A make a month ♥ July 2012

I know I say this every month

but....where oh where does the time go???

I can't believe it is the very last day of July today

but it is.

So, of course, I am here to show you my 'make a month' for July

Homemade blackcurrant jam ..... yummy

but it is not just the jam that I’d like to share

just look at those cute labels .....

made of course, by my lovely girly

my 'pretty label making expert' no less

I may push my luck and make some raspberry jam

and hope some more gorgeous labels appear

;o)

 

The fabric covers were cut from an old vintage sheet

that I picked up from a charity shop a little while back

 

We will of course be demolishing some of the jars ourselves

how could we resist?

Mr Sweet really LOVES jam …. I will have to keep an eye on him I think

I am hoping that at least some of the jars will be kept for Christmas gifts

  Sweet B has been loving her guest posting

it's really wonderful to share it with her too

she has loved getting all of your kind and encouraging comments

and now understands how much your visits mean to me too

 I must just mention a couple of things from my last post

I had a very kind comment which I wanted to share with you

 from Ellie Foster .....

” Just out of interest, Gardens Illustrated magazine for August 2012 has free Sutton's Apricot foxgloves with it”  thanks for sharing Ellie

So if you fancy growing some of those gorgeous peachy foxgloves yourself
you know what to do .....

 And guess who else commented? ..... Sarah Raven no less

I couldn’t believe it

 I ran out to tell Mr Sweet and he wondered what on earth was going on!

Thank you Sarah

Before I go here are some flowery snaps

taken in my garden over the weekend

Queen of Sweden

 Have a super lovely week

toodle pip

BIG love

j x

Sweet B here...

Hello!

It's me again!

Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on my very first blog post

I sold 3 packs of tags and even had a special order from the famous Fee 

I found it so exciting

It's great to think that someone wanted the things I enjoyed making!

Rainbow sprinkles cupcake toppers

I have been busy making some cupcake toppers, i hope you like them

I raided the ribbon box and got very excited about the endless possibilities of combinations

I have made 6 different sets and they are already in mum's shop!

Snowflakes cupcake toppers

Daisy chain cupcake toppers

 As you can see i had a lot of fun!

Mum did fear for her ribbon stash and I'm sure that she secretly hid some

Neapolitan cupcake toppers

Candy cane cupcake toppers

Mint choc chip cupcake toppers

 And here they are ready to go!

I've been busy this weekend making some new sets of tags!

There will be 2 more Christmas packs, some liberty packs and some floral packs.

They might take a while though...

as fortunately/unfortunately I have got some paid work for a week or two

so there will be less crafting time for me :(

I have also helped mum with her make a month

I think they look very pretty and she will be blogging about them very soon.

Thank you for reading my post!

Have a lovely weekend 

Love Sweet B x

a quite day & a pretty garden

Today is the first day that I've had to myself for ages

it has been complete bliss

time to think, plan, consider and just ponder

do my own thing

It is a beautiful hot, sunny day here today

my head says "you should be outside"

my heart says " do what you l♥ve"

so I have been in my cool sewing room

working on my quilt

it feels like a haven of calm

I have had a horrid bout of headaches lately so

I lit my oil burner and scented the room with lavender

put on some beautiful music

this is the soundtrack to one of my all-time favourite films

I've especially enjoyed this track

it made me feel super motivated

as if I was stitching up some magic

My main reason for this post though is to share a visit that

Mr. Sweet and I had to Perch hill, Sarah Raven's garden, back in June

It was a cloudy and  VERY windy day as I remember

We try to go quite often, it takes us almost two hours to get there

but it is sooooo worth it...I am in love with the place

Sarah’s gardening style is so relaxed

which makes me feel like it is achievable in my own garden

 

Each time we visit there is always something

that makes my heart do a loop-the-loop with happiness

this time it was the peachy foxgloves

they were BeAuTiFuL beyond belief

Sarah’s long driveway is lined on both sides with them

if I was her I would be in and out all day long

just to drink in their loveliness

I think they are called

'Sutton's apricot'

I am trying my hand at growing some from seed

I'll let you know how I get on

 I adore her cutting patch idea

which I am giving a go in my own garden

not with quite as much success as Sarah....I'm no pro that's for sure!

 you can read more about mine in my previous post

 

I hope you enjoyed that little visit

♥

I can't wait to go again!

Later this evening I will hopefully be in the garden

sitting on my swing chair

doing a little hand sewing on my quilt

with any luck it will soon be finished

I certainly won't be going into business with them

for the amount of time it has taken me 

I would have to charge £2,500 per quilt!

a little on the pricey side, I'd say

Thank you for popping by 

and for your wonderful comments on my last post

♥

more soon

BIG love 

j x

Summer is here!

Mr Sweet and I have been 

working hard in the garden today

it is just so beautiful outside

sunny and warm with a light breeze...perfect

he has been cutting the hedges

(we have a LOT of hedge to cut)

and I have been weeding and tidying

...much nicer

 

I picked a little posy of summery roses to bring inside

 they looked so pretty in the sunshine

that I couldn’t resist taking a few snaps

'teasing Georgia'

 They are David Austin roses…. I just love them

I planted a rose bed when we moved here almost 3 years ago now

this should have been their most year beautiful year

but the rain battered them badly

I was so upset

but they are still going and with this little bit of sunshine

they are happy….just like the rest of us

 

We all very excited about the four peaches that we have growing too

I hope they will taste as good as they look

I should have my ‘flower patch’ quilt finished to show you soon

It has taken me soooo long

I think it's partly because the weather has been miserable

and partly because I've realised that I like small projects!

All that is left to do now is add the binding

which I have made....and it's sitting there staring at me

 

...and talking of flower patches

way back in May

I planted a cutting patch

you can read about it here

I think I planted it far too late really

but it is growing well

just no flowers yet

I have been guarding it from slugs and snails

boy we have had a lot!

 

You may have to use a lot of imagination as

it should look something like this!

Hmmmmm....

I bought the seeds from Sarah Raven

as you all know by now 

I am besotted by her style

I am still hopeful

:o)

Talking of my gardening guru...

I just stumbled across the photos that I took on our last visit to 

her beautiful garden

so I have another gardeny post lined up for you

hope that's ok?

My next big garden project is to plant a daffodil orchard

we have a few fruit trees at the top of our garden

Bramley apple, cherry, Victoria plum and fig

and I am desperate to plant under the trees 

with narcissi and daffodils

I saw it here and have dreamt of it ever since

As always…thank you for popping by to visit…. it means a lot

and I love having you here

you always make my day

Thank you for all of the kind comments on my last post

I think Sweet B will be posting again soon

I hope you’ve had some lovely sunshine

wherever you are this weekend

we are even dusting the BBQ off later

and I dare say that I shall be having a pimms or two

more soon

BIG love 

j x