Wednesday 19 December 2012

2013 Trend Board - Pantone & Patterns

Pantone the world-renowned authority on colour sees the world through these various tinted glasses - Emerald being their jewel in the crown in 2013!  I recommend following Pantone on Pinterest  Get ready to see design and merchandising follow these colour rules......

I also recommend following PatternBank on Pinterest; inspiration for Print and Pattern in 2013








London fashion Week s/s 2013 takes bold prints with a  tribal twist on collage, panelling and draping.


Tribal Hmong OOAK Pillows by SisterBatik

Stella Jeans s/s 2013 uses a print popular with Burberry Prosum 2012 and SisterBatik 2011
 
African Wax Print is as popular as ever!





And Style Blogger, Susie of StyleBubble goes Geometric







And take a look at SisterBatik on Pinterest - we are NEW!

Tuesday 18 December 2012

Origami Peace Cranes

Product Photography from ©Standoutimages

Stiffened African Wax Print Batik Squares can be purchased here  Fantastic and FUN for crafting; they make beautiful decoration on tables, in branches, from mobiles and great as keepsakes.

Monday 17 December 2012

Soya Bean (Soybean) Soup


This is a rustic, warming, tasty and fulfilling dish and very economical to make (dried soya bean 500g is under £1).  It is very simply home made, that you won't find in any restaurant.

Soya bean is one of the healthiest and life-affirming staples you can eat and is considered a "complete protein".

Prepare dried soya beans  for use.  They are then ready to toss in a salad, eaten as a side or to add substance to a good vegetable broth.  My personal favourite is to use with pork ribs in a hearty slow-cook soup.

1.  Prepare 150g dried soya beans, as in the link above, as far as the point where it has been soaked overnight.

2. Then add the soya beans to a large pot  with 2 ltrs of water and boil.  You need to watch the pot at this stage as boiling produces a lot of froth and you need to watch that this doesn't spill over.  Once boiled, pour out into a colander.

3.  Now you are ready to make the soup. Fill the pot with 2 ltrs of water and add soya beans, and boil once again.  Once it has, turn the heat to the lowest setting and simmer covered, for 1.5 hours.  Just make sure it doesn't have a tendency to boil over, it shouldn't!

4.  Then add pork ribs (about 6-8 medium) and boil up.  Return heat to lowest setting.  Skim off any scum, carefully, with a spoon. Simmer covered for another 1.5 hours by which time the soup is rich and the meat soft and tender, ready to fall off the bones.  Skim off oil*.

5.  Taste and season with salt.  You are ready to ladle into large soup bowls.

This soup is made even richer, and even more rustic, if instead of using pork ribs, you use trotters.  I can understand that you may find this repellent, but you shouldn't, it is wisely and economically used in traditional working dishes all around the world.  How to cook pigs trotters and An account of cooking with trotters.

*I always find it difficult to skim off the oil which is released into the soup when cooking with meat, ending up chasing with my spoon around the edges of the pot, while my face is entirely steamed up.  I was given a very handy piece of advice by a lovely elder cook, to ladle soup while avoid catching any oil; trick is to boil up the soup, so it is bubbling in the center, this pushes the oil to the edge, then ladle only from the center of the pot.  Et voila!  Clear oil free broth.

I hope you enjoy slow-cooking this traditional soup.

Saturday 15 December 2012

Hammam Turkish Bath

When it's icy outside, and the draughty windows and doors seem to leave you shivering inside too, it makes me think about recreating a steamy relaxing bathroom to heat up my bones and body, and reminisce of the warm marbled hammam of Istanbul, minus the Turkish love for overzealous scrubbing....... the secret is to use natural soaps and oils from olive and sesame, nothing too sweet nor floral......and everything can be found on ETSY.

 

Wednesday 12 December 2012

Gift Certificates


Our e-Gift certificates are available in $25, $50 and $100 values.  They are directly emailed to the recipient of your gift-giving, so you'll never be late and save on paper too!

Visit our dedicated Holiday and Gift section at Etsy!

Thursday 6 December 2012

Zero to Sexy: Women and Bow Ties

Classic Vogue Italia - 1993

 What makes you feel sexy........there's something about a bow tie on a woman, that just looks sexy.  Maybe it's the androgyny, maybe the tease, from Marlene to the Bunnies!  Maybe it's wearing your boyfriend/ husbands bow tie.....maybe it's owning your own.

Tuesday 4 December 2012

Du Goudron et Des Plumes @ The Barbican

London is a huge feast of art and culture and unless you plan ahead, you can find that you miss out on the best shows.  So serendipity must have had a part to play, when I found the last two tickets for the final night of  this show within hours of the performance.......that's for trying last minute!!

Du goudron et des plumes conceived and directed by Mathurin Bolze ( young French circus genius) was back at The Barbican, following sold out performances in 2011.  If his circus happens to travel your way, make sure you go....but maybe plan ahead : )

"Bolze explores friendship, cooperation and trust through a combination of thrilling acrobatics, bewitching lighting, music and an ingenious set.

Whilst fighting to keep afloat, five strangers are thrown together on a pitching rolling vessel adrift somewhere between earth and sky in a performance of great beauty and heart-stopping tension."

* I have been trying to figure out what Du goudron et des plumes means in the context of the show.  It translates as "Tar and feathers".  To tar and feather, is a form of punishment to enforce unofficial justice, to cast out and humiliate.  But as the title isn't "active", tar and feather, could represent heavy and light objects.  The French expression is also colloquially used  to mean bluffing as in a game of poker.  Any other ideas?

Thursday 29 November 2012

Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Cute Cosmetic Purse Giveaway is blog follower cqahsan - well done!  Please email sisterbatik@yahoo.com to claim.

Friday 23 November 2012

NEW! Retro Hawiian Blue Floral Print Pillow


New in, is this gorgeous Retro Blue Floral Bold Print Pillow - 100% Crisp Dutch Wax Print Cotton Cover - Perfect!!  Zip along one edge.  Professionally serged/ over-locked for complete quality.  Available at SisterBatik on Etsy.

Giveaway - Cosmetic Purse


Giveaway - BE QUICK!!

SisterBatik Crisp Cotton Cosmetic Purse ideal for your handbag!

1. Using Dutch wax print in 100% crisp cotton outside. In a quirky print of little fish.
2. Additional natural cotton inside lining.
3. Perfect size for your handbag to store lipstick, fragrance and shimmer powder with brush.

Dimensions:

Length: 7 inches
Width: 2 inches
Depth to base: 4 inches

To enter: 

You must be a Follower and leave a comment at the end of this post as your first entry.

If you love what we do then spread the word about this Giveaway via your Twitter/ Facebook or blog and leave the link to it in your comment here - for another entry.

Score extra entries by:
1. liking our Facebook page and leave a message on our wall to let us know:  SisterBatik Facebook
2. follow us on Twitter and tweet our Giveaway to your followers 
Entry will close on Cyber Monday (26th November) - Good luck!

I am excited about this and hope you are : ) 

If you can't wait or miss out on the Giveaway, our other cosmetic bags are currently in our SALE in store for Black Friday through to Cyber Monday.

etsygiveaways.blogspot.co.uk

Friday 9 November 2012

Neon Geometric Contemporary Print Pillow


 Using genuine Dutch wax print batik - 100% cotton.

In a stunning on-trend print that adds a unique hit to your home decor!

Large square 20" x 20". "Invisible" zip along one edge and same print used on both sides, so that either side of the pillow can be displayed.

All our pillows are professionally serged/ over locked.

Super comfortable and huggable!!  Available at SisterBatik on Etsy

Important - Beat the rush - Last shipping dates for Christmas!!

If you have someone special in mind, who you know will love receiving our vibrant pillow covers, please enjoy browsing our wonderful world of colour and bold prints, but please be prepared so as not to miss out.........Love SisterBatik x

Shipping is from the UK
International Airmail to USA & Canada - Monday 10th December
International Airmail to Rest of the World - Wednesday 5th December 
International Airmail to Europe - Wednesday 12th December

Standard mail within UK - Thursday 20th December

Wednesday 7 November 2012

New Prints in time for Christmas

I am very excited to have acquired lots of new prints, some of which are pictured above : ) Just in time to offer a new range before Christmas and the holidays.  So please keep an eye on my SisterBatik Etsy store if you are looking for a beautiful gift for the home-lover, or looking to brighten up your home ready for seasonal entertaining.......and you will never be late with my e-Gift Certificates, which can be emailed promptly and directly to the recipient......and saves on paper, always a good thing!

I will be posting soon on my blog, details of the latest global shipping dates from the UK, so your gifts arrive in time for Christmas.

If you haven't yet seen my SALE section with generous discounts on stunning African wax print pillows and OOAK patchwork, please visit this online here.

Saturday 3 November 2012

Teal Peacock Floral Bolster Pillow


SisterBatik One Of A Kind pillow cover - our own creative teal patchwork design on the front and natural linen cotton on the back.

Using genuine Dutch wax print batik - 100% crisp cotton on the front.

The exuberance of batik prints add a touch of character and warmth to any living space.

Oblong 12" x 22" Concealed zip at base. Inside cotton lining. Professionally serged for superb long-lasting quality.

Pillow insert is not included.

Available to purchase at ETSY - SISTERBATIK

Monday 17 September 2012

Cold Soba noodles and dipping sauce

A Japanese fast food recipe; this just feels good for me : )  And while the sun still shines in September.....

For the recipe

Thursday 16 August 2012

Andiamo!

We seemed forever running for the next train.........Manorolo, Riomaggiore, Corniglia........
 "If you think about finding one person to spend the rest of your life with; the stars would have to be aligned all at once.  Nothing in life that has meaning, is made."


Dolce & Gabanna S/S13 Milan Catwalk

Friday 3 August 2012

Monday 30 July 2012

An Outside Chance





My motorcycle had burnt-out, somewhere just short of St Jean de Luz and I walked with it alongside me.  This hadn't frustrated me but some guys had taken mercy, recognising my surf allegiance and so I hitched with the bike and board, hanging out the back of their pick-up.  They were a few Basque country bronzed, sinewy guys with raffish hair and deep eyes, wanting the sea; pausing to watch her roll and glisten.  Making for short life stories and about places along the coast, the throngs at La Zurriola and the lissome in Biarritz; about freedom, the waves, and maybe a vague story of loss by their words but a truer story of escape intimate in their bodies, but stories, that in the end didn't go anywhere. Sometimes the company of people can remind you of a warm place by the fire or breathing again to the pace of normality and of the far distances since.

My mind had drifted again; imprints with the feeling of gentle breeze.  "Like the winds that come and goes, let them flow through your mind."  Passing a few rag-tag surfers looking like strays on land.  I had become used to the outside roads, it was easy and solitary.  Some stops, along the way, there might seem that ready place to stay, because things seemed pleasant and everyday and stable, but always, I ended back on my motorcycle and the engine already sounding, on it's way to somewhere.

Terra firma, fixed in its ways.  But the water, so vast and always moving.  Once on the water far off shore, the ocean wave would gather and I would wait, as it rolled towards me.