First Day Of Spring/Autumn

All expats in this treasury for the change of seasons.  Also featuring this lovely item from our member of the month: uniquenique.


Amazing how fast time flies.........
Enjoy each moment.

St.Patrick's Day Treasuries

Here are a few of our green expat team treasuries in honour of St. Patrick's Day, as a tribute to all our Irish expats:

One from artophile also featuring our member of the month uniquenique.  Take a peek.

One from sewfinefashions, also featuring Monique.  The Grass Was Greener.

JustOneLook made one too.  Here it is.

Post by Linda

Our February Team Challlenge

'Hearty Reds'

Winning entry from MariTStudio

sterling silver earrings

Our team challenge for the month of February was full of lovely items, as always, mostly in one shade of red or another with a few hearts thrown in. 

popular item from unuquenique
red heart dichroic pendant

Gorgeous textile card from StitchMikki

Absolutely gorgeous treasury! (click on the title to check it out).   

We had a wonderful team turn out with several members voting.  

As always many items were popular but one item took center stage.

Marina of MariTStudio entered her lovely handmade sterling silver earrings set with garnet stones and they were far and away the winner this time.  

Well done Marina!  All that hard work is paying off.  

Thank you all for coming by and voting and supporting our team.  

See you all for our next challenge... 

Linda

International Women's Day Treasuries

Women of the World Unite

Check out this treasury with international women of The Etsy Expat Team.  

We have:

South Africans living in USA and France
Americans in India, Holland, Tel Aviv & UK
British in Canada, South America, Israel & Turkey
German in USA 
French and British in Australia
Latvian in Ireland
Russians in USA
It doesn't get much more international than that!!

and this one:

United We Stand

Members representing a wide range of countries and here are some:

South Africa, France, Germany, UK, USA, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, Canada, Belize, Hungary, India.

Definitely an International Treasury!

RECIPE: Hot Cross Buns

Pulled this recipe from our team thread, as it is that time of year again and also it was submitted (last year) by our member of the month, Monique of uniquenique.  Seemed very fitting.
  

Hi all here is a recipe for Hot Cross Buns - it is a South African recipe.

HOT CROSS BUNS>
>
>> ingredients
>> 4 cups plain flour
>> 2 x 7gram sachets dried yeast
>> 1/4 cup caster sugar
>> 1 and a half teaspoons mixed spice
>> pinch of salt
>> 1 and a half cups currants
>> 40grams butter
>> 300ml milk
>> 2 eggs lightly beaten
>>> flour paste
>>> 1/2 cup plain flour 4 to 5 tablespoons water
>>> glaze 1/3 cup water
>> 2 tablespoons castor sugar
>>
>> method>>
>> Combine flour, yeast, sugar, mixed spice, salt and currants in a large bowl.  
Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add milk & heat for 1 minute or until luke warm.  
Add warm milk mixture and eggs to currant mixture.  Use a flat bladed knife to mix until dough almost comes together.  Use clean hands to finish mixing to form a soft dough & turn dough onto a floured surface.  
Knead for 10 min or until dough is smooth then place into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  
Set aside in a warm draft free place for 1 to 1 and 1/2 hrs or until dough doubles its size.
Line a large baking tray with non stick baking paper.  
Punch down dough to its original size & knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth.  Divide into 12 even portions.  Shape each portion into a ball & place balls onto a lined tray about 1cm apart.  
Cover with plastic wrap & set aside in a warm draught free place for 30 min or until buns double in size. 
Preheat oven to 190degc.  
Make flour paste: mix flour and water together until smooth, adding a little more water if paste is too thick. 
Pipe flour paste over buns to form crosses then bake buns for 20-25 min or until buns are cooked through.
>> Make glaze>>
>> Place sugar and water into a small pot over low heat, stir until sugar dissolves.  Bring to the boil & boil for 5 min.  
Brush warm glaze over warm hot cross buns & serve warm at room temperature
>> can be frozen for 7days


Sounds good.  Enjoy.  Thanks Monique!  

Member Of The Month: uniquenique

We are starting off the month of March with a new team feature:  Member of the Month.  

Our first member is well known to all the regular expats as Monique of uniquenique.  
Monique is our team promoter and social media butterfly:) 

Actually, that is quite an apt description of Monique as not only does she have a large following on sites like Facebook and Pinterest but she also sells gorgeous butterflies like 

this one in her Etsy shop that she has handcrafted.  

Then there are dragonflies too like this one  at the top.  It is a lovely fused dichroic glass pendant and this bottom one is a beautifully realistic stained glass suncatcher.

Monique has such a variety of items. From her fused glass pendants to her 

crocheted wire bracelets and from her stained glass,


to her recycled glassware.  
All so interesting and beautifully made.

Recently Monique appeared on a local television show with 3 other Etsy sellers promoting not just their original wares but also promoting Etsy for all of us.  Well done. 

Here, take a peek at the show (Click here to go to the link).


You really just have to check it all out for yourself at her Etsy shop uniquenique.

Posted by Linda (JustOneLook)