Tuesday Tutorials - a fab new weekly Pin Party!

Hello everyone I hope you've had a very Happy Tuesday!

Over the past few weeks I have been working away with three other lovely crafty bloggers - Kate at Crafts on Sea, Gude at Hodge Podge Craft and Anna at In the Playroom to put together a brand new weekly linky.   Inspired by our love of Pinterest and the wealth of crafty tips and tutorials that can be found therein we would like to present...

Tuesday Tutorials officially launches next Tuesday (Feb 4th) and we want you to join in!

Just link up your tutorials, recipes and how to's and we will pin them all to our special Pinterest board creating one amazing #Pintorials showcase!

The Linky will be hosted across all four blogs so it really doesn't matter which blog you add your link to - everyone will see it!   Each week we will each pick a selection of our favourite posts from the week before to feature - we all have our own crafty interests so all posts will have a good chance of getting a bit of extra exposure, which can't be a bad thing!

We are a pretty easy going bunch of gals but there a few rules and guidelines, just to keep things running smoothly...

Rules

• Link up ONE post a week - it can be any kind of creative tutorial, how-to or recipe at any level from pre-schoolers to pro. It doesn't have to be a new post from the last week so use #Pintorials to revisit some of your best tutorial posts!
• Please follow the #Pinstruction board (link will be up next week). 
• Please also follow the hosts on Pinterest - Anna, Gude, Kate and me - this is not essential but would be appreciated!
• Try and visit at least three other blogs on the linky and leave a comment or pin some of their fab tutorials to your own boards. You could use the #pintorials hashtag to let them know you found them via the linky. 
• If you want to, add the badge to your post or your side bar (I am working on a 'share this button code' but in the meantime you can just copy the one above )

We are all really excited about this and look forward to reading all your fab posts next Tuesday.

See you at the Pin Party!

What makes a good blog?

image courtesy of Nujalee/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

If you are on Twitter you may have come across 'Twitter chats'. Usually based around a particular theme, hobby, interest or TV program and usually accompanied by their very own 'hashtag' to enable users to follow the conversation.

Tuesday nights see not one but two Twitter chats I like to make an effort to follow - #craftblogclub I have mentioned before, hosted by Emma @livepeachey and #CBUK hosted by Hillary at @craftbloguk 
Both chats are aimed primarily at craft bloggers (although if you are looking to find NEW craft blogs to read then these hashtags are a great place to start), and both are a great source of inspiration and advice.

Last night's #craftblogclub chat was all about Pinterest. You know how much I love Pinterest - it's a great place to store ideas and get inspiration! You can read Emma's round up of that chat here.

#CBUK concentrated on the tricky subject of engaging readers.
The whole point of blogging for most of us is that we are sharing our thoughts, images, ideas, knowledge with the world wide web (does anyone actually still use that term?). In return we like to see that people are interested - whatever people say about not caring about the stats, in the end we want people to visit our blogs, look around, comment and, perhaps most importantly, subscribe, follow and come back another time.

Now I am not one to worry myself too much about keywords and SEO - I like to think I write descriptively enough for searches to find me and I always make sure I use a number of different phrases within each post to ensure that I have covered several search options. For example my tshirt yarn projects posts include phrases like 'tshirt yarn projects' 'tshirt yarn tutorial' 'making tshirt yarn' 'crochet with tshirt yarn' and 'recycling tshirts' - phrases I would hope anyone actively searching for tshirt yarn related blog posts might use.  That said I have had more vistors to those posts via the images I have pinned on pinterest. I know there is room for improvement and I realise I am going to have to take SEO a little more seriously if I am to get more visitors...

But once they are here, how do we keep them here, get them to contribute and better still get them to return?

I don't know if there is a set formula that works - great content obviously is the key. You have to be writing stuff that people WANT to read or else they will just click away. Great images help tremendously, particularly if you also use Pinterest to promote your blog. I have noticed a distinct upturn in visitors via Pinterest over the last few months - never underestimate the power of a beautiful photograph, particularly if it illustrates a tutorial/recipe/how to!

But most importantly you must LOVE what you are doing! If you're not mad keen on your latest blog post how can you expect anyone else to be? Content written because you feel you HAVE to will never be as good as content written that you really love/believe in.  I have always said that when blogging becomes a chore it's time to step back and re-evaluate.

So what do you think makes a good blog?
What makes you hit the 'Subscribe' button? (top of right hand column by the way ;-) )
What makes you want to keep coming back?

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Something for the weekend :: Blackberries

If you love to eat and cook seasonally then you'll know that now is the best time for one of my favourite fruits - the blackberry.  The best thing about blackberries is they are available for free in many places and not just in the country either - check out parks, alongside canals or cycle tracks and scrub land. Berries growing close to busy roads are best avoided as are those growing close to the ground where dogs and foxes may cock a leg.

I'm very lucky when it comes to blackberries - not only do I live in the country with lots of brambles in the woods nearby (and sloes too but that's a whole other blog post!) but my MIL's large garden has a HUGE bramble bush tucked away down the bottom absolutely over flowing with luscious black jewels. This year the harvest has been very abundant and we have already picked more blackberries than in previous few years and there are still many more growing and ripening.

That's one BIG bush...

 

Fortunately blackberries freeze well. Just give them a wash and check through for bugs then lay them, in a single layer, on a baking tray and pop them in the freezer until solid before bagging them up for future use in cakes, muffins, tea breads, coulis, compote and more.

I have been collecting lush blackberry recipes on my 'Autumn' Pinterest board and last weekend I had a bit of a baking frenzy trying out some of them...


This 'Wild Blackberry Loaf' recipe was incredibly simple to make and tasted absolutely wonderful - the blackberry icing was a bit of a faff but definitely worth it!

We also had a go at 'Blackberry Lemonade' which is delicious as it is but, I would imagine would make a lovely mixer with a splash or two of vodka...

Talking of vodka, there is a great Blackberry Vodka recipe pinned to the board that I may have to try too!

 Far and away our favourite recipe was the magnificent Blackberry Pie Bars tray bake. It needed a bit of tweaking and deciphering of American measurements but turned out amazing. I shall be adding the recipe as a separate post later but in the meantime here are some piccies to whet your appetite!

 

There's still a few weeks of blackberry season left so why not make the most of this most wonderful FREE food and get picking!!

Veggie Box - 26th March 2013

 In our box this week we have:

• Bag of new potatoes
• Bag of mange tout
• carrots
• spring onions
• some runner beans
• bag of salad leaves
• tomatoes
• plums
• pears
• white grapes
• the teeniest, tiniest little Romanesco you ever did see!

Our veggie box is looking a bit sparse this week. Very colourful, but not as full as previous weeks. I put this down in part to the bad weather and in part due to the presence of some very lovely (but, I expect, pretty pricey) white grapes.
It's not a problem as I still have the mushrooms and broccoli left from last week! ( I know, I know - they really should have been eaten by now...)

I may have to buy some cooking onions and more spuds though - this cold weather means comfort food all the way and the ultimate comfort food as far as I am concerned is mashed potato!

Here's the teeny, tiny romanesco (it's a type of cauliflower in case you were wondering) It's sitting next to some normal sized tomatoes and that's a bunch of spring onions behind it, just to give you an idea of the scale.
I just love them. In fact I am almost loath to cook and eat this one, it is a work of art! Isn't nature amazing?

Romanesco - Roman Cauliflower - originates as the name suggests, from Italy so it's hardly surprising that most of the recipes I found seem to be based around pasta.  I might even dig out my old pasta machine and rustle up some fresh linguine in honour of this miniature masterpiece :-)

Lots of romanesco recipes have been added to the pinboard - please do go take a look! (I'll let you know how the homemade pasta goes - it's been a while since I attempted it!)

Veggie Box - 19th March 2013

Here's what I got in yesterday's fruit and veg box from Four Seasons Foods...



we have

• potatoes
• carrots
• one HUGE white onion
• a leek
• head of broccoli
• big bag of salad leaves
• cherry tomatoes
• some pak choi leaves
• some lovely brown mushrooms
• a bag of beautiful sugar snap peas
• oranges, apples and kiwi fruit for the fruit bowl

Some nice basics this week - Little Man loves broccoli and so do I! We usually had the nice dark green 'flower' as a veggie side dish and keep the stalk to chop up and add to soup (goes particularly well in leek and potato soup).  The sugar snap peas barely made it to the end of the day - they were so sweet I was just eating them out of the bag like sweeties!

Two ingredients I will be concentrating on this week are mushrooms and the pak choi.

Pak Choi - aka Chinese cabbage - is a staple green used in many Asian dishes so I am thinking simple stir fry with ginger and sesame like this tasty looking side dish (may add some chicken for a more substantial 'supper' dish)

Source: wishfulchef.com via Anthea on Pinterest

Mushrooms are a bit trickier for me - I am not a huge fan of the texture of them when cooked so I generally cut 'em really small or make them into cream of mushroom soup.
Many years ago an Australian housemate of mine introduced me to the idea slicing really fresh ones raw into salad which I love to do. Maybe we'll try something different this week...

Lots of new recipes being added to the Veggie Box pinboard but do let me know if you have any tried and tested favourites!

Useful bloggy stuff...

You know Pinterest right? Lots of gorgeous images of hazy summer days, beautiful continental back street cafes, cake, cute kittens, incredible art, crafts and interiors I could only dream of reproducing, more cake, even more cute kittens, some inspirational quotes, designer outfits, famous people wearing designer outfits, some famous people wearing no outfits at all... and so on. Oh, did I mention kittens? And cake?

But there is more to Pinterest than kittens and cake. Honest.

I can happily spend an entire Sunday afternoon/football match/episode of Top Gear scrolling through pin boards repinning anything that catches my eye. Some of it is even quite useful (recipes, craft, DIY's etc). I began one board 'Useful Bloggy Stuff' a few months back. It's packed full of hints and tips on improving your blog, making it pretty and using social media (including Pinterest) as a way to promote it effectively.
Yesterday I thought it might be a good idea to actually apply some of the tips and pretty up my blog a bit.

The first thing I did was take a fresh look at my template - I have removed the background image, adjusted the column widths slightly, changed the font to one that is a bit easier to read (I loved the curly 'Crafty Girls' font but it is quite difficult to read, worse on some browsers than others!) and simplified things by using only 2 fonts - one for the actual posts and something a bit more fancy for the titles, tabs and side bar.

Then I tidied up the side bar - getting rid of all the different social media buttons and adding some funky matching buttons instead. Can you see them at the top of my side bar? aren't they a bit cute? Now it's easy peasy to click through and follow my facebook, twitter and pinterest accounts or subscribe to the RSS feed.  There's room for another so who knows - I may start a YouTube channel next ;-)  You can find loads of different styles of buttons (including hearts and stars) in many colours to download for free at Bourne Creative along with basic HTML coding to add them to your blog.

Another great piece of coding I found was pinned from a lovely blog called Something Swanky - this one is what is known as a Blogger Hack - basically some clever person has taken a popular and useful Wordpress widget and coded it for use on Blogger blogs. This one is for the horizontal bar running across the top of the blog (look above this post) and showcases recent posts with clickable pictures. Cool, huh?




Finally (and this is the best one!) I have added a 'Pin It' button that appears over any picture on my blog and allows other people to pin what they like to their own boards!
Go on try it - let your mouse hover over the image, click on the 'P' and you are ready to add it to your own pinboard!
Again, just a simple bit of HTML applied in the right part of the template coding from KEVINANDAMANDA.COM and now my blog can fully join in the Pinterest party!!

Source: kevinandamanda.com via Anthea on Pinterest

There are a few more tweaks I still want to do - I love this idea from Living, Laughing and Loving. She has created cute co-ordinated side bar titles to really tie her blog design together. I also want to have a go at creating a 'library' of tutorials and recipes like this one from The Crafty CPA .

I'm sure I will find more tweaks to try as my 'Useful Bloggy Stuff' pinboard grows. But one thing at a time :-)

Do you have a blog? Fancy having a go at some of these tweaks? Why not turn your little corner of the internet into something a bit more special. (Please remember to back up your blog before you start. Just in case)  If you do please let me know - so we can all pop over and 'ahhhhhh' at your gorgeous blog!

Pin it to WIn it! - A Crafty Competition from Abakhan

As I mentioned in my previous post those lovely folks over at Abakhan have finally got themselves on Pinterest - you can follow them here - and to celebrate they have launched a brand new competition.

Follow the instructions below and you could win yourself a £20 voucher to spend on any Abakhan goodies you like!

Easy peasy - who doesn't love spending hours browsing and pinning lovely crafty goodness, or is that just me? 

So what are you waiting for? There is a huge range of crafting essentials to be found on their website from knitting, crochet and felting to patchwork, toy making and clothes patterns. There are plenty of children's crafty things too - fabric paints (we used them to make a fab 'Retro Rocket' softie here), funky foam, Fimo modelling clay and lovely sew-your-own kits.  The only trouble you might have is choosing products for only ONE project!

Good luck!

ps - If you don't have a Pinterest account already, it's very easy to set up. Just be warned it will suck away the hours like nothing else . . .   (in the nicest possible way :-) )

#CreativeBudget - DIY cosy rug

I have had a little break from the Abakhan Creative Budget challenge for a few months but this month it's back and I have a lovely little how-to for your home.



As ever I had a budget of £15 to spend - here is what I got*





1m Organic Cotton Hopsack drill in 'natural'
1m 'Lambskin' fur fabric in ecru
5m Beresfords double face satin ribbon 50mm in khaki

*now admittedly I ordered these items during the sale and they came in at £14.74 - at current website prices this little bundle will cost you £18.20 - still a bit of a bargain, I think you'll agree!

and this is what I did with it...



DIY Mitred Corner rug with ribbon trim.

Take your metre of cotton drill, fold it half width ways and cut into two pieces measuring approx 1m x 75cm. Put one piece aside - this will be the backing for your rug.



Cut the other piece into 4 strips -  two measuring 100cm x 15cm and two measuring 75cm x 15cm. These will form the 'frame' of your rug.




Cut 4 lengths of ribbon - two 100cm long and two 75cm long. Position these centrally along the 'frame' pieces.
I did this by folding a 5cm 'hem' along the long edge of my drill fabric and ironing the crease in. You can then align one edge of the ribbon to this crease and it will be perfectly central all the way along!








Pin the ribbon in place before machine stitching using a small zig zag stitch. Satin ribbon can be quite slippy so don't rush it and take care that it doesn't slide out of position.








To create the mitred corners take one longer and one shorter piece and pin them together at one end, right sides facing, ensuring that the ribbon trim on both pieces is aligned.  Measure in 15cm from bottom corner and draw a diagonal line from this point up to the top corner. Machine stitch along this line.






Trim off the excess fabric and press the seam open (make sure you place a tea towel or an off cut of fabric over the ribbon ends when you iron as the hot iron will melt the ribbon!)

Repeat with the other long and short piece and join the two pieces together to finish off your frame












Now you need to measure the long and short inside edge of your frame. Add 5cm  to these measurements (to allow for the frame not being totally 'square' ) and cut out your centre panel in the lambswool fleece fabric.  Place the frame and the fleece face down on your table and, starting from the centre of one short side begin pinning the two pieces, right sides together.

Once you have pinned all the way around, hold the mat up and check the centre panel is 'square' and the mat is not distorted. Then, using long stitches, tack the pieces together, removing the pins as you go. Now you can turn the mat over and place it on the floor to double check it will lie correctly before you machine stitch (tacking stitches are much easier to undo than machine ones. Trust me!)





When you are happy that your central panel is positioned correctly trim away the excess fleece fabric and machine stitch it in place - I found it easier to treat each side as a separate seam rather than try and go all the way round in one go as the corners were quite bulky.




 Finally take the other piece of the hopsack drill fabric. Pin it to your mat, right sides together and, leaving a gap for turning, stitch all the way around. Trim the seams, press them open and turn. Slip stitch the opening together. Give your mat an iron (on the back - your ribbon and fleece will both melt if they come into contact with a hot iron!!!) , lay it on the floor and stand back to admire your handiwork!

I am really pleased with the result! Yes it's a little wonky but that gives it character. Now I have mastered the 'mitred corner' I will definitely be making more of these floor mats for other rooms as it lends itself to being altered in a number of ways. I used the thick hopsack twill fabric because I wanted a sturdy rug that would stand up to a bit of use (and abuse) but you could use any pretty fabric if your mat is going into a low traffic area like your bedside (imagine sinking your feet into that cosy fleece every morning!). You could use fabric strips instead of ribbon for the trim or use towel for the centre panel and you have a bathmat.

You'll have noticed that our new kitten (more about him in another post) has taken rather a shine to the fleece centre and as I used only a tiny bit of the metre of fabric I ordered I have an idea of how to make use of the rest.  Stay tuned - I will blog that project at a later date...




ps -  apologies for the bad photographs. This project was done during the Snow Week and the natural light I usually take advantage of via our conservatory was all blocked out by about 10" of snow on the roof!

pps - if you would like to see more fab Creative Budget projects, Abakhan have just set up a board on Pinterest showcasing them all! You can follow it here

Veggie Box Meals - A Friday night curry

We are starting to get into the routine of school here now, although we still haven't quite got the hang of the morning bit yet and it usually involves a bit of shouting at each other 2 minutes before we have to leave!

One big change I have noticed is that the Little Man's appetite seems to have really perked up and plates are being cleared every night instead of just when it's cheesy pasta for tea . . .  I put it down to all the extra fresh air and having opportunities to use his brain more!  I'm not complaining. It's nice to know that my cooking efforts are not wasted, and unlike his Daddy, who would happily live on beans on toast and pizza forever more, Little Man is happy to give my veggie box recipes a try.

This scrummy curry went down a treat!

Veggie Box Curry

One large onion, chopped finely
One large potato, diced
A couple of carrots, sliced
Diced flesh of small squash
One small cauliflower chopped into bite size florets
A tin of chick peas, drained
A carton of passata (sieved tomatoes) or a couple of tins of chopped tomatoes
Some curry paste (I used Balti paste but Rogan Josh works well too)
Veg stock cube or 2 tsp Marigold Vegetable Bouillon

A big pan with a lid to cook it in!


Fry the onion in a little vegetable oil until it soft and golden, then add the potato and carrot and stir in some curry paste - add as much or as little as you like. I used a generous tbsp - enough to provide some spicy flavour but not so much to put the Little Man off!

Add the passata/tomatoes. Give it a good stir then add the cauliflower florets, squash and chick peas.

Crumble in the veg stock cube and add a little water to loosen up the mixture then put on the lid and leave to simmer for half an hour (or until all the veg is tender) stirring occasionally and adding extra water if needed.

Serve with rice (a plain version of the baked Gourmet Rice recipe here works well - just use chopped onion and some pilau rice seasoning with the rice) or naan bread.  For a milder version add some natural yoghurt to the curry just before serving, or put a pot on the table for those who want to add it themselves!

Little Man tucking in to (cold) photoshoot curry... it's THAT good ;-)

As it's just the two of us eating this it went a LOOOOOONG way - a tub in the fridge for later in the week and a two servings in the freezer for those days when I just don't want to cook. It's a great way to make the most of your veggie box as you can add just about anything - sweetcorn, beans, peas and greens could all go in quite happily. You could use fresh tomatoes (skinned and chopped) , sliced courgettes, mushrooms and peppers too - just remember some vegetables don't need to cook as long as others!

I am adding this recipe along with others as I find them to my Pinterest board 'Veggie Box Recipes'. This week I got some surprise broad beans in the box so I have been searching for some 'not-too-summery' recipes to use those in - I love them double podded with pesto and pasta and a bit of Parmesan cheese, but it's always nice to find a new way of eating a favourite food!

Why not have a look, for some Veggie recipe inspiration (although not necessarily Vegetarian, I hasten to add!)? I would love it if anyone wanted to join in pinning their own veggie box recipes - just give me a shout and I will add you as a pinner for that board!