So my beautiful niece turned 3 last week! As part of my new trying to blog about different subjects and things I enjoy doing I have done a little blog post about my week of making and baking........, making and baking a Chuggington Birthday cake for Scarlett as she is obsessed with TRAINS!!!

Scarlett at The National Railway Museum

First of all I had to look at the characters as to be honest I was a bit unsure of who Chuggington was! Scarlett made sure I knew all the characters and the names after a lovely afternoon of playing choo choos and saving them from the wibbly wobbly bridge.... I think I may have enjoyed that game more than she did.

So first of all I drew up a plan of how I wanted the cake to look, I set about  the week before the party modelling the different train charcters for the cake! This part was much easier and more enjoyable than I thought it would be! The worst part which is normally the easiest part was the baking of the cake.... sadly the first cake crumbled and had to bake a whole new one.

For the cake I used my all time favourite chocolate cake recipe from Primrose bakery cook book... I have to say half way into melting 600g of 70% coco chocolate I did think this cake is far too good for small children!

If you are stuck for a recipe for chocolate cake try this one from Primrose bakery! it is scrummy!

Recipe 
Ingredients
230g 70% chocolate
170g unsalted butter, at room temp
350g light soft brown sugar
3 large eggs, separated
370g plain sifted flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp bicarb
1/2 tsp salt
500ml semi-skimmed milk, at room temp
2 tsp good quality vanilla extract

Method
Pre heat oven to 170c (fan),190c/375f/gas mark 5. Grease and line two 20cm cake tins with greaseproof paper.

Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a microwave-safe bowl, melt on a medium setting in 30-second bursts until completely melted, stirring well in between. 

In a large mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until its pale and smooth, which should take 3-5 mins using a electric hand mixer. Put the egg yolks in a separate bowl and beat for several mins, slowly add the egg yolks to the butter mixture and beat well. Add the chocolate to this mix and beat again.

combine the flour,baking powder, bicarb and salt in a separate bowl. Combine the milk and vanilla in a jug, add one third of the flour to the creamed mix and beat well, pour in one third of the milk mix and beat again, repeating these steps until all the flour and milk has been added.

In a clean bowl whisk the egg whites,with clean beaters, until soft peaks start to form. Carefully fold in the egg whites to the batter using a metal spoon.(do not beat as this will take out all the air). divide between tins and bake for 30 mins. Insert a skewer in the middle if it comes out clean its done.

Leave in the tins for a few minutes and then empty out on to a cooling rack. 

As Scarlett is just like her mummy and daddy and a chocolate monster of cause the cake had to have chocolate butter cream as well! 

Leave the cake to cool completely before adding your chocolate butter cream. 

Recipe 
350g 70% dark chocolate
225g unsalted butter, at room temp
1tbsp semi-skimmed milk
1tsp vanilla extract, good quality
250g icing sugar, sifted

Method 
Melt the chocolate in a bowl in the microwave until smooth and a thick pouring consistency. Keep stirring in between to avoid burning the chocolate. Leave to cool slightly.

Beat the butter, sugar, milk and vanilla with an electric hand beater in a bowl until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat until thick and creamy.

So here are a few images of the process and the end product!




I made her a little cake topper with the Chuggington logo and her name on Photoshop, I just printed this out onto card cut it out and stuck it to some cocktail sticks.

Here are some lovely pictures taken by Paul 

I always find it really hard to decide what to write about when blogging, I try to think about the things I like to read in blogs, Lifestyle, Fashion, Baking, thoughts and aspirations.

How can I start placing these topics in my blog. Blogging can be a difficult thing as it is sort of a window into your life, I always find it hard to decide what people would like to hear about and what I want people to know about me. So I am slowly going to try and place more things I like to read in blogs on my blog and also start share a little bit of the life and workings of Jodie Anna! And to start this I am going to share with you some corners of my home!

 I live in a small 18th Century terrace house in a sleepy village in West Yorkshire,

along with my bearded husband Paul one half of Stott and Atkinson photography and our imaginary pug, I say imaginary as I really want one!!!! and I am slowly talking Paul round! I love our little house and always try to put our tastes around us to keep us both inspired, I love to collect a range of things some people may see it as hoarding! but I love to be surrounded by objects that make me smile and keep me inspired. I collect objects and keep objects that mean something to me and hold memories. Here are a few shots of the corners of our house,








In these few shots I have included a sneak peak at my passion for collecting 1950's/60's ceramic animals and old cameras! along with my clock which is very special to me as it was the last Christmas present from my late Grandma Mabel and a little picture of my dressing table..... which Paul is wanting me to sell..... NOOOO!!!

Well thank you for reading and joining me on my new journey to start blogging more about what I like and what I am about.

It's taken a bit of time but it is finally here..... well the first instalment, The new Circus range. So far we have our Tattooed strong man brooch £13.95, Circus bear brooch £13.95 and Circus Giraffe Necklace! £19.95 And they all come in their very own big top tent! All our new Circus items have been printed onto 3mm think birch wood and then laser cut, we have also carefully added layers to each piece to create a more 3D affect

This week I made the trip up to Hexam to visit one of my oldest friends and her Tearooms 'The Garden Station'. Phillipa and her family have been running the tearoom for about 3 years now but this is the first chance I have had to visit and it didn't disappoint!


 Set in the stunning rural surroundings of Langley on Tyne is this hidden gem, an old railway station that is now a tearoom. Driving up the winding road you come across a sign for 'The Garden Station' which leads underneath an old railway bridge where you are presented with the original Station cottage which Phillipa, her lovely husband and little boy now live.



Behind the cottage is the old ticket office where the tearoom is now housed and where the trains once ran through is a stunning walk way leading to the gardens and woods which even still have the original platforms!

In every corner of The Garden Station you can see Phillipas hard work and vision coming through to create a vintage inspired space, Teacups, Cake stands, Vintage cases, an old shed transformed into a 1950's style ice cream bar..... I was in heaven! As well as the tearooms there are the surrounding gardens and woodlands, so we went for a walk through the old railway bridges where Phillipa has her very own vegetable patch and small pond full of frogs!

After a good nosey around we were ready for some yummy Afternoon tea! We had a selection of errrmm basically every cake in the tearoom! yum yum! The chocolate orange cake was divine and we even had the chance to sample some new bakes :-) Chocolate chip and peanut butter shortbreads! As well as a tearoom you can get married at The Garden station! If you are looking for an alternative/unusual wedding venue with a vintage twist this is the place to-do it! I wish I was getting married again!





We had an amazing day at The Garden Station and catching up with Phillipa, I wish this place was closer to home! I’d be there all the time, if you are ever up that way be sure to take a trip to the tearooms.

Nail transfers how to! So A little while ago I posted a Blog post about my new nail transfers and promised a ‘How to’ Blog post, so here it is finally. They are really easy to use and don't require been placed in water beforehand like some Nail transfers, simply cut around the shape and peel off the backing paper. So step one make sure your nails are clean and dry, you can place the transfers onto nude nails or to add a bit of colour use a nice pale colour just so the transfer stands out more, I used baby pink and baby blue and these colours worked really well with the transfers. (Just make sure your nail varnish is completely dry before applying the transfer). Then carefully cut around the nail transfer you wish to place on your nail

Once you have cut around the image you need to carefully remove the backing paper, you then effectively have a sticker, try to make sure the sticky side doesn’t stick to your fingers and get caught. A good tip to removing the backing paper is to peel them off with some small manicure scissors. Once you have removed the backing paper place them on your nails, if they are not in the right position you can carefully reposition them. Once in place just go over them with a top coat! Simple! And to remove them just place them in warm soapy water. The Nail transfers have been very popular and will be featured in this year’s Not On The High Street Christmas catalogue! They are the perfect stocking filler! And watch out for some Christmas themed nail transfers. The Nail transfers are currently available in four designs! Afternoon tea, Rule Britannia, Great British biscuit and nautical. Each pack contains 36 transfers with a mix of 4/5 designs and cost £3.75 you can purchase them from my online store!