Black Currant Jam

This past weekend I took the plunge and made black currant jam.

I found the simplest recipe ever on the Kraft Canada website and it was done in a little over an hour(not counting de-stemming the currants).

Here's the recipe, it makes 8 cups:

5 cups stemmed fully ripe black currants (about 2 qt.)
1/2 cup water
1 box CERTO Pectin Crystals
7 cups sugar
CRUSH currants thoroughly, one layer at a time. Press half of pulp through a sieve to remove some of the seeds. Place pulp in large saucepan; add water. Bring to boil on medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover. Simmer 15 min., stirring occasionally.
ADD pectin crystals; mix well. Bring to full rolling boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar. Return to full rolling boil and boil 1 min., stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir and skim foam for 5 min. to prevent fruit from floating to top.
POUR immediately into warm sterilized jars, filling to within 1/4 inch of rims. Seal while hot with sterilized two-piece lids with new centres. Let stand at room temperature until set.

Here's the jam in progress.

And the finished product.

And some fresh black currant jam on toast, yummy

Britt's Pics

Some pictures Brittany recently took.


Candy!




Cherries!



And me!

Updated Container Photos

The flowers are still going strong, here's some photos from this past weekend.

My favourite container:

Party!

I created this card following Laura's sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You. This card features an older line of Chatterbox paper with some Basic Grey ribbon/ric rac, Petaloo and Bazzill flowers as well as a few buttons.

Its A Party!

I created this card for the CPS sketch this week and really like the clean, crispness of the American Crafts paper. I used the cuttlebug to make an embossed background and embellished with petaloo flowers, Melissa Frances glitter chipboard, and Inque Boutique ribbon.

Embellished Candles

When I saw this idea on Cupids Charm blog, I immediately thought about a couple of brooches that I never wear that I thought would look great used in a similar fashion.

I received some old sheet music in one of my scrapbook kits so decided to use it along with a bit of lace and the brooches to decorate these pillar candles.

The 'A' brooch was my Great-Grandmother's. Although her name was Susanna, she went by Annie and I am still often called Annie by my family and oldest friends!

This cameo brooch was given to me by my Grandmother.

I think they look great displayed on the candles and now I actually see them!

Visit With Grandma

Britt and I went to visit my Grandmother this past Friday. Unfortunately before we could visit we had to sit through a major traffic jam due to an accident.

So Britt and I amused ourselves by taking pictures and sending Twitter updates!

We took pictures of the endless stream of cars, trucks and motorbikes.

And of the traffic directing arrows.

And of ourselves

And finally of the open road once we were past the accident.

But once we got there, we had a lovely visit with a lovely lunch at a tearoom .

With a lovely dessert!

Thrift Store Finds

I popped in our thrift store today to see what I could find and was thrilled with what I brought home.

First I found this candle holder, that I thought I'd use to store some scrap related stuff somehow. But for now I'm floating mini-candles in it, it was $4.

Then I was browsing through some aprons and found 4 for $3 each. The one with the yellow tie and pattern reminds me of a vintage sheet. I like the stitching on the pink gingham and found a hankie in its pocket when I got home.

The orange one has an attached vintage print cloth to wipe your hands and cute white ric rac along the bottom. And the last has a retro mushroom print and I don't think its ever been worn!

And finally my favourite find, a candlewicked cakestand for $5. I've always loved candlewicked items and couldn't believe my luck!

It matches this candlewicked plate I already had!

Golden Oldies

Using the sketch at Triple The Sketch and old paper from my stash as suggested at Daring Cardmakers, I made this card and a matching envelope!

And while I did use an old line of Chatterbox paper, I used new tools to me, Nestability dies and a Fiskars border punch.

Today's Breakfast

Brianne made pancakes!

Happy Anniversary

Following the sketch at Papertake Weekly, I created this anniversary card using Tres Jolie papers. The stamped image I received in a RAK and have glittered the gown although it doesn't show up well in the photo. A little bit of Melissa Frances and paper ribbon and it was done!

Flowers from Nancy

We had our friends Fred and Nancy along with their daughters over for dinner on Sunday. We've known them since high school and I'm so glad we still keep in touch. Their girls have grown so much since we last saw them, I felt very short!

Nancy has been busy with a flower shop she bought a little over a year ago. And she was nice enough to bring me this arrangement. Isn't it bright and cheerful?