Spotlight: Charmagne Tripp

While listening to Eminem's new single We Made You, I was wondering who was singing the hook to the song. Although Eminem said it was Jessica Simpson,I didn't want to believe it. So after a bit of research (thanks to Yahoo Answers) I found out that it was a woman named Charmagne Tripp. She is a soul singer with expertise in songwriting. Tripp has performed at P. Diddy's 3rd Annual All-star festival in Cancun and was also the opening act for Brain McKnight and Deborah Cox. At the moment she is currently working in the studio producing an album titled Live in Studio.

For more info on Charmagne, check out her website on:
http://www.charmagne.net/

Chocolate Treats

Summer is usually the time where you create tasty treats to eat while relaxing in the back garden. I have chosen a selection of chocolate recipes with easy to follow instructions to make.

Chocolate Brownies (Courtesy of BBC Food)


Makes 20-24 Squares

275g plain chocolate
275g butter
85g pecans, broken into pieces
85g milk chocolate, cut into large chunks
85g white chocolate, cut into large chunks
175g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla essence
325g caster sugar


1. Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas3. Line a bake tin with lightly buttered greaseproof paper or foil.
2. Put the plain chocolate and butter in a large bowl, place over a pan of simmering water and allow to melt.
3. Sieve the flour and baking powder into a bowl and set aside. Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and stir in the sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla essence. Fold in the flour, nuts and chocolate.
4. Pour the chocolate mixture into the prepared cake tin. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. The top should be firm but the inside should feel soft when cooked. Allow to cool in the tin. Remove the brownies from the tin and cut into squares.








Chocolate Chip Cookies (Courtesy of BBC Food Makes 12-15)




350g unsifted flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp salt
225g butter
175g caster sugar
175g soft brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
350g dark or milk chocolate, crumbled

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/Gas 5.
2. In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In another bowl, combine the butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy. Beat in the eggs. Gradually beat in the flour mixture. Stir in the chocolate.
4. Split the pliable dough into two halves, rolling each out into sausage shapes, approximately 5cm/2in in diameter. Wrap them in cling film and transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.
5. When you are ready to bake the cookies, simply cut the log into slices 2cm/¾in thick and lay on a baking tray, widely spaced apart. Bake for 9-11 minutes.
6. Serve.

A/W Trends 2009

While looking through the a/w collections on Vogue.co.uk, I began to investigate what we will be wearing in during those cold winter days where you wake up and its dark outside and after a long day, the sky is still the way you left it in the morning. Here are some of the key trends:

Lady In Red

Red and Black should be worn together next season. They are both bold and strong in their own special way.




Leather
It's time to toughen up your wardrobe with all things leather. Bring out the rock chic in you with these hot leather buys that will bring out your rebellious side.




Navy
This colour is usually used in the nautical trend,but this season its part of various Autumn/Winter collections including Tommy Hilfiger. This is a colour that will keep you thinking about those long summer days and sailing the seven seas across the Atlantic.




Brightly Coloured
This sugar coated colour palette will bring a smile on your face. House of Holland collection was full of colour and reminded me of those paint colour cards that you use when deciding on a colour to use for your wall.




Other trends to look out for include:

Eighties
Tweed
Velvet
Mohair
Afghan Coats

Helping Hand

Daisydessy magazine now has a blog where you can read additional content not featured in the magazine. Due to the workload, the next issue of Daisydessy will be on hiatus until next year February. However, you can read the all the Daisydessy issues on (http://issuu.com/daisydessy). In the meantime, I am currently looking for voluntary contributors in the following areas:

Illustrator/Graphic Designer

-must have a good knowledge of Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop

-has an imaginative mind and ideas

-must be able produce a high standard of images to tailor to the magazine

Editorial

-good writing and English skills

-can come up with original ideas for news/features and content for the magazine

-must be able to produce short & long pieces (between 250-1500 words)

-pieces can include poems, current affairs, human interest, fashion, and etc.

-be organized and stick to deadlines

Photographer

-produce innovative editorial spreads

-come up with original themes/concepts for shoots

If you would like to contribute or have any questions or comments, please drop me an email with some examples of work produced to daisydessymagazine@yahoo.co.uk