Long time no post...

Oooops! It's been a while since my last blog entry, apologies. Life has been... busy. Lots of things going on with work, college has started up again (first exam this term coming up very quick) and so I've not had much time to write. However.... I do have some finished pics to share! :)

First up is 'His Hotness', aka Severus Snape illusion knit. I'm still debating how to finish him and what to do with him. I kind of want to display him, but at the same time I think he's too lovely to hide at home and I want to take him out and about. Suggestions welcome!

From the front...

From the side...

I've also done a fair bit of baking lately... a lovely chilli chocolate tart

A very chocolatey cake with extra chocolate on top

 

And a dinosaur cake, made for a birthday gathering (my boyfriend decorated the dinosaur cakes on top - which were pretty tasty!) "This Land" was my little nod to Firefly - something all of the birthday folk like.

I've also completed another couple of squares for the GAL blanket, which I'll share next time. After my next exam I have a crafty day planned with a friend, so there should be some more pics after that hopefully - I think I'm getting the sewing machine out, just need to decide what to make! (Yes, I'm aware I still have a Doctor Who quilt to put together... but why finish one project when I can start another?!)

Sugar and Crumbs chocolate icing

It's review time! The lovely folk at Sugar and Crumbs Sugar and Crumbs kindly sent me some of their new chocolate flavoured icing sugar range to try out. They've got three new flavours, Black Forest, Chocolate Milkshake and Jaffa Twist. When I offered to help test the product, I stupidly forgot to mention I have an orange allergy. I was hoping they wouldn't send me the Jaffa Twist flavour as I only thought about it after I'd had an email to say they'd posted the samples out. The flavours I received were... Black Forest and Jaffa Twist! The only thing I could think of to do was to invite people around for a baking and tasting session, to get their opinions on the orange flavour.

And so an evening of baking, icing and drinking wine was planned!

Let's start with the packaging - it's very... pink. In fact, it's pretty much all pink, which is great if you like pink, but I've never been a big fan. It's bright and eye catching, but I did have to check the (small) stickers a couple of times to make sure I'd picked up the bag of Black Forest icing rather than the Jaffa Twist. I feel that making the stickers larger or more prominent could be a big help - or colour coding the packaging to match the flavour. While having all of the brand in the bright pink packaging is great for the brand identity, it does mean finding the flavour you want a bit tricky. (To see what I mean check out the Suagr and Crumbs Facebook picture)

The Jaffa Twist icing sugar was made into buttercream and used to ice some carrot cupcakes.

As I didn't test the Jaffa Twist myself, I asked my friends what they thought of it. They all agreed that the orange flavour was quite overpowering, and drowned out the delicate cake.  None of them were too keen on this flavour saying it was too strong - as if a Terry's chocolate orange had been melted and condensed then put onto a cake.

The Black Forest icing went down a little bit better - we used some of it to make buttercream icing for some chocolate almond cupcakes.

I was looking forward to trying this one - I love cherries. It reminded me of a black forest gateaux (which I guess is the idea!) very chocolatey with a lovely hit of cherry which wasn't too strong. The others agreed that the flavouring was much better, and the cakes quickly vanished.

The last thing we created on the night were some teapot and heart biscuits, which we decorated with some Black Forest icing made up with water. Here's an action shot. These were delicious!

So, in summary - we loved the Black Forest, not so keen on the Jaffa Twist. The packaging is great if you like pink.

Don't forget to check out the Sugar and Crumbs website and to look them up on Facebook and Twitter. They have some lovely sounding flavours, and all of their products are naturally flavoured.





If you fancy making your own chocolate almond cupcakes with Black Cherry icing, here's the recipe:

Cupcake:
175g margarine (or butter)
175g caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs, lightly beaten
55g ground almonds
125g self-raising flour
25g cocoa powder

Cakes are made the standard way - cream together butter and sugar, then add the vanilla and eggs slowly. Fold in flour, cocoa powder and almonds. Bake in the pre-heated oven (180 deg) for about 20-25 minutes. Easy peasy!


Icing:
Some Sugar and Crumbs Black Forest icing
Some Margarine (or butter)
Enough glace cherries for each cupcake
I didn't measure out the icing - I just eyeballed it. There is a good guide to butter icing on the Sugar and Crumbs website and on the back of the packets.

Many thanks for reading, here are some gratuitous pictures of cakes (and cookies) for you!

Another thing we learnt from this - baking nights are a fabulous idea, but try to get the baking and decorating done before the drinking!

Amazing brownies

I managed to bake this week! I was feeling a little bit off, and had planned to go to the gym but ended up baking instead.

When I said I wanted to bake, I was quized. Will it have bananas in? Will it have any strange/unusual ingredients? I guess that recently I've made a few banana-y things (leftover bananas in non-tasty cookies and a recipe for double chocolate fudge banana muffins which were pretty awful) and the sweet potato cookies were a bit unusual, but delicious, so the comments were fair. I was told that something chocolatey is always a safe bet, so made some chocolate cherry brownies.

So here we go - I even remembered to take a (bad) photo!

These were delicious. I used some chocolate cherry cocoa powder that I'd bought from Sugar and Crumbs http://www.sugarandcrumbs.co.uk/ which smelt amazing when it was opened. I also used the recipe from the website for the brownies, but left the in the oven a bit longer than it said to - I think my tin is a bit on the small side, so they ended up being very tall and taking a while to bake through.

They've gone down a treat. In fact, I've had to cut them in half to bring more into work today!

I'm now really looking forward to playing with my icing sugars, and will hopefully make some cakes this weekend (I still have lots of eggs to use up). If the cocoa pwder is anything to go by then they'll be delicious!

Small update

It's been a while since I last posted... I've not been in much of a crafty mood lately, and so haven't been doing much. His Hotness is coming along slowly, but it's tricky to see anything yet so I've not taken any pictures.

I've also been working on my Sprite Stitch swap gift - which was a bit of a disaster! It turned out far too small, so I've gone back to the drawing board. If in doubt, try again but with something you know. Supplies have been ordered and arrived on Saturday, so I'll probably make a start on it tonight. Lots of folk seem to be sending out their swap gifts, and I'm feeling majorly behind! Hopefully it'll kick me into gear and get me back into crafting.

M'aiq's face is now complete, and I've started work on the hood. It's slow going!

Hopefully another update soon, with pics if I get chance. I've got lots of eggs to use up this week (how we've ended up with 15 eggs that need using I have no idea) so there may even be cake pictures - if I remember! Most of the time I bake and forget to take photos/decide they aren't photo worthy.

Updates!

It's been a while since my last post, apologies. It's the beer festival this week, so things have been mad busy with the run up to that. This year we've had lots of little problems cropping up and in all honestly, it's been much more tricky than previous years. Still, this time next week it'll all be over.

 

So the last few posts have been pretty text heavy, as I've not been able to show you what I've been up to. Everything went well with the Science/Space swap, and my partner seemed to like what I sent, which is always a bonus! So, here we go with the pictures:

 

This is all of the handmade stuff I sent my partner. A darth vader dice bag (close up below), some Mass Effect and Star Trek magnets and a beautiful cowl, which is lovely soft merino wool that I added beads to. The pattern is called Equatorial Nights (it's from Ravelry) and each of the beads is placed to represent a star in the night sky, as viewed from the equator. I really didn't want to send it off, and have a feeling I may make it again for myself!

Dice bag close up

 

And the cowl in all of it's starry glory!

 

I also sent of a few other bits and pieces, some chocolate, a Word mug, some yarn etc.

 

But I know what you really want to know is what I received, right?

 

A lovely project bag, a yoda zip bag, a scarf in space-y colours, chocolate, some lovely vanilla chai tea (soooooo tasty!) a book which I haven't started yet (halfway through the first Game of Thrones book atm) some wool and an AMAZING Worf bookmark. I had so much fun unwrapping everything! Now I just need to find a pattern for the wool...

Speaking of which, I found a beautiful jumper pattern the other day, and ordered lots of wool for it. Must knit faster... New project is on the needles - His Hotness. There's nothing to show except for stripes at the moment, so I haven't taken a picture yet. Once it gets a bit more interesting I'll post one.

I did get some more work done on M'aiq - here he is as of the end of June. Since then I've filled in all of the gaps on his face. Now I just need to do his hood!

The next task is going to be the Sprite Stitch swap - I know what I want to make, I've ordered what I need, now I just need to start it. There's a second item I'm considering making, but I'll see how the first goes and how I'm doing for time.

I need to go and chase beer deliveries now - wish me luck! I'll post after the beer festival, if I survive.



Freedom! Well, kinda

It's been a hectic few weeks. Unexpected work trips, illnesses and exams do not make for a fun time. However I'm back, I'm well and all of my exams have been done - and passed! Last weekend I went away with 13 friends, which was a lovely, much needed break. Now all I have to do is choose 60 Cheshire ales and design a beer festival programme, and sort out some accounts for the football club.... so I'm free-er than I was, but not completely free just yet.

I'm afraid I haven't much I can say on the crafting front. I've finished two items for the Ravelry Science/Space swap that I'm doing, but won't be posting pictures until they've been sent/received. I've also signed up for a mini swap on Sprite Stitch, so that's more stuff that I'll be making and not posting online. Once I've finished with the Ravelry swap items, I'll try to make a little something to post, so it's not too text heavy. I've been looking at M'aiq again, and I think he may be one of my next projects - I can't wait to have him finished and framed! I also have my secret project that I'm itching to start... Plus there are lots more squares I want to do for the GAL blanket... Oh, and a friend wanted some baby stuff making for her new arrival in Sept... I have a feeling that it's going to be a busy few months craft-wise!

So in summary - no new info, lots to make, pics to come next month. Yay!

Still here!

It's been a while since I blogged, and I'm afraid I haven't got anything new to share. I've been busy knitting for a Geek Swap on Ravelry (Science and Space themed) so I won't be uploading photos until that's all finished and received by the spoilee.

I've not been able to craft as much as I'd have liked either - I was planning to get loads done during the bank holiday weekend, but my boss lost his passport, so instead of crafting, I ended up flying to Venice on the Sunday, and meeting up with some business colleagues. I then had to drive from Venice to Strasbourg over 2 days (while stopping to meet customers) before travelling back by train on Wednesday. When I got home, I felt pretty rubbish, but assumed it was because of all the travel - turns out I'd picked up a nasty bug/virus, and I ended up being ill all of the following weekend (sleeping roughly 19 hours a day, impressive!). I'm almost recovered now, but still finding it tricky to concentrate on something for a long time, and staring at a computer screen isn't the most fun thing to do. No knitting has been done in over 10 days - unheard of for me! I'm hoping to get back into it this weekend.... however I've had to rearrange an exam, so I now have exams Mon and Tues next week and believe the weekend will be mostly spent revising madly. The boy is away with work this week (went this morning) so at least the house will be quiet and I can get lots done hopefully.

I'm really glad these are the last two exams of the year - it'll be so nice to get them done with! I still need to decide if I want to do next year or not. It seems silly not to do it, but there's a lot more work involved next year I believe.

I've also signed up for a mini swap on Sprite Stitch again - I had a long hard think, and I really don't think that I can do a larger swap justice, even though the time frame is longer than usual.

Right, I'm off to try and get better so that I can get some revision (and perhaps a tiny bit of knitting) done. I've seen lots of errors in this post and have changed them, but no doubt some have still got through! Toodles.

GAL squares

I promised some new stuff, so here are my first 2 double knitted squares for the GAL.

X-Men Square, front and back

And a pirate square, front and back.

 

Really enjoying the double knitting, but taking a quick break. Need to make things for a Science and Space swap that I'm doing on Ravelry. I've got a few ideas in mind, just need to get them onto the needles. Once the swap's out of the way, I've got another couple of projects in mind, including some baby stuff for a pregnant friend and a lovely little something for me!

Happy St George's Day!

Today is St George's Day, a day for the English! It does sadden me slightly that there doesn't seem to be much English pride about, except for when the football is on. Perhaps it's just me and my circle of friends... anyhow. Every year, some of my uni friends get together for a St George's Day BBQ. Lots of fun is had, lots of meat cooked and eaten, and patriotic songs played. It's good fun. After making cupcakes for St Patrick's Day, I wanted to do something special for St George's Day. Plus the uni guys love when I bake.

I had an idea for a cake, and it kept me awake one night. It involved cooking 5 layers, then chopping and swapping. Surely there was a simpler way to do it. Then it clicked - I could do it using 3 layers. No, 2 layers would be enough! And a dragon... there should be a dragon.

With the cake idea floating around in my head, I thought I'd have plenty of time before the BBQ to make it. My plan was to go and make it at my mums - she has a fancy Kitchen Aid, and a dishwasher. Alas, time disappeared, as it so often does. It was the morning of the BBQ and I was still debating whether or not to bake. I went out to the shops, and came back with eggs. The bake was on!

Here's the finished cake (and yes, even though two people called it a dinosaur, it's most definitely a dragon. Wings are difficult to make out of icing!)

 

 

At first glance, you wonder what amazing idea kept me up all night, don't you? It looks like a normal, everday cake (with shiny red sprinkles). But wait! Look what appears when it's cut open! 

Yep, the English flag. I'm so glad it turned out well! Plus it tasted pretty nice. Time constraints meant that I had to use shop bought icing, and I did have to go to the shops a second time after buying eggs as I ran out of butter. Lesson learnt - be more prepared. I've already been asked to make one when England have a football match, hopefully that will turn out slightly better!

New projects on the horizon...

I've been hard at work trying to finish off the second sock, and it's finally done! I forgot to turn the sock the right way round before closing the toe, so the second sock looks a bit funny, but for my first pair of socks, I'm pretty pleased with how they turned out.

One of my oldest friends came around at the weekend, with some exciting news. She's pregnant! She's excited, her husband's excited, and I'm excited for them. They also made my day, asking me to knit for the little one, which I thought was nice of them. They were saying how they'd love a knitted blanket, and I asked if they'd considered a crocheted blanket. I showed them one I made ages ago with some green/blue variagated baby yarn, bordered with yellow and white sparkly yarn, which they loved. As it was something I'd made with no particular purpose in mind (it's not big enough for an adult blanket, and I kept meaning to add to it but kept getting distracted) and they said it was a perfect size for a baby, I insisted they took it home with them.

Now that I've finished my socks, what should I make next? I did buuy some (more) wool last week, with a project in mind, but I fancied doing something a little bit smaller first (and haven't decided what baby items to make for my friend yet). A while ago, I stumbled across a blog called Lattes and Llamas, who are doing a Geek A Long double knitted blanket to raise awareness of Child's Play (a charity also supported by the members of the Sprite Stitch forum). The blocks they were making looked good, and I thought I'd give double knitting a try, using their handy video tutorial to make a bookmark with hearts.
Here's the finished piece! (without the ends sewn in, as I haven't got around to that yet)

You can't tell, but I took these photos within seconds of each other... I'm really happy with how this came out, and have begun my first square - a pirate skull in red and white. I'm hoping this project will help me to reduce my ever growing stash! It was a bit tricky to get the hang of double knitting, but now I've got it figured out it's getting easier.

Right, I'm off as the knitting group are doing a yarn review for a magazine in the pub tonight - and it's me that has the yarn and the information! Wish us luck. Hopefully next time I'll have a finished pirate square and my new project on the go!

Cake and Bake show

Sometimes I blog about the events/places I've been to and that's what I'm doing today!

I asked my mum if she wanted to go to the Manchester Cake and Bake show for her birthday, as she enjoys baking. The answer? Yes please! So off we went. I took the day off work, and we went to Manchester Central. I'd been there in the past (University fairs) and didn't remember it being all that big (I think I've been spoilt by visiting super huge European fairs with work). It opened at 11, and there were lots of people there at 11.20 on their way in. They had a huuuuuge walk around the side of the building to get in (I think they were expecting much larger queues over the weekend) but it was fantastic once we were inside, very roomy and not too crowded.

We spent the day wandering around, and watched a few demonstrations on the Dr Oetker stand, which has given me lots of ideas! We'd also booked seats for a couple of the professional shows - watching Rosemary Shrager cook an apple and a chocolate tart was a brilliant experience. She was hilarious, and my mum really enjoyed watching her cook, and also got a signed copy of her new book. Just to add - mum made one of the tarts from her new book, chocolate and raspberry, and it was delicious! We also watched Simon Rimmer making a lovely looking rabbit pie, and a vegetarian filo pie. The day wasn't just about pastry though!

There was cake. lots and lots of cake, and lots to go with cake as well. Here are a few that I loved and took photos of, but it is only a few - I'd probably break the internet putting up pics of all the cakes!

 

 

I think one of the highlights was watching the elephant cake being decorated. The Cakebomb team were fantastic, they were happy to answer questions and were brilliant to watch. I was amazed looking at pictures of the elephant on the Sunday. Details can be found here http://cakebomb.me/

 

There was plenty to buy as well, and I came away with some lovely red, white and blue glitter... St Geroge's day is around the corner, and these could come in handy.

 

Would I go again? In a heartbeat. Which is great, as after making brandy snaps with the 2012 GBBO winner on stage, my mum won 2 tickets for the event in London! I left the event with lots of ideas, and now I'm off to see what comes of them!

 

 



 

Hillarys Blinds Country Crafts Competition

Back in February, I heard about a competition that was being run by Hillarys Blinds (the Hillarys Blinds Country Crafts Competition) where they would send you a 100x100cm fabric from their new collection for you to make something with and blog about. At the time, I thought, 'Brilliant! I'll have loads of time to do something!'. I'd forgotten about college exams, and the time-sink that is the annual work trip to Paris (work, not pleasure).

I'd asked for the Bird Parade Teal fabric. A beautiful pale fabric with lovely bright birds. The sample arrived, and I just stared in awe at the beauty of it. (Fabric much nicer in real life, photograph does not capture it very well)



(This is just a small panel that I cut out of the fabric)

I spent ages searching for inspiration on Pinterest. I'd decided that I wanted to make a bag. Or a top hat. I looked at patterns, and sudenly remembered - I have little/no clue what to do with fabric, besides the very basics. I went away and thought. I admired the fabric again, willing my brain to think of something new and unique, but also quite simple to do. My brain did not comply.

So the fabric was put to one side for a while, and life went on. Exams happened, as did trips with work. Suddenly the deadline was Monday, and it was late Saturday afternoon. I decided that I'd make a tote bag, freehand (tthe birds were too big to go onto a top hat and I refused to cut off their heads or tails). No measuring, no instructions, no pattern. All from my head. How hard could it be? Thinking about it, it seemed fairly simple... so how about a reversible tote bag? I thought about it in my mind, and decided it was do-able. Out came the sewing machine, and some more fabric. I wanted a nice inside, that didn't clash with the fabric from Hillarys.

I decided to go with the fabric on the left. I have no idea what kind of fabric it is - it was given to me by a lady who used to make curtains. I cut out some panels, and set to work.

As mentioned, I'm not a very competant sewer. I'd chosen a light fabric for the 'front' and a dark fabric for the 'inner'. What colour thread to use? Well, as I struggle to load the bobbin of my cheap sewing machine, the answer was, 'whatever thread is already there'. Which was black. Looking back, I really should have changed it to something that was better suited, like blue. Ah well, how else do we learn, if not from our mistakes?

The straps should be reversible too. Simple, right? These took me forever. I made a tube, which than had to be attached somehow - between the inner and outer fabrics. In black thread. I attached them to the blue inner fabric, which didn't show up too much. It was around this point I figured that the bag wasn't going to be reversible...

I also decided to 'bling' up the front panel a bit, using some gold pyramid studs I'd bought recently. I just wanted an excuse to use them really, and I thought they went well with the fabric. Here's the outside of the bag, no assembled, straps as well. As you can see, there's a lovely line of black thread ruining the top of the bag.

 

And here's the inside... Definitely not reversible!



 

 

Eagle eyed folks may have noticed something here with the straps... As mentioned earlier, I did this freehand. And my brain wasn't working particularly well. Instead of having the straps attached on the same side, as a normal tote bag would, I'd attached mine to opposite sides. This means that when worn, the bag hangs in a bizare manner, and the bird doesn't lie flat. The brief from Hillarys did say they wanted an original design, and I think that I managed it! I've decided to call it my Spring/Autumn bag as the front reminds me of spring, and the dark leafy pattern reminds me of Autumn.

Here are a couple more pics of the bag, showing off the (incorrect) handle placement.

So, what have I learnt from this? I need to think through designs a bit more, especially handles. I also need to learn to change my bobbin thread on the machine. Once again, this was a last minute kind of thing, I perhaps should have started sooner. Measuring would have helped a little bit, as would better sewing. Still, it's a unique bag that I think turned out pretty well and will be great for holding knitting supplies.

If you get chance, go and ohh and ahh over the lovely fabric at http://www.hillarys.co.uk/ I've just seen that they do the bird parade in gold as well as teal, along with other beautiful designs.

Right, I'm off to see if I can find a reasonable course nearby that will teach me the proper way to use a sewing machine. After this project, I've realised that I'd like to be able to do more than very simple projects. Pinterest gave me lots of inspiration, now I need to acquire the skills in order to do more!

Progress!

Sometimes cross stitching seems very slow. I can sit there for hours, and think I've gotten loads done but then when I look at it from a distance, it looks like nothing has been done.

That wasn't the case this weekend... prepare yourself for pictures!

Here is Mischief on Friday night, missing most of his face and one ear.

And here he is again on Saturday night, with almost one eye and no nose.

And on Sunday? He was (almost) complete! Just the backstitching to add detail.

I was away most of last week, and was in need of serious relaxation over the weekend, which is why I managed to get so much of him done. Surprisingly, I also managed to do a bit of baking.

Last week I was at an exhibition for work, in Paris. I happened to be next to a stand with several Itish companies on, and ended up chatting to a few of them. They supplied me with whiskey (neat, at 3pm) and Baileys, and even invited me to join them for a trip to Versailles! (Sadly I couldn't go due to flights and work). As it's St Patrick's Day, I thought I'd make these tasty treats (plus I've been dying to try the recipe for a while now). Guiness cupcakes with Baileys icing. Ok, so it's not real Baileys, but it's a decent equivalent! Very tasty, although my icing skills definitely need a bit more work. I was tempted to make some floodwork royal icing shamrocks, but realised this would leave me with a spare egg yolk, so I would have to make cookies of some sort, and as I'm trying to eat better this wasn't a good move. So no floodwork decorations this time.

Relaxing weekend over, I now have more exams to prepare for, and those socks to finish off. I've found numerous projects that I'd like to tackle (including illusion knitting and double knitting) but am refusing to start another one until the socks are done, and the backstitching on Mischief is complete!

Quick update

It's been a while since my last update, so I thought I'd better check in. Work has been a bit manic lately (I've been in Paris on business most of this week) so not much crafting has done sadly.

Still, I've managed to get some more of my socks done (no pics) and a little bit more of the lion cub

 

Since taking this picture, I've also managed to finish off an ear. I feel like I'm close to finishing, but there's still plenty to do.

I also managed to repurpose a shawl one of my friends had from a wedding - a fluffy white cape that shed everywhere. As she said she wasn't going to wear it again, I made it into a couple of cushions for her. I wish I'd kept it as it was and just made one large cushion, as it made quite a mess when I cut it up!!

Because she likes bling, I added a button to the other cushion. It was a simple black button, which I covered in clear nail varnish and added small 'gems' to, before coating with more nail polish. It turned out better that I thought it would, although I accidently moved a couple of the gems before it was fully dry at the bottom of the E.

So, other than work and the odd bit of crafting, what else have I been up to? Well, I came across a recipe for spinach and sweet potato gnocchi on Pinterest a while ago, and was eager to give it a try. I got the ingredients in, and here's what was made

A big trayful of tasty gnocchi! (2 trays were made, but one tray got eaten) These were pretty tasty, and the recipe was quite simple, if a little time consuming. It would be much easier to do again, now that I know what needs to be done. These little things are also pretty healthy, and can be frozen which is fantastic.

Another busy few weeks ahead, with more exams looming, and work to catch up on after the work trip. I'm aiming to have a sock completed soon, and the lion cub is top of my list to finish off! I've also spyed a few more projects I'd love to start, but must must MUST finish off some of the others first. Hopefully I'll have a finished project to show you next time.

CC Box 19

This one is a little late due to exams, moving etc etc.

Box 19 was the January box and the first of the new format. Insteasd of lots of little things, there would be one kit. The first kit they chose was marbling, which I had last done at primary school.

So what was in the kit?

 

There was a bottle of floater fluid, several paints and some items to marble - some cards, fabric and a heart shaped ceramic pendant.

Marbling is pretty simple - or so I thought. Pour in the floater fluid, add drops of the paint, drop in the item to be marbled. Getting patterns to look how you want is tricky though! I definately think that marbling is very much a 'free form' art.

And here are my attempts! I'm really pleased with how some came out, less pleased with others. Next time I think I'll use a slightly larger container for the liquid and paints, as I did struggle getting some of the cards onto the surface.

Conclusion? I'm not a huge marbling fan. It's interesting for a bit, but gets boring fairly quickly. I also have no idea what I'm going to do with any of the cards or fabric I've marbled!