This Kit is Closed

Gosh, I've been a bad bad blogger! Luckily for me, it's not because I haven't had any work goings on to tell you about, but quite the opposite. More to the point, due to bumpy (see piccie in previous post) I was getting quite out of breath by the end of every day. I even found it hard to get the remainder of my 20,000 daily allowance of words out. Things must have been bad!

Anyhow, I'm here to tell you I'm now safely 'on the other side'. I'm now a nappy changing, milk machine Mummy to a little girl, Pearl. I'm now a yummy mummy who hangs out in coffee shops having leisurily catch-ups with friends, after long lazy lie-ins with smallie & copious amounts of daily cute kitten cuddles. So much easier than work I must admit (don't speak too soon, touch wood and all that). There's just one small thing to juggle (well, and all her flamin paraphenalia!) rather than several hundred at once. Obviously that's not for long though as I will have to juggle everything together once back from maternity leave.

But for now, yes, maternity leave. (I might just get a chance to reminisce and tell you about what I've been up to over the past months to cause my blogging absence). Will be back soon!

Cover Girl

So I've finally made it. It's every girls dream to be a cover girl and my dream came through this week. Now, admittedly it's not Vogue Magazine as expected but much thanks to Country Living Magazine for featuring me in their current issue and popping me on the cover too. It's a fab mag, read and loved by thousands around the country so I'm more than happy with that!

The lovely Imen McDonnell from I Married an Irish Farmer did a great interview and feature with me. It's mainly about what I do with work and my love of all things food. In fact, the husband kept winding me up about my "everything about food makes me happy" quote. I simply asked him to think what his life would be like if my quote was "everything about food makes me unhappy". Hum. Shut him up.

Also, I have to thank fab photographer Jack Caffrey who took amazing shots as always. I work with Jack on Neven Maguire's food feature shots for the same mag so it made a bit of a change for Jack to get my mush in instead of the food I cook. Anyhow guys, thanks for making a great feature of me...it can't have been easy!

Oh, and it's not a case of who ate all the pies...I'm proudly showing my baby pie off here at about the six month mark.

Check out the recipe for those spiced banana muffins over on my Friendly Cottage blog.

Pecha Kucha Night 6, Dublin

click to make bigger & see the full listings

This coming Thursday (3rd June), the final Pecha Kucha looks like it's going to kick off the bank holiday weekend with a bang. It will be the 6th PKN put together by the talented guys at The Small Print and The Irish Architecture Foundation. The event actually started in Tokyo in 2003 with a gathering of creatives and designers as a bit of networking. It has since travelled the world in a simple format where creatives 'chit chat' (the meaning of Pecha Kucha) to their 20 slides for 20 seconds each. The idea is that it stops people from talking too much and just getting to their point. Good idea!

So, speaking of talking too much, this is where I come in. I'm one of the chosen few (well ok, 20) being put to the test of cramming in as many of my 20,000 daily allowance of words into the 6 minutes & 40 seconds. Yes, my name is in lights with the creative movers and shakers of the design community here in Dublin. It's going to be an exciting night with a collection of photographers, fashion journalists, art directors, architectures, designers, jewellery designers, illustrators, artists, daydreamers and of course little old me banging on about...well, food. For fear of potentially boring myself and an audience of 300 (eek), I have a little multi-tasking performance up my sleeve. Never one to make things simple for myself me.

Anyhow, hopefully you can make it and join in the fun! See you at the Sugar Club, 8 Lower Leeson St. Entrance €5...Doors open at 7pm with kick off at 7.30pm.

Blueberry Pie Business Cards

(c) Jack Caffrey

I forgot to let you know last year about the new Blueberry Pie business cards. There are six different cards (to collect?!) each with a different recipe written by your's truly and also the relevant snap shot (thanks to photographer Cliona O'Flaherty). You can check out the recipes in the recipe section of the Blueberry Pie website also. The website also has extra tips for each recipe too. And the recipe theme?....take a guess and go and see for yourself...

2009 comes to a close

(c) Jack Caffrey

& what a year it has been. You may have seen this post way back at the start and now that the year is coming to an end it's amazing to look back and see how things have actually turned out.

The anticipation at the beginning of the year...the not knowing what to expect work wise or whether to even expect anything at all! I guess that's what I love and hate most about being self-employed....and of course the strength of the self employed is as always to stay focused, positive and to just trust all will be ok....and the biggest challenge of all is to just enjoy those work free days!

I'm very thankful for the exciting opportunities I've had this year...and am looking forward to ticking along nicely in 2010 now also....with a few new dreams come true thrown in please fairy godmother!

Wishing all you fellow self-employeds an abundant, bountiful, positive and of course, fun year ahead in 2010! Happy New Year!

Hanging up my tools for Christmas

(c) Jack Caffrey

Have a fabulous break over the festive season!

Kirstie's Homemade Christmas

If you watched the Channel 4 series, 'Kirstie's Homemade Home' earlier in the year you may be as excited as I was to hear that there is a three part Christmas special coming up soon (dates TBA soon). Although I am even more excited again as I actually got to work on it!! That was my secret trip....I have just spent the last week in Meadowgate, presenter Kirstie Allsopp's holiday let home which I watched unfold on the series, from a dilapidated house into the gorgeous home it now is...so you can excuse me for busting at the seams to be actually working there!! And my, it is just breath-takingly gorgeous...

Kirstie got some Christmas cooking tips from the lovely Amy Willcock

gorgeous stylist chehvani dresses the table

ok, so it wasn't all glitz & glam....My home for the week was really a mobile kitchen.....but in fareness this has to be the best view from one EVER!

camerman Cliff films some food porn!

food porn....but more about that in future posts

Thank you so much to Karen Convery for all her hard work, perfectionism, organisation and calmness in helping me (once again)! Thanks also to amazing director Amanda Fidler for getting me on board in the first place! It was lovely also to work with all the glasgow gang of IWC Media who produce the show. Group hug!

P.S. Click here to check out Kirstie's tweet pics during filming!

emergency services at the ready!

It's been one of those weeks....enjoy the weekend!

Electric Picnic

(c) Lis Parsons

See you after the weekend!

Absolut Art

Well, I am finally resurfacing from a fantastic Vodka fueled evening at the preview of the Absolute Art Exhibition (as per yesterdays post). Here, ladies and gents is the finished creation...what do you think? It took hours, days in fact and a whole ton of icing...

Photographer & Creative Director: Cliona O'Flaherty
Fashion stylist: Aishling Farinella
Stylist assistant: Arsheen Qsaim
Food styling (& frilly tablecloth!): Moi
Hair: David & Anthony @ Toni & Guy
Make up: Julie Ann Ryan
Model: Maria Boardmam @ 1st Option

Here's a link to the exhibition site where you can see more creations by fabulous people like Chris Judge, Steve Doogan, Aisling Farinella, Rich Gilligan & DADDY to name a few. The collection is showing in an amazing new venue, the smock alley theatre, lower exchange st, templebar, daily between 5 & 10pm from September 5th - 20th. Admission is free, so go check it out for yourself.

Absolut Original

I was thrilled when photographer Cliona O'Flaherty asked me to get involved in work she was commissioned to do for the Absolut Original Exhibition (for the Absolut Fringe Festival). Not just because it involved all things cake, pink and girlie but also because it was to be a first food & fashion collaboration with fabulous stylist Aisling Farinella (ok, and also because I got the get my sewing machine out!)

Cliona (along with 15 other artists) was given the same brief Andy Warhol was in 1985 to 'be inspired by the absolut bottle'. The small print are curating the exhibition and after the festival each piece will be submitted for inclusion in the International Absolut art collection in Stockholm. How exciting!

Anyhow, I won't reveal the finished masterpiece just yet (the preview exhibition is tonight so I'll tell you more tomorrow, absolut hangover dependant!) but here's some very early stages of work in progress snaps in the meantime...

Congratulations to Belleek

This week I trekked up to the beautiful village of Belleek in Co. Fermanagh for Belleek Pottery's Visitor's Centre 20th year celebrations. I had a fantastic time being shown around the factory to watch the amazing craftsmen at work and I even got to make a little shamrock myself - which was a little bit like cake decorating with icing actually (but very much doubt they'll be using it on any product they plan to sell though!). To top it all off we were all treated to an amazing lunch by chef Neven Maguire.

your flogging a dead horse there love!

awh, i didn't do too badly I guess!

Neven loves to use Belleek dinnerware for his food in photography and on tv so we were lucky enough to have a preview of a soon to be launched range which designer Maria has described as their 'Vera Wang' range of dinnerware! It certainly is, so I'm quite excited to use it shortly too.

Neven with Beleeks design team, Majella, Claire, Catherine & Marie

Neven & I with 'Vera Wang'!

new studio

Here are some snaps from photographer Harry Weir's new studio. I told you about the opening party a couple of posts ago but today was my first day of work there so Harry & I worked really hard (of course) but managed to have some time to poop around taking some fun shots (Well, I only took the one of Harry pretending to be busy!)...

Click on the image to make it a bit bigger!

happy harry

Congratulations to photographer Harry Weir on the opening of his new, very grown up studio. No thanks for all the bubbly last night Harry - although it did seem like such a good idea at the time! Harry is not only 'Happy' in predictive text, but was totally over the moon celebrating all his hard work turning an abandoned unit into a gorgeous, warm and friendly work space....looking forward to stuffing many a chicken there Harry! Congrats!

beautiful belleek

(c) Khara Pringle

Belleek have to be the best client ever! I had a gorgeous goody parcel in the post recently from their newly launched jewellery range. It's the beautiful bracelet in the image above (from their new brochure) and I totally love it! you can see it on their website here.

Also, you may recognise the model - she is one of the finalists in the RTE series The Model Agent, Carrie-Ann. Belleek did well there to nab her as the first face of their new jewellery - hope she wins now!

Anyhow, thank you guys for the most gorgeous gift and good luck with the range!

UPDATE: Congrats to Carrie-Ann (& indeed Belleek!) for winning her contract on The Model Agent (despite revealing her pregnancy in the final stages of the show!).

before & after

I got back from a big job earlier this week which I will tell you about when I have sorted the photos out (& once I finally face up to unpacking the kit!). In the meantime, here are some silly snaps of food I've been taking over the last 6 months in work...before food was cooked and after. Have I lost it?!