Warm up winter nights with toasty joolz and mulled wine!

We celebrated a friend's 33⅓ birthday yesterday afternoon (happy birthday Adam) which included lots of great live music, great friends and a spectacular vegan cake-feast.

It was a breezy, wintry, drizzly day, and so of course we were standing around talking about ways to warm up. Thank goodness in the course of that conversation my lovely friends Uwe & Ursula mentioned mulled wine - which reminded me that I'd been meaning to make mulled wine for AGES! I popped home to rifle through the pantry (luckily we live next door) and came up with something that seemed to please my party compadres.
Mulled Wine a la Airdrie
5 oranges
1 x 750ml bottle shiraz (mine was a Brock's Reef 2006 Shiraz from the Limestone Coast in South Australia)
1 x 375ml bottle boysenberry liqueur (picked up from the Big Strawberry when I was last headed north on the Goulburn Valley Hwy)
cinnamon bark
garam masala spice mix (I used MasterFoods brand, which includes pepper, caraway, fennel, cardamom, cinnamon & cloves)
handful of dried apricots, chopped
sugar to taste

Juice four of the oranges, pouring both the juice and pulp into a heavy-based saucepan. Cut the fifth orange into quarters, then thick 1cm slices, add to juice & pulp. Empty both bottles of alcohol into the saucepan, along with a generous spoonful each of the cinnamon & garam masala spice mix, and throw in the chopped apricots. Heat until warmed through, take a sip, and then add sugar to taste, stirring until its dissolved. Apparently this beverage is best kept warm (just on the edge of simmering, rather than boiling) for several hours to allow the flavours to develop, but I'm afraid we drank ours almost immediately. Serve in mis-matched teacups to warm friends!

In honour of the successful warming, this necklace has been named 'Mulled Wine'! The colours and the chunkiness remind me very much of that toasty drink I made last night.
Photographer: Berle Mu, MUA: Celeste @ Makeup Creations, Model: Beata @ Scene
The necklace was created using hand-made resin beads that I've poured in black, purple and gold. The gold ones have upcycled tealeaves embedded in them. Tea's great for keeping warm too! There's only the one so click on the add to cart button straight away if you're keen to own your very own 'Mulled Wine' necklace!

Warm up winter nights with toasty joolz and mulled wine!

Joolz News 16072010

Whilst I’m shivering away at my desk in Melbourne writing this, England is enjoying the most glorious summer. I’ve just come back from over there, and believe me, it was very difficult to leave all that wonderful sunshine. However, things are busy in the Joolz office gearing up for Spring Fashion Week, which as a friend pointed out on the weekend, is less than seven weeks away! Lots to do before then!

I’ve got a few new items to show you, and a new competition too. For those of us who would like a new handbag (and who wouldn’t) I’ve got a survey for you. All those who participate will go into the draw to win a shiny brand-new JOOLZbag. Yes, I’ve been sketching, checking out different materials, and talking to handbag manufacturers - soon Joolz will be able to offer you handbags! Just click here to be taken to the survey page. Its five quick & easy questions, and if you wish to go into the draw, fill out your details in the final section of the survey.
I’ve been working with some great photographers as usual, and one shoot I did recently with Lucia Ondrusova features in the current edition of Fashion Journal. If you’d like a copy of the article, just ask, and I’ll forward you the pdf version.
The pearls in the most recent collection have been quite popular with photographers, and the picture below, from Mul Chandra, a student at RMIT, is one of my favourites. We teamed the opera-length strand of coloured pearls with one of my silver leaf hairclips.
Isn’t it a lovely photograph?
With my return to Melbourne and adjusting to this chilly weather, I’ve been inspired to make things with pretty little crystals. To avoid them feeling too icy, I’ve selected some in warm tones. We had some windy weather in Melbourne this week, so I created a swirly pair of earrings too.

Crystal Mix Necklace
Czech crystals in a variety of shapes and colours create some interesting contrasts in this necklace.
36cm long with 6cm extension chain.
Only one available.
$150.00

Citrine Crystal Earrings
I think these citrine-coloured crystal globes have a bit of a 70s vibe. I love these new earring hooks – this design means that you won’t lose one of your earrings whilst you are wearing them. $35.00

Swirled Earrings

These hollow reinforced glass spheres are both light and strong.
They are so pretty!

$35.00

Portugese Glass Ring

I noticed a lot of yellow whilst I was overseas, and I am really enjoying this sunny colour at the moment. I also have one of these in blue – there is only one ring in each (blue or yellow) available.

$35.00

Colour

Yellow $35.00 Blue $35.00

I hope you have remembered to complete our handbag survey to go into the draw to win one of the first ever JOOLZbags! I’m really looking forward to reading the results. I’ll be able to share the handbag collection with you very soon.
If you’d like to forward the survey on to your friends, I’d greatly appreciate it. (And yes, of course the handbag won’t be empty. I couldn’t possibly send off a prize without tucking in some extra goodies!)

Take care, and keep warm if you’re in the same hemisphere as me!

Joolz News 16072010