tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5786077794484696652024-03-18T09:48:04.151+00:00Scented SweetpeasScented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.comBlogger141125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-22427132917128741782015-06-17T10:13:00.002+01:002015-06-17T10:13:39.821+01:00Pretty in Pink<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HZSXR6wluG4/VYE1PyrNIGI/AAAAAAAAD5s/6iikaXhfyXA/s1600/P6127849.1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="350" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HZSXR6wluG4/VYE1PyrNIGI/AAAAAAAAD5s/6iikaXhfyXA/s400/P6127849.1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Our local school has some lovely raised beds which have been left untouched for quite some time. To be honest, every time I walked past them to collect little Sweetpea I had to fight the urge to go and weed them. So , rather than be annoyed by this I decided to take action, after chatting to the teachers I was given the go ahead to do a little make over. Little Sweetpea, Middle Sweetpea and I dived into two of the raised beds, weeded them and planted them up with things like Cosmos, Sunflowers, Beetroot, Onions, Marigolds, Tomatoes etc. </div>
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Here is a before shot for you, although the poppies looked lovely, it was nice to revert the beds to what they were made for.<br />
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This is after an hour or so of work, all planted up. I am hoping that the school keep watering everything after all our hard work. I have had to remind them a couple of times already but we will have to wait and see.</div>
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Anyway, I digress from the original title and photo of this blog post, sorry about that. I have never been one to keep exactly on track in conversation, I tend to spark off along different paths , but hey, that makes chatting all the more fun.</div>
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<br />Whilst eyeing up the veggie patches and wanting to weed them, I noticed a nice large patch of chives in full flower. Well this reminded me of a lovely photo I saw on Pinterest of some chive flowers that had been popped in distilled white vinegar. I just HAD to give it ago ..... surely they couldn't turn the vinegar that <span style="color: magenta;">pink</span>???</div>
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So I got picking (with the school's permission of course :-) ). I filled the jar with chive flowers after checking them all over for bugs etc, then poured in some distilled white vinegar. Liteally in one day I could see it turning pink, a lovely shade of <span style="color: magenta;">bright megenta pink</span>! It looks stunning, so so pretty. You then need to remove the flowers after roughly 7 days and you are left with a lovely pink, onion tasting vinegar which can be used for salad dressings etc. I think it needs to be kept is a shady area to keep the colour. </div>
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Wow , isn't nature just wonderful !</div>
Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-40740516959966677302015-06-14T17:43:00.001+01:002015-06-14T17:43:38.810+01:00The Winner ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Thanks for all your entries to this fab giveaway, a winner has been chosen and there were over 60 entries in the end (here and over on my facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ScentedSweetpeas">ScentedSweetpeas</a>). I popped all the names into an excel spreadsheet and then used a random number generator thingy to pick a number. The number chosen was number 15 ....... that number had the name Andrea Harding next to it. So Andrea, could you please e-mail me via my contact page on <a href="http://scentedsweetpeas.wix.com/scentedsweetpeas">Scented Sweetpeas</a> . Thank you .</div>
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For all those who didn't win, do not be sad, <a href="http://www.schoolbagstation.com/">www.schoolbagstation.com</a> currently has the offer of 10% off your first order plus free delivery too - yipppeee.</div>
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All this chat about bags got me in the mood to create a bag for little Sweetpea, her PE bag has been looking a bit worse for wear for a while now so I set about sewing her a new one.</div>
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Obviously being super girly as she is she wanted the bag to have some sparkles on it and flowers.</div>
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Luckily she loved her new bag , I must say I rather love it too. Who wouldn't want a sparkly, flowery, blinged up PE bag! I am going to be popping some custom slots for these on my website soon so if your little one (or you) would like one just give me a shout. </div>
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I will be back soon with beekeeping news ..... x</div>
Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-37016713988568179642015-06-08T11:31:00.000+01:002015-06-08T11:37:56.660+01:00Bag Giveaway <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Middle Sweetpea recently decided she NEEDED a new school bag, you know what it is like when they are in their teens, all of a sudden they need to feel part of the pack and follow the style that others have. Well the bag I bought her hadn't fallen apart yet so I said that if she wanted a new one she would have to spend her own money. Does that make me sound like a horrid, stingy Mum? </div>
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She agreed and off we went to search online for a bag. After an hour or so of online searching for a bag from a company that had good reviews we came across <a href="http://www.schoolbagstation.com/">www.schoolbagstation.com</a> . We placed the order and the bag arrived within a few days, they even popped a little packet of sweets in the parcel too, such a lovely touch. Middle Sweetpea was over the moon.</div>
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With this fab customer service in mind I contacted the company and asked if they would be happy to give away a bag to one of my blog /facebook/instagram readers? They said yes ! </div>
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So that means, one of you lucky people may get to have a bag delivered to your house for free! All you have to do is pop a comment below telling me which bag which is priced under £30 you would like to win. Pop to www.schoolbagstation.com and have a nose, then pop back here and let me know. </div>
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I will pick one winner on 13 June 1015 at 6pm GMT (sorry this is only open to uk residents :-().</div>
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Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com44tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-30646969312501791432015-06-04T14:15:00.000+01:002015-06-04T14:19:52.146+01:00And so here it is .....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In my past life, before children, does anyone else have problems remembering that far back, oh my goodness, where did the time go ??? Sorry, I digress, well I used to be a PA to a few Directors , I used to love my job, all the organising, office banter, learning new things. <br />
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Then after having my second child I had to give that up due to childcare issues and I decided to create a big website which had hundreds of rental properties on it for Spain. I loved creating it even if the guilt of working around two toddlers did get to me. I did a fab online course to learn how to create my own little website and it spiralled from there. People used to ring my 'office' wondering why they could hear childrens voices in the background, little did they know my 'office' was in fact my front room, littered with toys lol. It was such a wonderful learning curve, I learnt about promotion, SEO (search engine optimisation), google adwords etc etc. Years later I wound that site down due to having a third child and the rental market in that particular part of Spain changing. I then fell into creating .<br />
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After sewing and creating lots of things I thought it was about time I created a website for my makes. I used a fab site called <a href="http://www.wix.com/html5webbuilder/910-x-c-g?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=bi_wix_uk^wix&experiment_id=%2Bwixx^b^41488583620^1t1&gclid=CP6-trqO9sUCFePItAodr34A8g">Wix,</a> they have some wonderful templates which you can play with and it has been so easy to use. I would highly recommend it if you want to build a little site. I have also been able to link the blog to it which is fab. I just searched for Scented Sweetpeas Sewn Creations and it came up on page one of google which is pretty good for a site which is only a few weeks old.<br />
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Why not pop over and have a look, please do let me know what you think or if you have any more ideas for the site, I would love to hear from you . <br />
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http://scentedsweetpeas.wix.com/scentedsweetpeas<br />
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I will be back soon with news on bee-keeping, baby Quails and my creative antics.Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-86080586654897101422015-04-30T10:55:00.000+01:002015-04-30T10:55:53.397+01:00Mental Health ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A few months ago I was sat looking through all the lovely instagram photos, I must confess I was feeling rather sorry for myself due to my broken toe which decided it wouldn't heal for a long, long time. Then up popped an image of the wonderful <a href="http://doyoumindifiknit.typepad.com/">Do You Mind if I Knit</a> and my heart sank further. Reading <a href="https://instagram.com/bobobun68/">Bobo Buns</a> words that went with the image it transpired that Vanessa (from Do You Mind if I Knit), who was a super talented artist had died, she had suffered from depression for some time and she must have reached an all time low :-(<br />
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I couldn't even imagine how low she must have felt , I thought of her poor family who had had her taken from them in such a sad way. It took me back to a family incident a few years ago which made me realise the wider effect these things have on a family. I like so many others have had dark moments in life, sometimes for no reason at all, you know, like a black cloud just comes down and you can't see the light until it finally lifts. Thankfully it has always lifted, thankfully the cloud hasn't stayed for too long.<br />
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It is when it lifts that you realise just how precious life is, how important family is and how to embrace those tiny things that make you smile deep in your heart. <br />
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Creativity is one of those things that has helped me through those cloudy days so when Lisa (from Bobo Bun) decided to create a community crochet blanket in memory of Vanessa I jumped at the chance to join in. What a wonderful idea that lovely creative souls from around the country join together to create something to remember a fellow creative soul. The colours were chosen from a selection that Vanessa herself used a lot so the blanket really would have her personality shining through it, bright, vibrant, fun. It was then decided to raffle off the finished blanket to raise money for charity that meant a lot to Vanessa's family , the Mental Health Foundation. <br />
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Needing help with the admin side of things Lisa asked if anyone could help out with the Just Giving page. Thinking this is something I could help out with and wanting to get further involved with this fab event I popped my hand up . The Just Giving page is all ready and waiting to take donations and I am busily beavering away in the background with the admin side of it (excel is my best friend at the moment lol).<br />
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So if you fancy having a chance of winning this wonderful creation (which will be completed very soon), created by so many kind hearted souls then why not pop to:<br />
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Each £2 gives you a chance to win and it can be posted worldwide. It has only been live for a couple of days and has already raised over £200 ..... lets hope this goes towards helping others to find their way out of that dark place and enjoy all the little, wonderful things in life again. xScented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-62588680317668413462015-03-09T13:24:00.000+00:002015-03-09T18:09:54.671+00:00Friends<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As you may have read in my previous posts I have been having a bit of a bumpy ride health wise for the last few months. To tell you the truth is has got me quite down on quite a few occassions. Being stuck in gives you far too much time to think and worry so when some friends came forward to help it really did make me feel a little better about everything.<br />
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Silly little things , like doing the school run, turned into big things. I remember one morning sitting and sobbing in the car as it was an icy day , little Sweetpea and I had already attempted to 'walk' from the car with my crutches but it was just too dangerous with the black ice. We had to abort that idea and wait until everyone had left so I could drive her right outside the school and take her in that way.<br />
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A few precious friends have been so so helpful in taking my little one into school if they have seen me struggling , they have helped with school pick ups so I haven't had to worry about children running into me and knocking me over (which did happen one day). It is these simple acts by true friends that make all the difference. <br />
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Although I had said thank you I really wanted to create them a little thank you gift, just to show how much their help had meant to me. When I came across this wonderful flower pattern by <a href="http://pinkmilkjewels.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/anemone-pattern.html">Pink Milk</a> I thought it would be perfect for such a gift. I am glad to say they loved it. They were so taken back by their gift I am really not sure they know what angels they have been. In fact one friend said she should be thanking me as she had so enjoyed picking little Sweetpea up and having her cute little hand held tightly in hers .... heart melting. <br />
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Everyone needs friends like that :-)<br />
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I hope you are all well out there in bloggy land, see you again soon x<br />
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PS the scarf was created with a wonderful pattern by <a href="http://www.littledoolally.com/">Little Doolally </a>Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-31496278596228866752015-02-26T12:28:00.000+00:002015-02-26T12:28:38.567+00:00Crochet Clothes / Coat Hanger - Tutorial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I love crochet and I love giving old objects a new lease of life so this project is perfect for me, it makes my soul happy. I was given some old fabric covered coat hangers years ago, my great Auntie had covered them in fabric but the padding was started to break down so I decided to pimp them up. </div>
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The wooden coat hangers hidden underneath are lovely but the clothes just keep sliding off them, this project stops that issue whilst looking oh so pretty. I thought I would type up a little tutorial for you all , so here we go.</div>
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Take one wooden coat hanger, some yarn of your choice, a crochet hook (I used my favourite 4 mm Tulip hook) and a yarn needle. Now chain enough stitches to go around the hanger. Not too few as you don't want loads of gaps showing if you have to pull it to go round and not many as you don't want a saggy coat hanger, no one wants to look at a saggy coat hanger lol. I chained 12 stitches here.</div>
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Now add one turning chain and then single crochet all the way back to the beginning.</div>
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Keep added new rows of single crochet ....... now is the time you can mix it up a bit, why not add some new <span style="color: red;">c</span><span style="color: yellow;">o</span><span style="color: lime;">l</span><span style="color: blue;">o</span><span style="color: orange;">u</span><span style="color: magenta;">r</span><span style="color: purple;">s</span> for fun?</div>
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To do this pull in the new colour just before you finish the last stitch on your previous row as shown above. You can then either cut the old colour leaving a few inches tail to thread into the hanger cover at the end or leave it and pick it back up later in the pattern if you are using the colour again.</div>
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As you go along keep checking if you have made it long enough, it is easy to get carried away on the creative wave. You need it to be a couple of rows longer than the hanger each end. When you have finished pull your yarn through to lock the stiches off. Then sew in any loose ends.</div>
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Fold your creation over so the top touches the bottom length ways.</div>
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Then fold it again so the start touches the finish. This will show you where the centre of your creation is, I have marked it above with my wool needle. </div>
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Feed your creation over your clothes hook so that the hook is where you marked the centre. </div>
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Now you need to cut a long length of yarn that matches you creation best. Make sure it is at least twice the length of your coat hanger. Thread your yarn onto a yarn needle and then run a running stitch along the end of your clothes hanger cover, pull the yarn all the way through leaving enough tail to knot off when you have finished.</div>
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I then run a satin stitch (I think that is the name of it) along the length of the hanger to close the cover over the hanger. Make sure you pull the yarn all the way through as you go along. When you get to the end knot off both ends and feed the tails into the inside of of the hanger cover.<br />
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You can add some pretty flowers, pom poms or what ever your heart desires to your creation to finish it off.</div>
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Now run off, find a lovely old vintage dress and hang it on your new hanger ........ it will make your heart skip a little beat in joy.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-knsUEsSWsNk/VO8PeuyYldI/AAAAAAAAD2I/DN1mU64qnII/s1600/P2246877.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-knsUEsSWsNk/VO8PeuyYldI/AAAAAAAAD2I/DN1mU64qnII/s1600/P2246877.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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PS Before you run off pop over to <a href="http://www.lemonadeyarns.co.uk/">www.lemonadeyarns.co.uk</a> where the owner is offering 25% off all her cotton yarn until mid March 2015. Cotton yarn is perfect for this project !Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-17687841508105983232015-02-12T13:51:00.000+00:002015-02-12T13:51:50.921+00:00Creative Therapy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have a lot to thank for finding my creativity again a few years ago. I am not sure what it is about creating things, whether it is the rhythm whilst creating a crochet blanket, the satisfaction of having something to show for your time or the beautiful distraction that wonderful coloured wool is but crochet, sewing, knitting etc is certainly a wonderful thing indeed.</div>
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This last few months has seen me being pulled towards my creative side even more than ever. Crochet has been my main go to craft but sewing and cross-stitch have had their moments too.</div>
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On 1 December whilst waiting in for a delivery that was late a big glass jar full of sewing threads fell onto my big toe. I nearly leapt through the roof due to the pain that followed but was pottering (well hobbling around a week later). Fast forward a doctors appointment that I had to wait a week for and an xray that was a further 2 days wait and I am sat in a minor injuries unit feeling rather shell shocked after being told that I had, in fact, managed to break my big toe all the way through and crush it a bit too for good measure.</div>
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The following days saw me using crutches as if I had had a few swigs of vodka before I set off (the joys of having ligaments that don't work properly). I must confess I had to laugh at what I must have looked like on the school run that first day ...... I was literally bouncing off peoples garden fences trying to get to grips with how to use these things.</div>
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I got rather good on them in the end thank goodness and did contemplate doing some break dancing moves whilst using them ...... I didn't feel it wise to follow this idea through in the end.</div>
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Christmas and New Year passed by in a bit of a blur of guilt, pain and a lot of feeling fed up. The poor kids were stuck in with me as I couldn't drive (hence the feeling of guilt). We snuggled up in front of the fire most days watching films whilst I crocheted the time away.</div>
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On a brighter note the time at home did mean I found some hidden treasure, just look at this lovely wool stash I found hidden away !</div>
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This of course had to be turned into a scarf from me and I also created some sparkly, jingle jangly (they have some cute little bells on them) wrist warmers for my little one.</div>
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The days turned into weeks and another xray showed that my toe had done nothing, zilch, nada mending ...... maybe a teensy bit of mending but nothing that really showed up on the xray.</div>
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I was then told to come off the crutches and walk on my foot. This meant me having to try and erase the image I had seen on the xray, putting my trust in the consultant and as he told me. I have another xray lined up in a few weeks time ...... I am hoping above all hopes that this will show that my toe has been behaving and doing some mending. I am missing pottering around, I am missing work and my work mates, I am also concerned with my sanity, I have crocheted scarfs, wrist warmers, beards, red noses ........... what on earth will be created next if it isn't mending !?!</div>
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Now I am wondering, do they give yarn out on prescription???<br />
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<br />Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-34308386033522729292014-12-03T15:57:00.000+00:002014-12-03T15:57:22.203+00:00Crochet Rose Pattern / Tutorial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I learnt to crochet a few years back now and still adore this form of craft. One of the main reasons I wanted to learn to crochet was to create crochet flowers ..... it took me a year or so to get the confidence to give them a go but I got there in the end. <br />
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I thought I would share with you my version of the crochet rose, there are lots of patterns out there but I have adapted a few of them to create my own version , I hope you like it.<br />
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Please bare with me, this is the first time I have shared a crochet pattern on the world wide web so it may not be perfect and I may not know all the stitch terms ..... but hey, it still works for me.<br />
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So lets kick off shall we. You will need a 4mm hook (but other sizes would work I am sure) and some lovely yarn. I used cotton yarn here as I just to love way the stitch definition shows up and how it holds the form of the rose well.<br />
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Now chain 35 ...... waahooo we have started!<br />
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Now, yarn over (you are about to create a treble stitch) and pop your hook into the 5th chain as shown above (excuse my bitten nails ... note to self, stop biting my nails!).<br />
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Create a treble in this chain (a treble is = yarn over, instert hook into chain, yarn over, pull through 2, yarn over, pull through 2 - easy peasy lemon squeezy) , then chain 1.<br />
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We need to miss a chain and treble into the next stitch in the chain, then 1 chain and treble again into the same stitch as shown above. We need to do this all the way to the end so ....... 1chain, miss 1 chain , 1 treble , 1 chain, 1 treble into the next chain and keep going with that rhythm.<br />
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It will start to curl around, don't panic, it is meant to look like that.<br />
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You have got to the end and we are ready for row 2 - wooop woop I hear you cry.<br />
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ROW 2<br />
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1 chain to turn your work. Turn your work round so you go from right to left now. Slip stitch into the next 5 chains and then work into the chain space. *Work 5 trebles into your first chain space , now slip stitch into the next chain space. Repeat * until you form 6 petals.<br /><br />
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Now we get to a stitch that I have no idea of the name of ...... I am sure there is a name for it but lets just call it the sweetpea stitch until I find that out.<br />
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So you have just slip stitched now we are going to work some slightly larger petals into the pattern. Here is the Sweetpea Stitch :-D Now yarn over, hook into the chain space, yarn over and pull through 1, yarn over and pull through 2, yarn over and pull through 2 . You need 5 of these in that chain space. So we now * slip stitch into next chain space, work 5 Sweetpea stitches in the the next chain space . Repeat * until you reach the end .<br />
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You have reached the end, pull the yarn up through the last stitch to close the stitch off. Make sure you leave a long tail before you cut the yarn as you will need that to sew your rose together in a minute.<br />
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Now turn your rose round so that you are holding where you did the slip stitches at the beginning of row 2. Start to roll the petals , I usually do this from the base of the petals so it is easier to stitch together later.<br />
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Create a shape you are happy with, you can have an open rose or a closed looking one.<br />
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Now grab a yarn needle and pop that tail that you left through it and start sewing it together. Weave it across the rose at the base so you can't see the sewing on the right side of your rose.<br />
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Knot it off and pop some felt and a brooch back on it, add it to a blanket or some cushions .... add it to what ever your heart desires.<br />
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I hope you enjoyed this pattern and could follow it ok :-) </div>
Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-76371954556283726712014-11-27T11:04:00.000+00:002014-11-27T11:09:43.377+00:00Crochet Bertie Blanket Ta Dah! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It has become a tradition of mine to take a crochet project on holiday with us each year, you see, I am not very good at sitting still and doing nothing. I do find relaxing is quite an art.</div>
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This year was no different, after accidentally coming across a lovely page on facebook called<a href="https://www.facebook.com/LittleDoolally"> Little Doolally</a> I knew I had I just HAD to create one of her gorgeously gorgeous blanket patterns.</div>
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So off I went to buy the Bertie blanket pattern which I found in her <a href="https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/159326223/baby-blanket-crochet-pattern-bertie-pdf?ref=shop_home_active_7">Etsy </a>shop for just over £3, what a bargain! Then came the time to pick the yarn and colours ...... Amy, who runs this fab shop told us on her page that she loved Drops Paris, a lovely cotton yarn. I love the look of cotton yarn with its stitch definition and after a lot of deliberation (making colour decisions isn't my strong point :-)) I chose:<br />
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Light Turquoise<br />
Light Purple<br />
Shocking Pink<br />
Opal Green<br />
Strong Yellow<br />
Medium Pick<br />
White<br />
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I have a real thing at the moment about bright colours set off against white so these colours seemed perfect.<br />
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The pattern supplied is for a baby blanket but I upped the scale of mine as I wanted to create a lap blanket so I started with around 200 (or 210, sorry can't remember) stitches to kick off.<br />
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As the holiday progressed the blanket grew with lots of happy memories intertwined within it .... those memories include family fun and laughter, the sound of the sea lapping against the shore, drinking champers with Suzi Quatro on the flight home (I didn't realise it was her until we landed and yes I do crochet on flights lol) and my crochet hook being passed back to me on that same flight by Jamie Oliver's Mum who sat behind me along with Jamie and his family (a rather odd Easyjet flight indeed).<br />
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I went for a strong white edging to set off the colours even more and LOVE the finished result. The blanket is quite heavy using the cotton yarn so if I did create one this large again I would possibly use a wool based yarn but I do adore the colours that Drops Paris sell, I am not sure you would get the vivid colours and texture you do with a wool based yarn.<br />
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This blanket really does remind me of summer holidays...... for instance the green reminds me of this Mojito<br />
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The vivid blue of the sky against the bright pink of the Oleander.<br />
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The sandy yellow reminds me of the beach and our summer awning.<br />
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And the blue also reminds me of our guard Hippo out in Mallorca :-)<br />
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The yarn comes in 50g balls and I bought roughly 2 of each colour and 7 white balls. The pattern was super easy to follow with lots of info and photos to help you along the way. <br />
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PS I haven't been paid to write this blog, I just love sharing good products when I find them :-D <br />
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PPS If you love crochet as much as me you may like to join me over at my facebook page as the lovely Amy from Little Doolally is having a giveaway on my page in early December :-) <br />
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https://www.facebook.com/ScentedSweetpeas<br />
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Take care<br />
Zoe<br />
xScented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-44806699808259463162014-10-07T21:02:00.000+01:002014-10-07T21:02:47.216+01:00Honey Bee Harvest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The time finally came this year to do our first proper honey harvest ! To say we were excited would be a bit of an understatement. We have kept bees for a few years now but what with one long, very cold winter and then a loss of half a hive due to a swarm we never felt we could do a proper honey harvest until this year. The bees health and happiness always has to prioritise our love of honey :-)<br />
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So we got prepared and in late August Mr Sweetpea popped into the hives and put a crown board with a porter bee escape on it just below the super. This means that the bees go out of their honey store area to look for more flowers and when they return they can't go back up into the super area (the super is a set of extra frames you put on top of your main hive so that the bees to create more honey there). This meant that we didn't bring lots of bees home with us.<br />
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He then popped back to the hives a few days later and removed the super frames from the hives. They were all empty of bees and ready to take home for processing.<br />
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The first job was to uncap the honey comb ready to be put into our new spinner. This was done with a hot knife and we collected the wax in a big plastic box (still pondering on what to do with the wax, any ideas gratefully received). It was quite amazing how different each frame smelt, some honey frames were very floral, others were more pungent/hormonal smelling.</div>
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We then popped 4 frames into the spinner ....... the children really enjoyed this bit, apologies for the blurry photos but as you can imagine the children were spinning the frames as quickly as they could and enjoying every minute of it.<br />
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Whilst this was being done I put our newly bought honey jars in the dishwasher to be washed and sterilised.</div>
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When all the frames had been spun we double filtered the honey into a special storage bucket. This made sure no bits of wax were in the final honey.<br />
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It was quite mesmerising watching the honey slowly pour out.<br />
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Finally came the time to bottle up all the honey. We found a fantastic company called <a href="http://www.jarsandbottles.co.uk/">Pattesons Glass </a>where we bought some lovely hexagonal jars for a great price.<br />
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We only bought 30 jars to start with but had to buy some more as we ran out ! We never thought we would get over 30 jars of honey, the bees were obviously very happy this year.<br />
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I added some labels to the jars with some fascinating bee facts on them :-)<br />
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The frames were then popped back out and put near the hive they came from so the bees could clean up the final honey from them and pop it back into their hives.</div>
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It was a really lovely way to spend a day and I am hoping that as the hives grow in strength it will become a yearly family tradition. </div>
Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-42833124056003915702014-09-05T19:41:00.001+01:002014-09-05T19:45:53.668+01:00Plum Fruit Leathers Tutorial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been wanting to make fruit leathers for a while now so when a friend had a glut of plumbs I thought it was the perfect time to give it a go.<br />
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I read a lot of recipes and tried a few out but this is what worked best for me ..... no recipe needed as such.<br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">***</span><span style="color: red;">Wwahooo I hear you cry</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">***</span></div>
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So, grab some plumbs (that sounds wrong, sorry :-/), no particular amount needed but I used about 12 (if you use more you can just put more trays in the oven), cut them in half and de-stone them. I find the easiest way to do this is cutting them round the middle and twisting them.</div>
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Cover a baking tray with foil and place the plumb halves on top. Pop them in the oven at about 170 degC for 20 mins to get rid of some of the moisture and to make the skin easier the blend. Remove them from the oven and turn it down to 100 degC.</div>
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Let them cool and pop them in a blender or food processor until they turn into a puree. Add honey to taste, I added a couple of desert spoons full of our own honey (more about that another day, so excited about that here!).<br />
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Now grab a baking tray, pop some baking paper on the top (glossy side up) and pour some of the puree in the center of it. Not too much though, just enough so that you can move it to cover the tray so you can't see the baking paper underneath, I used the back of a spoon to do this. The thinner you can make it the quicker it will dehydrate. If you make it too thick it takes hours and hours ....... and hours and hours ...... and hours to dehydrate!</div>
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Now pop it in the oven and leave it for at least 3 - 4 hours, check every 30 mins after this time. If it still feels liquidy/squidgy (can't think of another word to best describe it) then leave it for another 30 mins. When it feels a little tacky to touch but not squidgy take it out of the oven and leave it too cool. <br />
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Now use a knife or pizza cutter and score lines into the 'leather'. It should peel off from the outside edges and create strips of fruit leather ..... WWWAAHOOO!<br />
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The children adore these and they have used up some fab plumbs - bonus ! I am going to try Raspberries next ...... wish me luck ! xScented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-49201215854843772022014-07-14T22:01:00.000+01:002014-07-14T22:03:36.170+01:00Teachers Thank You Cards<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have been busy sewing apples as teachers gifts recently, I found this lovely pattern over at Retromama and just had to try them out. Aren't they cute? Whilst sewing them up I came up with the idea of adding little gift labels to them and finally mastered the art of printing onto fabric.<br />
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Whilst photographing them a lovely fb page liker suggested I make cards out of the photos to go with the apples. What a fab idea I thought. I was going to print some off and sell them but then thought how lovely it would be to give them away as a little freebie.<br />
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So if you would like to create a card with this image above then please do feel free. All you have to do is right click on it and save it to your hard drive via 'save image as'. Then upload it to picmonkey and add the text you would like to add to your card ..... I used 'Eraser Dust' as my text. Save back down to your hard drive and print off and add to a card. I opened the image in powerpoint and then minimised it to half A4 size and printed it onto card, folded it over and voila you have your own personalised card :-) <br />
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All I ask is that you respect my copyright and only use these for personal use, no selling, no taking off my fb page info etc. Thanks.<br />
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<br />Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-19923129207467323862014-06-07T19:49:00.000+01:002014-06-07T20:11:42.864+01:00Summer in a glass - Elderflower Cordial<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Summer is here and that means lots of lovely foraging can take place :-) With the recent mix of sunshine and rain the Elderflowers have stared bursting out all over the place.<br />
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So off I went with my gorgeous wicker basket and three children to collect some of those sunshine filled flowers.<br />
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They were then turned into cordial which tastes lovely when combined with sparkling water or Cava.<br />
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The flowers are so tiny and perfect .......<br />
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It's like drinking Summer in a glass ..... the recipe I used is here; <a href="http://www.rivercottage.net/recipes/elderflower-cordial/">Elderflower Cordial Recipe</a>, I got it from this book. <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0747595321/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0747595321&linkCode=as2&tag=scentsweet05-21">Preserves: River Cottage Handbook No.2</a><img alt="" border="0" src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=scentsweet05-21&l=as2&o=2&a=0747595321" height="1" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /> It is full of fantastic recipes, click on the text to be taken to see what other recipes it has in it.Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-19938884011060655672014-06-05T20:09:00.000+01:002014-06-06T13:44:39.712+01:00Hobbycraft Giveaway - Texture Boutique Beginners Kit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hobbycraft are selling this lovely <a href="http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/papercraft/die-cutting">Texture Boutique Beginners Kit</a> which is ideal for avid papercrafters and newbies to the craft. I don't know about you but I love pottering around Hobbycraft and also love the look of all their lovely papercraft accessories, those gorgeous papers, fab stamps, all those cute things you can stick to a homemade card that makes them so unique and special to the person who receives it.<br />
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Now, I wanted to try this out myself but my husband has banned me from getting into any other crafts, what with my sewing, needle felting, crochet ..... well lets just say our house is slowing looking like a craft shop :-) This is lucky for you as it means I am giving it away on my blog instead! Wwaahooo<br />
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Here is a video clip on how you use it ....<br />
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<b>HOW TO ENTER</b><br />
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Stop with all this chatting I hear you say, just tell us how to enter, just comment below, easy as that ! <br />
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For another entry let me know if you have<i> shared on facebook</i> via my<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ScentedSweetpeas"> Scented Sweetpea </a>page over there, <i>shared on twitter</i> (tell me your twitter address) or if you <i>share via your blog</i> then pop back here and tell me your blog name.<br />
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Closing date is<b> Friday 20 June 2014 8pm</b> gmt<br />
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Below is all the blurb about it:<br />
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Have fun making your own unique handmade greetings cards and more with this<b> Texture Boutique Beginners Kit</b> from Sizzix. Add a special touch to birthdays, holidays, invitations, thank you cards and much more with this fantastic kit.<br />
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This Card Making and Embossing 91 Piece Beginners Kit will produce fantastic cards that are sure to impress. This includes 1 card making machine, 2 embossing pads, 1 shim, 3 Textures Impressions embossing folders, 20 A2, 40 sheets of cardstock in 10 different colours, 2 rub on sheets, 1 sandpaper sample and 1 project booklet. The folders included come in three beautiful designs, Flowers and daises, Swirls and dots, Flowers, swirls and dots.<br />
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Now you can have fun make your own beautiful cards and save money at the same time. This kit contains all you need create a card for any occasion and then add texture to your design. The kit is so simple to use, that anyone can do it. The only limit to what you create is your imagination. Warning, choking hazard, plastic charm on machine can become detached. Keep away from children three years and under.<br />
Great for adding a special touch to occasions<br />
Machine dimensions 27.9 cm x 19.7 cm x 13.3 cm<br />
Includes 40 sheets of cardstock<br />
Three beautiful embossing folders included<br />
Not suitable for children under 36 monthsScented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com38tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-74830428660469149492014-06-04T12:05:00.000+01:002014-06-04T12:05:39.291+01:00Hatching Quail<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A few weeks back, on the 12th of March to be precise, eldest Sweetpea had some Quail eggs delivered. He bought them on e-bay of all places and really wanted to hatch them out. <br />
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So, we popped them in the incubator and he made sure the humidity and temperature were correct for the eggs. We had to turn them 3 times a day so that the embryo didn't stick to the side of the egg. A few days before they were due to hatch we stopped turning them.<br />
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Fast forward to the 28th March and they started hatching out. They were so cute, like little fluffy bumble bees with legs :-) Out of 24 eggs 21 hatched, eldest Sweetpea did good !<br />
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Here are some obligatory cute shots of them .....<br />
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So tiny but so perfect .... you could fit a few in your hand at once (just so you know we didn't hatch a double headed Quail :-) ).<br />
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Then they started to grow.<br />
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They loved standing on tippy toes to see what was going on if you put them on your knee.<br />
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And they grew ..... now their beautiful feathers started to come through.<br />
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After a few weeks Eldest Sweetpea put them in a special pen outside so they could get used to living outside our house.<br />
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Then came the time we had to move them into their new home. They moved in with 'Tiny' our Bantam to start with but she took a liking to eating their feathers so she had to move to a new home in the garden. Eldest Sweetpea makes sure they have fresh water and food and the all important sand bath which they love.<br />
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Then on 25 May, just a few weeks after they hatched out themselves one tiny Quail started to lay ...... we were so excited, it was like finding a golden egg !<br />
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I hope you enjoyed reading about our Quail adventure . I will be back tomorrow with a giveaway so please do pop back. <br />
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Take care<br />
xScented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-23230887950510724522014-04-29T12:08:00.000+01:002014-04-29T12:28:03.690+01:00Pimped up Plimsolls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Some time ago I bought some lovely plimsolls .....<br />
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in fact, lets be honest here, I bought two pairs (they were a bargain that couldn't be missed) .<br />
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Whilst looking down at my new shoes (which always makes that fab<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmbUNF1Q4R8&feature=kp"> Paolo Nutini track</a> pop into my head :-) ) whilst walking around the wonderful Cambridge market I stated to ponder ..... I do love to ponder .....<br />
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I pondered on how lovely it would be to pimp on my new plimsolls to make them a bit brighter. This lead me to buy some gorgeously bright and cheerful bias binding from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheLittleFabricStallOnTheCambridgeMarketSquare?fref=ts">The Little Fabric Stall</a> on the market . You know how it is, it just fell into my bag as I walked past the stall ;-) <br />
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I am rather loving them ..... yep they may be a bit clown like but they make me smile.<br />
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Go on, pimp up your plimsolls, you know you want to :-)<br />
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1) Measure the length of your current laces and cut the bias binding to this length. Now snip the edges off each corner of each end.<br />
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2) Fold the ends down so when you fold the bias in half it is hidden inside.<br />
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3) Fold the bias binding in half and pin in place. You will have to hold the ends down as you sew, be careful of your fingers.<br />
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4) Sew along one side and then the other the full length of the laces. <br />
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Voila ! Pimped up plimsolls :-) This would also work with ribbon or maybe lace :-)<br />
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PS do feel free to leave a comment, I don't bite honest :-)Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-45185691385097170502014-04-19T20:55:00.000+01:002014-04-19T20:55:21.552+01:00Little Skirts and Easter Bonnets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Well I have been really enjoying the Easter holidays and will be really sad when they come to an end :-( We have been out most afternoons which has really helped keep harmony in our house. <br /><br />
We have also been creating lots of things both in an arty way and in the garden, the weather really has treated us well.<br />
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Above is a photo of little Sweetpea's build a bear, I had a spare piece of fabric from creating her a skirt so we thought it would be nice if her bear had a matching skirt :-)<br />
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We have also had great fun creating an Easter bonnet. We got this bonnet, eggs and chicks from <a href="http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/">Hobbycraft</a>. <br /><br />
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We weren't too happy about the cramped living conditions of the poor chicks so wanted to release them asap!<br /><br />
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We added some crochet flowers into the mix and got creating .....<br /><br />
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After lots of gluing and sticking ....<br />
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And more gluing and sticking......<br />
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A rather cute, if not slightly random Easter Bonnet was created :-)<br />
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The chicks seem a lot happier in their new home :-) <br />
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One did escape and end up and a chocolate nest though !Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-53520448008795802612014-04-14T20:01:00.000+01:002014-04-14T20:01:37.765+01:00Easter Hols Fun<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="text-align: left;">It is the Easter holidays here and the children and I have been enjoying some creative fun. I so look forward to having them all home with me. Don't get me wrong, I am not super Mum ...... you can find me having melt downs when they all just seem take turns to annoy each other but it is still lovely having a break from the school runs and enjoying their company.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">I find keeping them busy seems to help so most mornings we chill out and then I make sure we have something to do in the afternoons.</span></div>
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Last week was spent meeting family and friends, going to national trust properties and going to Cambridge to watch the punting.<br />
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I also managed to squeeze a bit of creative time in ....... I really do need to be creative otherwise I feel like something is missing, I don't feel right ...... hhmmm maybe I am addicted to creativity?<br />
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We created our Easter/Spring tree and decorated it with some gorgeous ceramic creations that were made by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AngelsUnawareCeramics">Angels Unaware</a> , I adore these ceramic eggs and bunting! We also added our own decorations to the tree too like this needle felted egg, some crochet heart bunting and some felt rabbits. The children's Fimo rabbits were also popped under the tree.</div>
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To keep the children busy one afternoon we decided to create some chocolate eggs of our own.</div>
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Hobbycraft kindly sent us some <a href="http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/advancedsearchresults.aspx?query=silicone-egg-moulds-6-cup">silicon egg moulds </a>and candy melts. These egg moulds are fab as you can pop them in the microwave, cooker and fridge and it still comes out looking like new .... not like the time I tried to melt some crayons in a silicon mould which was obviously not meant for the oven, queue evacuating children from a toxic filled house, a 'nailed it' project indeed :-/ Sorry, I digress ........ :-)</div>
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We went for the method of <a href="http://www.hobbycraft.co.uk/wilton-light-cocoa-candy-melts-12oz340g/574311-1003">melting the chocolate </a>in cups and filling the mould, partly due to the above incident and also as it takes longer and fills more time ..... less time for the children to get bored if they are busy creating. <i> Sshhhhh don't tell them of my cunning plans, it is our secret.<br /></i></div>
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Apart from the children we also had some other little helpers ........ love the way they all get lined up round the house in random places. These are rubbers/erasers , how cute are they!</div>
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Let the filling commence ! They happily filled the eggs for some time, and we added some stars and edible glitter to some of the eggs to make them a little sparkly :-)</div>
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All filled and ready for the fridge. We couldn't wait to see how they turned out.</div>
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We rather love the way the came out . I think possibly the star ones could have done with a tap before we put them in the fridge to get rid of the air bubbles but apart from that they came out really well. The chocy doesn't taste bad either, more like American Hershey style chocy than Cadbury. </div>
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Can't wait to do some more creating with the children, I hope you are all having a lovely Easter break.</div>
Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-289810076476025922014-04-02T19:39:00.002+01:002014-04-02T19:39:37.967+01:00Fundraising total<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tPS5HEbOJjs/UzxYPzfN5II/AAAAAAAADb0/-FeryI6jH2Q/s1600/Art+from+the+Heart+thank+you+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tPS5HEbOJjs/UzxYPzfN5II/AAAAAAAADb0/-FeryI6jH2Q/s1600/Art+from+the+Heart+thank+you+.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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Well the charity fundraising event on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ScentedSweetpeas">facebook </a>page is now over and I am glad to say it was a fantastic success .... phew! <br /><br />In the end there were over 40 items donated by some fantastic, kind hearted artists. We raised a massive £1086.59 for the Alzheimers Society. <br />
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I really do think it is wonderful how we can come together as a group, creating things we love to raise money for fantastic causes ...... lets hope next years event does as well as this years :-)<br />
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<br />Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-8608578067189380272014-03-18T12:39:00.000+00:002014-03-18T12:39:50.935+00:00Fundraising event for Alzheimers Society<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Every year on my <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ScentedSweetpeas">facebook </a>page I look to organise a big charity event to raise money for a charity that has struck a cord with me. This year I decided that it was about time I organised some fundraising for the Alzheimers Society.<br /><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br />This is the lovely man who inspired me to do this charity auction. Raymond was my hubbie's Grandad, such a lovely chap who was so gentle in nature and just look at those cool sideburns, everyone loved him to bits.<br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">On the run up to our wedding we noticed he wasn't well. He went for a suit fitting and when he went to get changed back into his normal clothes he</span><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> couldn't find his trousers anywhere ....... everyone finally realised he had put his suit trousers over his normal trousers <i class="_4-k1 img sp_8k12r1 sx_b17b34" style="background-image: url(https://fbstatic-a.akamaihd.net/rsrc.php/v2/yG/r/ULiW-1aQO-b.png); background-position: -85px -99px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: auto; display: inline-block; height: 16px; vertical-align: -3px; width: 16px;"></i> It seemed funny at the time but we didn't realise that it was a sign that he had the very early stages of Alzheimers. He was ill for 12+ years, he went from being this gorgeous chap that we all knew and loved to a shell of his former self. Hubby's Nan looked after him at home until the day he left us.</span><br />
<span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">So the dates were set and as time went by lots of gorgeous, wonderful hearted artists contacted me wanting to help me with this mission.</span><br />
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A few weeks on and roughly 40 artists came forward, full of enthusiasm and love for the event. Honestly it made my heart skip a beat knowing that there was such support for the event and so many lovely people out there.</div>
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Of course I had to create something special for the event too so 'Hope' the tea-party loving bunny was created complete with a lace trim dress, wool scarf and bag. She now has a carrot to take with her on her journey too and possibly will have her own tea cup and saucer if I can find some to send with her.<br />
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Please do pop along and say hello, even if you can't buy anything sharing the event will help us raise lots of money for the fab cause. <br />
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Click this link to see everything in the auction and all the info: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.621345027931060.1073741834.120450814687153&type=3">Art From the Heart Auction</a><br /><br />I want to say thanks to all those fab artists joining in with the event and also to everyone sharing the event on their pages, twitter or via their blogs. Thanks from the bottom of my heart - you are all fantastic! xxxScented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-42815066342072905562014-03-06T12:27:00.003+00:002014-03-06T12:30:24.196+00:00Why did no one warn me Motherhood was so painful ?????<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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When you are about to have a baby you hear all the horror stories of birth, sleepless nights, colic etc etc ....... your little bundle of joy arrives and you wish for them to work out feeding, you wish for them to sleep through, you wish for them to take their first steps. <br />
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Fast forward to child number 3 and I found myself wishing she wouldn't stop feeding from me, wishing I could see her at 2am in the morning, wishing she would stay by my side for eternity and not walk away. Time seems to be slipping away .......<br />
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Last September seemed to take my feelings to a higher level. My little one was just finding her feet in Primary School, my eldest was already at Secondary School and my gorgeous middle child was taking the big step into the Secondary School system. She was nervous, upset and angy that I was making her go there. She doesn't want to grow up, and to be honest I don't want her to either.<br />
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I filled our Summer with visits to lovely outside spaces to try and calm her.<br />
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Many happy hours spent in National Trust gardens and local forests.<br />
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Exploring, learning, enjoying the calming nature of these large open spaces.<br />
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We tried to teach my little one to cycle without stabilisers ... another stepping stone in growing up. Eldest Sweetpea who is growing up far too quickly for my liking took over with his DIY skills taking the stabiliser wheels off. <br />
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Middle Sweetpea supported her little Sister to try this new challenge.<br />
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She wasn't successful this time but her time will come, is it wrong that I was secretly pleased ??? Another step held back, just for a little while.<br />
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Little Sweetpea lost two of her front teeth, one came out with the help of her older Brother (his diy skills again !) when he accidently knocked an already wobbly tooth out. The toothfairy made it all seem better with the delivery of some special fairy dust to help ease the shock. Another step in growing up had been taken.<br />
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We went on family outings in Katie Camper ....... adored by all, even with her backfiring ways, she certainly takes our mind off how fast time running is away.</div>
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And then the day came, the scary first day at big big big School ........ I held her hand tightly on the walk to school, she was nervous, scared, sad. The bus arrived and I watched as the clock hands slowly slowly moved round towards home time. Her first time on a big bus on her own without me, he first time facing a school she had never been to without me by her side. Little Sweetpea and I rushed to the bus stop to collect her and were so happy to see her smiling face when she came off the bus. She had done it, all on her own, without her family by her side. </div>
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Another step towards her growing up ............ I am not sure I like it :-( I must confess to finding the pain of them growing up hard to deal with sometimes , can someone please help me halt time?</div>
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Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-71578020525467760402014-02-17T10:53:00.001+00:002014-03-06T11:00:34.637+00:00Fun with flood icing ....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The girls love baking so we recently decided to try our hand at flood icing some biscuits, you can create some really lovely effects using this technique.<br />
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So how did you do it ???? All you need are some cookies, icing, food colouring, an icing bag and a cocktail stick. We made cute heart shaped ones ..... pick a recipe you like and remember to pop the dough in the fridge for about 20 mins before rolling it out and cutting it so that it keeps the shape when you bake them. Let them cool completely before decorating them.<br />
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Now mix up some icing in the colour that you want to outline your cookie. Make sure you create a thick icing, just liquid enough to go through your piping bag.<br />
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Pipe a line around your whole cookie, this will hold the other icing inside so make sure there are no gaps :-) Let it dry for at least 30 mins.<br />
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Now mix up some icing which isn't too thick in consistency, you need to be able to pour it off the spoon. Spoon some onto your cookie, less is more at this stage so start off with a small spoon full and then add more if needed ..... if you add too much at this stage it will overflow over the top of your outline icing.<br />
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Now use a cocktail stick to work your icing into the corners ....... it is a bit like painting with icing.<br />
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Now at this stage you can either let it dry completely and then add your decorations or you can go ahead and add spots, swirls, lines and it will give an nice watercolour effect ...... just have fun, they will taste nice no matter what the creative outcome :-D<br />
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Whilst creating these we also made some jam filled cookies ..... yum !</div>
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<br />Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-15011549542493668622014-02-04T15:01:00.001+00:002014-03-20T12:27:49.413+00:00Take an old container ........<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Little Sweetpea loves nothing more than sitting at her little writing desk doodling and created lists so I thought it was about time she had her very own little pen pot.<br />
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After finishing the latest tin of scummy hot chocolate I decided to turn it into a pen pot for her. It is such a simple project which I know will make her very happy when she returns from school later today :-)<br />
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I thought I would write a little tutorial so that if someone else wanted to make one they could, so here goes.<br />
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First wash the tin out so it doesn't cover the pencils in chocolate (although that would make them smell very lovely indeed).<br />
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Then measure around the tin and measure the length of the tin to determine the paper sizes needed. Cut your pretty paper to the right width and length and stick around the tin. I used double sided sticky tape (Blue Peter Stylee) do to that. Then maybe add a border in the middle ....... get creative .....<br />
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Now take some pretty scissors and cut some ribbon or cute pom pom trim to give the tin some bling !<br />
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Loving the pom pom trim ....... reminds me of my Nan's vintage lamp shades :-)<br />
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Then add any other items you want, let your imagination run wild! Now pop it on the table for your little one to find and watch the big smile on their face (this is the most important part of the project ..... those smiles are so precious :-) ) ..... or keep the tin for yourself :-) You could even decopatch the tin, newspaper print would look pretty cool.<br />
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Happy creating.Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-578607779448469665.post-57209343989047860622014-01-08T14:15:00.000+00:002014-01-08T14:15:02.465+00:00Foraging for Rosehips .... Rosehip Syrup Recipe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last year the children and I decided to try and make some Rosehip Syrup to see what it tasted like. I had heard how good it was for vitamin C and thought it would be good to try during the winter months. The best time to harvest rosehips is just after the first frost ...... there are still lots of rosehips out there to forage now though.<br />
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We popped down to the local nature reserve where there were lots of rosehips and had great fun collecting them. It was lovely to get out in the winter sunshine and re-charge our batteries whilst also chatting to people who stopped to chat to us about what we were doing. One gentleman in particular told us how he used to collect rosehips when he was a child and get paid per lb for them. They were then sent off to London to be processed. My Nan also told me that just after the war she collected them with her friends at school as a school activity and that they were made into syrup to feed to newborn babies to boost their vitamin C intake.<br />
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After collecting a bag full of rosehips we took them home, washed them and removed the stalks. Here is the recipe we followed from the fantastic book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Preserves-River-Cottage-Handbook-No-2/dp/0747595321">River Cottage Handbook No2</a> .<br />
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Take 500g of Rosehips and add them to mince them in a food processor.<br />
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Bring 800ml of water to the boil in a pan and add the Rosehip paste to the water. Cover the pan and bring it back to the boil. Take off the heat and leave to stand for 15 mins. Now pour this through a jelly bag (or a piece of muslin) and hang above the bowl for an hour or more. Pop this to one side.<br />
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Bring to the boil another 800ml of water. Add the pulp from the jelly bag to this water and repeat the above boiling process. This time pour through the jelly bag and leave overnight to strain. The next morning combine both liquids, you don't need the pulp anymore so pop this in your garden or compost bin. You should have about 1 ltr of juice , pour this in a pan and then add 650g of sugar and bring to the boil. Stir until sugar in completely dissolved. Boil for 2 -3 mins then pour into small, sterilised bottles, secure with a screw top. Use within 4 months. I say pour into small bottles as this does go off very quickly after it is opened.<br />
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We were not really sure of the taste, it is nice but very sickly and does taste a bit like rhubarb. The children weren't too keen on it, it was however great fun to make.Scented Sweetpeashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836203205845306983noreply@blogger.com4