Jewellery Showcase- Black Rose Pendant

It's been a little while since I made any new jewellery as I have been focusing on our new doggy. But she is now settled in enough that she is happy to play with her toys in the hallway while I work on some new things.

This pendant is now available in my Etsy shop- Black-rose-pendant

Crafts- Apple Roses

This year we've gotten a really good crop of apples from our tree. Last year we got crate upon crate of tiny sour little things, most of which ended up going to our friends to make cider so we're thrilled to have plenty of edible ones this time round.

This pile is only about a quarter of what came off the tree. Apples that were heavily bruised or had already been partially eaten by birds or bugs went straight to the chickens. Some of our apples have already been chopped up and put in the freezer for making pies and crumbles throughout the year and some have been pickled in some leftover pickle juice we had.

I wanted to use some to make a batch of apple roses. I'd actually never heard of apple roses before yesterday but my partner thought they looked delicious and they are all over the internet so I thought I'd make him some as a surprise.

Things you will need-

• Apples (x6 small-medium size)
• Plain flour (225g)
• Butter (100g for pastry & 50g for syrup)
• Water (4 tablespoons for pastry & 2 tablespoons for syrup)
• Cinnamon or Mixed Spices
• Sugar (100g)
• Knife
• Mixing bowl
• Pan or double boiler 
• Muffin/cup cake baking tray
• Rolling pin

If you really don't want to make your own pastry you can buy ready made stuff instead but it's so simple to make you might as well save yourself some money and make it from scratch. First dice up the butter into a mixing bowl and add the flour.

Using your hands rub the ingredients together until the mixture becomes crumbly. Then add the water and knead it all together. Place the pastry into the fridge to chill while you work on the apples. 

Core your apples. If you don't have an apple corer you can slice the apples into quarters and cut out the core instead. Next slice your apples as per the photo below. 

Place your sugar and remaining butter and water into a pan and heat until it is all melted. Be careful not to burn the sugar when you do this. Now you can either add your spices to the syrup mix or you can sprinkle the spices on top of the apples. I decided to mix mine in. Add the apple slices to the syrup and stir it thoroughly but carefully to ensure all the slices are coated properly. Let it simmer gently for 5 minutes to soften up the apple slices.

Set aside the apple slices to cool and take your pastry out of the fridge. Roll out a thin sheet of pastry and cut out circles to fit the base and sides of each cup cake slot in your baking tray. Make sure you dust your surface with flour first or your pastry will stick to the table. 

Once your apple slices are cool lay several of them out in a line and roll them up to create a rose. This can be a bit messy due to the syrup but it will be worth it. Keep going until your rose is the correct size to fit inside the pastry cup.

Place the rolled up apple slices inside the pastry cups and put them into the oven to bake for 40 minutes at 180 degrees. 

If you didn't add your spices to the syrup don't forget to sprinkle them over your apple roses once they are baked. 

Crafts- Wardrobe Sachets

This one is a simple project that's great to get started on if you don't have much experience with sewing.

Things you will need-

• Fabric of your choosing (make sure it's breathable so that the scent can escape)
• A needle and thread or a sewing machine
• A ruler
• Tailor's chalk or a pen to mark your material
• Pins
• Scissors
• Ribbon or other drawstring
• Extra ribbon, lace or buttons for embellishment (optional)
• Smelly stuff, ie: dried lavender, cloves, rose petals, etc

I've chosen a black and silver spiderweb netting material for this. I will also be hand stitching rather than using a sewing machine as it's a small project so it won't take long.

Lay out your material flat so that the right side of the fabric is face down, if it's creased you may want to iron it first to smooth out any wrinkles. Using your chalk and ruler draw out a template for the sachet. I have drawn a rectangle that is 30cm by 7cm. The template will be folded in half before sewing so a 30cm long template will become a 15cm long sachet. There will also be a 1cm seam allowance on each side so a 7cm wide template creates a 5cm wide sachet. After you have drawn out your template carefully cut out your rectangle of fabric.

Fold over a 1cm seam along the two 7cm wide edges and pin in place. Double up your thread and tie a triple knot in the end. If you are using a netted fabric like I am you will need to push the needle through the fabric and then loop it between your two strands of thread as per the photo below. When you pull the thread tight the knot will be kept in place by the thread and won't be pulled through the netting.

Use a simple running stitch to secure the seams. This is done by weaving the needle in and out of the fabric and then pulling the thread through.

Fold the fabric in half with your newly stitched seams facing outwards. Make sure your edges match up evenly and pin the fabric in place to stop it moving about as you sew. Starting at the top end of your sachet work your way down one side using the same running stitch as before. Tie a secure knot in the end of the thread once you get to the bottom of the sachet, then stitch down the other side starting at the top edge again and working your way down. Starting at the top on both sides will help prevent your fabric becoming skewed as you sew.

Tie a secure knot in the end of your thread and then turn the sachet right way out so that all the seams are hidden inside. Now loosely weave through a piece of thin ribbon or decorative cord for the drawstring roughly 2cm down from the top edge.

If this sachet is to go inside a chest of drawers then congratulations, you are finished. Fill the sachet with smelly stuff and tie the ribbon in a bow.

If you want this sachet to hang up in the wardrobe then we just need to thread one last piece of ribbon through the back for it to hang from.

These sachets also make great gifts if you want to DIY your xmas presents. 

Lifestyle- Meet the Chickens

We've had our 4 lovely chickens for a little over a year now. These rescue hens were adopted through the British Hen Welfare Trust, a charity that re-homes thousands of ex-battery hens every year in the UK. When battery hens reach the age of 18 months old they are usually slaughtered because they are no longer deemed profitable. Chickens generally live for about 8-9 years though some reach the grand old age of 10-11, so the fact that they are killed at 18 months is pretty horrifying. But what's even more horrifying is the way they are treated on the farms.

When they first came home they looked like this-

Pretty awful right? Many chickens in the Egg Production Industry are either 'Barn' or 'Enriched Cage' hens and as you can see from the photo the conditions they are kept in are far from healthy. The only thing that will improve welfare standards for industry hens is constant pressure from consumers to force both supermarkets and their suppliers to change their ways for the better.

These four hens are now in a much better place, both literally and metaphorically. They've grown back their feathers, their beaks are no longer crooked, their combs are bright red and their claws are short and sharp. They get to go outside every day in the fresh air and love to eat slugs and dandelion leaves. They also have awesome names- Margo, Edith, Ages and Gru!

Sadly though many hundreds of thousands of chickens are still being kept in terrible and inhumane conditions before their lives are ended prematurely. Please help make life better for chickens by checking how your eggs are produced and only supporting farms with free range hens. 

The American Election

Today's blog post is a little different because I feel I need to address what has just happened in America and how this affects us all. It seems Donald Trump is going to be the next President of the United States. I thought things had hit rock bottom when Britain voted to leave the EU, but I was wrong. I had so hoped that all those racist, sexist, awful people on TV were just a tiny minority with very loud voices. How wrong I was.

Today hatred won. Today racism won. Today religious intolerance won. Today sexism won.

My partner stayed up all night to watch the results come in and when he finally came to bed at 8am this morning he broke the bad news to me. Since then I have spent most of the day giving in to despair. If in 2016 a vile person like Trump can win an election what hope is there for the human race? Has society truly not made any progress since 1945? How can such views still be acceptable in modern society?

I am not ashamed to admit I am scared. I do not live in America but the actions of people in such a powerful country will undoubtedly affect other countries. I have Muslim friends. I have gay, lesbian and bi-sexual friends. I have transgender friends. I have friends whose skin tone is not a gleaming white. And I have friends who are women. These friends are good people. People who deserve the basic rights straight white males try to deny them. This morning I was filled with despair. This evening I am filled with rage. As a woman I know all too well what it is like to fight a never ending up hill battle. I have had to work twice as hard as any man just to be seen as half as good. I have suffered through discrimination, bullying, harassment and assault. I have been told repeatedly that as a woman I should expect and accept such treatment. And I am tired. Having to fight constantly is exhausting and this morning I was ready to give up. But then I saw a headline, one among many terrible headlines today. And that headline was about the terror that American Muslims are currently feeling. And I thought of my own Muslim friends. Hard working and kind Muslim friends. Muslim friends who are intelligent and work as doctors saving lives in our NHS hospitals. And the thought of those friends being too scared to leave their homes filled me with a renewed energy. That energy might be in the form of rage, something that's generally considered a negative emotion, but right now that rage is what I need to keep going. That rage will keep me fighting. I will fight for my friends and I won't give in to despair.

To all the haters out there you haven't beaten me yet. Yes I am scared. I am scared for the people I love as well as for myself. I am sure that with Trump's victory there will be men who renew their efforts to harass and assault women. I am sure that white supremacists will attack ethnic minorities. But that fear won't stop me from fighting for what is right. To the people out their being denied their basic human rights please don't stop fighting. I know it is hard and I know it is tiring. But your lives are worth fighting for. Don't give up. xxx

Lifestyle- Vivarium Skull

I got this amazing super large skull from one of my friends (no idea where they got it from but it was cluttering up their house) and thought it would be badass inside one of my snake vivariums.

The skull is made from polystyrene so is non-toxic to snakes and it's hollow so will provide a nice new hiding space. My partner did suggest that I cut out holes in the eye sockets so that the snakes could crawl through but I think they would prefer solid eye sockets so that the hiding places feels more secure. There is a little bit of damage to the front teeth but I got given this for free so I'm not about to moan that it's seen better days.

I put my fist into the eye socket to illustrate just how huge this skull really is. If anyone knows where these skulls are available from please leave a comment so that I can let others know where they can buy them.

Make Up- Carnival by Seventeen

I love nail polish but I hardly ever wear it, my day to day grind of activities means that any polish I can afford gets chipped, scratched or dented within a few hours and it just isn't worth the bother. However last month one of my friends recommended that I try out some of the Carnival range of nail polishes by Seventeen at Boots.

This shade is called Deep Red Sparkle, it comes in a 10ml bottle and costs £1.99. My first impression is fairly positive, I've had it on my nails for 24 hours and so far it has not chipped though I do seem to have a scratch on one of my nails, but that's still a lot better than my old polish!

The polish doesn't actually 'sparkle' as advertised which is disappointing as it looks more shimmery and glittery in the bottle than it does on my nails.