Strawberry Buttercream Frosting....

Oh my goodness...

This frosting is divine!

There's no artificial food colouring in it at all...

Only pure delicious strawberries!

Strawberry Buttercream Frosting

With beaters - whip together 1 cup of soft butter 

3 and a half cups of icing (confectioners) sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla essence

and 3-4 tablespoons of strawberry syrup.

 I made my own strawberry syrup which is simply 1 cup frozen strawberries 

that is simmered over heat until soft,

 mushed with a bit of help from my potato masher, 

and strained through a sieve...

(Blend the left over pulp for a fab smoothie 
with a scoop or two of icecream, 

a tablespoon of sugar and milk.  

YUM!)

So all you do is beat the butter, sugar, vanilla and syrup...

It looks a bit greyish to start with...

but just beat it...
 and beat it some more...
and a wee bit more..

Until it is thick, fluffy and the palest pink!

I baked a simple butter cake to test this frosting on, and it was perfect!

It would work well as a piped frosting, but I didn't have time to do this...

Basic Butter Cake:

125 grams soft butter, 

1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence

3/4 cup superfine caster sugar

2 eggs

BEAT until creamy...

then add...

1 1/2 cups self-raising flour 

and 1/2 cup milk.

Place in a greased 19 cm cake pan. 

Bake at 180 Celsius for 20 minutes 

or until cake skewer comes out clean.

Cool, then frost.

(Note: this recipe makes a small cake 

so increase quantities if large cake is desired.)

Birthday Cupcake...

Delicious passion-fruit cupcake

Iced with passion-fruit butter cream icing...

Decorated...

with sweet fondant  and sugar pearls! 

Who needs a cake when you can have a birthday cupcake?

Blue fondant butterflies...

Gorgeous paper case...

 On a beautiful antique plate...

This plate is 'Paragon'

Pretty, don't you think?

Fine bone china, made in England.

Birthdays are a time to celebrate...

With a cupcake made with LOVE!

Pink flowers....

In love with pink?

Mia Bella Gardens has gorgeous pink blooms...

Papery pink cornflowers...

A lovely contrast with the grey foliage...

Shocking pink fuchsia buds...

Pink orchids...

Sweet pink camellias...

More buds of pink...

With gorgeous green... 

Morning dew drops...

Asters in pink!

Stamped Gourd Bowl...

On my previous post about painting the back boards on the bookcase/shelf, 

you may have noticed the decorated gourd...

Many have asked me how this was done...

Here's a quick tutorial:

Paint the whole gourd (Cutting into a bowl comes later!)a base colour. 

 Here I have used cream.

Then stamp (I used a large shell stamp from the 'Stampin Up' range) 

using permanent black ink,

 spacing the shell stamps around the gourd as you go. 

 I guestimate everything...no rulers used!

Wait for it to dry.

Use a very sharp cutter to cut around the top of the shells, 

thus creating the bowl.

Paint the inside of the bowl.

Then using a sponge swipe contrasting colours of paint randomly around the gourd.

I used a bright yellow, brown and a gold.

Do your detailing.

I painted a border of brown.

Touched the shell stamp design  up with some bright yellow, 

and painted bright yellow around the cut edge of the gourd.

Join the shells and accentuate the top border using a permanent black marker pen.

When completely dry coat with clear varnish.

And there you have it.

Have a go if you can source a gourd.

They are so much fun  to paint and decorate.

#gourdart #gourds

Shelf do-up...

I have been looking at bookcase do ups on Pinterest...

 which if you didn't already know is my other 'happy place' !

There are so many clever ideas...

Wallpaper on the shelf backboards...

Paint...

fabric mod podged on...

The list goes on.

I have always disliked my bookcase.

Ornaments just don't display well, because the wood is so dark.

The 'Sitting Room' where the shelf resides has a lot of red and white in it

 and it's pretty bright, 

so I decided to simply paint the backboards of the shelf white.

And what a difference it has made!

 My stuff stands out!

(I am wondering why it took me so long to do this!)

It has brightened up the wall...

And the best thing is...

 my cute flying pig has wings for all to see.

George...

Now don't you be fooled 
by his butter wouldn't melt in my mouth good looks...

This dog has serious attitude!

Meet George...

Using the word mischief to describe him is an understatement!

Here at Mia Bella Gardens we call him a work in progress.

Apparently the  'Hungarian Vizla' breed are a work in progress for their lifetime!
(I'm still coming to terms with that!)

George is probably just darn happy he found us...

He was sad, neglected and abused before he came to us...

Seriously underweight weighing in at only 17 kilos the day he arrived,
George is now happy, healthy and loved!

He has found his forever home,

even though he drives us completely crazy with his naughtiness.
(Now here's the reason why I do not have a lovely wreath on the front entrance door, 
and why I made a sturdy silver platter welcome sign.)

Currently I'm in a creative planning phase, 
redesigning a gorgeous front porch entrance...
that is 'George proof'!

We love him to bits!

How could you not love that face?

Welcome Door Sign...

I found this cute little silver platter in the thrift store the other day 

and thought wow I can do something with this!

It has the most beautiful detailing around the edge.

So out came the paint!

I wasn't feeling too bad about painting over it because I don't think it 'real' as it doesn't have any makers marks on it.

Using a gorgeous yellow colour, I applied two

coats to the middle, leaving the  detailing around the edge as is.

While it was drying I went on the net and found some free printables. 

http://thegraphicsfairy.com/ is a great place to look.

I couldn't decide on one so I printed three.  It took me a while to choose,

 but I opted for the bee.

Plus printed out a Welcome word using a pretty font.

The clever reasoning of this is hubby is learning all about bee keeping at the moment, 

so I thought he'd approve of my new piece of clutter!  (My plan worked!)

 Mod podge the graphics on to the platter.  

When dry, mod podge over the entire painted area.

 Then I made a wire hanger using contrasting coloured beads.

And here it is - the first part of my front entrance upgrade.

 It is so cute!

Bonus is - it is completely George proof!

Check in tomorrow and find out what I mean....

until then have a fabulous day.

I am....

Because I am sooooo busy playing in Mia Bella Gardens,

 and creating new things to show you,

 today's post is a simple quote.

I did find time to Photoshop this wonderful quote from Stephen Covey 

onto a beautiful rose photo from Mia Bella Gardens...

Simple but oh so seriously true.

See you again soon with an update on what's new at Mia Bella, 

but here is a wee hint on posts to come,

silver platters, gorgeous fabric, fondant icing, and baking!