I'm doing a craft fair here this Easter Sunday!

Come along for vegan cakes, pumpkin muffins and mushroom shaped cupcakes :D Paddington bear vintage recycled handmade bags, russian doll badges and felt plushies! Fun bands and vege cafe too in the Lovely Islington Mill in Salford!

Vegan Shortbread

Few ingredients are needed to make this delicious and simply effective British biscuit.

Shortbread is an ideal biscuit to make as it is so simple to make and makes an ideal present as it has a long shelf life. (I put some in a mug, wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon and gave to my mother, she was delighted). Shortbread originates and is most commonly associated with Scotland. Not surprising that the most notable shortbread manufacturer is the Scottish company, Walkers, specialising in providing shortbread and fine Scottish specialities. With this being my first attempt at vegan shortbread, the question was would it taste too dry without the essential ingredient of butter? Shortbread is named thus because of its reaction with the butter creating a crumbly (shortening) texture. Thankfully my experiment was a delicious success.

Ingredients:

8 oz Plain flour

4oz Icing Sugar

8 oz Vegan margarine

4oz Corn flour or rice flour

Preheat an oven to 200C

Sieve both and icing sugar into a large bowl and mix in margarine.

I like the next bit, use your fingers to make the mixture crumble like breadcrumbs. Then knead into dough. If your dough is too crumbly add a little water or Soya milk to bind the mixture or add more margarine. Don’t add too much water as the shortbread is supposed to be quite dry. Grease a cake tin and press the dough into the tin. Make sure the dough is quite thick to make chunky biscuits and to prevent breaking. You can press down the sides to create the petticoat tail effect and cut into triangles or cut into stripes for the classic shortbread fingers. You could even use a rolling pin and use cookie cutters to make adorable shortbread shapes! Use a fork to mark holes in the dough and pop in an oven at no more than 200 C. Shortbread needs to be cooked slowly so that it does not brown to maintain the classic smooth white colour. Keep checking on your biscuits to make sure they do not brown this should take about 30 minutes. When your biscuits feel slightly hard take out of oven. Don’t worry if they are quite soft they will continue to harden on a cooling rack. Dust with caster sugar and share with friends, or if you are greedy or have no friends eat all yourself hoorah!

An afternoon of Origami

This weekend I had a lovely afternoon of folding paper to make some lovely paper ornaments :) This was at Nexus Art cafe in Manchester and is run every Saturday 2-4. we are hoping to make a stop animation film with paper boats! how cute!
We made some paper boxes, a daffodill and some envelopes.
I bought a vintage Rupert bear book with a complicated elephant pattern, but I will tackle that when I'm more adavanced!
Origami is quite simple as long as you follow the steps correctly!
Apparantly I'm a natural at folding :D
Grab yourself some paper and have some folding fun!

Tick Tock Tick

Tick Tock Tick
Frosty Coloured Frock
Tick Tock Tick
A Mouse's nose twitch
Tick Tock Tock
eyes to the clock
A poem tucked in a pocket
Secrets in a vintage locket
Tick Tick Tick
Candle Flame Flick
Tick Tock Tick
Your time is up
Tick tick tock
A memory forgot

Christmas 2009

As the fresh breath of new year approaches I thought I would comment on my Christmas. I would say it started with the Cherryade Christmas party in which I read my poem and compared for most of the night. I also made some lovely vegan mince pies, a very slushy nut roast and some delectable vegan shortbread, see the Shrieking Violet January issue for the recipe! I also made an adorable handmade mouse with a string tail for my beloved sister Lily. The performace I saw at the Dukes, Lancaster of The Wizard of Oz was a exciting, contemporary take on one of my favourite children's classics. My favourite aspect of it was the puppet Toto and other textile quirks which really revitalised the performance. I am still to eat the Christmas pudding I bought from the Coop and sadly the Gingerbread house my friends and I made collapsed but did not spoil our fun at Your mama's cookin'. I hope to have such a fun and revolutionary year as I have of 2009 but perhaps with a wiser owl perspective.

A Christmas Echo

My Christmas poem featured on Cherryade's Christmas album 09 and the December issue of The Shrieking Violet, (An alternative fanzine guide to Manchester) I made the mouse for my little sister Lily, She loved her and named her after my pet rat Pandora.

A Single Candlestick flickering in the shattered light.
I thought I saw a shadowed illustration of you on this cold December night.
Tinsel laced Christmas trees, ribbon wrapped gifts, gingerbread biscuits, a misplaced mistletoe kiss. You couldn't possibly resist.
You worry now your hands become cold, you were bad this year now coal lines your stocking sole. You wonder if you will grow tired and alone, no candy striped treats will surround your home.
The sweet sick smell of cloves, suffocate your old dusty lungs. Remember the carved wooden hearts together we hung?
The place where the Christmas tree once sat echoes now the love we once had.
I sliced my hands on the Christmas tree ferns. Buttons of blood fell to the floor. Now when I think of you it makes my heart burn.
As I walk through the cold, I feel strange steps as I saunter through the soft sludgy snow. But no footprints are left as I step through winter's bitter glow.
Ribbon red twirls, curls and swirls, tinsel lace wrapped around your wrist, pulled so tight blood
drip
drip
drips
A Christmas tinsel tingle brushes past my neck. was that Father Christmas I saw put presents by my bed?
Not for me you fail to let me forget.
No presents are left for those who are now dead.



Merry Christmas! x

Temporary Autonomous Arts

The time I spent my reading week I shall never forget. I did not hide my face in a book all week or timidly shy away from Manchester and tiptoe home but took part in an arts protest for reclaiming disused space, named Temporary Autonomous Arts. This is a scheme that reclaims and reuses abondoned and disused spaces to express artistic freedom creatively. TAA utilises space that has previousely not been in use and allows artists to express themselves outside of the established art world. emporary Autonomous Art Events and Exhibitions started in London in 2001 to the Random Artists collective. Taking influence from Temporary Autonomous Zones that believe in expressing a rogue, rebellious artitic utopia. After several years of building successful and growing networks of artists and audience in London, the Random Artists collective began to tour TAA exhibitions to Eastern Europe. Over the years they have been to Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Berlin, Italy, France and Spain.

In 2004 Random Artists helped the Insurgent Arts collective to create a TAA in Bristol, it was such a sucess that they have since held their own events. Manchester (Forbidden Arts), Edinburgh (Free & Reactive Edinburgh Arts Kollective - FREAK) and Brighton (Subterranean Art) have held their own arts collectives and have held successful TAA events.

My experience of Manchester TAA event was certainly an eye opener. My first experience of it was on the Wednesday's opening night. I went to read poetry at the Scratch poets events (usually held in Chorlton) I entered through the side of an old disused school through a padlocked gate. I almost felt as if a secret password was needed to be allowed entry. At first I felt a bit cautious of entering a squat and the legalites suurounding it. But any fears I held were coloured away by the friendly people and cosy surroundings of the school/squat. People were freely decorating walls with beautiful often political paintings. The upstairs had been converted into a vegan cafe and kitchen, where once hungry children would have enjoyed or endured school dinners and which was now inhibited by fellow artists and free thinkers enjoying a free creative art space. The location of the squat was held secret till the Wednesday opening day to casue less disruption or interest and awareness to the police. The police did visit on the Thursday but no trouble or arrests were made. Before reading my poetry I attempted to make a sock monkey in the "crafty corner" This was where any textile workshops would be held and contained 2 comfy sofas ( later used for beds), sewing machines, a abundance of material and a ambient atmosphere. The audience was very warm to my poetry and I enjoyed reading to them, although I didn't have the usual darkness to hide behind or microphone. I felt comfortable with the audience and didn't stutter any of my words for once.
I next went on the Thursday to take part in the fashion show run by the Manchester based shop, Junk . Which specialises in selling Manchester based clothing and accessories.
I made a dress with a heart pocket from a pair of curtains. Although I liked my dress it had to glammed up with a floral head dress and patchwork cape my friends made to be extravagant enough for the fashion show! The fashion show was quite a spectacle. An array of bin bag dresses, cardboard head dresses and recycled couture! This was all taken part in the school's gym, which had been converted into a hippy catwalk. The final day a friend and I went to take part in "yarn bombing" I sank into a comfy beanbag and knitted an orange square to later be joined to other fellow knitter's woven delights. I found it curiousely humourous in that we would have to shield our faces as we "graffitied" the lamposts outside with our political knitting!
I found the TAA a throughly enjoyable and thought provoking experience, a lot of hard work went into preparing this and I applaud the members of the TAA for putting on such a successful and rebelious artistic event!