like velvet

dahl⋅ia

Its taken me a week, but I've finally looked through the pretty faces from the dahlia show last weekend... they are like lotus in some slides, like pom poms in others and the colours were just phenomenal.... not to mention the shear size of some of the exhibits... they were honestly larger than a football!

tea and wishes

some people wish for riches, some for power.... other simply wish for an uncluttered space, a cup of tea and a sweet day dream...

sweet soaps

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gorgeous soaps make perfect gifts. I just love this delicate muslin wrapping and simple cord... pretty pretty pretty.

joyeux anniversaire for yesterday!

Happy 27th Birthday Kaya, I should have sent you a pair of matching socks instead of a scarf! Bless the 80's and cheers to carefree childhood!

Cup Cakes in Autumn

Cup Cakes

250g unsalted butter, softened
1 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
4 eggs
2.5 cups Self Raising Flour
3/4 cup of milk

Cream Cheese Frosting

125g cream cheese
30g unsalted butter, softened
1.5 cups icing sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon of hot water (or 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp hot water)
drops of colour to suit your need!

Method:

Preheat oven at 180degrees Celsius. Line a 24 capacity muffin tray with cup cake liners (foil or paper is fine).
Beat the butter sugar and vanilla together in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each egg until well combined. Use a large metal spoon to fold in half of the flour, then half of the milk until well combined - then repeat with the remaining milk and flour.
Spoon the batter among the prepared pans. bake in the oven for 20 mins, check by inserting a skewer. Cooked Cakes will return a dry skewer. Remove and turn into rack to cool. Ice with your frosting!

Frosting method:
Mix the cheese and butter until creamed - add sifted sugar and mix well. Add the drops of colour and water.

pipe or spoon the cream onto your fairy cup cakes and top with sprinkles, sugared flowers or anything you'd like....

give to your friends to enjoy!

Green

Green Shadows....

Indian Tacca

The tacca integrifolia is known as the 'white bat flower' and originates from Indian wet forest land. Amazing in colour and shape. This one is from Roma Street Gardens today, luckily in one of the garden beds to survive the damage done to the park in a storm 3 weeks ago - some of the 90 year old ficus trees weren't so lucky, which is a sad thing, because they wont be replaced to their former beauty in my lifetime....anyway, enjoy the bat flower and its strange form :)

Chilly

The last few mornings have dawned really fresh, probably a min. of 20 degrees Celsius! brrrr. Autumn is here! Winter isn't far away!Easter Eggs are in the super markets, which means Christmas is just around the corner!! :)

Battle of the Florists!

On monday night Interflora District 5 held a fun evening to rival "dancing with the stars!" ...only there was less dancing and more floral art!

Irene Brockwell, Mark Pampling, Bart Hassam, Shauna Larsen, Jessica Barr, John Jones, Marco Apelfeller and Courtney Raven were the Seniors in the "Floral Battle", assisted by students from Southbank Institute of Tafe, and past Florists of the Future and Rising Star Champions....

Being one of the assistants - I was so happy to be able to work with some of Australias' best in a easy, joyful environment and I think fun was had by all!

http://www.markpampling.com/ http://www.designerflorist.com/

Green and White

White and Green - my favourite combination of colours.
Clean, crisp and fresh.