It's a new year and oh yes someone important's birthday

Hello everyone, thank you all so much for popping in, wishing us well over Christmas and happiness and memorable times for 2011. I don't know about you, but for the first time in a while we seem to have had a "seamless" and smooth festive season, other than the odd cough/cold, we had no upsets, family squabbles and drama. It has been a good time of reflection, prayer, family here in the UK and abroad, some present opening, a few January sales bargains and just chilling ;0) around the house.

I even managed to stay up till mid-night on New Year's Eve and had a little Babycham glass of this bubbly

It's most unusual for me to stay up till mid-night, I usually make a point of avoiding the clock striking 12, not sure why, I think it might be linked to my mum not particularly liking new years eve.

And then when we woke up we remembered that a certain Mr. A had turned 40 on 1/1/11 and so some baking needed to be done

Little Miss. Alice chose her all time favourite malteser chocolate cake made with lashings of butter, horlicks and eggs from Nigella Lawsons book Feast...

{If you have a beady eye you may have been able to spot all the page crinkling, spoiling and use of this page which has been used on many a happy birthday cake making}

So we did some-a-mixing

 and eventually iced and decorated a malteser... oops who ate all the maltesers last night? Oh dear it has to be minstrels decorated cake instead

Not quite as perfect as Nigella's cake but it was altogether a happy birthday and a happy new year to Mr.A and all who embraced the very rich and dense chocolate cake xox

Meanwhile, despite the grey, dullness outside and lack of beautiful sunshine this was being considered

My little knitted handbag creation...

Something I've been creating over the festive season which now needs a pretty lining before completely revealing to all of you lovelies.

So here's wishing you all a slightly belated but beautiful, sparkly, creative and memorable 2011. Look forward to all your lovely creations and inspiration over this coming year xox