A busy weekend at Farrell & Holmes...

This weekend has seen us juggling a few exciting projects!  We are currently working on our new website, which is almost finished and is looking rather lovely (even if we do say so ourselves!).  This is mostly down to the talented designers at Norwich Designer, who also created our logo earlier this year.  James from Norwich Designer is working on our online shop at the moment, so in the meantime we have opened a shop on Folksy.  We started listing some new products on Friday evening and have had a steady stream of purchases over the weekend, which is very encouraging – thank you to everyone who has taken a peek at our shop!

Will's beautiful Beatrix Potter semi-bauble sold through Folksy on Sunday evening and she has been working on more for both our own shop and Hodge Podge's antique and gift shop in Hethersett.  She has just completed a Where's Wally version, which is very bright and cheerful.  Next on the list is a Charlie and Lola design, which I am really looking forward to!

In addition to the Folksy shop and our new website, we are busy preparing for our stall at the Bungay Christmas Street Market on 4th December 2011.  It is a bustling vibrant event with many local crafts people and artisans exhibiting their festive wares.  As well as sewing, crocheting and paper folding, we are also having a lucky dip to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society.  Will has been wrapping prizes and attaching little candy canes to each parcel to make them look extra inviting and hopefully we will be able to raise a bit of money for this wonderful charity.  If you can’t make it to Bungay for the lucky dip, you can still donate to the Alzheimer’s Society here.

Lastly, we are offering the chance to win a dormouse doorstop to the person who can guess how many buttons are in the jar!  The estimate which is closest to the total number of buttons will receive their dormouse in time for Christmas (Royal Mail and the great British weather allowing!).  Yes, we have counted the buttons as they went into the jar and no, this isn’t even close to being the total number of buttons we actually own!  If you would like to enter our competition, please tell us your guess, along with your name and email address, by sending us a message via the "Contact Us" page on our website.  We will add your details to our newsletter mailing list but feel free to let us know if you would rather not receive news, offers and updates from us – you will still be entered for the competition.  We will announce the winner on Monday 12th December and will send an email to the lucky guesser!

LouLou & Will x

Alice in Wonderland paper art

Will’s beautiful origami baubles, made with upcycled paper, make wonderful gifts for the person who has everything, because they are so easy to personalise for the recipient.  We collect old and unloved books, annuals, maps and music manuscripts which are then transformed into works of art that can be appreciated for years to come.  There is usually the perfect theme for anyone in our stash!

One such commission recently was for a girl called Alice, who adores Alice in Wonderland.  We found a dishevelled copy of the book earlier in the summer at a local sale and had been saving it for just such an occasion.  At first glance, the paper could have come from any book but on closer inspection one can see familiar words and phrases that are peculiar to a beloved story (for example, lines from the poem “Soup of the Evening”).  Alice was delighted with her bauble and claimed it was the best present of her whole birthday (after her new Blackberry which, to be fair, is rather difficult to compete with!).

Other recent commissions have included baubles made from images of Marilyn Monroe, The Cat in the Hat picture books, a Beano annual and UK map paper.

As well as a charming Beatrix Potter semi-bauble currently listed on Folksy, more gorgeous designs are in production.  I’m particularly looking forward to seeing one made in paper from an old Planet of the Apes comic book!  

They require a lot of time and patience, with each bauble taking:

• 6 hours
• 60 squares of paper
• 660 folds
• Half a tube of glue
• 50cm ribbon
• 12 buttons

So they are really a labour of love and dedication to upcycling, although Will feels a great sense of satisfaction when she has turned a worn out old book into something fabulous which will be treasured.  I think I will stick to sewing though!

LouLou & Will x 

Woman’s Hour "Cook the perfect soda bread"

I sometimes like to listen to Radio 4 while I sew, and Woman’s Hour is a particular favourite of mine.  My grandmother Betty would listen to the show while she was ironing and I remember hearing it when I was little, so it brings back warm and cosy memories for me.  Will prefers to play music while she works but I wonder if one day she might look back fondly on my love of Radio 4 and not groan when she hears the Archers theme tune?

Recently, Woman’s Hour have been running a series called “Cook the perfect...” which I have enjoyed theoretically without feeling the need to actually try any of the recipes.  However, last week’s programme was all about soda bread and, coming from an Irish family, it is a food I recall from childhood but haven’t tasted for years.  My grandmother would sometimes make it for my Irish grandfather and with its dense texture and homely flavour, it was a comforting food.  

So when Dan Lepard offered his simple recipe to make the perfect soda bread, I had to give it a go!  His recipe has the added convenience that it can be scaled to make as little or as much bread as you like - once you have mixed the basic dry ingredients they can be stored for months in an air tight container.  Simply take the required portion of the flour mix and add the correct proportion of liquid for the quantity of bread you would like.  He suggests making small loaves in a muffin tin rather than one large loaf. 

My attempt looks rather rustic but I have to say it tasted exactly how I remember and was delicious, eaten warm from the oven with lashings of butter!  We will certainly be baking more and my son, who had never tried soda bread before, is a firm convert. 

LouLou & Will x

Lucky to live in Norfolk – Cromer

We live in a small village just outside Norwich and so we are only three quarters of an hour’s drive from most of the beautiful Norfolk coastline.  We love the seaside in Autumn, when all the Summer crowds have left and things are starting to slow down.  The beach is much quieter with more dog walkers than sand castles and the shops and cafés look cosy and inviting. 

This weekend, we took the dogs for a walk along Cromer’s seafront and back along the stony beach.  The beach huts are still looking cheerful despite the chill in the air and there were some hardy locals enjoying a day in their shelter by the sea with a Thermos of strong tea and a lunch box filled with sandwiches!

The boys enjoyed their sandy jaunt but were less impressed with the idea of getting their paws wet!

There are several dog friendly beaches in Norfolk, some of which are open to pets all year round such as Holkham Beach, and others like Cromer allow dogs on the main beach in the Autumn and Winter.  While in Cromer, pop into the Old Rock Shop Bistro for lunch or afternoon tea as they welcome well-behaved dogs on leads!


LouLou & Will x  

Foxy sleeping bag

LouLou’s little niece has a particular love of animals and, in addition to rabbits, cats, ducks, donkeys, fish, a chicken and a Falabella pony, she also has a semi-tame fox that comes to the garden regularly to be fed.  As you can imagine, the creature combination in the menagerie can be a bit tense at times (for example, when the fox was caught red-pawed, so to speak, unsuccessfully trying to sneak off with one of the ducks under the cover of the earlier nights!).  On the whole though, it is a peaceful arrangement that keeps everyone happy.

So when we saw that Florence of Flossie Teacakes was offering one of her sweet little sleeping bags with a gorgeous fox print all over it, we knew it would make a superb gift for the girl who loves anything vulpine.  Of course, that meant we had to track down a little fox cub to snuggle into the cute wee bed and we found the softest, fluffiest fellow you could imagine and he fits a treat!

You can make your own sleeping bag, with instructions in several sizes to suit most teddy bears and soft toys, from Florence's pattern and additional guidelines.  She also offers a range of beautifully hand-made gifts on her website and Etsy shop, as well as an interesting insight into dressmaking and other sewing skills on her fabulous blog.

LouLou & Will x

Carrot cupcakes with orange frosting

When the nights start drawing in and the weather turns a bit chillier, it is lovely to come home to the warm welcome of some hearty baking with a fresh pot of tea! With Halloween last weekend and Bonfire Night to look forward to, these carrot cupcakes are the perfect Autumnal treat.

Ingredients:

225g carrots, peeled and trimmed

130g raisins, optional

2 large eggs, free range

130g caster sugar

120ml corn oil

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Grated zest of 1 orange

120g plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping:

90g cream cheese

225g icing sugar, sifted

65g butter, at room temp

Grated zest of ½ orange

Method:

Preheat oven to 160⁰C(fan)/180⁰C/350⁰F/gas mark 4 and line a couple of 12 hole muffin trays with bun cases.

Finely grate the carrots and drain off any liquid. Combine the grated carrots and raisins in a large bowl using a wooden spoon.

In a large mixing bowl whisk the eggs and sugar together for several minutes and then add the oil, vanilla extract and orange and beat well.

Sift the flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and cinnamon into separate bowl, then gradually add these ingredients to the egg and sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. Pour this mixture into the bowl containing the carrots and raisins and incorporate using a wooden spoon or spatula until they are evenly blended.

Carefully spoon the mixture into the cupcakes cases, filling them to about two thirds full. Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes – the cupcakes will be quite dark brown in colour and feel spongy to the touch. Remove from the oven and leave cakes to cool in their tins for about 10 minutes before placing on a wire rack to cool.

To decorate, place all the topping ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat well until thoroughly combined and the icing is smooth and pale, this can take several minutes. Cream cheese icing must be stored in the fridge, but it keeps well. Before reusing, bring to room temperature and beat again.

Top tip: decorate the cupcakes with ground cinnamon or orange zest for a pretty finishing touch.

Source: Cupcakes from the Primrose Bakery - buy here.