Cooking School

Lemongrass Shrimp in Banana Leaves

Hand made rice noodles ready to make Hanoi Beef & Noodle Soup

Grilled Chicken & Banana Flower Salad

Yesterday we had a fabulous day learning how to cook some well known Vietnamese food. It was a full day with us even learning how to make fresh rice noodles. I now have a new appreciation of the humble noodle. Nipping down to the local Asian grocer in our town and buying them fresh every Tuesday is now more appealling than ever!

Blogging from Afar

I'm thinking that perhaps you are getting a mite bored with the travel scene. Am I right?? I love technology, it means that while I'm here in VietNam I can still communicate with you from my trusty laptop. Darling husband is snoring in bed after an exhausting day touring/shopping. He is getting quite the reputation here in Hoi An. The local shop keepers all want him to buy because for some strange reason they think he is a "happy Buddha"and will bring them good luck, don't know how they come to that conclusion! So I am looking amongst some photos and came across a tag that I don't think I have posted yet so here tis. Oh and I forgot to tell you, we are going to cooking school tomorrow!!!!

Hoi An

Mango tart and Strawberry falalalahala at the Cargo Pondering over afternoon tea

A lovely ancient man in ancient Hoi An City

Boats on the riverbank

This is where we are staying Hoi An Trails Resort

Unfortunately I can't claim fame with these photographs as they were taken by my clever husband.

I thought some of you might like a little more of Viet Nam. What a beautiful place!

News from Viet Nam

Halong Bay Fabulous Food

Hanoi The old quarterCaptain Kev

Can you believe I am typing this in Vietnam! What a place! I am currently in Hoi An which was recently hit by a typhoon. Although this was only a few weeks ago the locals have done a fantastic job of getting back on track. There is still some evidence of the damage around the area we are staying along the river banks but nothing too serious. The past week has been a whirl wind with us having the first few days in Hanoi, then onto Halong Bay for an overnight junk stay. Kayaking for the first time in my life! The people are very friendly and of course the food is fabulous too. Stay tuned for some more updates soon!

A quick post.

I can't help myself. I just have to post another photo of a tag I did for the Matisse Derivan open day on Saturday. Every year a few of us girls in the group go down to the Matisse factory and show off a few samples of what we have created using their incredible products. Matisse is a family owned Australian paint manufacturing business who are still small enough to be concerned about their 'peeps'. A very generous company in the way that each year they open their factory for tours, feeding us for free with a sausage sizzle, lucky door prizes and workshops. Its a great way for artists of all types to come together and show off what they do. I always come away inspired! This time I checked out Diana Brandt doing magnificant things with her credit card, no not in a spending spree way, but applying paint to make beautiful papers to cover journals. Another stand out was the calligraphers who used the inks to produce gorgeous works of art. One lady even showed you how you can dye your socks, darn (hehehe!) I missed that workshop. I don't know about you but I find it quite satisfying being able to share, in a small way, some of the knowledge of creating, to people who are genuinely interested. I think this is why I love this idea of blogging (even though I only have two followers :-( which happens to be my daughter and her friend) Eveyone's welcome at Rossy's! Any hoo as promised, a picture!

The instructions for this little label is easy peasy. Paint tag with black gesso. Load Tim Holtz reindeer stamp with Versamark and stamp onto tag. Emboss with clear embossing powder. When cooled down paint over with Matisse Unbleached Titanium. Dry with the heat gun. Gently rub back paint from reindeer to expose. Give a little (dis) stress and add little rusty star.

Another little thing to tickle your fancy.

I've got to admit, a photographer I'm not! These little tags are a lot nicer in real life. This red tag was started by gesso -ing (is that a real word??) wooden tag in white, stamp flowers and words with versamark and clear embossing. Stamps are Stampin Up! Sponge all over with Matisse Deep Red Ink and while its still wet gently wipe off ink from the embossed areas to expose. Sponge Sepia Ink around edges. Add a little bling to the centre of the flowers. I didn't think to take a photo of the back of this tag but it came out quite nice as well. I used the same sponging method and sepia around the edges but added a spray of Matisse iridescent ink over the top which gave a lovely affect.

See my new banner!

Look how beautiful my banner is. My friend Linda over at Rising Star took the photo and designed it for me. The photo is of one of my favourite cafe's down the South Coast. Check out Linda's blog, she is one awesome photographer!

Sneak Peek

No I haven't been curled up in the foetal position pining for my boy. Even though we have had a couple of distress calls from a lonely, hungry and slightly panicky son. I keep reminding myself that its all about allowing your offspring to grow and learn to fend for themselves. So I have immersed myself in a little bit of creativity ready for our trek down to Matisse for their open day. Would you like a little sneak peek??? Do I hear a yes? OK, here is a little sample of the wooden tags, eight in total, that were done using Matisse inks only for the back grounds. Over the next few weeks I'll post one here and there just so I can tease you a little.

This one started off with just a black background. I then stamped and embossed the trees and celebrate with silver and used a versamark pen to add touches of glitter to the tips of the trees. You probably can't see this in the photo. I then sprayed iridescent ink and water over and dried with heat gun. Give it a little rub back with a sanding block. Again its a little difficult to see the iridescent in the photo. Add a little bling and a rusty star and you're done.

My baby's gone to London.

Well he's off. Lock up ya daughters! See the world, no money! It's either sink or swim baby! Gawd I hope he's alright. Its such a hard thing knowing when to step in and help your child out. VJ went to London with, dare I say it out loud, not much money! but he has already found a job labouring but of course no money to buy hard hat and boots. I only know this because he messaged his sister. Haven't heard anything since so I think he is working it out. Either that or he's living on the street. He's pretty resourceful though and proud and hasn't asked us for any money as yet. Gawd I hope he's alright!

Thank God it's Friday

Isn't this just a perfect way to face a Friday evening. A glass of rose`, nothing too expensive and a home made coconut (fatty boom bah) cake. I didn't eat all the cake but share it with the girls over at the Decorative Artists meeting. The recipe follows. I think it's a keeper.

COCONUT CAKE DELUXE

1 butter cake packet mix

1 x 400g can condensed milk

1 x 450 can coconut cream

flaked or shredded coconut, toasted

whipped cream

Mix packet cake mix according to directions and bake

Whilst cake is still warm poke holes into it. I used a chop stick

Pour condensed milk down holes followed by coconut cream

This is where it gets tricky. I didn't use the whole can of condensed milk and coconut cream.

Use your own discretion as to how much you want to use as it can be quite rich.

Spread cream over the top. Sprinkle coconut over and Voila! you're done.

WooHooo I won a prize!

See it just goes to show, you have to be in it to win it. Over at Inkurable Stampers Sarah runs a great blog which has a monthly challenge. Septembers challenge was themed "Down by the sea" and my entry won a prize. I am to recieve a Darkroom Door Accordian book, which I already know what I am going to do with. I am thrilled! All the entries were fantastic, go and check them out. While you're at it check out a new group that Linda Baldock has started called scrapware.ning.com which is also giving away some prizes. As I say you have to be in it to win it!

World Cardmaking Day

I whipped up this little number for World Cardmaking Day challenge at Inkurable. Its a Gate Fold Card. The instructions are available at Splitcoaststampers in their resource section. The base card stock is SU! Kraft but for the life of me I can't remember the name of the other CS. Add a button, a little bit of ribbon and a little bit of string and a lotta distressing! I used SU! Seaside stamp and embossed it in white. Hope you like it!

I'm Busy Awright!!!

WHAT?! I'm busy, what do you mean you want dinner......its only 7:30pm! Have a packet of chips....

Well its been raining all day. Just the excuse I need to stay inside and play. I have completed a couple of articles for the girls over at Inkurable's and have had a lovely time. The first picture shows a little box which I made for the monthly challenge. It measures 11 x 11 on the top and 10 1/2 on the bottom. I know that the paper on the top is from Kaiser but not sure about the chocolate bottom. I stamped the flower with stazon black and SU En Francais stamp. The button is from Spotlight. I stamped around the edge with Tim Holtz's stamps, Choc Chip ink and embossed. A Little Something was done the same. Inside the paper was spritzed with Glimmer Mist antique bronze and stamped with Stazon black and Tim Holt's stamps. I think this little box will be a lovely gift for someone special.