Crafternoon Jam

I've had a glut of raspberries this Summer and decided to make jam as I was told it's simple and really rewarding. I have always wanted to provide as much Derbyshire made Crafternoon teas as possible.

I've never ventured into jams and chutney's ..until now! (*drum roll*) but after being told by my most trust worthy sources (my family) that it was easy, I wanted to have a go. Previous nightmare stories I had heard included un-cooked jam, burnt jam and messy jam filled kitchen nightmares! I felt brave and here's my story with not a sniff of burnt jam insight!

Firstly I bought some Kilner jars with the click open lids instead of having to use paper, greaseproof and string as on conventional jam jars. You can buy a great range also from Ikea as well, this meant I wasn't spending my jams hunting for spare jam jars and filling the cupboards with them.

To get started, you need to sterilise the jars, simply wash them in warm soapy paper and then put them in the oven at 140C or similar. Roll them in on their sides in the middle of the oven ideally and leave for ten mins.


I followed this recipe as it was so simple and used a super jam thermometer from Kitchen Aid. Highly recommended. A great tip is to freeze a few plates to check the jam sets! I froze three plates for my first batch and tested a teaspoon of jam on each plates to triple check.

A day later, we tested the jam  in sponge cake and on toast (just to double check, of course) and it was lovely.

So I'm really please to announce...we now have Derbyshire raspberry jam!

If you have any more tips for jam making would love to hear?

Bye for now,

Samantha x

Creative and Crafty Blogger Meet Derby #ccbloggers

Really excited to announce that ....

I'm co-hosting the creative and crafty blogger meet in Derby this November with Kat after our fun filled meet last January in Nottingham.

We will have a mix of craftiness including a brillant social media and web savvy clinic. Plus a crafty try it session and a chance to celebrate one of the cities newest design led stores birthday! Phew!

If you are interested in coming, venue and start time tbc (late morning most likely) email me at here . The meet is a bijoux affair and we aim to get a great mix of crafty creative bloggers for you to meet on the day.

More information to follow, 

Bye for now,

Samantha x

Jam Making in 30 mins

Homemade Jam

                                   


I've had a glut of raspberries this Summer and decided to make jam as I was told it's simple and really rewarding. I've never ventured into jams and chutney's ..until now! (*drum roll*) but after being told by my most trust worthy sources (my family) that it was easy, I wanted to have a go. Previous nightmare stories I had heard included un-cooked jam, burnt jam and messy jam filled kitchen nightmares! I felt brave and here's my story with not a sniff of burnt jam insight!

Firstly I bought some Kilner jars with the click open lids instead of having to use paper, greaseproof and string as on conventional jam jars. You can buy a great range also from Ikea as well, this meant I wasn't spending my jams hunting for spare jam jars and filling the cupboards with them.

To get started, you need to sterilise the jars, simply wash them in warm soapy paper and then put them in the oven at 140C or similar. Roll them in on their sides in the middle of the oven ideally and leave for ten mins.


I followed this recipe as it was so simple and used a super jam thermometer from Kitchen Aid. Highly recommended.  A great tip is to freeze a few plates to check the jam sets! I froze three plates for my first batch and tested a teaspoon of jam on each plates to triple check.

A day later, we tested the jam  in sponge cake and on toast (just to double check, of course) and it was lovely.

So I'm really please to announce...we now have Derbyshire raspberry jam!

If you have any more tips for jam making would love to hear?

Bye for now,

Samantha x

I'm a #handmade100!

Have you seen the #handmade100?

Hello!

I'm super excited about the upcoming The Handmade Fair in London later this month. It's a mix of the lovely Kirstie Allsopp's craftiness spread over three days. How much craft can you fit into three days - a lot!

Tonight Kirstie held her first #handmadechat on twitter and there was a real buzz about the upcoming event. I even met a fellow Derbyshire crafter whose first show is The Handmade Fair - wow! Little Tins of Loveliness produces craft kits and I wish them all the best, it's a really great start to showcase as such a high profile event.

And I have news...I'm proud to be a #handmade100, I'm officially a twitter crafter and I'm in great company! Thank-you to everyone who voted for me. I am totally over the moon! Follow me on twitter at @createitsam  for all my crafty, vintage and mamma tweets.

Bye for now,

Samantha x

Grow Your Roses!

Hey!

Just popping in on this super chilly August day to share some of my beautiful roses from this Summer. I've been working on these beauties for about three years! Wow, writing that sounds such an age.

It's been lots of pruning, feeding and good soil but I am sharing as it been worth it. I've been cutting beautiful roses since June, not only have I saved a fortune on cut flowers but they smell gorgeous and for me, they are worth it 100%.

If you are inspired to grow your own, start looking for rose bushes at the garden centre now or wait until the DIY centres get rose roots in store in the Spring. Make sure you feed and plant your plants so they can get enough feed from the ground. Check out this video to get blooms next Summer. Roses, if looked after well and cut correctly twice a year (Spring and Autumn) will get you the most wonderful flowers.
 

As you can see I've a mix of roses! I tend to plant similar bushes in rows such as Queen Elizabeth roses above in one bed to block colour. Then statement roses like this lovely one below in corners to add colour to what would be an empty corner of the garden.

 I could write and write about my roses, so if you have any questions drop me a comment below!

Bye for now,

Samantha x

Bunting Making for a Windmill Wedding

Happily Ever After! 

Last Saturday I hostessed a bunting making Crafternoon tea in a pretty village hall in Derbyshire. Each Crafternoon tea is always to a brief, it makes it bespoke, unique and personable.

The bunting we were making was for a windmill wedding in Norfolk in September. The colour palette was to reflect the sea and sunshine around the venue, so blues and yellows were chosen from the fabric swatches I had for the party planners.

I worked with the groom to get the colourway perfect for the big day...and the bride has no idea what her lovely groom was planning for the Crafternoon (exciting!). When she discovered what we were making in the big reveal and how much effort he had put in, she was delighted. This is what I love about my job making something unique for a special day!

Each Crafternooner cut out, stitched on our vintage Singer sewing machines and decorated the bunting flags whilst we served them a Derbyshire cream tea on vintage china.

Thank-you so much for a lovely day ladies and all the best for the big day!

Samantha x

L'Eroica Britannia - a jolly good weekender

Last weekend...

I got on a vintage style frock, wrapped a '40's stylie scarf around my hair and went off to Bakewell in Derbyshire to the  L'Erocia Britannia festival.

L'Erocia Britannia is a vintage cycling festival, doesn't sound like it's everyone's cup of tea? Well you are in for a surprise, it was fabulous. It was a glut of vintage, retro wares, all things cycling pre 1987, wonderful Derbyshire food, old cars, family fun, photo booths, brass bands, dancing and so much more!

Of course the phone box - how British!

Plus it was free for the day or you could do the weekender camping ticket including the Sunday ride for a fee. We loved the London cab photo booths...

Photo booth fun!

My little girl loved the music, rides and food, Mr.S a keen cyclist geek (his words) loved the bikes and I loved the vintageness and the pop up hair salon. So as we sat listening to a local brass band in our lovely county, I felt really lucky to have this on our door step. Plus we have heard it will be in the UK for another four years.

This was the back drop to the bar! Love it!

We are looking forward to next year already, it's worth buying a pre-87 bike, some retro cycling jumpers and plus fours... just to go and join in.

Ta-ta,

5 Things from My Day At Weleda

On Friday I spent the day with Weleda  here in Derbyshire, they are the people who turn plants into the lovely natural healthcare products and gorgeous toiletries. Have to say I'm a bit of a fan of using natural remedies just like my Gran did back in the '30's. Weleda have been going since the 1920's and have a great story to how they started the gardens in Derbyshire plus I love the fab vintage posters (more on this later).

Finding out how the vintage remedies are still grown and made today

I was really flattered to be asked to take a peek behind the scenes; see where they grow the plants, see how they make up the potions and see the lovely new products for launch this Summer. So here are my top 5 favourites from the day...

1. The Weleda Garden

 Just beautiful! As a Derbyshire lass, I really proud that these gorgeous gardens are only 15 minutes away from home so my garden could like this..right?!).  I was really inspired by the growing and planting in this fine Derbyshire soil. This picture is of the Calendula plant which goes into the baby range. We saw how the garden is planted using biodynamics and how they were set up back in the 1920's. It means that the gardens are planted in harmony with the seasons, planets and species so that they thrive. Something I'm really interested to learn more about for my own little vintage garden at home.

2. Making Tinctures Workshop

After picking some of the flowers using in the tinctures, we then started to make one. I am a sucker for a workshop and this one didn't disappoint. So with a hair net and a plastic pinny on, the flowers were weighed out and chopped up Jamie stylie... storks and all!

We then put them in a metal bowl with some alcohol to make a mixture. This is then set to one side for two weeks to ferment and will be strained to make the tincture. We saw a 'this has been made earlier' version to see how it changed colour and smelt different. I have a little box of tinctures at home for anything from pre-flight nerves to a relaxing bath potion. All the products at Weleda have a quality standard so none of these samples we made will make it further than the workshop!

I loved every minute.

 

3. Oh Baby!

 I've been using the Weleda products on myself and  Little L. The baby range is so soft, gentle, delicate and natural; everything you would want for you precious little one. You only need to put the bath lotions on your skin to see how easily they are absorbed and how light they are. Now Little L is a toddler she can apply it herself, it does go everywhere sometimes but washes out with no greasy marks.

4. Roses Mamma Treats 

 

Sometimes I need to unwind from being a busy Mamma and I love the Wild Rose body wash. I was bought this for my first Christmas as a new tired out new Mummy. It is bliss! The scent actually smells of roses similar to rose water and very unlike your standard creme bath. 

5. Vintage Poster Art

   

I'm crazy about Art Deco, so I just love this old Weleda advert from Germany from the 1920's. It would fit perfectly with my collection that I have in my studio room. 

Weleda was more than just a day sampling new product it was a peek into a world of natural products and more. I don't usually do product reviews as for me I really have to believe the product. I hope you are inspired to re-look at your toiletries and look at the power of natural plants and how they really can work.

Bye for now,

Win A Janome Sewing Machine!

As you know, I love sewing. I started when I was a teenager and got the bug! 

Making your own clothes and home textiles gives me such a sense of achievement. It's perfectly made to how I want it to be and at a fraction of the price of the high street.

So when Hobbycraft asked if I wanted to take part in a sewing machine giveaway I was so excited. This Janome machine is the perfect newbie machine or for sewers on the go! It travels easily, simple to set out and is light weight.

To enter, just tell what your perfect Crafternoon is. Enter here and good luck!

Samantha x

Happy Father's Day!

  

Freshly picked roses, handmade cards by Little L, something french and smelly and a few cycling related goodies!

Yesterday, we celebrated having the best Daddy in the world with his favourite... pizza made with basil dough. (You have to make the effort as he's a gem to us.)

Daddy is the best new Daddy and Little Miss L loves him so much. OK so this parenting things takes time to get used to, little ones change so quickly and with a two year old we have the joy of spending more time some days with her toilet routine... and we love him for all the effort, patience, love and support.

I'm back from a little blogging break full of creative, homemaking ideas...

See you later,

Samantha x