Finn McMissile, British Intelligence B'day Cake

HaPpY FriDAY

Months have passed since I last wrote on my blog, I actually thought I wouldn't write anymore but seeing today I had a few minutes I thought why not. My son had his birthday a few months ago which he requested I make a Finn McMissile cake from the movie Cars 2... not McQueen, not Mater but Finn McMissile, British Intelligence! :)

I wasn’t really motivated to make a time consuming cake, thanks to my second pregnancy where I don’t feel like cooking or baking at the moment. Somehow I managed, mind you it took me a two full days, but it was totally worth seeing my little ones reaction.

Noah asked if he could play with it lol and warned me to be careful when carrying it! Too cute.

I took 100’s of pictures as it did take me two full days to make :) here are some. Sorry there is no how too as my old camera broke and I was looking for a new one at that time. These pictures were taken with my sisters camera.

And to finish, enjoy some Finn McMissile Trivia

• His license plate is 314 FMCM, which includes a reference to his initials. The number 314 is his voice actor Michael Caine's birthday (March 14)
• Finn made a cameo in Toy Story 3 on a poster in Andy's room.
• Finn's tires read "Firewall".
• Finn's grille resembles a Van Dyke moustache.
• “I'm looking for a car.” Finn McMissile's first line in Cars 2.

Have a great weekend!

Anita x

Personalised Wooden Sign Giveaway

Happy Friday Friends! 

Just wanted to let you know that the competition to win a Personalized Hand Painted Wooden Sign will be commencing Monday 24.02.2013. It will run for two weeks, so if you are interested in having your favorite quote, etc, hand painted on the sign in the images below please enter below and spread the word! 

Good luck xx

The sign measures 29 cm x 40 cm 

Here are a few samples of size and color and the amount of writing you can add. Please keep in mind that it won't come with hinges unless purchase. Thanks :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Inspired Design Recent Artwork

Hi Friends,

The past month I have been trying to get back into the swing of things since have a lovely relaxing break. I just started a small business ‘Inspired Designs by Anita Brizzi’ for my Signs and Artwork which you can check out n by clicking the Facebook icon on the left side of dashboard.

I have been updating my stock recently as I sold out most signs in November and December. Surprisingly all the signs that I sold out were verses about love and signs about love, which kind of gave me an idea of what people are after.

PS. Stay tuned for competition to win custom design sign.

Here are some pictures of my recent artwork.

'Don’t stand on the outside and judge. Stand on the inside and love.'

Shelly Giglio

Happy Weekend Friends!

Anita x

Polka Dot Cake

Hello another beautiful day,

A while ago I made this polka dot cake for a child's christening. I don’t know why but I found it to be one of the more difficult cakes I have made. I found it tricky positioning the polka dots, and they kept sliding down which of course would leave a stain. Luckily I learnt a good trick which is to dab a little Lemon Essence with a paper towel where the stain is on the cake. I must say though I was kind of glad when I finished this cake!

Love and Kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference!

Nicky Gumbel

Lots of Blessings

Anita x

Barilla Pasta's Red Capsicum Sauce

Hi there!

It’s been a while since I last wrote a post and I have missed it! As the two months leading up to Christmas was insanely busy I have just been relaxing and enjoying my time with my little prince.

As I had a few minutes, I thought I would share a quick post on one of my favorite pasta sauces I discovered on the Barilla website: http://www.barilla.net.au/ a while back. I’m so glad I noted it as I haven’t been able to find it since!

Due to my condition I don’t eat much pasta, it makes me feel bloated and not well and on top of that I really don’t like tomato sauce. I know! I am Italian... my mum eventually got over it. :) So when I came across this capsicum sauce I just had to try it and it was delicious! It has a beautiful sweet flavour. Plus I think this sauce would be just as nice on a meat or chicken dish.

Enjoy!

Capsicum Sauce (Barilla Pasta Website)

3-4 Capsicums different color's with seeds removed and cut in fours

1 slice brown onion

1 garlic clove

¾ cup fresh basil

¼ cup thick and cream

• Fry onion and garlic together, add capsicum and basil and cover with lid.
• Simmer for 15 minutes or until done.
• Pour capsicum mixture in a bowl and blend with hand blender until you have thick creamy sauce. Pour sauce back into fry pan with heat on low and add cream, salt and pepper.
• Serve with pasta and garnish with basil and parmesan cheese.

Great days ahead! J

This is my command:

Love Each Other!

John 15:17

Anita x

Life & Butter Cream Iced Cakes!

The last few weeks’ life has been hard health-wise for me, but as we sang this song at church on Sunday my heart was refreshed knowing that God will never leave me even when it’s hard.

Not For A Moment (After All)

By Meredith Andrews

You were reaching through the storm

Walking on the water

Even when I could not see

In the middle of it all

When I thought You were a thousand miles away

Not for a moment did You forsake me

Not for a moment did You forsake me

After all You are constant

After all You are only good

After all You are sovereign

Not for a moment will You forsake me

Not for a moment will You forsake me

You were singing in the dark

Whispering Your promise

Even when I could not hear

I was held in Your arms

Carried for a thousand miles to show

Not for a moment did You forsake me

And every step every breath you are there

Every tear every cry every prayer

In my hurt at my worst

When my world falls down

Not for a moment will You forsake me

Even in the dark

Even when it's hard

You will never leave me

After all

Not for a moment will You forsake me

I haven’t stopped singing it since. What a beautiful Promise that he won’t leave us!

As I haven’t been well I have not been baking or making things! So instead I thought I would share some butter-cream cakes & cupcakes that I made a while back.

Butter-cream cakes & cupcakes are my favorite, simple, rustic and yet elegant. I prefer butter-cream icing over fondant cakes.

For these cakes I used the Wilson Butter-cream Icing Recipe which you can find on this link http://www.wilton.com/recipe/Buttercream-Icing. For 3 tier cakes just be prepared as you need heaps of butter-cream. If you can tell in the photo above I got lazy and didn't make more icing that's why the cake is showing through icing! ;)

Have a super weekend!

God has said,

‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’

Hebrews 13:5

Anita x

Christmas 2013

This is the Chicken Wire Frame http://anita-brizzi.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/diy-chicken-wire-frame.html I made which I decorated with a Christmas wreath and one of my signs. 

I hope everyone had a beautiful Christmas day with family & friends celebrating the birthday of our beautiful Jesus!

I can’t believe it is over already and that I actually pulled it off considering how busy we were the weeks leading up until Christmas. The month of December we spent adding finishing touches to the renovations inside our home plus moving the rest of the furniture we have had stored at mum & dad’s house for two years and unpacking lots of boxes! So I left all my cooking until a day before Christmas which was fine except that I must confess I have a serious problem - I want to cook most recipes from scratch!:)I blame my Italian mother who was always making everything from scratch growing up! lol So I am always adding extra pressure to myself when entertaining, luckily I enjoy it and after unpacking all those boxes which I really disliked it was a remedy.

The kids loved the Croquembouche Christmas Tree, made especially my for boy who was fascinated with Christmas Trees this year!

I managed to make the Pita Bread, Dips, Pate Brisee for my pumkin pie, Taralli biscuits, Chocolate Ginger Bread Biscuits for children’s stockings and Lady Finger biscuits for my trifle all in time! I was pretty impressed as I still had energy left over to enjoy the evening with my beautiful family!

For the Lady Finger Biscuits I used the recipe from the site below they always turns out great!

http://dailydelicious.blogspot.com.au/2009/11/basic-lady-finger-basic-biscuit-recipe.html

This year was the first time I decided to add pumpkin pie to the menu and I didn’t realise until Christmas Eve that it is a Sweet dish! lol So after searching the net for a savoury pumpkin pie recipe I used the recipe on the links below and turned out delicious will definitely make that again!

I was too busy to take photos this year so this is the only picture I have of my Savory Pumpkin Pie!

http://allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/28203/savoury-pumpkin-pie.aspx

http://www.marthastewart.com/284107/pate-brisee

The last two years I have made my own Christmas cards and I really enjoy it! The kids really appreciate it which I love seeing!

What a wonderful thought it is that some of the best days of our lives haven’t happened yet! 

Christine Caine  (I think!)

Happy 2014!

Anita x

Donna Hay Lamingtons Recipe

Happy Friday Friends,

In the midst of preparing for the Xmas Gift & Craft Fair, I haven’t had a chance to write any post lately. But as I made these yummy lamingtons to nibble on at the markets I thought I would share this delicious Donna Hay recipe (she is a legend)! I don’t really eat shop bought lamingtons because they are not like I remember when I was in a child. They were always fresh, soft and chocolaty but this recipe reminds me of those ones I used to enjoy as a child. So its definitely a winner - thank you Donna Hay! :) Enjoy

Lamingtons Recipe

(from Donna Hay: Simple Essentials Chocolate Book)

Ingredients

3 eggs

¾ cup caster sugar

1 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon softened butter

¼ cup boiling water

Chocolate Icing

3 cups icing sugar sifted

¾ cup cocoa powder,  sifted

1 cup boiling water

¼ cup milk

75 gm melted butter

Desiccated coconut to coat

Sponge

• Preheat oven to 170ºC.
• Grease a 28cm x 17cm x 3cm slice pan. Line with non-stick baking paper.
• Using an electric mixer, beat eggs until thick and foamy.
•  Add sugar, about a tablespoon at a time, beating well after each addition. Total beating time should be about 6 minutes. 
• Sift flour and baking powder together three times. 
• Add to egg mixture and lightly stir with a large metal spoon. 
• Combine butter and boiling water in a small bowl and stir to melt butter. Pour down the inside of the bowl and gently stir until combined. 
• Pour into prepared pan. 
• Bake 25 minutes or until pale golden. 
• Turn onto a wire rack lined with non-stick baking paper. Cool and cover with a tea towel. 
• Make the sponge at least two hours and up to a day ahead before coating with icing and coconut.

Chocolate Icing

• Trim sides of cake and cut cake into approximately 8 squares.
• Mix icing sugar, cocoa, water, milk and butter in a large bowl. 
• Place the coconut in another large bowl. 
• Using a fork dip sponge squares in the icing, then with another clean fork coat with coconut.
•  Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and refrigerate until set.

I am a little tired so I do hope all this makes sense! :)

Happy Weekend

Above all, love each other deeply!

1 Peter 4:8

Anita x

Pottery Barn Christmas Sign Knockoff

Hi Friends

I am so excited that Christmas is near; I am one of those girls who love to decorate the house, cook the traditional turkey & ham and have Christmas music playing in the background until Christmas day is over! (My husband got over it after our first year of marriage! lol)

I wanted to make a Christmas sign to put up around our home, so as usual I checked out Pottery Barn for inspiration when I came across this lovely sign. 

http://www.potterybarn.com/products/most-wonderful-time-wood-sign-wall-art/

I wanted something with a bit more Christmas meaning around our home given our faith and also something that wouldn’t take too long to paint.

How to: 

• (I have used two different signs in pictures here as I forgot to take picture in the first one!)
• My husband cut a piece of v-groove plywood measuring 45 cm wide and 19 cm deep.
• I stained it using a Feast Watson Prooftint Brown Japan.
• I lightly painted over the stain with a red acrylic paint. (The paint will smudge on your finger until it has been sealed).
• I sanded the edges to give that distressed look.
• Once I positioned the printed wording and snowflakes, I used carbon paper to trace it on the wood.

• I painted the lettering with white acrylic paint.
• I had some spare pieces of decorative timber in the garage which my super husband cut to measure the sign.
• I painted the timber brown and glued it on leaving it overnight.

• Once the sign was completely dried, I sealed it with an all purpose sealer.

Finally my own version of the Pottery Barn Christmas sign which I just need to find a space to hang.

Enjoy!

If you get a chance I encourage you to watch MyHope by Billy Graham -http://myhopewithbillygraham.org/programs/the-cross/. So inspiring to hear from such a great man who at 95 years old is still faithfully advocating for our beautiful Jesus!

‘Love is to the heart what the summer is to the farmer's year. It brings to harvest all the loveliest flowers of the soul.’

Billy Graham

Anita xx

Christmas Signs & New Artwork

Hi Friends,

It is has been a while since I last posted something as life has been keeping us busy. Do you find that with Christmas around the corner life just seems to get busier for some reason?

Well, I am excited to be part of the Xmas Gift & Craft Fair http://www.kjex.com.au/Xmas%20Craft.html  and have been busy creating new signs and artwork for the event. 

Here is some of my most recent artwork.

Let love be your highest goal.

1 Corinthians 14:1

Anita x