Two Crafty Brownies

Jenny's Travel Essentials

Hello treasures! How are you doing? As I write this, I am in the Big Apple, New York City!! And when you read this, I will be on a train, somewhere between here and the other side of America......

This year our holiday destination was the choice of our second son, C. He has just finished exams, and has worked very hard, so he got to choose. We flew into New York, and are staying in Harlem, and seeing the sights for a few days before we catch the train to see our friends in California.

We are staying in one of the Brownestone houses, those archetypal red stone houses you'll see in many an American movie, with big steps up to the front door and fire escapes aplenty. They have high ceilings, ornate woodwork and brightly tiled fireplaces.
Travel is our biggest luxury. We live quite quietly, don't have a car or wear smart clothes, but we do love going away, and I have a few essentials that I never travel without.

Top of the list always is my first aid kit. I have a few staples that I keep in here. Of course it goes without saying that in any true emergency, we would immediately seek medical help, but for the minor ailments, I have to feel I am prepared!

I use this Muji bag. It has 4 compartments that are attached with Velcro so you can detach them for smaller trips.

In my first aid kit you will find:

1. Painkillers.......ibuprofen, paracetamol and something soluble for the hubby who can't swallow tablets.
2. Bite cream, antiseptic cream and bonjela for mouth ulcers.
3. A selection of plasters and wound closures.
4. Cold powders, anti sickness tablets and antihistamines in case of bites or allergies.

I also always have tweezers for splinters, a small pair of scissors and some latex gloves (I once had to dress a stranger's cuts so ever since I've carried gloves...)

I always make sure I have some crafting to do. I am making another granny triangle scarf, and I treated myself to this cross stitch leather cuff from Sew Crafty.

I take some handmade thank you cards, for friends we are staying with, or people who have gone out of their way to make our trip more enjoyable.....

And I always have a couple of pouches, for chargers, toiletries or stationery.

Do you have any essentials that you take with you every time?

Take care, lovelies!

Jenny xxxxxooooo 

We went to Blogtacular!

Hello lovelies!

How is June treating you? The sun has been shining here in London, which means lots more time outside, eating, playing, exploring and generally having fun! Last weekend, Jenny and I had lots of fun together! As I mentioned in my last post we were attending Blogtacular, an annual conference, for full time or part time bloggers, would be bloggers, small creative business owners or anyone with an interest in this area. Our last away day was far too long ago!

Our overriding emotion leading up to the event was definitely excitement. We knew from seeing so many colourful posts on instagram last year, that people looked like they were having so much fun and we wanted to join the party! We were really looking forward to meeting some of our ‘instafriends’ who we knew were going, connecting with new creatives, attending inspiring talks on varied topics and we’d heard that the food was good too!

Before the event, there was a lot of communication from the organisers about the speakers, the schedule, info for newbies and there were opportunities to introduce ourselves or share our latest blog posts on facebook if we wanted to. Encouraged by this, we posted this pic of ourselves with our handmade scrabble letter name tags on instagram a couple of days before using the hashtag #blogtacular, and a few people at the conference (including Cath Dean, the editor of Mollie Makes!) told us they recognised us!...

The day before the conference, I went on a photo walk. Jenny suggested I put my name down as she knows how much I love photography and she kindly offered to pick my babies up from school so I could go! So lovely! Every attendee of Blogtacular, as part of the price of the ticket, has a chance to attend either one of 2 photo walks or a video walk (new this year) and if there are too many applicants for the number of places, I believe names are chosen at random. I was both excited and nervous when I was told I had got a place on one of the photo walks. I was looking forward to it but didn’t really know what to expect and I didn’t know anyone else going.

Well, I loved it! We met near Victoria Station and our group leader, Kristabel Plummer (pictured below), whose brain I believe is also a sat nav, proceeded to lead us through the streets of South West London looking for beauty and colour……

 

 

Such a beautiful cake shop...

 

..with such a beautiful display!

 

I wanted to ride away on this bike!

 

Beautiful flowers outside a beautiful flower shop

 

Colour goals!

 

  

More colour!

The ladies I met on this walk were gorgeous! As we walked along, we introduced ourselves to each other, chatted, posed in our colourful footwear/hair/dresses/glittery skirts/macs etc! I was quite giddy at the end with how much I enjoyed it, how lovely everyone was and how many pics I had taken. Check out these lovely ladies.....

Jenny and I were reunited (phew!) in the evening for the Blogtacular party, hosted by West Elm, where we enjoyed beautifully chilled glasses of wine, a couple of delicious mini burgers each whilst chatting to familiar faces (from my photo walk) and lots of new faces too. The organisers of Blogtacular and West Elm had arranged little gathering areas, where as a group, we could talk about different topics. We talked about the success of various social media platforms, but we found it slightly hard to hear everyone because of the music that was playing in the background. The evening went by in a flash and before we knew it we were on the bus on our way home but very much looking forward to the next day!

The next morning started with a delicious breakfast (I’ll try not to go on about the food too much!), with time to organise ourselves, settle in and meet yet more lovely creatives, all buzzing with excitement about the day ahead.

 Waiting for it to start....eek!

The opening keynote talk was wonderful as was the closing keynote. In the morning Natalie Lue, a relationship expert and blogger who specialises in helping people to transform their lives and break unhealthy patterns in their relationships, gave the first keynote speech of the day and it was the most amazing pep talk! My favourite nugget of wisdom that she gave us was, ‘There’s no gold stars or brownie points, so it’s best to rock on with your bad self!’ Yes!

During the day there was a diverse range of workshops to choose from. In fact we found it hard to choose, but knowing that all talks would be available on audio after the event definitely helped. We didn’t feel like we would be missing out on anything! Jenny and I attended talks on the foundations of marketing, working with brands, finding your niche and a creative business masterclass. We came away with key tips, tools, new ideas, concepts, connections and information that we know will help us to transform and focus our business going forward. I sound like I’ve been to a conference don’t I?  

There was lots of audience participation during the talks we attended and there was always time given to ask questions. During the creative business masterclass, we played business card bingo, where we were given a chance to swap business cards based on things we had in common, such as liking bullet journalling (Jenny!). We loved this game and we’d like to see more activities like this next year!

There were lots of breaks in between the talks, with refreshments available each time, spread out across a few stations to minimise queueing. We were very impressed by this! The lunch was scrumptious. Jenny and I (and a few others) were led into a separate area with more seating at lunchtime. It was lovely and calm but we wondered if it was in fact the naughty area!

During the breaks, there were opportunities to visit both the marketplace, where a few fab small creative businesses were selling their wares and the Creative Genius Bar, where attendees could meet with a few experienced bloggers, designers, photographers and authors to ask questions and pick up more tips and advice. Oh and there was a brilliant backdrop where you could take a colourful selfie!...any excuse...

Overall we really liked the venue. It was cool and comfortable and there was plenty of seating in the lecture theatres. The staff at the venue were friendly and efficient and the Blogtacular volunteers were helpful, fun and friendly too! Each year, applications are opened up to anyone wanting to volunteer to be part of the Blogtacular Team. It looks like fun and hard work, but it would be a great opportunity.

We would have loved a forum to give feedback after the event (such as a form via email) and apart from that, the only other ‘criticism’ we have is that we were having so much fun, it felt like it ended too soon! We really did want the good times and the learning to go on...Blogtacular, The Retreat perhaps? I am not sure Kat Molesworth would think that was a good idea! Kat is the inspiring and talented creator and organiser of Blogtacular. Jenny and I are fans of the Blogtacular podcast too. We think Kat is very hard working, pretty awesome and funny! Thanks Kat!......

And thanks for the goody bags! They were a wonderful design and the contents were great too!....

Blogtacular was very special and one of the most valuable things we are taking away with us is new friends. Not literally of course, although there were quite a few lovelies we met that we wanted to take home! For some reason, I believed that it might feel that there was some kind of hierarchy based on how many followers you have, or how well known you are, but it was not like that at all. It was honestly full of friendly, kind, fun, colourful, generous and inspirational people and we shared with and learnt so much from them!

This weekend is going to feel very uneventful in comparison but that’s fine, the sun is rumoured to be shining for the duration, which means fun and frolics with the family! What have you got planned?

Lots of love and hugs as always lovelies,

Lucy

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Creative Happenings

Hello loves!

This week has been half term, so we have been doing what we usually do in these short breaks from work and school, pottering, playing and finding beauty in the city and slightly beyond if possible. Of course at the beginning of the week it was Valentine’s Day and as Jenny mentioned in her last post (did you see Jenny’s iced heart biscuits? - delish!) we are not really into it, but we are huge fans of love and we enjoy giving it and receiving it all year round! This tulip petal heart is for you, lovely readers.......

At the beginning of the year, I wrote a wish list of all the things I wanted to do or start to do. It is different from my to-do list, which details all the nitty gritty stuff that I need to get done. For example one of the items on my wish list is ‘to write more’, whether that is poetry, a children’s book and so on. One of the items on my to-do list is ‘to update a document listing all my writing ideas’, which is more specific and leads on from the ‘wish’. Another example is that I wish to have more colour in my life and so I have been buying weekly flowers which give me a well needed colour boost, especially during these dark Winter days. I really am starting to struggle with the lack of sunshine.

I love having these two lists that relate to each other in this way. It is really working for me. I have been reviewing my wish list and thinking about my year thus far and I realise firstly that almost everything on that list is a creative ‘wish’, and secondly that I am doing very well in making those wishes a reality! So far, this year has been a whirlwind of creativity and I love it! I love that crafting, sewing, baking, photographing, writing, designing, dreaming up schemes and projects have become the things that makes me happy. I know now that if I am not doing one of these activities regularly, I will not have that wonderful sense of fulfilment and joy. That is a good place to be in life I think.

 Let’s start with that colour! Flowers, how I love thee…..

 

Sigh........

I’ve been doing a spot of baking too. I discovered this gorgeous book through instagram and ordered it straight away….

You can read all about the story behind this beautiful recipe book here but briefly, proceeds from its sale go to Unicef’s Syria Relief Fund  which helps the children of Syria, too many of whom have lost so much.

So far, I have made the Barazek shortbreads, which are made with wholemeal flour and topped with crushed pistachios, but there are so many more delicious sounding recipes I’d love to try! Yummy in our tummies!.....

My boy turned 9 in January, so I made him a chocolate cake decorated with buttercream and shards of marbled chocolate…….

I have also done a little bit of baking for our local WI meetings. Beetroot brownies (recipe from Waitrose Food).......

.....and vanilla cupcakes (Victoria sponge recipe) with raspberry ripple frosting…….

A few weeks ago, the Winter light was beautiful, so I got my camera out and snapped away. These pics were all taken on Hampstead Heath, North London which is just 20 minutes away from us. We are very lucky to be city dwellers who live so close to such a wide expanse of green…….

We noticed small signs of Spring..........(yay!)

I hear you cry, “What about crafting Lu? What have you been up to? Tell us, tell us, we’re dying to know!” Of course, last but by no means least, I have been getting busy with needle, with crochet hook and with self-adhesive glitter foam sheets too (oooooo, love this stuff!). It is great to have little projects on the go, things you can complete in an evening or two as well as the lengthier tasks. So as well as learning to cross stitch and writing my first cross stitch tutorial.......

I have done a little bit of crochet….

Some macramé….a Mollie Makes Mag free project, as is the little pin cushion above…..

A spot of embroidery…….another Mollie Makes Mag free kit…...

A tiny bit of sewing (my machine was dusty! tut tut!) with leatherette...............

And a little bit of prop making for the selfie booth at the kids’ school Valentine’s disco.…..

I had to take a pic of this sweet little lad who was transfixed by the light from the lightbox!......

In case you were wondering, yes I was in charge of the selfie booth (which was bonkers!) and yes I did embarrass my kids by wearing said props and dancing about! Job done!

Silliness makes the world go round don’t you think? Kindness and love too of course! Oh and cross stitch might play a part…..and embroidery….and crochet, paper cutting, decoupage, embossing, spray painting, pouch making, clay rolling, jewellery making, upcycling, quilting………… tee hee!

All the love poppets!

Lucy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxzzzzzzzxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Jenny's 2016 round up, and a new word!

Hello to you, all of our lovely readers! I hope 2017 has started well for you……… I was certainly glad to see the back of 2016. What a turbulent year it was! Big shocking things happened in the world, and at times it felt all turned upside down.

I have to confess, I'm not big on new year resolutions. I do like to reflect back on the past year…..and think about what could be better next time. I try to choose a guiding word for the year ahead, and I like to set some intentions.

So what of 2016? At the start of the year, we had just been writing this blog for a couple of months. We were new on social media, and were just finding our feet as a new venture. Fitting in our weekly meetings, writing the blog, posting regularly on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at times felt overwhelming. We achieved a lot in this year, and it was wonderful. I am so proud of what Lu and I have built. To some extent, though, Two Crafty Brownies took over my life, and I maybe lost sight of who I was a little. So this post is about the things that stood out for me personally…….

I started sewing my own clothes

some from self drafted patterns.....

I took up crochet

and managed to make some christmas presents......

Even though I long for the countryside, I looked for beauty in my city...

I designed some images for our biz......

and then we got side tracked into tie dye....

After growing my hair for two years, I cut it off and felt so happy.....

I baked

and baked

My oldest went off to university

I signed up for an online painting course and in the process realised I had become stuck in a silly place.

I made presents for friends....

and some things for myself

My intentions for this year are simple........plan ahead, be better organised, keep making! Writing this post the day before it's due, I realise - there's still work to do!

My word for last year was 'grow'. I wrote about it here. I have been waiting for this year's word to come to me, and over the past couple of weeks, it has.

My word for this year is 'dare'. Dare to ask for help when I need to. Dare to believe I can do things I've only dreamed of. Dare to live my best life. Push myself a bit further than I usually would.

Let's see how it goes!

Are you doing anything differently this year, darlings? Do tell in the comments below.

Much love,

Jenny xxxxx

 

Birdy Love

Hello friends!

I love the ‘make a wish’ bunting that Jenny made for her friend’s baby shower! Such a sweet idea - to make wishes full of sentiment, love and hope ready for the little one coming soon. Lucky baby I say!

If you follow us on instagram you will know that I have been going a bit potty about the little birds that have been flitting about my garden and surroundings. I have watched them looking for food and nest-building materials; perching prettily on fence, branch, aerial and roof top and I have heard them singing such pretty tunes to each other as they go about their birdy business! Oh how I have fallen for them! I have become quite excited and preoccupied and some would say, slightly obsessed with my feathery friends. I think perhaps because I live in a city, I have grown to appreciate and feel lucky about birds being around. We've spotted robins, bluetits, great tits, blackbirds, goldfinches and the obligatory pigeon.

We are now supporters of the wonderful RSPB (The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) and received this amazing haul in the post…..

 

My brood and I are very much looking forward to exploring the nature reserves looked after by the RSPB and learning more about birds and other wildlife! I’ll report back!

Of course I have been trying and mostly failing to photograph them, to capture their colours, their feathery cuteness and funny little movements. It is now a mission my kids join in on too:

Child one, two or three: “Mummy!! Quick, a bird...it’s the robin again”

Me: “Ok, coming!....shhhh!, don’t move!...right, just focussing.....oh bother!”

Groans of disappointment, usually followed by giggles.

On occasion I have succeeded in capturing them (in photograph form!) and amongst the slightly ‘out of focus, not quite a full bird, just the movement of the wings as the bird flies away’ photos, I have actually taken some decent shots if I am allowed to say so myself. Here’s my slide show. Bear with…..

 

These winged wonders have not only inspired me to get my camera out but to get crafty too. I have done a bit of sketching…I’m calling this A bird in The Hand…...

 

I have made a perching blackbird embroidery hoop. Don’t blackbirds sing so beautifully?.....

 

I have made a brooch using some plywood and an old vintage stamp featuring a parrot. I got my junior hacksaw out for this project - fun!…I’ll grow up one day and be allowed to use an adult hacksaw!.…

 

We have expressed our love for the birds in decoupage form too! My boy and little girl decoupaged an owl and a penguin…….

 

I decoupaged these letters….

 

I am not sure what I am going to do with them (put them on the wall perhaps?), but I just had a compulsion to create them. I suppose that is creativity for you! I decoupaged them using my stash of Mollie Makes papers and these wooden letters. They were quite simple and satisfying to do and I think they look great. Decoupage letters are going to feature in many of my crafting projects I think!

Check out my tutorial here if you fancy doing a spot of decoupaging yourself. Have a look here for decoupage paraphenalia and here if you want any more birdy craft inspiration.

Well lovelies, lots of love as always. After all the crafty goings on around here this week, I need to put my feet up with a cuppa. Oooo but what was that flitting past my window!…..I’ll just get my camera………..

Lucy xxxxxxxxxx

 

Pottering and Playing....

Hello friends!

For me, the Easter holidays are lovely. The end of term busyness is over, the days are longer, warmer and sunnier, the kids and the hubby (who is a teacher) are off school and work, and the diary is refreshingly empty. I think I may actually prefer it to the Christmas hols (gasp!) and you know how much I love Christmas!!!. For us, the Easter break is so much quieter and event free, so we get to potter around, pootle about and play!

Even though holiday pootling was the aim, I did ring fence (serious business terminology!) a couple of days for Two Crafty Brownies product design and development. However this is a difficult and sometimes stressful task in my household, with no room dedicated to my busyness and business and with my 4 lovelies knocking about, they are in my work space and I am in their play space. I did manage a couple of hours here and there, but what I dedicated lots of time to this hols, which is possible to do when pottering with the rest of the fam, is photography. Photography isn’t a past time I’ve spent a lot of time on historically, but I’ve been practising and playing with my relatively new camera, a Nikon Coolpix S9900, taking lots of pics and some films too.

So this is my holiday slide show but don’t nod off - there is a cool little film of Brownie making with recipe at the end!

When the sun was shining, I took pics of blue skies and blossom….

 

 

 And took advantage of the sunshine coming inside, creating patterns of light on the table…….

 

I took lots of photos whilst pottering about in London, like Jenny, finding beauty in our city….

St Pancras International Station......

 

Tiles on the underground.......

 

 

 

Street art.......

 

We Brownies and our families made our way to Crafty Fox Market, a great market for crafty businesses (we hope to sell here one day!), enjoying London as we went…..

 

We may have had to stop in a pub and rest our weary legs and enjoy a meal and a glass of prosecco…….

 

I loved taking pics at London Zoo, where so much wonderful conservation work is carried out. Amazing colours, animals, setting…….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was taking a pic of this poster I liked, when a mongoose did pop through, but I wasn't quick enough to snap him!..….

 

I did a double take when I walked past the first aid post…….

 

We popped into Brighton and I just couldn’t put my camera away. I loved it! We pottered along the pebbly beach, gazing at the sea, past the beach huts...…

 

 

 

 

 

...the bandstand, the old pier and other interesting sights worthy of a pic or 2……

 

 

 

 

...into town, into Choccywoccydoodah. This, believe it or not, is made of chocolate......

 

I found it difficult to be restrained in Brighton sewing centre ..........

 

and in the reclamation yards and thrift shops...... 

 

The architecture of Brighton Royal Pavillion wowed us.......

 

I clicked and I clicked until the sun went down….

 

Back at home, I did a spot of baking from this book and played about with the short film setting on my camera…..I give you Making Crafty Brownies……

 

 

Please ignore that annoying background music - I can't seem to get rid of it on my camera! If you did play it with the sound on you may or may not have heard one of my children say the word 'bum'! Oh dear, what was I saying about me in their space and them in mine? Moving swiftly on, these brownies are so tasty! Here’s the recipe:

Melt 185g/6.5oz dark chocolate and same amount of unsalted butter together. Cool slightly. Whisk 3 large eggs and 275g/9.5oz golden caster sugar together until doubled in size.

Fold melted choc and butter into this egg and sugar mixture.

Sift over 85g/3oz plain flour and 40g/1.5oz cocoa powder and fold in.

Stir in 50g/2oz chopped milk choc and 50g/2oz of chopped white choc.

Pour into lined (with foil) 20cm/8” square tin and bake for about 40mins (recipe says 25min but I always have to leave it in for longer!) at 160C.

Leave to cool in tin, cut into squares, dust with icing sugar and enjoy!!

 

My lovelies, I have been so excited about sharing my photos with you. Thank you so much for indulging me and sitting through my holiday slide show! Do you have any useful tips to pass on about photography for blogging, social media or in general? I’d love to hear them!

Much love

Lucy xxxxxxxxxxx

Is it Spring yet?

Hello my dears! This is a bit of an ‘around here/bits and pieces/lately’ post from me this week. Here in the UK our school age children have 2 weeks off, and this year it started with Easter weekend. Both my hubby and I were off for the whole weekend (quite often one or other of us is working in our respective hospitals) and the four days stretched invitingly ahead.

To be honest, my lovelies, I am a pottering at home sort of person. I will go out on trips, but now my boys are older and don't require entertaining as much, I really cherish being at home, cooking, baking and spending time in my tiny but oh so precious sewing room.

 

My hubby on the other hand is a real ‘let's go on a trip’ person. He hates staying in all day and will sometimes fit two or three outings into a day! He had forewarned me that the weather would be best on Good Friday, so I hatched a sneaky plan of enticing him out early, and then spending the rest of the day at home!

Lovelies, in my heart I think I am not really a city person. I love the countryside, and I feel far more peaceful there. In the city I feel hemmed in by the buildings, and uninspired by the views. So I find heading out for a walk rather challenging. I start off sulky, I whisper to myself that the streets are ugly and that the buildings are too tall. I realise this is not the best way to make the most of things……. So on Friday morning I decided to look for the beauty in my surroundings….

The streets near my home have rows of these prettily painted houses, and look at that glorious blue sky! We headed down the road to join the Regent’s Canal. It is cool and dark down on the canal path. I was captivated by this pretty house and the Lock Keeper's cottage at St Pancras Lock.

 

A bit further along we came to the Kings Cross Gasholders. These huge guide frames were built in the 1850s. Gasholder No.8 is the largest of these, and was built for the storage of town gas that was manufactured here from coal. It has been moved, restored and turned into this rather stunning feature. Can you see me there?

 

Back home it was time to start baking for my second son's 15th birthday which fell on Easter Monday this year. Lu and I have a go to cookie recipe for when you need a big batch of tasty, crunchy biscuits to cut into seasonal shapes and ice. They are from Kate Shirazi's Cookie Magic and are called Basic Butter Biscuits. I decided to use Spring themed cutters and ice them with Royal Icing. I use sauce bottles that I bought from a catering shop. I mix the icing sugar with water to the consistency of a glaze and colour it in various shades. The bottles make it really easy to ice, I pipe some around the edge and then fill in the middle. You can add spots and stripes and use a toothpick to swirl fancy shapes……

 

My son C’s favourite chocolates are Cadbury's mini eggs, so I decided to make him a mini egg cake. He requested lemon drizzle for the cake, so I used the same Victoria sponge recipe that Lu used in her post and added the zest and juice of two lemons to the batter. I made a lemon/sugar syrup that I drizzled over the cakes as soon as they came out of the oven.

Photo credit - Lu the Other Brownie.....

Making an egg shape was a challenge……. How do you think I did? I filled the layers with lemon curd and vanilla icing from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook (another favourite) and got carving!

Lu and her family came round for a birthday tea, and we had a lovely time. We may have had a glass or two of prosecco to celebrate the Wonders of Motherhood.....

It was back to work for hubby and me after the bank holiday, luckily the boys can now look after themselves……

This is the view as I come into the station near my work. Blackfriars Station runs across the River Thames, can you see Tower Bridge and The Shard in the distance? And here is the view from my lounge. London trying to melt my heart with pretty pink clouds...... well I must admit, London, you did.

Next week we are off to Yorkshire for a few days to stay in a lovely cottage, I can't wait. Countryside here I come!!

Take care my lovelies, and if you are on a spring break, have a good one!

Jenny xxx