Every bit of this site is gorgeous, and the products just beautiful. ♥

www.zu.bigcartel.com

It is the beginning of a very fresh new phase for us, and is going to make blogging here at The Style Tree very interesting. ♥

www.dan300.com.au

First you must master the art of sterilizing your jars.

Clean your empty jars and lids with hot soapy water and dry with paper towel. Line a tray with foil. Place the jars face down with the lids beside them and put in a hot oven for about 15 mins. Take jars out of the oven and let them cool.

Once you have taken the jam off the stove and it looks to be setting with a jelly like texture, it is ready for pouring into the jars.

Pour the jam into the jars and close the tops.

Your jam will look a bit like this ….. ♥

Part 2 looks pretty simple, but my experience has shown me that every saucepan of potential jam cooks differently. Its dependent on the weather, the moisture, the saucepan and type of ingredients and the chemical makeup of your raw ingredients. So when going through this process, watch the pot closely, if you see a colour change, turn off the heat its too far gone, and don’t leave the room while its cooking.

One of the tips I still stand by is to start off with the heat lower than higher and invest in a cooking or sugar thermometer, they can be helpful. *once a jam or marmalade in the cooking process hits a temperature of 105C (221F) its at setting temperature.

Stay tuned tomorrow we will cover a few things like – sterilizing your jam jars and how to tell when you jam is truly set. ♥

lets start at the very beginning.. a very good place to start…

The Ingerdients

• caster sugar
• raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• strawberries
• white peach
• yellow nectarine
• 1 lemon
• note : for every 500 grams of fruit (fresh or frozen) use 1.5 cups of sugar and 3 tablespoons of lemon (this is a good ratio to work by)

When choosing your jam combo the best way to look at it is to work out what you know is going to taste good as a cooked fruit. A jam is usually made with a bit of lemon or lime, as the pectin in the citrus fruit forms a chemical reaction enabling the jam to set.

♥ Learning to make jam is a bit of hit and miss.. or shall we say ‘trial & error’ but once you have the hang of it, you can make many different variations and try lots of things. Each season brings new ideas, summer fruit is the most popular but sometimes a winter fruit like persimmon and kiwi can see you come up with a beautiful condiment to have with fresh yogurt or with a bowl of freshly toasted muesli. Its not just about spreading over a thick piece of toast and butter. Its so much more…….

Lets look what we have below (picture)….. this recipe was a simple case of Fresh (or frozen) raspberries, some fresh lemon and sugar.

On tomorrows style tree post

Part 2 – cooking the fruit and sugar to perfection…….♥

The Style Tree luckily can be updated and researched from anywhere in the world, which is why these days so many people are continuing to work from home. ♣

If I had to do it again, I think I would have one of these amazing office pods, or mobile offices. Designers have pioneered the home office idea, researched the needs of the potential occupant  and taken it to a new level.♥

images courtesy of – room envy, workalicious

What is the name of your business?  Little Paper Lane, www.littlepaperlane.com.au

When did you launch your business?  May 2010

How did you choose your name for the business? Well since I was little, I have always called things ‘little’ as in….be back in a  ’little minute’ or “is a little bit cute” its always just been in my vocab, and then when i was thinking of names we wanted something cute, and naturally the word ‘Little’ needed to be in cluded and after many weeks of mixing words together and flipping them around Little Paper Lane was born!

How many years have you been operating in your field/career?  My first jobs were in retail when I started working part time at 14yrs, and while I was trying to work out what I wanted to do in the world I always worked in retail as I have always loved chatting with customers and I managed a few shops including jewelry and fashion, but I have always been drawn to colour and obsessed with stationery. My mum said when ever I was asked what I wanted for birthday gifts, I always said, lots of stationery! So after 10 years of being a make up artist Part time as well as Nannying, travelling and starting a family, My dreams were set in stone.. well I think its actually some sort of concrete  & bricks our building, and Little Paper Lane was born after 6 months of collecting products and researching products and getting the shop together from when I decided I HAD to open…it still amazes me when I see it!! I LOVE my little shop of happy!

What is the favourite part of what you do?  Finding new products for the shop and building the relationships we have with customers and suppliers. Its not like a huge megastore where u never ever know the owners or CEO’s, we get to know everyone every day!

What did you study if you did, if not what other jobs have you had that have prepared you for your current venture? Being the sagittarius that I am, I like adventure..and this means I have studied so many things! I studied Entertainment with Drama And Music, and after I decided that I wasnt going to win any  Oscars, I studied Make up, which I have always loved, and I think the colour side of Make up has influenced everything we do with the shop and designing. Ive also studied travel, which has helped with buying trips (really I am an excellent traveller) I love to plan a holiday haha, and I have started probably 3 interior design courses in my life which Im still yet to finish…whoops… but I dream of interiors and wish with all my heart it was something that came more naturally to me. Being passionate about interiors has been helped by my magazine addiction. Keeping up with trends in the industry which is so important when owning a business that prides itself on selling unique products! and the esthetics of the store! I believe everything I have done has had a small part in helping to create Little Paper Lane. ♥

Where are you located?  The Store is located in Mona Vale, Sydney. Shop 5/1 Waratah Street (corner of Pittwater Road) and the web store is available to the world

How many hours a day would you say you work?  Well right now its hard to say, as we have a 5 year old and a 10 week old, so I am kind of trying to work as much as possible but my little sugar plum likes to be held a lot in the day and is AWAKE a lot. Steve (Leeder) is working in the shop and My mum works two days as well. I am focused on the back end right now! Social networking seems to be a pretty full time job. Before Minty (the 10 week old) I would probably work 8:30am-11:30pm/12:30 with a few breaks in between to do Mum jobs like Dinner and cuddles for Iggy…but Cleaning is left for the husbo to look after. ♣

What was the most rewarding thing that has happened in your career so far?  Oh so many things! Just seeing the shop open was the most exciting day ever! After so much hard work to get it to that stage it was such an acheivement! And customers coming back is seriously all we can ask for, its a great feeling!

Name your top 3 online stores or blogs/sites? and why? www.littlepaperlane.com.au cos they have the BEST stationery ever ♥!  Pinterest….SO MUCH INSPIRATION. The Design Files, www.thedesignfiles.net for constant inspiration and really exploration! There iare always so many new things to see and new sites to visit, designers and products – its just like Xmas for the design world every post!

Who is your mentor and why?  I don’t have a mentor, but there are a few woman that I really admire and look up to! My Mum firstly, is just amazing! she always has been! She has her own little business that she is growing, and is so talented www.sweetnpretty.com.au creating beautiful cookies and cakes and sweet things, also adding to her incredible skills she is a caligrapher, mum, book keeper, chef, and the best GG to my babies and my niece and now an amazing merchandiser! She pretty much has been merchandising the shop herself for the last year as I was bed bound with my pregnancy!  A few other inspirational woman would be Mia Freeman and Paula Joye, both have just continued to amaze me with how they constantly transform their businesses and how well they present themselves to the world, and I really enjoy what they both have to say!

If you could meet anyone in the world alive or passed who would it be and what would you ask them?  Drew Barrymore. I am a movie/tv gal. And I admire her! I have loved her since ET when I was 3 and love that she has succeeded through such yuckky times! She just keeps going and just keeps smiling…and it seems real! I honestly do not know what I would ask? probably “hey, how are you” and then I would faint! I wish I had some question that would inspire and ponder the thoughts, but honestly, I would be totally starstruck and I would probably vomit and laugh and cry at the same time….all while trying to be cool!

What is your favourite colour? aqua green colours but I love pinks, and I am OBSSESSED with Fluro…I always have been but especially right now!

What is your favourite era – design &/or fashion wise? I have to say right now, Im loving the world as is! Design, fashion, stationery, everything is just completely how I want it to be!  I actually keep telling myself all the time, how freaking awesome is this era! I think its the  Fluro trend, with Dashes of industrial, vintage and throw in some Sass & Bide sequins, and Bassike tops and Make up is right up my ally, with Matt bright lips and everything about now, is just so ‘right’! Home,Fashion,Make up, Gift….everyone is just making more of an effort it seems with everything they do… it feels like more personality is being put into products and packaging, I just love it…its a good time to be in this world!

What is your favourite place in the world?  My couch for living, New York for travel/work, The internet for pinterest, Avalon my community!

What is your goal for your business/blog/book in the next 12 months?  I really hope to get the business out in the world more! Spread the word. I so badly wish to find more time in the day to be able to blog more! To develop the web store more, and be ‘out there’ more! I dont want anyone to miss out on LPL. Its such a lovely place to visit and everyone should get that experience!

If you could be a vintage dress or outfit – which one would you be?  (this one is just for s a bit of fun) is the 80′s considered vintage yet? Probably a few of Madonna’s outfits would have to be on the list?! Or Barbie and the Rockers outfits…or GEM OMG Im such a sucker for fluro and 80′s.

And for more fun – if you were a cartoon or super hero who would it be….? I would be wonderwoman mixed with Brian from family guy with a little bit of Stewie Griffin thrown in! Super heros should be hilarious yet sexy. ♥

Stay tuned, tomorrow we will have our interview with Jayde Leeder of Little paper Lane ♠

VOYAGER creator Kerrie Golias spent many years traversing the world working as a model in the fashion industry. Each of the candles is inspired by and named after gardens encountered on her travels: AUGUSTO, IMPERIAL, BELLEVILLE, ALEXANDRA and TIRTA.

Our Style Tree tested fragrance was IMPERIAL aka TOKYO a wonderful blend of hearty fragrances like Ginger, Clove and Tonka Bean balanced out with some clean fresh touches of vanilla and Anise.

VOYAGER’S exclusive fragrances are blended by one of Australia’s finest perfumers and are designed to be unlike any others – subtle, elegant, complex – fragrances to live and journey with.

Technical details - Housed in distinctive and re-usable double-walled glasses, which create a stunning floating effect not seen in any other candle, the VOYAGER range is hand-poured and non-toxic, contains no palm wax or paraffin, and is clean and long burning (+/-60 hours). ♥

For more details head to ♣ www.voyagercandles.com

So many wonderful finds, Im still not sure which one to go with but Im partial to the ecru heavy cable knitted one. ♥

♠ images extracted from etsy site – www.etsy.com ♣