Handmade Father's Day card

I spent an hour or so this week making this handmade card for my amazing Dad for Father's Day. I used a selection of blue papers I had in my stash and tried to find a few different patterns that worked well together.

I used alphabet stencils I had to create the big letters and cut them out using scissors and my small craft knife. Clear stamps and a silver ink pad were used to create the 'best in the world' lettering and the zig zag cuts were made using pinking shears. I was really pleased with the end result, and my Dad liked it too!

Wishing all Dad's out there a wonderful Father's Day!

Time to enjoy simple weekend pleasures

Weekends are such a precious time to relax and do all the things you enjoy… I love having time to catch up on sorting out the house, pottering around in the garden, spending time with my latest crafty project, cooking special meals and seeing friends. I really look forward to simple weekend pleasures such as getting up without an alarm, drinking lots of cups of tea whilst leisurely flicking through books and magazines, and generally enjoying spending time in our little home. Despite the shockingly wet weather we had this weekend, I had plenty of things to keep me amused.

I baked a cake! My first loaf cake! I made a lemon and poppy seed cake using the recipe for 'My Mother-in-law's Madeira Cake' in Nigella Lawson’s wonderful book How to be a Domestic Goddess…It was so yummy and tasted even better the next day. I plan to bake something new every month to improve my baking skills and share it with you. This one was a real success and I was glad to try something other than cupcakes...even Mr C liked it! The cake was twice this size but before I managed to take a photo we had tucked into the cake! I loved the slightly crunchy topping made by sprinkling a little caster sugar on the top before popping it in the oven for an hour to bake.

...I spent time looking in our local gift shops for the perfect paper to wrap a gift. I found some bright green tissue paper and some pretty checked ribbon to wrap a small present that I am giving to friends.

I spent a lot of time working on my top secret sewing project that will be revealed in a few weeks but here is a sneaky peak…I'm so excited about sharing this with you, it is my biggest project to date and it has been a big learning curve. I should hopefully be finished in a week or so and then I'll be able to do a big reveal!

I made time to catch up with a close friend. We chatted for hours over yummy cupcakes and pink lemonade at a gorgeous deli, The Mall Deli, a few minutes walk from home …

I pottered around in the garden (whilst it wasn’t raining!) and had a look at my plants. I'm pleased to say that they are all growing nicely. They were slightly battered by the wind and rain but are still alive! Despite the poor weather a strawberry has ripened! I protected the strawberry in a jar when it had started to grow so that the birds wouldn't eat it, and to create its own little shelter to help it ripen...it worked!

I am patiently waiting for the lillies to bloom, I counted thirty two buds waiting to open!

The time has arrived for the hundreds of purple flowers bloom from the plants cascading out of our old walls. They have attracted lots of bumble bees into our little courtyard and brought a burst of colour to rainy grey days.

Finally, I spent time with a cup of tea and checked out my new books (squeal!) that arrived in the post this week. I’m hoping that they will give me lots of inspiration for my next crafty projects and provide some great projects with instructions to try out. I added 1, 2, 3 Sew by Ellen Luckett Baker and Material Obsession two by Kathy Doughty and Sarah Fielke to my book collection...a little indulgent I know, but they have been on my wish list for a number of months.

I hope that the sunny weather we had in May returns soon...but hey, I'm pretty happy spending time at home when it rains and having time to enjoy some simple weekend pleasures.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend in the fully under way...

I've seen lots of bunting flapping in the breeze (and getting soaked in the rain!)...

I've made yummy lemon fairy cakes to have with cups of tea, ready to eat during the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant...

I've stocked up on Ma'amite for a Jubilee themed breakfast table!

I hope that you are having a lovely weekend and enjoying the celebrations.

Make your own spice rack labels

I spent many months looking for a new spice rack for our little kitchen. We have a kitchen with limited surface and cupboard space so finding the right option was important. Mr C is a bit of a dab hand in the kitchen and cooks the most fabulous meals, normally requiring a variety of herbs and spices. He mainly uses fresh herbs for cooking, hence the types of herbs planted in the garden last week, and a variety of spices. I knew we needed a spice rack with plain jars, as the pre-labelled, pre-filled jars just weren’t going to be suitable and the contents would go to waste.

After searching we found this lovely spice rack with cream jars from Garden Trading that fitted our needs perfectly! I love having clear jars to store food, you are able to see what you have at a glance and they look great too. To add a final touch, I decided to make my own spice rack labels using brown card, blue stamping ink and clear alphabet stamps. It didn't take me long…

I started by stamping the spice name onto brown card that I had in my paper stash. When I had finished I cut out the wording leaving a space at the end so I could punch a hole ready for the thread. I reused the brown twine that came with the jars to tie the label to the jar.

The good thing about having these jars is if we change the spices, as the seasons change and as we find new favourite recipes, all I need to do is whip up a few new labels!