Creating my way to Success

Surinam Cherry Jam

We have 2 Surinam (Brazillian) Cherry trees in our garden.

Every year they produce lots of the cute lantern shaped fruit.

The fruit has quite a tart, sour taste and I'm the only one in our family who really likes them, and there are only so many tart cherries I can eat.

So every year, lots of these cherries just fall from the tree and go to waste.

This year I'm determined to

Use What I've Got

and make something with these cherries so that they get eaten rather than wasted.

Yesterday morning I went out and picked all the ripe red cherries I could find.

I washed them, removed the stalks and small green leaves on their bases, then squeezed them over a jug to remove the stones.

The pulp I got looked a lot like tinned tomatoes!

I ended up with 2 cups of the pulp, to which I added 2 cups of sugar and then simmered this in a pan for around an hour until it thickened to jam consistency.

Then poured it into an empty jar.

And voilà - a jar of Surinam Cherry Jam!

Hopefully this means that more than just me will eat these tasty cherries!

100 days ago I decided to challenge myself to 100 days of action. I wanted to 'use what I've got' - making use of the things I already have in the house - fabric, recipes games etc. I also worked on my blog to make use of all the resources I have developed here over the years and make them more accessible. I decided to post here on my blog every day for 100 days - and I did just that!

Here's some of what I've done and posted about over these past 100 days.

I did lots of Upcycling

School uniforms that have been waiting in my stash for a while, into teddy uniforms, fabric baskets and notebook covers.

Jeans and scrap fabric into 3 sizes of triangle pouches.

A koala mascot with capes for a hockey team, from old jeans, scraps and a pillowcase.

Mini Backpacks from Shorts

Plastic Lid Lamp.

Shared some Recipes

Bread and Butter Pudding.

Blue Macarons.

Extra moist Banana and Raisin Muffins.

Green Tomato Chutney.

Wrote 30 lessons in Blogging

Including posts about Google Adsense:

And using Google+

I shared more new sewing tutorials.

Carrot Pencil Case:

How to make a fabric yo-yo:

How to make a Personalised Fabric Bookmark:

A round up of all my pencil case tutorials:

And also made use of the beautiful corner of the world we live in...

Cairns:

I've also completed the #100happydays challenge - taking a photo a day for the past 100 days to show something that made me happy each day. I posted these pictures on Instagram - then through that shared them on both Facebook and Twitter.

So was it a successful challenge?

Definitely a success for me!

I really found that having a challenge and a focus with a specific time helped me stay focussed and get things done.

Looking back here I can see that I achieved a lot.

There have been busy and quiet times over the past 100 days. Some times I've felt like I'm achieving lots but others have felt flat. I think it's important to remember there are both ups and downs and not to get too bogged down or disheartened by the 'bad days' ! Looking back over a longer time period helps you put things in perspective!

What's next?

My focus for the immediate future is my new e-book of patterns which is almost ready for release. This is something I've been working on for the past few months and I'm very proud of. I'm now just adding the final touches and working out my launch plan. So watch this space for that!

I won't now be posting every day, although sometimes I might. I've got so many projects and ideas to work through - upcycles, tutorials, stash busters and lost more learning about blogging.

The challenge to

Use What You've Got

is ongoing. I think most of us don't make the most of things we already have and instead look too much to getting something new all the time. So this is going to be a constant theme for me in what I do and blog about.

I do so love a good challenge - and am already thinking on the next one to bring things into focus and keep me accountable!

What challenges have you set yourself?

Day 98, Use What You've Got

Making the most of opportunities while my parents are here. I got up bright and early this morning with my husband and we went out for a nice long 2 hour trail run up in the hills.

Having my parents here to take care of our kids is rare treat for us to have a chance to do some trail running together. I also got to try out my new trail runners - which did look a lot brighter before 2 hours on dusty trails!

Hope you're all making the most of your weekend!

Jill

Presents! Day 96, Use What You've Got

Yesterday my parents arrived from England for a visit. They brought presents with them! Lucky us!!

My favourite was the one shown in the picture above. Can you guess what it is?

A pair of 'floor cleaning slippers'!

So I can 'skate' around on the tiles and clean as I go! So much fun! My girls love them too.

They also brought out a chocolate cookbook I remember from my childhood:

This book is now my daughter's as she loves to bake chocolate things. I remember making these chocolate domino biscuits when I was a kid!

Yummy! Can't wait till my daughter starts baking things from this book!

Mum and Dad also brought a box of the cereal my husband misses from the UK.

While presents are lovely, the real gift is having my parents here for a few short weeks. So nice to catch up with them and for the kids to get time to spend time with their grandparents!

Jill

Monster Pencil Case. Day 95, Use What You've Got

We have an upcoming fun night at our swim club for Halloween. I thought I'd make something to donate for the raffle - and what better than a monster pencil case!

I've made a couple before - one large one with teeth here and another like the one I made here (here's the tutorial)

I found some fur and black fabric from my stash and whipped this up in no time!

I also found a monster stationery set in my stash - so that will complement the pencil case well I think!

Do you make things to donate for raffles and fundraisers? I have so much fabric in my stash that it's the perfect way for me to 'do my bit' - and I enjoy it too!

AND it helps me in my challenge to "Use What I've Got!"

Jill

Day 94, Use What You've Got - a new tutorial brewing

Over the past few months I've been working on a new BIG sewing tutorial, that is going to be part of an e-book I'm hoping to release by the end of this month.

It's an idea that's been in my head for a long time, and it's my major project for my 'use what you've got challenge'.

It's very exciting to see it all come together!

My pattern was sent to some fabulous pattern testers who did their job amazingly well and I had copious notes to read through and consider.

Yesterday I completed the final pattern, making one last bag to check everything.

So now comes the ebook - putting it all together and adding more written parts.

Then more learning on how to launch and sell an ebook!

I'm enjoying the whole process, learning heaps and I'm excited about it being so close to finishing.

I've put so much time and effort into this, I want it to be the best it can be!

Watch this space - it's coming soon!!!

Jill

Earl Hill, day 91, Use What You've Got

My current challenge to 'use what you've got' has inspired us as a family to make the most of where we live.

Last Monday was a public holiday here in Queensland. We decided to have a walk up Earl Hill which is up at the beaches, just half an hours drive from our house, yet in 10 years living here we'd never been up this hill!

The view from the top was gorgeous!