What's in a Name?

Some people take their time to consider their options taking a measured approach, but me? I dive straight in, make a decision and go with it. I hate waiting, biding my time. So when I decided to start a blog I spent a quick half hour looking at the different blogging platforms, decided against the couple that I would have to pay for just in case I didn't stick with it and opted for Blogger. Then I had to pick a name for my blog. A couple of my favoured options were already in use (including my name) so I took the name of one of my favourite pieces of work "Fan My Flame"

 

It is still one of my favourite pieces made from silk paper that I dyed and made myself and decorated with free machine embroidery. The name Fan My Flame however did not remain popular with me for very long. Almost straight away I started to read it as Fanny Flame... which of course sounds more like a porn star than a textile artist!

I'm not entirely sure in what order things evolved but as part of my degree we did a Professional Practise module which was all about branding and having a portfolio... all very grown up! So in an attempt to be a grown up I threw off my Fanny Flame image and became Gina Ferrari, Textile Artist and opened up my Facebook page under the same name. However when I tried to open a Twitter account under my own name again I found it already taken so I resorted back to old Fanny! It doesn't really matter because I don't find Twitter something I really engage with... I still don't understand how to keep track of conversations and not being someone who is on my phone all the time I seem to miss half the action in the Twittersphere. But I digress.

Then of course there was my Etsy shop. I really couldn't bear the idea of my shop being called Fanny. As it happens I had just embroidered the fairy above for my blogging friend Mrs Moog (now there's a name!) who doesn't really blog anymore but is now active on Instagram. She always referred to her daughter as Minx and the fairy was based on one of Minx's drawings. Although I'm not entirely sure how any of that is relevent anymore my Etsy name became a combination of Gina and Minx and became Ginxie, which now of course is now meaningless! I think maybe I was going to fill my shop with embroideries of Minx's drawings!

Now roll forward several years to the launch of my baking business and another name was required. Ignoring all suggestions that contained the name Tart by my dear friend Gill I actually took my time until I finally happened upon "Apricot & Fig"... one of those early hours of the morning inspirations. And despite numerous people telling me they think that everything I make contains apricots and figs I've been quite pleased with the name. I even called my Instagram account apricot_and_fig

But now of course, I'm giving all that up and want to ditch the Apricot and Fig image and so I'm thinking I should consolidate everything under a single name as I concentrate more on my textiles and painting... Gina Ferrari Textile Art... or just Gina Ferrari, Artist? It won't matter of course because now you will all just think of me as Fanny Flame forever more!

How and why did you choose your blog name? 

You know that impulsive side to my personality I was talking about at the beginning... I impulsively decided to do my advent count down to Christmas again. Starting tomorrow a short post every day until the 24th because I really have nothing else to do... will you join me?

Five on Friday... or Four cakes and one dog!

I had forgotten how busy life can be with a new puppy... And what a challenge it is trying to run a business baking cakes at the same time! I just get started in the kitchen, wash down the surfaces, wash hands, don apron... and then the puppy needs to go out. Remove apron, see to puppy, come back, wash hands again, put apron back on, oops, now time to feed puppy, remove apron etc... you get the idea. My hands have never been so sore from washing! But there have still been cakes - it just all takes a lot longer, especially as I am still not very mobile. So I might just manage to post this on Friday... if Hector stays asleep!

1. A Wedding Cake

As a rule I won't usually do wedding cakes because I don't really feel I have the necessary skills... and I have a friend in the village who has a business just doing stunning wedding cakes. But this was for another friend who just wanted something informal and I felt I could cope with that. Should I admit that the decoration was entirely influenced by where there were little cracks in the icing... no, probably not!

2. An 18th Birthday

I do get some interesting briefs when people come to me for cakes... I've got one coming up later this month that is going to be a real challenge, but mostly they are fun. This one was for an 18th birthday cake for a young lady mad about ponies. It had to be pretty but definitely not pink, preferably funky colours. Her grandmother later told me she was so thrilled she almost put her glass down!

3. Butterflies and Bees.

This was very straightforward... I was asked for a square sponge, with white icing, pink and yellow flowers with butterflies and bees and "Happy Birthday Esther". I'm hoping this will make a little four year old happy tomorrow.

4. A 140th birthday!

Well obviously not one person who will be 140... but three people so three cakes. A father who is 70 and his two daughters who are 40 and 30 the same year. I pretty much had free reign on this one so opted to make three separate cakes that reflected their different interests. An engine for Michael who is keen on trains..

pulling a carriage to reflect Kirsty's interest in surfing...

and finally a camera carriage for Ashlie. Their party is on Saturday so I hope they are pleased (I am assuming they won't be reading this but their Mum might!)

Not easy to get a decent picture of all three together.

5. The Puppy

Just because I needed to make it up to five... this is what the puppy does when I am baking. He's not always very impressed at being confined to his end of the room!

Joining in with Amy for Five on Friday

Gossip

Well, one or two of you guessed and some of you knew but my "news" from earlier this week was neither exciting or good. In fact it is rather sad news. After summer school in August, Missenden Abbey will no longer be a centre for adult education in Buckinghamshire. Which means that more than half my annual teaching commitments will just disappear... Leaving me with a lot more free time on my hands and considerably poorer! It is a very sad day for adult education in this country but for me personally I am seeing it as an opportunity for more time to devote to ideas for my new business so I am trying to see it as a door opening rather than one closing... Exciting times for change. Meanwhile there is one last chance to take a summer school with me at Missenden Abbey  from 1st - 3rd August where I will be teaching Stitched Graffiti Art.

I will also be teaching this as a shorter one day workshop at Art Van Go on 14th July. And talking of Art Van Go there is a fabulous exhibition of oil paintings on there at the moment by Vicki Otte called Colour Fest which runs until 28th May.

 Vicki Otté is lives and works in Hertfordshire and has always painted, originally with acrylics  illustrating children's stories, which also led her to create painted wood sculptures. However, for the last few years Vicki has concentrated exclusively on oils.

Many of her paintings involve portraits and it is obvious from her work that Vicki Otté has a keen eye for people and for characterisation. All of her paintings are portrayals of life as she sees it, usually with humour, and always in vibrant colour. They just made me smile they are such joyous happy paintings.

I just love the colouful exuberence of this work, so much so that when I was there teaching little stitched miniatures a few weeks ago I took this painting called "Gossip 2" as inspiration for a little stitched miniature of my own

And this was the result... obviously not for sale as it is a copy of Vicki's work, but for my own enjoyment.

 

So that is my news really.

So I am not sure how many more workshops I will be teaching in future... a few at Art Van Go, odd ones here and there but mostly my focus will now be on my baking. And I've lots of ideas for things I want to do so I'm seeing it as exciting times. I'm dancing in the rain!

And for those of you who can't make it to a workshop in person, I still hope to be able to teach via downloadable tutorials... a new one is in my Etsy shop today for the stitched miniatures which you can find here. And there are more planned for later in the year.

Ch... Ch... Changes!

How do you feel about change... do you embrace it or shy away? I'd say that most often I like change, I enjoy trying new things and relish new experiences but in reality that probably only applies to the little things in life, the low risk stuff. I'll always try new dishes in restaurants (unlike my lovely husband who always chooses the same food... so much so, I could probably pick what he would order from almost any menu!), I like to visit new places on holiday and I'm alway willing to try new experiences. But the big changes in life, the ones that take a leap of faith... I'm not so brave then! 

Sometimes changes happen due to circumstances and breaking my ankle has certainly imposed changes on my routine and lifestyle over the past  few weeks. I thought the enforced rest period and general slowing down would mean a lot more time for reading, blog writing, and getting my website sorted out... none of which has really happened because I've not had the energy. I've not even looked at my website, I seem to be blogging less than ever and although I'm reading, it's no more than usual... and that is because everything else takes twice as long as usual! By the time I've got up, showered, dressed, tackled the stairs and had my breakfast I'm half way through the morning!

But I have enjoyed the books I've read over the past few weeks. I finished A God in Ruins which I absolutely loved and have added the companion book Life after Life to my wish list. It cover the events in the life of Teddy, a would be poet, RAF fighter, son, brother, husband, father and grandfather, told with much humour. It does contain some fairly traumatic scenes from his life as a fighter pilot but it was one of those books I didn't want to put down but didn't want to finish either.

Kind friends have also lent me books recently and I have read The Year of Living Danishly, which is a light hearted and enjoyable read about the experiences of an English couple living in Denmark for a year and their quest for a happier life. I read The Dressmaker, which is a dark, gothic tale of revenge set in rural Australia. I found the character observation hilarious as it is full of weird and wonderful individuals and their engaging lives .And lastly I have just finished A Perfectly Good Man which I literally couldn't put down. It is the story of Barnaby, a parish priest in Cornwall and it draws the various different threads of his life together as the story unfolds. I found it an incredibly moving story.

But I am pleased to say I am healing well, feeling less tired and gradually getting back to my normal self. This week I even ventured into London for a day (not alone, I might add). I attended a Kitchen Table Talent event called Build Your Business organised by Country Living Magazine. It was an excellent day, well organised with good speakers (Sophie Conran, Julie Dodsworth, Emma Bridgewater), opportunities for networking, workshops to help with branding and business plans, plus a really good lunch too! I came home buzzing with ideas for my baking business. Making the change of direction from textiles to incorporate my love of baking definitely was one of those "leap of faith" changes in my life and if I'm honest I have wobbled a few times over whether it has been the right thing to do. But this week I have received news* that has confirmed this is a good change in my life. I'm going to be intensly irritating and say I can't share that news just yet... but I will in due course.

And so I continue to bake with a passion, even if it does mean operating at half speed! Orders continue to come in and this week I've made a "naked" sponge, which has been one of my favourite cakes to date

And this blue birthday cake which might be one of my least favourites. I'm pretty confident it will taste good but I just struggle with blue food! On the plus side, it does match my range of aprons and tea cosies which will remain part of the Apricot and Fig brand.

So currently I'm feeling excited about the changes that are in store... not to mention the prospect of this bionic boot coming off next week!

* I seem to have given the impression that I have some really exciting news which is not the case. The news is not good but it has confirmed for me that starting the new business was the right thing to do and that is what makes me excited for the future! And now that sounds even more cloak and dagger than before!

Bonkers!

It's not the first time (nor second) that I've used that title. I spent all week getting ready for what I knew was going to be an insanely busy weekend. It involved lots more frantic baking on crutches with frequent rest breaks. There were some rather enticing walnut macaroons...

Trays of ginger cookies, date cookies, chocolate chip cookies, shortbreads and biscotti.

By Friday there was less resting and even more baking...

Although on Saturday I cast aside my apron and donned my textile hat. I'd had a workshop and talk booked for the Colchester branch of the Embroiderer's Guild for absolutely ages. I had to postpone the workshop as a whole day working without a chance to have a lie down felt like a step too far since my accident... As if I can take many steps at all at the moment! But I did agree to do the talk. Stewart drove me and fetched and carried all my stuff. Despite a minor panic after getting lost (no... okay there was major panic and a touch of hysteria on my part) and then getting stuck in traffic we arrived in the nick of time... as in ten minutes before I was due to talk. It was also slightly terrifying to be faced with a proper lecture theatre... It felt very grown up! But all's well that ends well (that's my nod to Shakespeare this weekend) and it went well, everyone seemed to enjoy the talk and I'd even impressed my husband who had never seen me in "performance" mode before. He took loads of photos, but I won't bore you with all twenty six of them!

We came home and fighting off absolute exhaustion I managed another tray of brownies. The reason for this sheer madness... An Artisan Fair in our village today. Something else I had committed to before I fell in the ditch. As it was too good an opportunity to miss to promote the new business locally, I didn't want to do the sensible thing and pull out... sensible... moi?

And despite now feeling almost catatonic, incapable of any intelligent thought, and only able to utter of words of one syllable... I think it was worth it ( I hope you are suitably impressed I am actually writing this!)

I didn't sell any tea cosies or aprons, although I do think they added to the overall "Apricot & Fig" image...but I virtually sold out of cake and biscuits, which was great. It was a lovely day, busy and buzzing with lots of fabulous feedback and several potential orders.

And I promise that next week I will try to take it easy and rest my leg a little more... Except did I mention there is one more special cake to make... Bonkers, I know... bonkers!

My Last Rolo...

Although we didn't really exchange many Christmas presents this year I did have a couple of new cookbooks on my wish list... well, cake books to be specific. And as Santa didn't manage to get them all for me I treated myself to this...

 

Cakeology by Juliet Sear is a project based book which wouldn't normally be my first choice, but it also has excellent basic recipes for cakes and frostings, instructions on numerous techniques and really useful information on doubling up recipes and different tin sizes etc.

 

The "Love Heart" cookies that I made last week were adapted from an idea in the book and the basic vanilla cookie dough is one of the best I've tasted. After all, it is no good making cakes and biscuits that look pretty if the taste doesn't match up to expectations.

So when in my latest "Apricot & Fig" newsletter, I offered a Chocolate Brownie Rolo cake as one of my Valentine selections I wanted to make sure it was the best possible tasting Brownie cake ever. I made one of these a few years ago when I tested a recipe for "Baking Mad". It tasted good but the Rolos all sank to the bottom of the cake creating a gooey caramel layer which wasn't really the desired effect. I was pretty sure I could get round the problem by having a firmer basic mixture but didn't want to sacrifice that soft, almost undercooked texture of a good brownie.

 

So yesterday I tried the Belgian Chocolate Brownie Torte cake recipe from Cakeology with a packet of Rolos scattered on the top. And bingo... all the Rolos stayed scattered more or less where they were put...

Not only that, it slices beautifully, has a wonderful texture... and tastes fantastic with the occasional hit of a chewy caramel Rolo. Would I give someone my last Rolo... probably, but I wouldn't give them my last slice of this cake. In fact I'm reluctant to share any of it!

There will be more cakes later this week should you care to come back this way again!

Apricot & Fig

The painter and decorator finished in the kitchen at about 4pm on Friday and the fitter finished off the skirting boards at about 6 pm. Cutting it fine even by my standards.

 

 Fortunately I had managed to package up some mini Christmas cakes and several packets of biscotti earlier in the week.

But Saturday turned into a baking frenzy of mincepies...

 

Gingerbread biscuits...

And if you will allow me to say so,,, the most amazing cranberry and clementine Bundt cake, rich with white chocolate and soaked fruit yet light and fragrant too. I may have got a little over enthusiastic with the spray-on glitter though... a little over excited too!

 

There was also a triple layer gingerbread and caramel cake...

 

As well as a gluten free almond and clementine cake. There was also some very naughty Rocky Road but that disappeared before I took a photo.

 

And despite all the last minute rush, everything was ready for my Tasting Day and launch of my new venture "Apricot and Fig" on Sunday afternoon.

 

People came all afternoon and there was a definite buzz and excitment. Lots of cake was sampled, lots of cake was bought and even more was ordered. I virtually sold out of all these jams, jellies and chutneys

By the end of the day I was exhausted but left happy feeling that I might actually make a success of this.

Meanwhile this week there has been more embroidery, lots of shifting of boxes and furniture and I'm still exhusted... but that's all a story for another time!

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post if you would like to have a chance to win a set of Cambridge Christmas cards.

All Change!

Have you missed me? I have been noticably absent from my own blog and yours, not because I have been away anywhere wonderful and exotic, but because I have been very busy. Busier than usual... busy making changes... and cakes!

A couple of months ago I found myself doing a bit of soul searching and knew that I was ready for some change in my life. I took an on-line course with "Do What You Love for Life" which gave me the push to actually do just that... to do what I really love doing and that is baking.

I'm not completely giving up with textiles as I have teaching committments that run throughout next year and beyond, but as a rule I am not taking on any new classes. I will remain a member of Prism and with a bit of luck I'll have more time to stitch the things I want rather than endless teaching samples. Time for my own work.

But this week I have taken the plunge and launched my new baking busines "Apricot and Fig" supplying fresh baked cakes, desserts and savoury bakes. It is something I've thought about for many years but the fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of giving up on something I am already known for and successful at, has held me back. Taking the on line course was a huge factor in pushing me in this direction, wonderful for making me confront those fears and realise they existed only in my head. I would definitely recommend it. There are other reasons for me wanting to make changes too but this is not the time nor place.

So this week, not ony have I been sorting out paperwork, filling in forms for the local authority, getting things printed etc. I have also made a batch of gluten free macaroons, some millionaire's shortbread, several pots of damson jelly (my prize winning recipe!), a large gluten free chocolate cake, a 50th birthday cake, a banana cake,  a lemon tart (I'll own up... two lemon tarts because the first one leaked everywhere and collapsed) and twenty four mini savoury cheesecakes... And I also spent a day with the ladies of Tunbridge Wells Embroiderer's Guild teaching them how to make these books.

Didn't they do well!

There is little doubt that I will miss my days of teaching... we laughed, had fun and there was the satisfaction of seeing everyone go away with a finished item and new skills.

But I'm also very excited about my new venture... cake anyone?

Starting my own baking business also ticks another sixty by sixty box too!