Avant-Garde Grand Opening

I joined a congo on Hyena Cart and we are having our Grand Opening on June 15th. Lots of great stuff to see at the Avant-Garde Congo. If you have never been to Hyena Cart - I highly recommend checking out some of the shop. Of course, save your purchasing for June 15th. *wink*wink*





I will be posting sneak-peeks as to what I will be listing as the time gets closer. But you can also check out our blog to find out all kinds of info on the Congo and if you live in the Pacific Northwest and would like to join - you are more than welcome!

New Recipe Wednesday

My youngest spiked a fever last night - all the way up to 103.4. Praise God for motrin which finally sent the fever packin'. She is mostly fine this morning, the only residual symptom is her voice is gone. Have no idea what she was exposed to that would cause this.

But anyway, when kiddos are sick you are supposed to stick to the B.R.A.T. diet of bread, rice, applesauce and toast (is that right? did I get the acronym right?) Not all of us where sick and I really hate making two different meals. I decided to make a meal surrounding rice - plain white rice and it had to be gluten-free so we could all eat it. What goes good with rice? Chicken! And I happened to have a whole chicken in my fridge, all thawed out and ready to eat.

Here is my favorite recipe for a whole chicken!

Lemon Rosemary Chicken

Ingredients

1 whole chicken
2 lemons
Fresh rosemary (or dried if thats all you have
Pepper
Salt


Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Rinse off whole chicken and discard anything that grosses you out from inside the cavity of said chicken - save and use for later if it doesn't gross you out! Place whole chicken inside a Reynolds Oven Bag (love these things!). Sprinkle with pepper and salt (I don't normally use the salt but some people use it, Lemon Pepper Seasoning also works well). Cut one lemon in half and squeeze juice over chicken, rub all over chicken and place lemon halves inside chicken cavity. Cut second lemon into quarters and place inside bag next to chicken - one in each corner. Snip fresh rosemary and sprinkle tips around chicken, place a few sprigs inside chicken. If you are using dried rosemary, sprinkle on outside and place about 1 tsp inside chicken.

Seal up bag, cutting a few holes to vent. Stick in the meat thermometer and place bag in a roasting pan and then inside a 350 degree oven. Heat until chicken is 160 degrees then remove from oven, let stand until 165 degrees. Remove from bag (keeps the pan nice and clean!) and carve as desired.

Roasting the chicken in the bag keeps it nice and moist and traps all the flavors in. My kiddos devour this chicken, served with white rice and green beans. Even as sick as she was, my youngest managed a few bites.

Enjoy and Happy Wednesday!

Monday Market

Its a beautiful day here and my garden is starting to grow! Though my pumpkins aren't taking well to the current heat wave - I hope the nights are cool enough for them to survive. The girls are loving being able to see the strawberry flowers, watching the carrots and onions start to peek out of the dirt. Hopefully in the next few weeks, we will have a full-blown vegetable garden growing! If anything will be edible is a whole other issue. :-)

I have had several projects going on at once and of course there is never enough time in the day. Even though we have been home for nearly two months now - somehow there are still boxes left to be unpacked. 6 months gone somehow created so much extra stuff that doesn't fit in the house anymore. Unpacked 2 more boxes today - yea for me! Now if I could find someone who was willing to clean my house and cook for me so I could just work on sewing and bows, my life would be so much easier. But as it is, house-cleaning and meal-making and kiddo-wrangling tend to prevent me from getting as much sewing done as I would like. So I don't have much to show for the past few weeks of work.

My sister has some friends who are expecting their first little one in a few weeks. They know its a boy, name yet undecided or at least a secret (always a good idea in my opinion) and the hubby is really into sports. So I have created a cute little appliqued onesie and matching burp cloth. Its made with a super soft and yet fairly thin flannel. I have enough fabric left that I plan on making a similar set to list in my Etsy shop hopefully soon. My sister-in-law is also having a baby boy later this summer - her set will involve frogs. Fabric is on its way!

I also finished a lovely twirl dress that I had intended to sell in my Etsy shop - but my youngest loved it so much that I have decided to keep this one and will make a few more for my shop, later. Its on the to-do list, the very, very long to-do list. The ruffled capri pants don't fit her though, my poor girl has such a buddah belly that we can't get them snapped! So I plan on making an appliqued shirt to match the ruffled capri pants (they are upcycled from a pair of soft cordoroy pants) and those will be listed - another thing to add to the list!

I did finish up a gorgeous fabric flower bow to match this dress. This bow is listed in my Etsy shop and I think it turned out lovely. It will match any other dress or top I make using the Ginger Blossom line of fabric, including the twirl dress and the coming soon appliqued top and ruffled capri. They can even be worn by adults!

Thanks for looking and I hope you all have a great day! Enjoy the sunshine those of you who have it! :-)

Friday Favorites

Another Friday! Yippee! We have Family Date Nights on Fridays which my girls look forward to immensely - it means spending Friday evenings snuggling on the couch after a dinner of comfort-food watching a light-hearted movie. It also means two whole days of "daddy stays" which is also a wonderful thing to look forward too.

Since my girls are the biggest focus of my life lately - we are going back to little girl items for my Friday Favorites. This group of items comes from the EtsyMom Team - to see more items from EtsyMom, feel free to click on the box to the right!

I love doing my girls hair. When I was a little girl, I would spend hours brushing and styling my dolls hair - I even have a book on how to style doll hair. A nice chunk of the blogs to the right are hair-do blogs - I read those every morning to see what to do to my "live dolls" hair. Its because I love doing my girls hair, that I started making hairbows to begin with! This post will be all about hair, more specifically wool-felt hair clips. These are clips that I don't know how to do but boy are they adorable!

First is a lovely Matroyshka hair clip from Neskat. How cute are these?! They come is several colors and the little doll print is just adorable. The hand-stitching around the edges really finish the clip off. Check out the whole shop for so many choices in hair clips, pacifier clips, bracelets and more!

Second is a perfect pair of Minnie Mouse ears felt clips from PammyDawn's Shop. Maybe its because we are hoping to have a family vacation at Disneyland in July, maybe its because I have loved Disney all my life, maybe its because I still have mouse ears from when I was a kid and am feeling nostalgic - either way, I have to have these clips for my girls! They are just too cute for words! This shop is also filled with all kinds of goodies, the felt butterflies are just exquisite!

These wool felt flowers from Maya Papaya's Shop are perfect for spring and summer. The color options she has are fabulous! And she has just about any felt clip you ever possibly think of! Bumblebees, owls, kitty cats, apples, gold fish - you name it, chances are you could find it at Maya Papaya to put in your hair!

This pair of needle felted bobby pins from Julie Persons shop could be for my little ones or for me! Needle-felted wool is just amazing and this shop is filled with so many lovely items from hair accessories to necklaces to even sculptures and dolls! I had a hard time picking just one favorite! You have to see them to believe them.

And just for kicks - here is a sneak peek at a twirly dress I just finished and will be listing shortly much to my daughters chagrin.

Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend!

New Recipe Wednesday

Some of you may know, some of you may not. My 4 year old was diagnosed just after her second birthday with Celiac Disease. At first the thought of completely having to change her diet (and my own to some extent) just terrified me! So much of our diet contains wheat or gluten that I couldn't imagine doing without and then when I would go shopping and would find gluten in the strangest places (watch out for Modified Food Starch and Malted Barley Extract or Malt Flavoring!) that I thought it couldn't be done.

But lo and behold! over the past two years the food industry has really caught up finding ways to appeal to this particular niche market. Even as recently as last month, General Mills finally switched from using Malted Barley Extract to using Molasses so they could market their Rice Chex as Gluten-free. My mother found the greatest cookbook called The Gluten-Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg and we have used it extensively. So far there hasn't been a recipe in it that I haven't liked and because I don't want to feed my girl anything I wouldn't eat myself - I make sure to eat everything she does at least once.

Todays recipe for Biscuits comes from the Gluten-Free Kitchen. These biscuits are as light and fluffy as you can expect gluten-free breads can be. They are excellent with butter and honey on top or to use to dip into a soup - not a whole lot of flavor to eat by themselves.

Ingrediants
1/3 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Potato Starch
3/4 cup Corn Starch
1 3/4 teaspoonz xanthan gum
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar *I used a smidge more*
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt


Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Blend all ingrediants. Mix well to remove lumps. Dough will be very soft and sticky.

Roll out dough on a mediumly floured surface - be sure to use corn starch NOT flour! Roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out biscuits with 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter. (I used just a decent sized cup turned upside down). Place biscuits on a lightly greased cookie sheet (I used parchment paper).

Bake 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve warm! Serves not as many as the recipe says which is 6.


I served this last night with some leftover soup. We had 8 normal sized biscuits and 2 shrunken ones that the girls made themselves. Every single biscuit was eaten! It was a hit!

Memorial Day Special!

I have a special going on in my shop from now through Memorial Day!

I will be listing a few Patriotic Hairbows over the next few days (you can see the first one is listed in the Etsy Mini to the left). Each bow will ship for FREE with the purchase of any other item in my shop. AND if you spend $25 or more (including a Patriotic Bow) you will get 25% off the entire order!

Get ready for Memorial Day weekend or get a headstart on the 4th of July!

Friday Favorites - Mothers Day

Todays favorites are all going to be geared towards what I would love to get for Mothers Day - hint, hint Hubby, this post if for you! I know its too late to get any of these in time for Sunday, but keep the ideas in mind for next year or actually presents are always welcome, even a few days late for said holiday. Again all my favorites today are from Etsy shops. This group of Etsy shops are new to me and have really caught my eye this week!

Beacuase I can never have too many purses - the first item is a lovely every day purse from Bayan Hippo. The fabric is great and would work in so many ways! It can be dressed up or down depending on what the outfit is. I actually had another bag favorited for this entry - but it has sold already! So if this bag appeals to you - get it while you can as these bags are HOT! Hop to it Hubby!

Next on my must-have list is this fabulous daisy necklace from Kathryn Cole Jewelry. I am normally not a jewelry person - mostly because I am allergic to most of it (cry along with me here please!). But this necklace is so pretty! I could wear it with anything and I love the little swirl in the middle - so artisitc. Tons of compliments would be coming my way if I had this around my neck. Her whole shop is filled with great jewelry.

Third on my list is a trendy knitted scarf from Babbidge Patch. Its such an interesting scarf and I think thats quite an accomplishment to take an ordinary item and make it unique. And to put the cherry on top - ITS ON SALE!!!!! While you are scoping out the other items in her shop - be sure to take a gander on the knitted beanies for kiddos - she has some great designs!

And last, but certainly not least is the tasties item in my list. Frosted cookies! These almost-too-cute-to-eat (I said amost!) cookies are from Cake Box Cookies. Beautifully made and the frosting is perfect. There are ton of edible goodies in her shop - from Mom's day specials to wedding favors to birthdays. There are even cookies shaped like tea-cups - how cute is that?! Snatch up a dozen before I take them all!

Thanks for checking out todays favorites! And another congrats to Drama Queens Mum for winning the giveaway. Have a great weekend everyone and come back soon to see more items from Ellie-Jayne Designs!

And the Winner Is.........

Drama queens mum said...

Those are so cute. My daughter would love them. dramaqueensmum@gmail.com

May 7, 2009 7:02 AM

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The winner is Drama Queens Mum! Congratulations! I will email you with details later this morning.

Thanks to all who entered! Come back again the first Monday for next month for another great giveaway.

Like my new button?!

Isn't it pretty?! You have no idea how much trouble a tiny button can cause - I learned just how much this week!

I entered a giveaway on I Heart Bowheads (a woman after my own heart - who doesn't love bowheads?!?!) Her mom, of Computer Savvy Seniors, offered to make new buttons/banners for the winner. And then offered to make new buttons for all the entrants - little did she know what she was getting into. I think my button aged her twenty years, poor lady. But after much trial and error and frustration on all three ends - the sun shines brightly with my lovely new button that will be used as my avatar on all the websites I belong too now. She is so pretty!

Thank you so much ladies - I am forever in your debt!

Don't forget to enter my May Giveaway for a pair of double-layer toddler bows!!!

New Recipe Wednesday

I tried this recipe last week and loved it so much that we are having it again for dinner tonight! We are having company over and I hope its as big a hit with them as it was for my family last week.

Soy Ginger Salmon - found at allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound salmon fillets
• 1/3 cup brown sugar, divided
• 2 teaspoons lemon pepper, divided
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder, divided
• 1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, minced
• 1/3 cup orange juice

**I actually replaced the orange juice with equal parts Dry Sherry and Honey**

DIRECTIONS

1. Rub salmon with about 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Lightly sprinkle with lemon pepper and garlic powder; rub seasoning into fish.
2. Into a small saucepan set over medium heat, pour soy sauce and olive oil. Stir in ginger and remaining brown sugar, lemon pepper, and garlic powder. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, stir in orange juice.
3. Place fish and marinade into a resealable plastic bag, seal, and refrigerate overnight, or for at least 3 hours.
4. Preheat broiler. Place fish in a foil-lined baking pan. Reserve marinade.
5. Broil fish skin-side up, 2 minutes. Remove from oven, pull skin off with tongs. Baste with marinade, return to oven, and broil 2 minutes more. Turn fish, and broil until fish flakes easily, about 4 minutes. Remove from oven, and let sit 5 minutes before serving.

And since I can never seem to follow recipes correctly - instead of broiling the fish, I pan-seared it. This way I could use the marinade to create a thicker saucer to pour over the fish when it was finished. I served the salmon over rice, poured the sauce over the top and also served with steamed broccoli. Tonight we will be having asparagus as thats what was on sale!

Tastes great with a bottle of Chardonay! Enjoy!

I was featured!

There is a great new blog being started for those of us mommy's who have started their own businesses! She features a new person just about every day. Its very interesting to see just how many opportunities there are for moms to start up their own little company's - so much variety! We don't have to only look into Avon or Mary Kay or Party Lites.

Check her out!

Whats-your-mommy-biz

May Giveaway! **now closed**

Once a month I will be offering a fabulous GIVEAWAY!!!!

To enter all you have to do is leave a comment. At the end of the week, Friday, May 8th I will reveal the winner.

The prize this month will be 1 (one) free pair of double-layer toddler bows in any color combination which will be shipped for free. A listing will be created in my Etsy shop for the winner which will have pictures of the colors available. The winner will also be given a 20% discount on any other item in my shop. The color possibilities are endless! Pick colors to match your favorite outfit!

Some examples of double layer toddler bows:

Leave a comment and
enter to win!!!

Friday Favorites

Today I am spotlighting some lovely bags that I have fallen in love with. I really have grown to love having fun and new bags to carry my gobs and gobs of stuff in. Though I really have always love to have things to put stuff in. I buy those lamps with tiny drawers - you know the ones with drawers too small to really put stuff in - I find stuff that fits in those drawers. There isn't a cubby or drawer in my house that doesn't have something in it. Because of this fondness, I have been drawn more and more to buying new bags on a regular basis. It has grown from loving backpacks in college, to snatching up cute clutches when I was first married, to buying the latest and greatest diaper bag when my girls were little, to now loving bigger bags. My girls are out of diapers now but I still need a good-sized bag to not only carry to usual grown-up stuff - lipstick, chapstick, checkbook, pens, wallet, keys, emergency make-up, etc - but I also need to have space for the occasional sippy cup, snack, extra shirt, random dolls and toys.

These bags all come from a fabulous group of ladies from UWIB. Don't know what UWIB is? Click on the sexy lady to the right and find out! You can find all kinds of stuff you didn't know excisted but find you can't live without! Are you a crafter with fabulous items to sell? Join the group and tell them that Amy from Ellie-Jayne Designs sent you!

The first bag is from simplynotesandtotes and is made with the Love A Tree fabric that I have been pining after - where did you get it, Sherry? Do you have any yardage to spare?! :-) The bag is not only stylish, is a nice size, but it lets people know that you are on the Go Green bandwagon. Her shop is full of such lovely bags, I have spent some time fawning over her items. It was hard to pick my favorite. But here it is - the Lazy Daze Summer Tote.

The second bag is a new style that I have not seen in a single shop until I came across PepperAndFarley. I am not always a big fan on knitting - that might be more of a jealousy issue because I have had such a hard time learning how to do it! *blush* This knit and felted purse is just too cute for words! It isn't big enough for an outing with my kids - but its too cute to risk getting kiddo cooties on it. Its perfect for those cherished moments of a girls night out or lunch with a girlfriend or even *gasp* an actual date with the hubby! There are a ton of adorable items in her shop - check them out! Here is your teaser photo to draw you in!

The third bag is from DestinationHandmade whom I just bought the most adorable business card holder from - can't wait to get it! While it isn't something I personally can use right now - its too cute to pass up and would make the most perfect gift for a HS student who is graduating next month and heading off to college. Picture this adorable zipper pouch (with a nice stash of quarters already inside) packaged with a small box of your favorite laundry detergent, a box of dryer sheets and a pull-string laundry bag. What dormie wouldn't love this! I know I would have! Check out the rest of her shop for more amazing ideas for organizing your life.

The last bag is probably my favorite from Designs By Jamie. I have bought several of her scrap fabrics to make some outfits for my shop - she has the best taste in fabric! The colors are so fun and its a big bag to hold all the stuff a mom of preschooler tends to carry arround. She has a ton of great bags to choose from in her shop and is even able to do customs. I just love the fabric in this bag. I'd feel less like a frumpy mom and more like a hip chic having this over my shoulder, even if I had peanut-buttery hand-prints on my shirt and a sticky-faced 3 year old clinging to my leg.

Enjoy your Friday and your weekend! Check back soon for new items from Ellie-Jayne Designs!