Coveting: Floozie by Frost French

Let me just say, it is entirely silly of me to covet these. I work in a large chain of underwear shops. I get a good discount. I do not have any need for more underwear. If I did, I would buy some with said discount.

However.

Frost French is an underwear line created by Sadie Frost and Jemima French. I spotted the Floozie line in Debenhams the other day and went 'omg!' while my friend went 'Those are horrible, Rachel you are weird.' I get that a lot. But in my opinion, they are so cute and pretty and ridiculously vintage/granny looking. Which is uber cool, unless you are a granny. Then it's not. Get it?

I've seen a few styles of bra like this recently, with the extra bit at the bottom. Topshop did a few, I'm sure. Anyway, because it's different, I love it. And I bet it's really flattering. Also, you could totally wear this as outerwear, over a cream lace top. I so would.



Look! A little mini teacup! So if you are going to tea, perhaps with some form of royalty, you could totally wear this underwear. Other clothes are advisable as well, however.

A pair of knickers. In a cupcake. Genius. I bought something very similar for my friend for her birthday, only it was a pair of socks,wrapped up in a cupcake. Cute AND practical. Everyone needs socks.



This might be my favourite design. Blue and red = awesomely modern vintage. And check out the close up of the pattern:

Tiny mini teacups! So pretty.


And here as well, mini teacups in a different pattern. Ah.
Like I said, you can buy the range at Debenhams, have a look. Also, Debs are doing a 20% sale at the moment, it ends tomorrow. I may have to go in on my lunch hour. Maybe. Oh, I so don't need any more bras =/ Help.

Guest Post on Domestic Sluttery!

Totally exciting news; today I've been featured on the awesome blog, domesticsluttery.com! :D

For those of you who don't know about the domestic sluts, where have you been? I've been following them for a good few months now, and they've been taking the home & lifestyle world by storm in their own stylish way. Their About page describes them best:

"Domestic Sluttery: The home and lifestyle blog for women who have better things to do.

Women don't have time to decorate, or to spend hours in the kitchen. We work, we go out and we have fun. We basically live our lives and would rather shag than do the dishes.

But that doesn't mean that we don't want our homes to be beautiful. If anything, they mean more to us because the time we spend at home is more precious."

Pretty rockin', I reckon, and simply the best name for a website, ever. And definitely the way forward. I'm all for endless pretty things, as well as having time to you know, have a life!

They are of course advocates of the life-saving properties of the humble cupcake, so to aid my obsession with drawing and eating said cakey-bakeyness, I dropped them a line to see if they'd like an illustrated recipe :)

Click on image to enlarge so you can read the instructions.

Christmas is a mere 5 weeks away, so it's time to crack out the food colouring and get festive with this christmas cupcake recipe! I like to illustrate my recipes with as little text as possible, letting the images speak for themselves and to create a really rich and inviting recipe that I think feels more cosey and easy to make than food photography does.

I've had some really amazing feedback on the guest post already through twitter - here are a few of the comments. Seriously, made me feel very warm and fuzzy, thanks to everyone. If anyone has a go at the recipe, please let me know @rachillustrates! Would be great to see.

I've done a few more illustrated recipes which you can see on my website, click here. Also, there's a few more hanging around on this blog too, in a more sketchy sort of form.

I love doing these and will do lots more in the future, maybe some kind of savoury based substance next as I might end up in a constant state of sugar high.

Food illustration is just one area that I love working in; I am of course available, as always, for illustration commissions on any project you can throw at me, especially ones involving cakes and pretty things. Just drop me a line!

I'm now off to gush about Paperchase's newest offerings... it's always a financial mistake to let me loose in that shop.

Coveting: Sweet treats from Punkypins

I just got an email from Punkypins, who are a great handmade jewellry company. It's all kitsch and mostly plastic, nothing high end here! But I love a lot of the stuff they do - I bought a crazy necklace from them a while back that's just crammed full of junk - plastic barbie combs, mini breakfast cereals, hats, guns, guitars, I think there's even a neon crucifix on it. Super random. It's great!

So imagine my glee when I see:

and

and

and

and

I know, right. HAPPY BAKED GOODS IN NECKLACE FORM. They're all pretty damn cute, and as an obvious choice I'd get the cupcake one, but the chocolate bourbon is so happy, and do you know what, chocolate bourbons do not get the credit they deserve. I think they are my favourite biscuit (see that wasn't hard was it, Gordon) but I never consider them as a viable addition to my accessory collection. Until now! See the whole biscuit tin here.

They're all £12 which is pretty good, even if they are just acrylic. Christmas list! :D

They also do a moustache necklace for all you facial hair obsessives ("Hold it up to your face for an older, more sophisticated look!") as well as many other creations.

Cakey Bakey: Choc Chip Cupcakes with Fudge Frosting

It's national chocolate week! So to celebrate I made the most chocolatey cupcakes in existence. Be warned - these are not for people who utter that insane phrase 'Oh, it's far too chocolatey for me...' Personally I can't understand that - I have never tasted anything that is 'too' chocolatey. There is no such thing! You crazies.

But for those of you who appreciate chocolate, these are for you. Use GOOD quality chopped chocolate or choc chips, the darker the better. Dark dark dark.

Fairly simple, it's just the frosting that can take a while - I so nearly ate all the cupcakes before I'd even put the frosting on!

This recipe is from the amazing book by Elinor Klivans - The Essential Chocolate Chip Cookbook. Buy it from amazon. It's full of recipes all about chocolate chips - there's some brilliant cookie recipes in there. Do it now.

Here's one I ate earlier.

Hopefully this will be up on Recipe Look later, as I'll email it in.

For my apple & cinnamon muffin recipe, click here.

For all my posts about recipes, including my illustrated recipe book, click here.

These illustrations are mine, no nicking without asking!