Eleni

Thank You

Thank you so much to everyone for your congratulations and well wishes. We are very excited about our new addition and feel so blessed and fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family to share this news with.

Today, it is snowing again :( and we are feeling a bit under the weather, but it's ok, I will make us some soup and we will curl up with some books and look forward to the day when spring really is here.  We can spend some time in the sandbox, and water table, blowing bubbles and exploring the backyard.  By the way, the official first day of spring is March 20th, which happens to be my birthday as well!  Sorry - had to slip that in!  But check out that link for some fun crafty ideas to do on that day.  Until then though I'll be dreaming about the day that these pop their precious little heads out.  Ahhh, the wonderful first signs of spring.

Pop quiz

Can you guess what these three things have in common?

Well if you happened to guess, "Helena, you are using Anna Maria's Chocolate Lollipop fabric, McCalls #3341, and that stretchy panel to make a MATERNITY skirt."  Well then you guessed right!  That;s right peeps, we are expanding our clan and adding another monkey to this brood on or around August 30th of this year! Lots to do, lots to do!

Sunday Blues

trying to beat em with a little spring!

Studio Friday - The Heart of Your Creative Space

"Where or what is the heart of your studio/creative space? Is it your desk or maybe a special piece of furniture, a window, a piece of art on the wall, your idea board, or one of your tools, a jar with ribbons on the shelf...? "

Well, I guess the heart of my space would have to be where I park my ass.

Here's a picture of my ass holder, really though, you have no idea how excited I was to buy this chair and make the seat cushion.  I really was inspired after seeing Heather Bailey's Studio, to try and rework some of the stuff I have in my space.  Funny thing is, I have champagne tastes with a beer pocketbook, soooo I chose to purchase a chair from the unfinished wood store, and finish it myself.  Then I made it a fancy, one-of-a-kind seat cushion.  I'll tell ya, that chair is pretty damn comfy and without it, how the heck would I sit and sew?  I know I could get another one but it really wouldn't be as special as this, and really it's all about being and feeling special.  Hoping your weekend is special! 

Have a great one peeps

One down

Here is Kara's bag, just a few more to go and I am finally caught up! 

A little pressing, wrapping and sending and this baby is out the door.  This is the first time I've used this fabric, usually this rather subdued piece gets lost in the heaps of this, this, and this.  I'm glad though that someone saw it in the piles and picked out the underdog!  I hope you enjoy your bag Kara.

Dinner Challenge :: Olive and Butter Slathered Lamb Loins over Orzo

I don't know if you've all gotten a chance to check out Carrie's new blog called Dinner Challenge, but it's a great idea.  I guess she, like many of us, found herself scrambling at dinner time, running out last minute, spending way too much on groceries, etc, etc.  Finally, she decided to do something about it and is posting new recipes on this blog called dinner challenge.  Since I am on this whole new "being organized" kick I figured what the heck, I'll play along, dinner can be a struggle for me just like anyone else, so I'm giving it a whirl baby. 

Here's what I made tonight:

 

You ready for the super duper easy recipe?  The orzo is changed up a bit from the original recipe in Rachel Ray - 365 No Repeats, but the lamb is pretty much on point.  By the way, I really rarely use measurements and it's mostly because I know how each one of these ingredients tastes and I know my own preferences, so I am sorry for no measurements, but it's all about experimenting and having fun while cooking right?

For the Lamb:

4 lamb loin chops

UNSALTED butter - maybe like 2 tablespoons

olive tapanade (either green or black, I prefer black)  - around 3 tablespoons

s&p

EVOO

lemon juice

For the Orzo:

box of orzo

chop up a tomato

feta cheese ( I buy the big hunk and cut it up myself, because I like bigger hunks than the "crumbles")

black olives, kalamata

EVOO

red wine vinegar

s&p

a little parsley if you've got it on hand, if not, don't sweat it.

Of course, your libation of choice, tonight was a Malbec.

Ok- now that you've got all the stuff together

turn on your broiler and boil some salted water.

once the water is boiled, cook orzo as the box indicates, get out a bowl, mix up the feta, olives, tomatoes and drizzle with a bit of EVOO and a splash or two of  red wine vinegar, also season it a bit with some s&p.  Once the orzo is done, drain and add it to that bowl, taste and adjust seasonings

mix up the butter and olive tapanade, you can soften the butter first to get it to mash together easier

while the broiler heats up, get out that slotted broiler pan that came with the oven, drizzle each chop with the EVOO, s&p.  Once it's heated put it under the broiler for 3 mins a side for medium rare (what I do).  Pop them out of the oven after you've cooked each side, squeeze a bit of lemon juice on each chop and slather the butter/tapanede mixture

Plate up the orzo, pop the lamb chop up on top and enjoy!!!!

I also wanted to share a little getting organized tip, that actually makes my life (or at least dinner time) easier.  I decided this year that every day of the week would be dedicated to a certain food for dinner - so Monday is pasta (alright I veered tonight with the lamb, but my hubby really wanted it), Tuesday is soup and sandwich with salad, Wednesday is Chicken, Thursday is pizza, and Friday is steak or something grilled.  So with that framework in mind, I look through my cookbooks for recipes that fit, I make my list based on those recipes and when I go to the supermarket I try not to overbuy (unless it's a sale) and really try to stick to the list because I always forget what the hell is buried in my freezer.  So far it's been working out alright, we've tried new things and I feel as though I have a handle on dinner sometimes.  Just my little tip, hope it helps.  Buon appetito!

New Month, new adventure, new recurring topic!

Have you guys ever been here?  This is a cool site that lists topics for artists to talk about and explore their studio.  So every Friday (hopefully) you can come here, and see the topic and read what I've written, because I still do have a studio, I still do sew, and I still want to share that with you! 

So here's this week's topic:

" Dictionary.com defines a pet peeve as, "a particular and often continual annoyance; personal bugbear, something about which one frequently complains; a particular personal vexation."
Could be fun to research pet peeves while in the studio! What's your pet peeve and why?"

For me, besides clutter, it is too many works in progress.  Right now, here's a peek:

First, a WIP that's been going on for about a year now, it's a quilt for my son, made out of sock mokey fabric by moda, this is a crappy picture from the summer don't know what the hell went on with the camera, but it's in a bag under my sewing machine.  Ladies who quilt regularly, this is no joke I can't believe how much work goes into one of these things, I have to hand it to you.  This is my first quilt and hopefully it will be completed in time for my grandchildren.

 

Second, here's something else I always do, I make bags and never finish them, all these guys need is the inside sewn up, but for some strange reason I have an aversion to it.  Just to be clear, no one has ordered these bags, but I figured I put them on the site under ready made, but here they are still sitting in my sweatshop since the summer. I'm such a good businesswoman.  If anyone wants to know, I modified amy butler's swing bag pattern and added that little flap.  It came out cute, some of her patterns are huge, but this one seemed a decent size.  The other bag is my own creation of a diaper bag, maybe I should just use it?  Oh and it's not just these two, I've got loads of bags half made, some are experiments of new designs and color combos, some are just like these two down here.  It's like a graveyard of bags in some areas of the sweatshop. 

 

Oh on a totally unrealated note, I have a new lens coming to me today.  It's supposed to be a great starter lens, so I am wicked excited about it.  I can't wait to start snapping away this weekend, I will see you back here next week, enjoy your weekend, there's snow in our forecast -blah!