Actually, I was crafty long before I was a Mum. As a child I was forever drawing patterns, mixing concoctions in the bathroom (much to my parents chagrin) and making things out of cardboard boxes. It was the 80’s, and if I wanted to play a computer game, I had wait for the cassette tape to load or type in the code manually! So, when I wasn’t up a tree or riding a bike, I made things. I made things from teabag boxes or packets. I used to make things for my Dad to put on his desk at work. I remember making him a green pencil caddy with a picture frame on the front from a box. It was probably rubbish but it was put pride of place amongst all the other bits of rubbish I’d refashioned.
Dad, bless him, wasn’t that creative. Mum on the other hand was, and still very much is, a creative force to be reckoned with. Well before it was trendy to up-cycle furniture, I remember Mum breaking an electric bread knife whilst cutting down a kitchen table (yes, using it as an electric saw) to change it into a coffee table. She made cube boxes for Lego and toys from coated canvas long before IKEA thought of it. She recovered sofas and made her own clothes, to name the mere tip of the creative iceberg that is her mind. A Pattern Cutter by trade she has CAD downloaded into her brain. I have a little of that, I see stuff before it comes into being and will throw caution to the wind and have go most of the time.
I make stuff. I believe in the power of paint, will paint furniture even upholstery and though I don’t share her talent on a sewing machine I can neatly hand stitch most things. I adore slow stitching it soothes and inspires me. My Mr is creative, creative with tech and can make or fix virtually anything given the right YouTube video to watch before hand. He takes beautiful photos.
All of this creativity has become incredibly handy for our lives together. Here we are in Cambridge, one of the most expensive places to live in England, and I have been made redundant. I have secured work but at a lower rate of pay. We were managing to rent and save, but not quite buy before COVID (at time of writing it’s September 2020), but now I’m facing a massive drop in salary and our creativity is needed more than ever.
So, my plan is to use the creativity given to me to better our lives whether we regain lost income or not. This means using what we have and taking care of our resources, sentiments we held to before because of thrift and the environment, but now we need more than ever. There were thoughts of moving us to a shared ownership, but the world changed, so now we have to be content with where we are and make the best of it. That’s a challenge we as a family are very much capable of rising to!
This is were Jam in the City comes in, we can “just about manage” and we can “just about make” life better together! Jam in the City is about rising to that creative challenge that life might throw at us. I want this space to help others by being a creative reference or inspiration point for others who find themselves in strained circumstances and strange times. Hopefully, there will be renters inspiration to make your rented space your home. Home is where you and your loves are, not dependant on some notion of ownership! Or, perhaps you own your own place but still need thrifty inspiration to make a handmade home that’s unique to you. Join with me as I wrestle with my crumbling corner of Cambridge to continue to make it into a handmade collected home. A home that is uniquely formed to my family and our needs. Hopefully, most posts will have a video accompanying it to give more detailed and personal inspiration.
I’m also in the process of putting together “The Vintage Button”, my little virtual shop on mademe.co.uk/shop/the-vintage-button. This space will have pretty little bits made by me that might be of use to you! I love to slow stitch little things and my small shop will be filled with my stitch makes, kits and notions.
So, here’s my first post out into a world without a pin or any real knowledge of SEO. I’m hoping it will find you and you will read and find value from it! If you do find any value pop a comment below and introduce yourself, let’s connect. Let’s encourage each other to get our own jam on, whatever is going on in the world.
Jam in the city 