Embroidered Cameo

A classic and traditional form of jewelry is the cameo, very popular with the Victorians. Made by very skilled craft men carving portraits of ladies through layers of shell.  It was a very expensive and exclusive but mass production in plastics have made them two a pence and to be honest a bit naff.

But after Christmas I was sorting out my decorations before putting them away in the attic. 

And I was looking at these little embroideries I did for my tree years ago, 

and I felt I needed to see them more often. 

The more I looked at them, they began to remind me of cameos, and I wondered if I could update the look.

Having chosen the two most similar

I cut off the loops, and beaded round the edges to form a frame

the kidney wires were twisted so they could lye flat on the back

And ta da they were done!

Must say I am rather pleased with them, and it has sparked loads of creative vibs, sketch book is buzzing now.....

.....but really not sure about this one!

Apricot Madness

I was in my local health food shop, Hansa in the Fountain Street, 

and they had a basket of dried apricots half price.

 Had a chat with the guys there and we decided the world has gone mad!

Everything that we eat has to have a sell by date, that includes hard cheese that has been maturing for years, dark chocolate, dried fruit and even salt!!! Now I agree the first 3 do have a shelf life but it could be years, and salt can last for centuries! 

But decided to make the most of it and brought a kilo.  

Something at the back of my mind said I had seen a recipe for a jam made from dried apricots.

After hitting google, recipe was found and amazingly the fruit needed to soak for 48 hours. The transformation was impressive, they really look pretty like the original fruit.

The end result was not bad, a bit more syrupy than jammy, but will be delicious drizzled over porridge, perfect for cold winter mornings.

And they havent been wasted......