It’s getting to that time of year when fruits are ripening and I need to get out my preserving pan. This week I’ve been busy making 19lbs of blackcurrant jam using fruit picked from our own bushes. I love it spread on dry toast so there’s nothing to compete with the rich flavour of the jam. Of course I do gift some jars and for that I like to create special wraps like this one.

JAR WRAP AND SEASONAL LABEL

To start I cut a 3″ wide strip from one of the purplish abstract designs in the Perennial Essence 12″ x 12″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. I wrapped it around the jar and secured it with Tear & Tape Adhesive. Then I wrapped a piece of Petal Pink 5/8″ Organdy Striped Ribbon around the DSP and secured that at the back too.

Next I stamped the sentiment from the First Frost Stamp Set onto a piece of Very Vanilla Card using Old Olive ink.

One last bit of inking was required before I could move onto the next stage. So using a Sponge Dauber I lightly tapped Old Olive ink onto a piece of Old Olive Card. Then I was ready to cut my embellishments using the Frosted Bouquet Dies

BLACKCURRANT BERRIES

First I cut out the stamped sentiment using the larger label die from the Frosted Bouquet set. Then I used the same die to cut out some Calypso Coral Card, however this time I also placed the fine label die inside it. This gave me a pretty frame that I attached to the sentiment using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

Next I cut out two sets of leaves from my inked Old Olive Card and set them aside.

Then from Rich Razzleberry Card I die-cut one of the berry sprigs. The colour of the card reminded me of the berry stems but I had a plan to step it up a little.

First I wiped the die-cut berry stem with an Embossing Buddy to remove any oils and static. Then I pressed each berry onto the surface of my VersaMark ink pad using the large scoring attachment from my Take Your Pick Tool. Once that was done I sprinkled the sticky ink with Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Finally I melted the remaining powder using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Now I had a stem of shiny ripe berries and used liquid glue to attach it to the front of the sentiment piece. Then I layered one of the leafy stems along the bottom of the sentiment, and fixed the other one to the back.

To finish I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to attach the completed sentiment to the front of my blackcurrant jam jar and it’s ready to give away.

BLACKCURRANT JAM RECIPE

I’ve been using the same no-pectin blackcurrant jam recipe for years and am happy to share it with you. I got 9-1/2lbs of blackcurrant jam using this recipe, and then made a second batch.

• Wash and remove the stalks from 5lbs blackcurrants. Place in a large heavy-bottomed pan with 4 pints of water and simmer for several hours until the skins are tender and about half the water has evaporated.
• Add 4 tablespoons of lemon juice and 8-1/2lbs white sugar to the pan and stir into the fruit. Continue to simmer and stir continuously until all the sugar has completely dissolved.
• Boil until the jam has thickened to your liking (test the jam by placing a little onto a cold saucer).
• Fill mason jars with the hot jam and process for 10 minutes.

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