旋轉瓶蓋(Screw Cap) v 水松塞 (Cork)

情人節快樂！

今天是情人節，祝各位有情人甜甜蜜蜜﹔尚未遇到Mr/Miss Right的就很快覓到如意郎君/窈窕淑女。今年的情人節是星期四，是羽毛球夜，我們便提早在星期三(十三號)在家吃情人節餐。上面照片的罐是我送給大龍的手工巧克力，這個罐其實是餅乾罐子，在店裡看見此罐時覺得很漂亮，也想像餅乾吃完了罐子可以再用呀，所以就成為用完可以再用的禮物罐子囉！ 今年的情人節頭盤是蒜泥煎帶子配巴馬火腿﹕ 主菜是牛排配薯角沙拉﹕ 甜品呢，是我在唐人店裡買的盒裝豆腐花，很奇怪，是不是﹖哈哈！沒關係呢，我倆都喜歡豆腐花啊！ 吃完情人節餐我就拿出我精心炮製的手工巧克力來送大龍。我用的模具是矽膠模，是上次回香港買的，看見這模具的時候就決定了要買來做巧克力。這次做得是軟心巧克力，軟心是用忌廉芝士、冧酒和巧克力做的，我貪心放了很多冧酒，吃起來酒味很重。大龍酒量是可以的，所以不會吃醉咧。 效果蠻好的呢！用矽膠模的好處就是脫模比較方便，不過不知道是不是因為矽膠的關係，巧克力做出來沒有像用塑膠模具做出來的光亮。 我用的巧克力轉印紙是好友謝茜從香港寄給我的。本來是打算聖誕節用的，但當時太忙了都沒時間做巧克力，所以放到現在才用。第一次用轉印紙，有點狼狽，所以有些印得不太好。 剩下來的材料做了兩顆巧克力，心形那顆是用塑膠模做的，可以看到是很光亮。 我們今天雖然沒有特別慶祝，可也交換卡片啊！ 一如以往我自己給他做了卡片，沒想到今年他也給我做了一張。他在網路上找到愛字的寫法，然後描寫在卡字上，剪出來製成卡片送給我。第一眼看到卡片我還以為卡片是買的！他因為不知道我把紙雕刀放哪裡，所以整個字都是用剪刀剪的，做的真是很不錯！ 大龍還沒有吃我送的巧克力，他說他要拿回家跟家人分享，因為實在是太漂亮囉！(我做的當然是漂亮！哈哈！做得不漂亮也不會拿來送他呀。)明天和星期一我拿了假期，跟大龍回威爾斯過一個悠長周末，順便慶祝他的生日！是啊！星期一是大龍的生日。生日禮物我還沒有選好，只給他買了一大包白兔糖。要多花點心思才行……

Chinese Birthday Buns: Look nice enough to eat

My grandmother's birthday is sometime in December. I can never work out which day it is as it's a chinese lunar calendar date. Anyway I have made her a little card with FIMO clay (told you I have gone crazy with FIMO clay) As you can see on the card it's a dim sum steamer with a lot of birthday buns "flying" around. There are 9 birthday buns in total which implies "long living". Birthday buns "freshly" came out from the oven (just after I put some vanish on) It's a 10p coin in the picture so you can imagine the size of the dim sum steamer and the birthday buns (a 10p coin is the similar size of 1HKD coin) Buns in the steamer (the buns were painted with pastel chalk so the red on them looks very subtle and soft):

My Preparation for Christmas: Christmas Gifts

Other than buying presents from shops, I have handmade a few as well! Dylan and I were really struggling to think of anything to get for his aunt. One day, I was browsing on internet and saw a festive cat shaped cushion which I thought it was a good idea. Therefore I made a proposal to Dylan and it was an instant agreement. I started of drawin the pattern based on an image I found on internet. The finished product has turned out surprisingly well. Half way into making the cat shaped cushion: The finished product (Dylan said I should put a little trademark tag on it but I forgot, haha): I think I have gone a bit made with the FIMO clay this year. Not only using it for the cards but also in making gifts. We have several candle holders from the wedding lying around unused so I thought it would be a good idea to decorate them and give them away as a present. Here is my first attempt. Using 3 different colours FIMO clay to make a simple flower cane: Here is my second attempt. The pattern on the candle holder was made out of leftover clay while I was just messing around so it was kind of an accident. (I know I should have tried to get a better picture but I was in such a rush) I didn't plan on making the little cat on the edge but I only notice the edge was chipped when I finished. It would be a waste to give up on it after all the effort so I made a little cat hanging on there to cover up the chipped edge. Now I am in Wales putting my feet up and looking forward to unwrapping all my presents!! (There are a lot under the tree!!!)

My Preparation for Christmas: Christmas Cards

Hello everybody (whoever is reading this, hehe) I am in Wales now so I cannot write in Chinese. Dylan and I come back to Wales every year for Christmas and New Year so in general we don't need to prepare much for Christmas like most families do, e.g. buying fresh veg, turkey, stocking up booze and snacks etc. It used to be a bit like Chinese New Year in Hong Kong, shops shut for ages so people stocked up their cupboards but nowadays shops start their SALE on boxing day. I cannot understand why people still go mental on shopping groceries before Christmas. Anyway talking about my preparation, even though we don't need to worry about buying food, we still need to shop around for christmas gifts. What they tend to do is to buy a lot little ones as so called "stocking filler" and one big one as a main present. Buying one present is already a hard work so buying several for one person is even harder. Also when it comes down to me to do all the thinking and shopping is even much harder. You may be thinking why it comes down to me, to be fair, it's easier for me to do the shopping as I work in town and also it appears that I am more observant than Dylan so I seem to be able to come up with better idea than him, however my ideas still have to meet his approval otherwise I can't go ahead!!!! Everyone in the family is a grown up so it's difficult to buy as we all have more or less everything we need/want. I try to be thoughtful and come up with some homemade/handmade presents for them which you can't put a value on, hehe, so I normally get really busy and exhausted before christmas. I tend to make all the christmas cards unless I am short of ideas. Here are this year selections: For Dylan: A close up of the detail on the card (the litle keyring things were made from shrink plastic, a very magical craft material): For Dylan's brother: A close up on the card topper which was made from FIMO clay and brushed with pearlescent powder: For Dylan's aunt: The cat on the card was made out of FIMO clay and stuck on a little photo frame. The photo frame can be taken off so she can use it as a little decorative item around the house. For Dylan's Mum and Dad: The red poinsettia was made out of plain red and red glittered felt. I have made it into a brooch so Dylan's Mum can take it off after christmas and put it on somewhere (don't think it's nice enough to wear out)

弄瓦之喜

寄給住在英國的表姊恭賀她弄瓦之喜 好奇怪「大家」連她懷孕也不知道﹐忽然傳來消息說為丈夫誕下千金﹐實在是有點愕然

喜帖

漏網之魚

翻看相簿才發現這條漏網之魚

這是做給小白賀她受洗之喜

結婚周年紀念賀卡

This was a card for Dylan's parents' wedding anniversary. We were so forgetful that we didn't remember till two days before their anniversary day. I took out my craft box and spent 10 minutes to finish this. The card doesn't look so bad but the envelope was really terrible because I just used a sheet of A4 paper folded up casually and chunked the card in.

First Class stamp and it arrived on time!

父親節快樂！

其實已經有三年多沒有跟爸爸見過面了，時間總是不對，總是錯過見面的機會。有時候覺得自己當女兒的其實相當失敗，過時過節想要送禮給爸媽，想來想去都想不到他們會喜歡什麼。或許是他們都把精神心血花在我們身上，自己的喜好愛惡都被忽視﹔或許是我從來都沒有花時間去明暸理解﹔或許有時候是我過份天真，覺得自己現在生活安定，不用他們太費神，已叫他們安慰了﹔或許是有太多的或許，但無論如何希望爸媽還有祖母每天生活快慰。

一向都不善長製作送給男性的賀卡，這張父親節卡我覺得還是相當的女性化，不過還是希望爸爸會喜歡。

盜用公家資源

五月第二個星期日是母親節，其實母親節就跟父親節、情人節，都是給商人弁利的藉口！

所以想要忘記這些節是沒有可能的。大小商舖，大街小巷，都會掛滿各式各樣的裝飾字句圖案擺設裝飾去「提醒」你﹕「xx節快到了，你買了賀卡沒有﹖買了禮物沒有﹖想好了節目沒有﹖」

網上購物越來越流行，上網期間三時五刻都會有廣告彈出跟你說﹕「是時候跟摯愛作出表示了！」然後如諸葛孔明一樣作你智囊，為你提供不同的購物意見折扣優惠。

看來除了睡覺時才可以避開這些翻天覆地的宣傳，不過日有所思，夜有所夢，難說難說。

我家好像一向都不重視這些所謂的節日，一般都沒有什麼慶祝活動。

但現在跟家人的距離是十三小時的飛行時間，除了電話交流，在這些小節日，還是會寄上夾了隻字片語的賀卡一張。

這只限於我記得的時候。

現在下班回家做菜洗碗做家務洗澡坐下來看個電視鬆口氣，是時候上床睡覺了，明天還要早起上班。

今年母親節前的兩個星期還記得，但這樣的生活方式，時間過得特別快，一眨眼距離母親節只有一星期﹔數數手指算算看，今天不做卡的話，就來不及寄去香港了，從英國寄到香港，空郵一般要5-7天啊！

另外一個會忘記得原因是英國的母親節跟香港的母親節是不同月份的，英國的母親節是三月份，當英國被節日宣傳攻勢之時，我還不需要作任何打算﹔但到了香港的母親節時，沒有了這些攻勢的提醒，睡醒覺睜開眼也就忘記了。

還有最麻煩的是趕不及自己做的話，想買也買不到，過了三月，根本連母親節卡的蹤影都看不到。

今年嘛，我還是忘記了，幸好沒有完全忘記，但我猜當媽媽奶奶收到的時候該是母親節之後的了，遲到總比沒有的好嘛。

母親節前的星期二，回到辦公室才想起自己還沒有做賀卡，想想當晚要打球，沒時間，再不做就來不及了，唯有就地取材！

在辦公室裡找來列印機用的投影膠片(transparency)及白卡紙一張。

到網路上微軟的網頁下載了各式花朵的圖樣，將花朵圖樣拼湊好以後就列印在膠片上，這就成了圖中所見整張賀卡的主要設計。

回家以後就立刻拿出工具箱，用無色的定色印台(embossing ink)在卡上的左下角印上「To Someone Special」的字樣，灑上幻彩燙金粉，掃去多餘的燙金粉後就用熱風槍將定在卡上的燙金粉溶掉，這就成了閃亮的字樣。(照片裡不大看到) 用白膠漿將花朵膠片圖案固定在卡上。

這就是我今年簡單快捷，卻又大方得體的母親節卡咧！

後話﹕

• 由於膠片是透明的，即使白膠漿乾了以後，從正面看還是會看到的，所以選擇有暗色的圖樣，這樣可以遮掩白膠漿的痕跡。
• 現在好像有膠片專用的粘合劑，但我沒有用過，不是效果如何

生日小熊熊

這是多年前給朋友做的生日禮物還記得以前常常到旺角的花墟去購買各式各樣「平靚正」的乾花作小手工的材料。 雖然事隔多年﹐我仍記得花墟的樣子﹐既名為花墟﹐當然是「一條花巷﹐一條花街﹐上天下地都是花﹐可謂花天花地」。 我常到的那家店是街頭的第一家﹐店鋪面積大得嚇人﹐貨品種類亦多得令人嘆為觀止。每每走進這家店我都會樂而忘返﹐ 花上以小時計的時間去選購合心意的手工材料。 圖中座臺月曆上的乾花及小熊坐著的「草地」都是購自該店。我還記得做這個月曆時我打趣跟媽媽說：「媽﹗我在舖草皮呀﹗」 媽回敬我一句﹕「你爸才是在舖草皮。」

回憶真傷人﹐這樣說一說已經是四﹑五年前的事了……

手製賀卡 - 榮休賀卡

不知道是西方文化還是英國的文化，不論什麼時候什麼場合你都可以找到適合的賀卡。前兩天才簽了一張我所簽過目的最奇怪的卡。事緣其中一個我們最常用的訓練場地因大雨連場而被水淹，水深達兩吋！ (沒錯……是兩吋……)損失了一部放在地上待修所以被水淹到的電腦﹔不知道誰買了一張主題為「Just a note」的卡要同事們簽了然後送過去，我們每一個都拿著卡，想得頭爆炸都想不到該寫什麼……

其實第一次到英國的賀卡店的時候實在讓我大看眼界，除了最普通的生日卡、父母親節卡、聖誕卡以外，還有款式繁多的多謝卡、慰問卡、週年紀念卡(還有年期之分啊！)、結婚賀卡、訂婚賀卡等等。生日卡的款式更是多不勝數，除了以男生女生作區分外，還有以年齡、身份作分類，所以絕對沒有藉口說找不到合心意的賀卡。臨近農曆新年，即使遠在英國，想要購買中式賀年卡也絕不是問題。其中一所最大的賀卡連鎖店較早前更推出了離婚賀卡，可想而知現在離婚是多常見。

這個暑假，在學校工作的蘇珊 (大龍的阿姨)就退休，他媽媽不停的提醒他要給她寄一張賀卡，恭賀她退休。其實跟他說是白說的了，連送給他爸媽的賀卡都是我做或是我買的，他怎麼會記得。我到店裡去看以退休為主題的賀卡。奇怪，款式不多……而且那些所謂的手製賀卡更是昂貴的離譜，那些卡只是將一些現成的賀卡裝飾拼拼湊湊，就最少賣三英鎊。我回家跟大龍說要是要付三、四英鎊的話，我寧願自己做好了。

所以我就從床底下拿出我的手工對工具箱，做了以下的退休賀卡，我還特意在背後寫了「Handmade by Sammi」哈哈！

大龍爸的生日卡

大龍爸的生日是在12月27日，所以在忙購買聖誕禮物及做聖誕之餘，還要買生日禮物及做生日卡。其實所有賀卡都是在出發到威爾斯前的一天才做，從下午兩點做到六點，因為坐在地上坐的關係，做完之後後頸跟背部都痛得不得了，搞了好久頸跟背才直起來，看來是時候吃點鈣片預防骨質疏鬆。

做完了四張聖誕卡之後，腦部有點閉塞，想不到生日卡該怎麼做才好，因為不想生日卡的設計跟聖誕卡過份的相似。靈光一閃想起買了很久還未開封的軟陶(Fimo)，就決定用軟陶做生日賀卡的卡面裝飾。

雖說是軟陶，其實挺硬的，掐得我手指頭發麻，最初只做了生日蛋糕和禮物盒，後來想想才兩個裝飾好像有點單調，所以多做了一個酒瓶。因為沒有咖啡色的軟陶，要自己混，想了很久才想起咖啡色是紅色混綠色。我問以前唸過美術的大龍怎樣才混到咖啡色，他白痴的居然告訴我紅色跟藍色……

下圖為入焗爐加熱硬化前的相片，那個蛋糕只有一元硬幣的大小﹕

2005手製聖誕賀卡

To 大龍弟 To 大龍阿姨

To 大龍爸媽

To 大龍