Easter Breakfast - Chocolate Pancakes

I love having a special breakfast on at least one day of the weekend, and as this weekend was a long one I decided to make my favourite chocolate pancakes this morning. 

A cafe called Capers in Dunedin makes the best pancakes in town (well I think so!) - I wanted to make the same kind of thing at home and after some trial and error came up with a recipe that gave the same results, but it was cheaper and without the 5 minute car ride!

I usually just make it on the fly and don't measure anything, its basically a piklet mix with cocoa added in the end. Perfect with kiwifruit, rock melon, honeydew melon, watermelon and thick Greek yogurt all covered in maple syrup. Yum!!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the long weekend, I've been road-tripping, catching up with family and having lots of cuddles with my chocolate lab Hershey!

Happy Easter and as today is ANZAC Day as well in New Zealand - Lest we forget, remember those that fought for our country.  

Road Trip - Day Trip to Central Otago

Link to Google maps here

I packed myself a picnic lunch today and headed off on a solo road trip to Central Otago. I headed up the hill towards Middlemarch (where the annual Singles Ball is being held tonight!) and stopped at a rest area over-looking a valley to eat my picnic. The weather improved the further away from Dunedin I got which was nice!

Purple Check Shirt - Farmers, Black Jean Shorts - Supre, Opaque Tights - Kmart,  

Studded Shoes - The Warehouse, Girl Guides Belt - Shop on Taieri,  

"Love" Ring - Lovisa, Purple Nail Polish - Postie Plus

After a tasty picnic of french bread, sundried tomatoes, olives, salami, creme eggs and sparkling grape juice I continued on to Middlemarch where I picked up a soy hot chocolate at The Kissing Gate Cafe - so worth it!

On the way to Ranfurly I had to pull over and take some photos of the trees lining the road - the colours are beautiful at this time of year!

 

I stopped at Ranfurly for a Jelly Tip ice cream and parked up by the side of the road to eat it and take in the view.

It was such a fun trip and I can't wait to do another one now! Perhaps I'll make another trip in July when there is snow on the hills. 

I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekends!

Remember my giveaway here!

Fashion Show - ID Fashion Show 2011

 Photo courtesy of www.idfashion.co.nz

Man I have been so busy lately! Between that and being back to slow internet (I should really stop maxing out our usage before the end of the month...) I haven't had time to post about the ID Fashion Show I went to a couple of weeks ago.

Check out these gorgeous pictures I found from the ID Fashion Show - courtesy of Agata Michalczyk, I recommend you check out her blog, she has some beautiful pictures on there!!

Photos courtesy of Agata Michalczyk

I went to the ID Emerging Designer Awards Show on the 7th of April and the ID Fashion Show on the 9th of April. 

Being a fashion-show-virgin, I wasn't really sure what to expect! The Emerging Designer show was pretty cool - 26 designers from NZ, Australia and Europe. Each collection had five items and all the collections were so different, in the end the Australians cleaned up, with Kate Bolzonello from Melbourne taking top honours. I scribbled down some of the things I saw on the runway - ombre tights, shear fabric and layered, textured black. I picked up some ideas for my winter wardrobe!

The ID Fashion Show went over two nights, I went along with my Mum on the 2nd night. We got tickets for the 2nd row and were seated about the middle of the runway, which is pretty impressive at 110m long. I had some clear favourites among the collections I saw on the night, Nom*D with their "Danse Macabre" collection, Mild Red's "Black Knight" collection, who's small textured leather purses made me want to go out and spend half a weeks pay check on one and Charmaine Revely with her "Night Garden" collection with it's smokey grays and lavender colours.  

The atmosphere was pretty awesome sitting on a railway station platform with twinkling blue lights and the models and catwalk a couple of metres away from you!

I'll definitely be going back next year and I think I'll splash out on front row seats if I can get them!!

Remember my giveaway here - stuff for free is always good! I'm of to gooble up some caramel filled Easter eggs...

   

Road Trip - Oamaru Sugar Craft Guild

Lavender cape-cardigan - Shop on Taieri, Grey cardigan - Supre, Grey T-shirt - Kmart,

Leggings - Shanton, Grey Boots - Shop on Taieri, Beanie - Kmart, Girl Guides Belt - Shop on Taieri

Starting point - Heels covered in embossed flowerpaste and soles attached

A friend cutting out her shoe soles

Inspiration - Shoes made by the teacher

Guild members hard at work

Inner sole and front of shoe added

Almost finished - just the under-sole and some sparkles to go!

We had to take a plate for afternoon tea - I made Lemon Blossom cake, similar to Lemon Meringue pie - yum!

Yesterday I travelled to Oamaru with some of my fellow Sugar Craft Guild members for a workshop up there. The woman who takes the classes I go to ran a workshop on shoes made from flower paste - like these ones here. Apart from the shoes we were provided with the most amazing morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea - cake decorators know how to bake!!

I took a few photos of the shoes I made when I was there and when I got home photographed my outfit. It was a horrible day weather-wise; drizzle, fog and freezing cold!! I wore this cosy cape-like jersey I found on Friday at 'Shop on Taieri' - they were having a half price sale on jerseys so I got this one for $3!! I love the lavender colour, I paired it with grey and black, similar to what I saw at the ID fashion show in Charmaine Reveley's collection. Loved it! I also got a skirt I had been eying up for ages, it was finally half price ($12) so I grabbed that too. My boots are amazing, they're like wearing slippers but more appropriate for wearing out of the house!!

Today I did a little bit of shopping and picked up a few items I've been wanting for winter. I also went out to my parents and cleaned out my old wardrobe there - amazing what you find! There was my ballet shoes and leotard, my first soft toy and some old photo albums. It was so fun checking out all my old stuff again.

Hope everyone has had a great weekend, I'm looking forward to a 4 day holiday next weekend with Easter!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway for some amazing earrings - you can enter here or by clicking on the picture below.

The Handwriting Game

Danelle from ellecupcake nominated me for the handwriting challenge! I love checking her posts - she's so crafty and creative!! I'm sorry it's not very neat, I was in a bit of a rush! So here goes...

1. What is your name / blogger name?
Kasey / A Sparkley Silver Lining

2. What is your blog URL?

http://a-sparkley-silver-lining.blogspot.com/

3. Write "The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog"

4. Write your favourite quote

"If you look over the years, the styles have changed - the clothes, the hair, the production, the approach to the songs. The icing to the cake has changed flavors. But if you really look at the cake itself, it's really the same." - John Oates

5.What is your favorite song?
Favourite of all time - Mr Brightside, The Killers. I will never stop loving this song!

6. What is your favorite music right now?
Anything that plays on the Hauraki radio station!

7. Is there anything else you would like to add about your handwriting?

I had to change the style of my handwriting at polytech when I was studying draughting. My Lecturer told me my writing was messy and to do something about it! I'm also left handed so I smudge everything.

8. Choose three bloggers to follow suit:

Annika - From Escape

Grace - From Grace's Art of Happiness

Cailen - From Lifestyle Maven

First Giveaway - "Kismet" Story Earrings

Well here it is, to celebrate 30 followers, I wanted to do a giveaway! For my first giveaway I wanted to find something that was made locally and special to Dunedin, my home town. Last year my Mum gave me a pair of these earrings as a present, I immediately asked her where they were from as they were so unique! She gave me a business card, and later in the year we went to a viewing at a house of a whole range of earrings and necklaces. 

This crafty lady hand-paints each pair of earrings so no two pairs are the same. Each pair of earrings has a story behind it, the ones I purchased and am giving away are based on graffiti art by Banksy. When I went to select a pair the other day I had a great chat with Sue who makes these earrings. She doesn't have a website, but I'm hoping I convinced her to start her own blog! If you would like to contact her about other pieces, email me at sparkleylining@gmail.com, and I will pass on her details to you!

All you have to do is either;

1. Follow me on Google over on the side bar, or

2. Follow me on Bloglovin, or

3. Follow me on Twitter, over on the side bar too!!

Leave me a comment telling me which one you followed me with, with your email address or blog address so I can contact you. Place a separate comment for each if you go for more than 1! The giveaway will end on the 30th of April (my birthday!!) when I will randomly draw a winner and I will let everyone know in the days after that. 

I would love to do more crafty giveaways in the future, so if you have a crafty gift and you would be interested teaming up, email me and let me know! 

Outfit Post - Leopard in the Black

Black Coat - Shop on Taieri, Leopard Print Shirt - Mosgiel Salvation Army, Tutu Tulle Skirt - Recycle Boutique, Boots - The Warehouse, Suitcase Bag - Recycle Boutique, "Love" ring - Lovisa

Finally a new outfit post! I have been waiting patiently all week for a clear patch in the weather. Finally today it wasn't raining at lunch time, so I rushed out to take some pictures. 

This spot is close to where I have taken other outfit photos before, such as these ones. Its such a good spot!! There was a bit of traffic today so I was constantly running to grab my tripod from the middle of the road. I'm pretty happy with the photos though!

It was pretty windy so I ended up with some action shots. I'm wearing my new favourite coat I found at the Shop on Taieri the other day. I'm basically living in it!! I'm also wearing my new tutu skirt which is so fun - I love feeling like a ballerina. My bag is also from Recycle Boutique, it's kind of like the satchel I was after ages ago. It fits my camera perfectly meaning I can carry it around with me all the time, and I know its safe because the bag is pretty rigid, like a mini suitcase!

I'm going to the ID fashion show tomorrow night, which I'm so excited about!! I can't wait. I went to the Emerging Designer show last night and it was awesome - there was young designers from NZ, Australia and Europe there, and a whole range of different collections, 26 in total!! Check out the local paper, the ODT for some pictures. 

I have to photograph the item I'm going to give away to you guys, I'll get it done tomorrow so check back later in the weekend!!