on a hunt. I'll walk you through the steps so you'll be able to make your own baskets as well. I used a pattern which is FREE on APrettyTalent.com, downloading it and printing it on A4 paper, with my margins set to NONE. You can also print directly to cardboard."
Blog 62 - At the Cross
"It is Easter Friday. This is the day on which we as Christians commemorate the indescribable grace Christ Jesus showed us when He willingly laid down His life so that our broken relationship with God could be restored. I did not want to simply publish another blog today. Instead, I wanted to write a blog that would bring honour to Jesus and underscore His sacrifice on the cross."
Blog 63 - Designing and Making Children's Hats and Caps Part 1
"When my sister-in-law saw the beret I had made for myself, she asked if I would make hats for her kids as well. Of course I agreed to it. So she went off and bought a whole lot of fabric. Laying it before me she asked if I thought I could do something with it. She was thinking hats, handbags, trousers, waist coats and all sorts of cute things. Cute things? I am in! Show me a seamstress who would not like to be given free reign with a pile like this!"
Blog 64 - Designing and Making Children's Hats and Caps Part 2
"n this ongoing series of blogs we are looking at the design and making of hats for kids. In Part 1 we gave birth to a concept. In this second blog of the series, we will devote some time to developing the pattern of a Flat Top Cap as shown in the photo. The pattern can be downloaded from APrettyTalent.com."
Blog 65 - Designing and Making Children's Hats and Caps Part 3
"We are designing and making a selection of children's hats in this series of multiple blogs. In Part 1 we planned the concept. In part 2 we designed the pattern for the basic hat. Now, in Part 3, we will take the design of the basic hat one step further and develop it into variants. The first variant we will look at is a beret."
Blog 66 - Designing and Making Children's Hats and Caps Part 4
"We are already in the fourth part of the series and we are still designing patterns. That's the way it goes when you combine multiple pattern variations in one project. Let's finish up, though, so we can start sewing! But first a quick recap:
Part 1 - Conceptualization
Part 2 - Design the basic pattern
Part 3 - Variation: a round beret
Part 4 - Variation: a flower beret"
Blog 67 - Designing and Making Children's Hats and Caps Part 5
"In the first four parts of the series we were working on a concept and designing patterns to realize the ideas we had. We have finally reached the stage where we can bring out the fabric. But first a quick recap:
Part 1 - Conceptualization
Part 2 - Design the basic pattern
Part 3 - Variation: a round beret
Part 4 - Variation: a flower beret
Part 5 - Constructing the flat top cap"
Blog 68 - Designing and Making Children's Hats and Caps Part 6
"Did you have as much fun as I did making the cap last time? When I gave the cap to my little nephew to fit, before it had the lid on, he announced that he wanted it that way. I told him I'd make the next one like that. After all, it was already an existing version on the pattern. The patterns can be downloaded from APrettyTalent.com here. Here is a summary of the blogs:
Part 1 - Conceptualization
Part 2 - Design the basic pattern
Part 3 - Variation: design a round beret
Part 4 - Variation: design a flower beret
Part 5 - Constructing the flat top cap
Part 6 - Variation: sew an open cap
Part 7 - Variation: sew a round beret
Part 8 - Variation: sew a flower beret"
Blog 69 - Designing and Making Children's Hats and Caps Part 7
"In today's blog we will be making the round beret of the pattern we designed in the first few blogs. I will attach a cap to this beret, but it is also possible to make the beret without a cap, as I will show you in the next blog. The patterns can be downloaded from APrettyTalent.com here. Here is a summary of the blogs:
Part 1 - Conceptualization
Part 2 - Design the basic pattern
Part 3 - Variation: design a round beret
Part 4 - Variation: design a flower beret
Part 5 - Constructing the flat top cap
Part 6 - Variation: sew an open cap
Part 7 - Variation: sew a round beret
Part 8 - Variation: sew a flower beret"
Blog 70 - Designing and Making Children's Hats and Caps Part 8
"Phew! This was an extensive series of blogs. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I want to show you one last beret before we leave off. Once you understand what I did here, you will know that the world is your oyster when it comes to berets. You can literally do whatever you want with this fun and easy hat. Think of the next Halloween or dress-up party. Or what about that school play. You will be the talk of the town showing off your millinery skills! But I'm getting ahead of myself. A quick reminder of what we've covered and where to find the patterns. The patterns can be downloaded from APrettyTalent.com here. Here is a summary of the blogs:
Part 1 - Conceptualization
Part 2 - Design the basic pattern
Part 3 - Variation: design a round beret
Part 4 - Variation: design a flower beret
Part 5 - Constructing the flat top cap
Part 6 - Variation: sew an open cap
Part 7 - Variation: sew a round beret
Part 8 - Variation: sew a flower beret"
Blog 71 - Gingerbread Men
"Today we are going to make some fun gingerbread men. We will use the same recipe as the one published in the blog on 26 March 2015, but this time we will treat the dough different, once ready. If you are not into baking, you can always buy (or order) the cookies from Miekie's Bakery on APrettyTalent.com."
Blog 72 - Fabulously Easy Key Holder
"Have you ever noticed how keys have a tendency to multiply without any effort? My mom suddenly found herself with such an increase in keys and exasperatedly voiced the opinion that my brothers (who are carpenters and a great source of off-cut wood to their crafting sister) ought to make her a bigger key holder. I figured I was better suited to the task and set out to prove it. This blog details what followed."
Blog 73 - Child's Waistcoat & Bell-bottoms Part 1
"After receiving a large pile of fabric from my sister-in-law, I still had lots of sewing to do after making hats for my nieces and nephew. I decided to start by making a matching waistcoat and trouser set for the three year old girl.
Part 1: Conceptualization, Pattern Design & Fabric Layout
Part 2: Constructing the Waistcoat
Part 3: Constructing the Bell-bottoms
The patterns can be downloaded from APrettyTalent.com. Click here for the pattern."
Blog 74 - Child's Waistcoat & Bell-bottoms Part 2
"After receiving a large pile of fabric from my sister-in-law, I still had lots of sewing to do after making hats for my nieces and nephew. I decided to start by making a matching waistcoat and trouser set for the three year old girl.
Part 1: Conceptualization, Pattern Design & Fabric Layout
Part 2: Constructing the Waistcoat
Part 3: Constructing the Bell-bottoms
The patterns can be downloaded from APrettyTalent.com. Click here for the pattern."
Blog 75 - Child's Waistcoat & Bell-bottoms Part 3
"In the previous blogs in this series I showed you how to design a pattern for a child’s outfit and we made a waistcoat. Today we are going to construct the bell-bottom pants to match the waistcoat.
Part 1: Conceptualization, Pattern Design & Fabric Layout
Part 2: Constructing the Waistcoat
Part 3: Constructing the Bell-bottoms
Blog 76 - Acrilpen on Fabric
"I recently came across a product I had never seen before – an acrylic pen, claiming to be filled with acrylic ink intended for writing on fabrics. I wondered how well they worked and if they kept their colour, and if you could use it with other acrylics on paper and … What to do? Buy a few and bring them home to put them to the test, of course! So I did. And I loved them. The name of the pens? Acrilpen."
Blog 77 - Handbags and Wallets Part 1
"I was asked to design and make a few more handbags as well as a few wallets. What is a few? Difficult question. For this reason I have decided to do this process as a series of scattered blogs with others in between. In this first blog I will talk about the conceptualization process and then we'll look at the first pattern for one of the bags."
Blog 78 - Making a Scatter Cushion Cover
"Having tested the Acrilpens in the previous blog, I decided that I liked the test project so much that I wanted to keep it. I decided to put it on a scatter cushion."
Blog 79 - Handbags and Wallets Part 2
"We started with an ongoing series of blogs on designing and making handbags and wallets. In the first blog we developed some ideas and designs for a number of bags and wallets. If you don't want to design your own pattern you can buy and download the pattern here from APrettyTalent.com. We then focused on one specific bag and designed a pattern for it. We opted to call it a paneled bag, since the sides were divided into panels. In this blog we will start with the construction of the bag, which will stretch over three blogs."
Blog 80 - Handbags and Wallets Part 3
"We started with an ongoing series of blogs on designing and making handbags and wallets. In the first blog we developed some ideas and designs for a number of bags and wallets. If you don't want to design your own pattern you can buy and download the pattern here from APrettyTalent.com. We then focused on one specific bag and designed a pattern for it. We opted to call it a paneled bag, since the sides were divided into panels. In the second part of the series we started with the construction of the bag. In Part 3 we continue with the construction and we will be concentrating on the pockets and side panels."
Blog 81 - Handbags and Wallets Part 4
"We are busy with an ongoing series of blogs on designing and making handbags and wallets. In the first blog we developed some ideas and designs for a number of bags and wallets. If you don't want to design your own pattern you can buy and download the pattern here from APrettyTalent.com. We then focused on one specific bag and designed a pattern for it. We opted to call it a paneled bag, since the sides were divided into panels. In the second part of the series we started with the construction of the bag. In Part 3 we continued with the construction and we concentrated on the pockets and side panels. In this blog we will be putting the finishing touches on the paneled bag."
Blog 82 - Acrilpen on Paper
"In a previous blog I told you about the acrylic pens I bought and tested, called Acrilpen. It states on the pens that they are meant to be used on fabric and I have tried it on fabric already, posting my findings here. I was not done with those pens yet. I still wanted to know how they would fare on paper! I keep a few sheets of paper at hand that has been prepared with gesso. I talked about strengthening paper with gesso to prepare it to accept paint in a previous blog as well. I grabbed one of these sheets, because I would want to use the pens in combination with normal acrylic paint to see how well it worked together."
Blog 83 - Product Overview - Wax-bars Part 1
"Nobody who has been following my posts and blogs can be in any doubt that I am a staunch Derwent supporter, absolutely loving the quality of the products they have to offer. I have also been a long time admirer of their soluble waxbar, the Derwent Artbar. This is like an oil pastel in consistency, able to stick to a great many surfaces, e.g. glass, wet surfaces, plastic, oil paintings, etc. However, it is also water-soluble, which gives it the added benefit that you can paint it, similar to water-soluble pencils. Recently I came across a similar product by Reeves, the Reeves Wax Pastel. I have not been able to find a set with more than 12 colours (Derwent offers 72 – though it’s hard to find sets larger than 24). It wasn’t too badly priced and I bought a set to compare. I worked on sky blue Fabriano Elle Erre 220 gsm paper (the smooth side). Let me share my findings."
Blog 84 - Product Overview - Wax-bars Part 2
"In the previous blog of this two part series I did a product comparison of Derwent’s Artbar and Reeves’ Watersoluble Wax Pastels. I concluded that both were rather great products that could be used with great success. The question remains if one would be able to use the two in conjunction. This is exactly what I intend to find out in this blog. I decided to copy a fun oil painting of two clowns by C Henning."
Blog 85 - Handbags and Wallets Part 5
"I had a lot of fun conceptualizing different handbags and one of the designs We have already made the Paneled Bag in Parts 2-4 of the series, but I also came up with was for a round bag. I started playing around with a pattern to see where it would take me when it occurred to me that this would be a fabulous concept for a vanity bag. The pattern for this bag can be downloaded here from APrettyTalent.com."
Blog 86 - Handbags and Wallets Part 6
"I had a lot of fun conceptualizing different handbags and one of the designs we have already made is the Paneled Bag in Parts 2-4 of the series. I also came up with a design for a round vanity bag and we started construction of this bag in Part 5 of the series. The pattern for this bag can be downloaded here from APrettyTalent.com."
Blog 87 - Cheese & Chips Cookies
"Today I am going to share a marvelously simple recipe with you that is so easy to make that you can do it with the kids or let the slightly older ones do it by themselves. This is a savory cookie and a firm favorite with my family where there are a number of people who prefer savory to sweet."
Blog 88 - Butterfly Card
"I have another birthday coming up and the gift is sorted. As a matter of fact, it is already wrapped. All that is left to do is to make a beautiful card to accompany the gift. I love it when the card and the wrapping paper and/or gift compliment each other."
Blog 89 - Using the Mouth Atomizer with Ink
"The main aim of today’s project is to show you how to use the mouth atomizer with ink. I am going to make a page for my art journal commemorating a painting I have done repeatedly for clients (albeit every time with small changes). The scene is of the Knysna heads in the
Blog 90 - Handbags and Wallets Part 7
"It is very rare that I will go back to a design once I have finished with it, but this time I liked the idea of the suggested changes and decided to apply them. Besides which, it came with an order! My mom saw the vanity bag I had made and fell in love with the idea. I had no idea she was in the market for a vanity bag and this one came at the right time. She only had one request; she wanted a pocket or two on the outside of the bag for the things she wants quick access to. Then my sister-in-law suggested a pocket in the lid to keep things like razors in, which posed potential harm if kept in among the rest of the contents of the bag. At first I did not like either of the suggestions, but the more I thought about it, the more it grew on me. Finally I succumbed. You can download the pattern for the bag here from APrettyTalent.com."
Blog 91 - Handbags and Wallets Part 8
"In yesterday's blog we started a variation on the round vanity bag we did before. We will continue on this bag today and finish it in the next blog. The pattern can be downloaded from APrettyTalent.com by clicking here."
Blog 92 - Handbags and Wallets Part 9
"For the past two blogs we have been constructing a variation on the round vanity bag we made earlier. Today we will be putting the final touches on the bag. You can buy and download the pattern from APrettyTalent.com by clicking here."
Blog 93 - Rugby Craze Card
"For some strange reason I always feel more challenged when I need to make a card for a man. I always feel as if I need to make a real mind shift to incorporate all kinds of macho ideas. This is not really true. I can use the same ideas and techniques as I do for women. The only things that will change is the palette (sometimes) and the themes (also not only sometimes). Let me walk you trough this card I made for my Rugby Enthusiast father."
Blog 94 - Handbags and Wallets Part 10
"I was asked to make a small wallet for a little boy to carry his money for baker’s day. This would have to be something simple, yet with enough space for a few keepsakes as well. I decided to make a wallet with a zipper as well as an open side pocket. I would also put a ring inside the wallet to which he could hook any hidden treasure. You can download the pattern here from APrettyTalent.com."
Blog 95 - Decoupage Glass Tiles Part 1 - Cutting the glass to size
"One of the blog followers contacted me recently to ask if I knew of anyone who might be interested in purchasing sheets of glass. I did not and suggested I rather do a few blog on using glass for crafts and she seemed keen on the idea. Here is the first of these blogs with promises of more to follow."
Blog 96 - Decoupage Glass Tiles Part 2 - Decoupage the cut glass tiles
"In the previous blog I showed you how to cut glass. Actually it was more like learning together. In this blog we take the next step and I’ll show you how to decoupage glass to create your own glass tiles."
Blog 97 - Art on Vacation - What to Pack
"I work across a wide variety of mediums and for this reason I find it rather difficult to decide what to pack when going away for a period of time. Leaving the art materials behind is never an option. As a result I have come up with this solution, which you may find useful. It goes without saying that you would have to adjust to suit your own needs and style, but the intention is to provide you with a starting block."
Blog 98 - Mother's Day Card
"It is Mother's Day and the best time to say how much you appreciate your own mother. I will show you how to make a quick and inexpensive card for the occasion."
Blog 99 - Handbags and Wallets Part 11
"Ever since I saw these handles for the first time when the supplier advertised them, I have wanted to do a project with them. Therefore you can only imagine my excitement today as I finally get the opportunity to do exactly that. The handles are also available from APrettyTalent.com for your convenience, if you would like to purchase them for your own project.
Part 1 of this blog can be found here.
Part 1 of this blog can be found here."
Blog 100 - Handbags and Wallets Part 12
"In Part 11 of the series we started preparations for the Artbag with Handles. We conceptualized the design, drew up the pattern, cut out fabric and then started on the art. First, we painted the handles the way we wanted them to look and then devoted our attention to the two centre panels where we painted a picture on both panels using the Acrilpens. It is time we started the sewing. I want to remind you that you can download the pattern from APrettyTalent.com by clicking here. Set your margins to 0 and print the pattern on A4 paper. You can buy the handles here.
Part 1 of this blog can be found here.
Part 1 of this blog can be found here."
For more crafty ideas and great products, visit APrettyTalent.com.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
You can subscribe to this blog and receive regular updates by email by simply registering your email address at the top of the current blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment