Spring Crochet Cushion
A couple of months ago I had a bit of an internal tantrum when I discovered every one of the couch cushions commandeered by my two-year old Munchkin. She was determined she needed them as…
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In Print…
So in the midst of our move to California, something really cool happened. And in the resulting chaos, I took enough time to do a quick happy dance, posted it on social media and continued…
Kawaii Candy Corn Gift Bag
I’m a bit of a wimp when it comes to horror movies. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve watched a scary film, and I can’t say I enjoyed it… nor…
Woven paper rocket
A few weeks ago I was sent a copy of a gorgeous new paper weaving book by Anna and Lena Schepper. They’re the two geniuses behind the woven paper baubles I made a few years…
Woven paper baubles
A quick update; The two amazing ladies who created the templates for this project have just released a wonderful book full of gorgeous projects just like this one. I’ve written a review and show one of the…
BB-8 template
I got my nerd on last week. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, my husband is something of a Star Wars fan. Don’t get the wrong idea, our walls and shelves are not plastered in…
I haven’t forgotten you!
I haven’t forgotten you lovely readers! Even though from outward appearances it appears I’ve abandoned the blog, I haven’t! Life has just conspired against me and I’ve had no time to sit and make. We spent…
Chocolat Chaud – Hot Chocolate
The other day I had a friend visiting from Australia, she managed to arrive just in time for Switzerland to decide that Spring was completely overrated and that it wanted to return to Winter. It rained…
Inspirational reads: I love paper
Due to a series of unfortunate events this past weekend, I found myself (not unhappily, I should add) wandering the streets of Paris alone for a few hours. Finding myself at the Pompidou, I immediately lost myself…
Spring Cleaning!
I wrote a few weeks ago about taking a breather from blogging. To focus on my little one, our currently tumultuous but very exciting existence and Spring cleaning the blog. Then I went to a…
My Favourite Iced Coffee – Cold Brewed
It’s warming up! Which means it’s cold brewed coffee season in our house. Have you discovered it yet? It’s amazing. It tastes as good as coffee smells! It seems to taste sweeter as it…
An Easter morning tea with two toddlers
One of the best things about being a mother to an 18 month old toddler? Being able to do all the fun things I love doing, for her! We altered our plans to go to…
Treasure cupcake containers
Whilst coming up with concepts for Munchkin’s Easter morning tea, I was trying to work out how to make the sweet Miss Etoile baking cups I’d purchased at Pfister smaller. Because no Munchkin I knew was going to…
Bunny Ear Vanilla Sugar Cookies
For Munchkin’s Easter morning tea, I created some little bunny ear cookies to sit on the rims of the little ladies babyccinos. I used the gluten-free vanilla sugar cookie recipe I’d used for her birthday…
DIY Easter Crafts
Things are still pretty busy around here. I’m working my way through a list of things to cancel, organise, replace, repair, throw out, donate etc. Our move dates are set and it feels like all…
Taking a breather…
As you probably know, my life is in a state of flux at the moment. It seems the universe has picked up the snow globe containing my life and has given it a good shake. DM,…
Stormtrooper pop up card
DM is a huge Star Wars fan. Munchkin had watched all of the movies (mainly through closed eyes) before she was 5 months old. So for his birthday it seemed appropriate to make him a Stormtrooper…
40 things about Nicx
I’m attending the Hive Conference in Berlin next month. They’ve started 40 Facts for the Hive (#40facts4thehive) and I’ve decided to join in. So below you’ll find 40 things about me. It’s the first…
Big Moves – Leaving Lausanne
I’ve alluded to big changes here and there the last few months. I can finally share the largest one with you. This one has been in the works since before Christmas, and having it settled…
Wool and the Gang – a knit party
This past Friday, I held my first Wool and the Gang Knit Party. It was great fun. Ten crafty ladies arrived for champagne, snacks and some fun chunky knitting action. They’d all pre-ordered their kits,…
Heart Pop Up Card
This year Munchkin and I collaborated to create a card for DM. Below is the result. Munchkin directed where she wanted me to draw hearts and with which crayon, then got to embellishing the rest…
Fabric Printing an Infinity Scarf
A friend of mine took a fabric painting class this week and put her wonderful results up on Instagram. It had me remembering how I used to customise my old cotton work shirts with…
Three free crochet watermelon pot holder patterns
Such a fabulous array of crochet watermelon pot holders! Kitsch, cute and quite easy to do, they’d make gorgeous gifts. Or as a gift to oneself! If you feel inclined to make your…
Heart Gift Box Template
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, here is a free printable gift box for you to make up. Or for any reason actually. It’s sweet packaging for birthdays, anniversaries or any reason you need to give…
Free little lamb crochet pattern
Have a look at this super sweet little sheep! He’s designed and crochet by All About Ami to celebrate the Chinese New Year of the Sheep.
Munchkin et moi – A Paris weekend
Last weekend Munchkin and I went on an adventure together. DM had a work conference thingy in Budapest and so was away for the week. Munchkin and I decided that it was only fair…
Gingerbread cookie kits
This past Christmas we decided to make up gifts for some of Munchkin’s teachers at garderie and for a few friends. I wanted to steer clear of mason jars as, honestly, I’m a…
Sugar sprinkle gift packaging
This is part one of a two blog tutorial series. I had it all in one, but it got over large and convoluted. So I’ve decided to pull this part out. I’ll post the second part…
Lounging Munchkin Style
Whilst out shopping last weekend we stumbled across these little foam chairs for children. Munchkin immediately fell in love with them. It was just her size! And light enough that she can push…
In Print…
Australian craft magazine Homespun have printed a little blurb about my embroidered paper tea cups. I’ve not read their magazine before, so when I received their email, I had a look at their…
Lupo. A gorgeous crochet project.
We’ve had a splendid Christmas break! It included visits from family, trips to Leukerbad to relax in thermal baths surrounded by snow capped alps and too much good food. My break also included…
Small paper bag advent calendar.
For Munchkin’s first Advent (we didn’t do one last year) I wanted something she could have a great time opening and, most likely, destroying in the process. So I came up with the concept of…
Geometric Bee Invitation Suite
It’s been a couple of months since Munchkin’s first birthday and I’m finally getting around to sharing with you the Invitation Suite I designed for it. I created an Invitation and Thank You Notelet…
Crafting & unhealthy comparison
Over the last few weeks and months I’ve read quite a number of news stories and Facebook posts about how Pinterest and ‘Mommy blogs’ are making life hard for mothers. Most with an underlying theme that those of…
Animal Parade Carousel Cake
I hope you’re having a splendid weekend? Mine has been gorgeous and full of festivities. It started Friday with DM’s and my wedding anniversary. DM has been at a conference in Dublin all week and…
Advent Calendar Inspiration
I had intended to put my bee themed invitations and thank you cards up for this week’s blog post, and to have a baking post for you! But this week has been chaotic! DM has been…
Bee Geometric Gift Box
For Munchkin’s first birthday party I made up a suite of items that all fit with the Bee theme we’d set. I wanted them to be modern and sweet, without covering everything with flowers or…
Fresh flowers & bees; a 1st birthday cake
A few weeks ago we celebrated Munchkin’s first birthday with two splendid parties. For the first I made a Miffy themed birthday cake and for the second, we went with a fresh flowers and bees theme. For…
Munchkin’s year on Instagram – in a box
I very rarely do product posts. But I just received our first Polabox in the mail and I love it! There’s something just so satisfying about holding physical copies of my Instagram photographs. We ordered a test…
Kawaii Halloween Frankenstein Gift Box
As promised, here is the 2nd in my kawaii Halloween series. This time a cute little kawaii Frankenstein to go along with kawaii Ghosty! They make really cute little gift boxes. The boxes go together…
Kawaii Halloween Ghosty Giftboxes
As I’ve mentioned in posts before, we don’t really celebrate Halloween beyond making sure I have a packet of something to give to the one or two children who might turn up with their parents. But…
Gluten-free Vanilla Sugar Cookies
One of the most talked about parts of Munchkin’s birthday party were the cookies we gave away as gifts. My wonderfully talented friend Nikki from Toute Sweet took some time out with her friend Summer…
Almost a year of parenthood celebrated
Note; this blog mainly consists of ramblings about the past year with Munchkin and motherhood. The photos are a sneak peek of our recent celebration of Munchkin’s first birthday. I’ll have more photos, templates,…
Munchkin’s first, first birthday party
Munchkin’s birthday isn’t for nine days, but her grandparents are here in Switzerland at the moment. So we decided to have a little party before the big one with friends next weekend. It just…
Gluten-free in and around Lausanne
Hello all! Just a quick heads up. If you don’t live in (or have an intention to visit) Lausanne in Switzerland and have an intolerance to gluten this post is probably not going to…
In Print…
In a couple of my past blog posts I’ve hinted at this project but I haven’t been able share it with you. Not until today! A friend bought a copy of the latest issue of Mollie…
Gluten-free Raspberry Friands
I had an itch. I needed to bake. It had been so long that my Kitchen Aid had a light coating of dust! The cover of What Katie Ate has been giving me cravings for friands for…
Crochet rattle ball
One of Munchkin’s favourite toys, ever since we bought it for her when she was just 6 weeks old, is a soft ball made of cotton that has a bell in it. It was…
Ramblings: Ten and a half months in; a report card.
I thought I’d be shopping for publishers right about now. I didn’t tell anyone apart from my close friends and some family, but my grand plan for the first year after Munchkin was born was…
Woodland Creatures Cookies and Tree Trunk Packaging
A couple of months ago, my friend Nikki asked me to come up with a concept. She wanted to make gifts to give to her children’s teachers at the end of the year as a thank you gift….
Crochet Baby Toy – Noise Makers
One of Munchkins favourite toys was this Pram Necklace from Littlephant that we bought her for her first Christmas. She adored the colours and the textures of the toy hanging over her pram. And apparently it…
Finally finished
They say that every quilt tells a story. This one certainly does! I started it before Munchkin was born. Last Summer, my friend and quilter extraordinaire Lynne, went with me via ferry to Thonon…
Gluten-free profiteroles (choux pastry)
There were a few things I gave up on finding when I found out I couldn’t eat gluten anymore. One of them was profiteroles and a good choux pastry. But a trip to my…
My greatest project
Many of you who have followed ‘next to nicx’ over the years have probably noticed that it’s not plastered with my photograph. In fact, I’ve actively avoided putting my face on the blog as I’ve rather…
Because sometimes you need to cheat
Hello lovely ladies and gents! I had intended this blog post to go live in time for Mother’s Day, so that all of you out there who wanted something a little more tasty than burnt…
Happy Easter Bunny Milk Cartons
It’s that time of the year! That time when Spring arrives and all the shelves in every store are full of chocolate bunnies and pretty chocolate eggs. That time when we eat too many…
Collection of free Valentines Printables
Valentines Day is fast approaching. Are you prepared? For those of you who aren’t, I’ve collated a collection of free Valentines Day printables. So if you’re stuck for ideas, why not have a look?…
Slowly re-entering an altered reality
I feel a bit like Alice. I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole. I’ve met wonderful characters who have helped, sometimes hindered and oft times made my journey fun or just a little less stressful. Everything…
A little robot advent
It’s coming round to that time of year wherein I look at the calendar and panic. I’ve not even started to think about Christmas presents for friends and family, let alone creating an advent calendar….
Updated – Crochet Cherry Pattern
I’ve updated this blog post to include the images and clearer pattern I created when Mollie Makes printed it. I hope it helps! One of my all time favourite wardrobe items is a silk and…
Meet Munchkin
Meet Munchkin. Sophie Ivy was born on the 16th of September at 1:25pm. We had a slightly traumatic start, I ended up having to have an emergency cesarean. But all is going fabulously well…
The last 10 days in instagram pictures
Are we there yet? I’m not on bed rest (thank goodness!) but I have been ordered by my doctor not to do anything more energetic than a walk. Maybe she knows me too well… she…
In Print…
Why is it that every time I start to wonder what I’m doing with my life and start to consider returning to a ‘normal’ profession something turns up to make me change my…
Watermelonade
One of my favourite foods is in season! I’m currently addicted to watermelon and have found myself enabled by our local grocery as they’ve been selling deliciously sweet, organic, mini melons. I’ve been eating…
Fabulous finds for Munchkin #2
I can’t help it. I’m sorry. I’ve just got to share the cute little things I’ve bought and made for Munchkin. I promise to continue to make items and to post threads that…
Knitting for Munchkin #3
I’ve almost finished Munchkins heart cardigan! I’ve just to decide if I want to add a zipper or buttons to the front closure. I’m really quite happy with the results, what do you…
Coral and mint dotty notelets printable
A couple of weeks ago I post my ‘Dots and doilies’ envelope printable on the blog for you to download and print. Now, for your scribbling pleasure, here are the matching notelets! As with…
Chocolatey decadence. Gluten-free brownies
Gluten-free brownies are awesome. No. Seriously. They are. Why? Because they’re basically all chocolatey deliciousness and there’s not much in the way of flour. I made two batches over the last week. One…
Ramblings: Surviving the first 30 weeks & pregnancy hazing
As of today I’m 30 weeks pregnant. I can’t believe it’s flown by so fast and I’m not nearly as prepared as I’d hoped for! But I’ve been informed that quite a bit of the…
Making a herb terrarium
DM and I love fresh herbs. We buy some almost every week from the grocery store, even in Winter, when they’re stupidly expensive and turn into green slime almost quicker than we can get…
Nespresso Iced Coffee
This will be my last iced-coffee post this year. Promise! I know I wrote all about how I love cold brewed iced coffee a couple of weeks ago. But I also want to share…
Gluten-free white chocolate chunk and macadamia nut cookies
The other week I was craving white chocolate and macadamia nuts. I used to be able to get gluten-free white chocolate chunk and macadamia nut cookies at my local cafe in Sydney. And when…
Dots and doilies
We’re currently holidaying in South-West France. Enjoying some sunshine, sea air and the relaxed surfing culture that Hossegor provides. I’ve just commenced the third trimester and Munchkin is growing quickly! For this reason…
Diamond shaped gift box packaging
I’ve been having some fun of late creating packaging and gift boxes. This diamond shaped one is one of my favourites (second only to my tea cups). They’d make really cute packaging for…
Gluten-free apple, custard & almond praline cupcakes
Makes 12 – 18 cupcakes dependant on size Last Sunday we had a ‘making day’. My husband spent the day finishing his manga style robot and after painting it perfectly… continued painting it so…
In Print…
I’m really honoured to be included in the latest issue of Inside Out Magazine. Inside Out Magazine was one of my regular reads when I lived in Australia. So to find myself featured in…
Quite a busy couple of weeks…
And not a whole lot to show for it! I’m now 25 weeks pregnant. I look like I have half a watermelon and two half rockmelons (Cantaloupes for you non-Australians) attached to my front. My…
Gluten-free Lamingtons
I couldn’t resist. My kitchen was so shiny I could see my reflection in the kitchen bench and didn’t want to mess it up. But it was raining and overcast and I felt an…
Gluten-free Apple Custard Tart
This past Christmas I was given a glorious present. A copy of Lily Vanilli’s Sweet Tooth. This bright and cheerful book certainly won’t hide amongst the masses when you put it on your bookshelf….
Knitting for Munchkin #2
We’re really excited. I had a 21 week scan last week and we now know that Munchkin is a little girl! As far as they could tell she’s healthy. They counted her fingers and…
Tea Party Invite & Envelope Printable
Mad Hatters Unbirthday Party Themed Invite/ Notecard A couple of years ago DM and I decided to host one big party per year, to celebrate Summer and well… just because we wanted to! The…
Gluten-free French Toast
I’ve been served gluten-free bread from grocery stores at restaurants and when out to dinner and in times of desperation I buy it. But it’s a poor substitute at best. The bread that I…
Individual little layer cakes.
Gluten free dark chocolate layer cake with salted chocolate cream I received one of the best Christmas presents from my friend Jo this year. A 12 Cup Mini Sandwich Cake Tin. And then I promptly got…
Hexagonal gift boxes
If you live in Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Peru, Switzerland, Canada, Belgium or Brazil (along with a host of other countries) it’s coming up to Mothers Day. Stumped as to a…
Knitting for Munchkin #1
I’ve found myself at a crossroads with the nursery. I just can’t go forward any further with my ideas until I know what we’re having. But hopefully that should be rectified in the next couple…
High Tea at Miyuko in Zurich
Image via http://www.spottedbylocals.com/zurich/miyuko/ I found out about Miyuko a few weeks ago and immediately made plans to get to Zurich! Booking in for High Tea with a few other Lausannois ladies and crossing my fingers…
Easter Eggs
Due to illness and lethargy, I’ve not made any eggs this year. But for the many of you who have found next to nicx over the last few months, I thought I’d share some of…
Origami Easter Bunny Basket
It’s been a tough couple of months. Pregnancy for me has been a bit of a trial. It’s meant that I’ve been unable to do much more than vegetate on the couch. There is now a…
The reason things have been a bit quiet around here lately
Late last year DM and I were in a quandary. DM had been applying for jobs, none of them based in Switzerland. And it was starting to look like we were going to be moving to…
Gluten Free Apple Pancakes
Things have been a bit quiet around here lately. I’ve a few health issues to sort out and so haven’t much been up to making or baking. DM has been wonderful and doesn’t seem to…
In print…
I opened my letterbox yesterday and did a little jig on the spot. Even the subsequent trip to the print shop, where I had to deal with the staff who have successfully avoided ever being friendly…
Paper Tea Cup #1 Lid (insert option)
As promised, here is the very belated, revised lid I designed for my Paper Tea Cups #1! It won’t fit on yesterdays tea cup, I’m still working on a lid design for it, it’s…
Paper Tea Cup #2
As promised, here is the alternate tea cup design! It’s a bit taller and wider than the one I uploaded last week. But I’m really happy with the design! It goes together exactly the…
Paper Tea Cups #1
I’ve been messing around with paper. I’m not sure exactly why I decided to make paper tea cups, but inspiration hit over the holidays and I couldn’t find one online. Hence the gauntlet was thrown down! I…
Gluten free shortbread tea bags
I know it’s been a whilst since I posted a craft blog. I’d taken some time off over Christmas and my lastest project has taken longer than I anticipated. But rather than cram a quick…
Gluten free gingerbread
I hope you’ve had a wonderful Christmas? Mine was fabulous and included a decadent seafood lunch at La Brasserie du Grand Chêne, more champagne and dessert with gorgeous friends, followed by an early night. All that eating and socialising is exhausting!…
Glitter Bow Wrapping
Christmas is almost upon us! Are you ready for it? I wrapped the last of my presents today. And thought I’d show you one of my favourites. It’s quick and easy and allows you…
Free Christmas Printable Gift Tags
It’s that most wonderful time of the year…. The time when you feel like you’re running late (and you are) for about 3 weeks straight. You’re prepping for guests or for travel, hiding Christmas presents…
Christmas decadence
Gluten free Caramel Slice/ Millionaires Shortbread Caramel slice brings back memories of school fêtes and sugar induced comas from the local bakery. The bakery version used to be about an inch thick and contained about…
A little festive flair
In only 11 sleeps Christmas is here! My husband and I are staying in Switzerland this year and so I’ve been able to let myself go a little crazy in the decoration department. In part…