The Cookie Print Art Project

Today, we’re taking a little pause from all the frantic baking activity, and I thought I would share something that I’ve been working on with my London-based designer friend Ursula. You might already have seen some of here work at Seagull’s Eye or perhaps from my Instagram pictures (yup, that’s her stuff on my walls).

Over endless cups of coffee and the occasional mulled wine, we noticed the interesting shapes of a variety of traditional Christmas biscuits, cakes and cookies from around Europe. The diversity of how each country celebrates at this time of year reflected in cake form. This triggered an idea – what if we used this as the basis for some illustration? – and we’ve been working away on an art print which I think shows these off to really great effect.

This print features twelve different festive treats from around the Continent – Vanillekipferl (Austria), Speculoos (Belgium), Honninghjerter (Denmark), Joulutorttu (Finland), Zimtsterne (Germany), Beigli (Hungary), Kerstkransjes (Netherlands), Mor Monsens Kake (Norway), Coscorões (Portugal), Lussekatter (Sweden), Spitzbueb (Switzerland) and last but certainly not least, our very own British Gingerbread Man.

We’ve tried to cover off cakes, biscuits, spicy, sugary, colourful, fruity and nutty, and I think the nibbled Danish heart and the cheeky Gingerbread Man add a little extra charm too.

If you’re tempted by this design, move quickly – we’ve done a limited run, but you can pick on up from the online store here.

I hope you like this! If you want to try making some of these recipes, you can find them on my recipe index. I’ve made most things on here, but you’ll need to be patient if you want to enjoy poppy-seed Beigli, jammy Joulutorttu or fried Coscorões as these three are still on my to-do list. Enjoy!

March in Pictures

Here is my March in pictures – from cats to Kit-Kats, peacock feathers to pomegranates, from the towers of the Barbican to the kitchen sink. Another eclectic selection, I’m sure you’ll agree! You can also check out my February selection here.

1/31 – Up

2/31 – Fruit

3/31 – My Neighbourhood

4/31 – Bedside

5/31 – A Smile

6/31 – Something I Wore

7/31 – 5pm

8/31 – Window

9/31 – Red

10/31 – Loud

11/31 – Someone I Talked To Today

12/31 – Fork

13/31 – A Sign

14/31 – Clouds

15/31 – Car

16/31 – Sunglasses

17/31 – Green

18/31 – A Corner of My Home

19/31 – Funny

20/31 – Before / After

21/31 – Delicious

22/31 – Kitchen Sink

23/31 – Moon

24/31 – An Animal

25/31 – Breakfast

26/31 – Key

27/31 – My Name

28/31 – Trash

29/31 – Feet

30/31 – Toy

31/31 – Where I Relax

February in Pictures

I recently discovered Instagram. Well, to be accurate, I recently discovered how it worked – it sat on my phone for months before I realised that the fun of it is that you can share pictures, follow others, and see what your friends are getting up to. Once I understood that, there was really no stopping me, and I think I have subjected a lot of people to many, many random pictures.

I found it was particularly great when you are travelling. The filters that you can apply can turn a so-so shot into something that looks really very special, and the right effect captures the mood perfectly. Then once you get back to somewhere with wifi, log on, upload, and make a lot of people jealous that you are somewhere sunny while they are shivering at home.

As I got into using Instagram, I noticed there were a lot of folk posting rather random pictures. Okay, you expect people to post a selection of random things, but then I realised that there were some themes emerging. The lady behind Fat Mum Slim has been setting monthly challenges, with a topic per day, and people have taken to it like crazy. So while I missed January, I decided to go along and join in with February. And I am glad I did – it’s a fun thing to do, and you see things in everyday life that you might otherwise just overlook.

So here you have it, my month in pictures – including the grandeur of St Pancras station, London in the snow, and the gates of Buckingham palace.

1/29 – My View Today

2/29 – Words

3/2 – Hands

4/2 – A Stranger

5/2 – 10:00am

6/2 – Dinner

7/2 – Button

8/2 – Sun

9/2 – Front Door

10/2 – Self Portrait

11/2 – Makes Me Happy

12/2 – Inside My Cupboard

13/2 – Blue

14/2 – Heart

15/2 – Telephone

16/2 – Someone New

17/2 – Time

18/2 – Drink

19/2 – Something I Hate To Do

20/2 – Handwriting

21/2 – A Fave Photo of Me

22/2 – Where I Work

23/2 – My Shoes

24/2 – Inside My Bathroom Cabinet

25/2 – Green

26/2 – Night

27/2 – Something I Ate

28/2 – Money

29/2 – Something I’m Listening To