Just saying..........

My shelves are full- but that does not mean I cannot fit the fabric that will be delivered soon.....

When is it too early to think about Christmas?

Some would say in January!! BUT I have had interest in the Christmas stockings that I was selling last year already. A few emails have come through and a few comments on my photos. I loved making them last year even after making 60 or so of them I loved to think that a Skip Chasey product was there on Christmas day in so many homes.

I am making more this year and have so many wonderful new fabrics for this years range too. I hope to start making them throughout the year so there is not as much of a rush towards the busy Christmas season.

When do you start thinking about Christmas? Do you like to be super organised?


2011- stocking collection

Cooking for one does not have to be boring.

Hubby was away last week and I wanted something warm for dinner. Miss 4 is so fussy when it comes to any food! So I was cooking for one. I am also a Weight Watchers member so I like meals to meet these requirements. SO........ looking in the freezer I had some prawns and fish. I looked up what I could make and came up with Fisherman's pie. I broke the recipe down to make a one person serve. It was really yummy and I would make it again. I did make a few changes to the recipe below. I upped the peas as I had no corn and also added some garlic- I think the garlic is really good in this.

I hope you love it.

Fisherman's pie

ProPoints™ Value: 9
Servings: 4


Ingredients
350 g potatoes
1 1/2 Tbsp low fat dairy spread
4 individual shallots, trimmed, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp plain flour
1 cup(s) skim milk, (250ml)
1/3 cup(s) frozen peas,
1/3 cup(s) frozen corn,
600 g ling fillet(s), cut into 4cm pieces
200 g king prawns, peeled
2 Tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
35 g low fat grated cheese
1 x 3 second spray(s) oil spray


Instructions
Preheat oven to 200°C or 180°C fan-forced. Lightly spray a 1.5L (6-cup) capacity ovenproof dish with oil. Steam potato for 10 minutes or until just tender. (I used the microwave like i was making a baked spud in there)

Meanwhile, melt spread in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until softened. Add flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Gradually add milk and whisk until smooth and combined. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring, for 1 minute or until sauce has thickened.

Add peas and corn and cook, stirring, for 3–4 minutes or until heated through. Add fish, prawns and parsley and stir to combine.

Spoon fish mixture into prepared dish and top with sliced potato. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 25–30 minutes. Serve.

Note: For a browner topping, preheat grill on high and grill pie for 2–3 minutes or until golden.

As time moves forward

It seems not that long ago that Miss 4 came into this world. She has brought us so much joy and seriously amazes us every day.

Today saw her first day of Prep and well even though she did do schooling when we lived in Chile it was still a bitter sweet moment. It was made all that more easier to see that the little girl she played with last week would indeed be in her class and they have totally hit it off. She was so ready to head off to BIG school and I think she will really thrive.

So now I will have no one home with me for the 5 weekdays during the day. Which hopefully means more creating time for Skip Chasey.

For those that sent their little ones off to school, I hope the transition is a wonderful one with so many new and exciting experiences.

MARKET MARKET!!!!

Tonight I am holding a mini market night over on my Facebook Page. www.facebook.com/skipchasey I hope you can come on by and see what I have available tonight.....


I have also been sewing for my new Nephew. We went to see them today and drop off these little goodies.




I hope your weekend has been filled with fun.

Monday's madness

I crave weekends, a time to spend together with my little family. THEN Monday rolls around and it just makes me feel like I have SO much that I need to do. Soon Miss 4.5 will be at Prep and Mondays will be a mad rush getting her to school. Today I am going to try to get all the Library Bags sewn up that will be added to my Facebook page at the end of the week.



On another note- I need to find a better way to keep my house clean- might need a schedule to clean parts of the house each day. My plan this year was to be more tidy- I am not doing so well at this at the moment.... Any ideas??

Christmas lights- Avoid getting all tied up...

It is amazing what a few extra mins will make the next time you have to take out your Christmas lights. I remember the days of pulling a tangled mess of lights out of a box and spending not just a few mins but a lot longer untangling the mess. These days I simply wrap my lights around some cardboard and I label them too- just so I know if they are indoor or outdoor lights and also the plugs on then ( we lived in Chile so have some with Chilean plugs).

Here is what you need

tangled mess of lights





Cardboard with description






Here is what to do

Wrap lights around cardboard




keep going until all wrapped up




I store them with my other xmas lights in a tub in a the garage- it keeps it all together and neat-- I am not a neat freak by any means but a simple tasks makes a frustrating one so much easier.

Pinterest: Have you Joined the pinning Movement yet?

Pinterest is one of the largest growing communities on the Internet. It is not an entirely new concept with many crafty/ arty/ organisational people already making story boards of projects, ideas and well just things that they love.

The beauty with Pinterest is: when visiting a website you come across something that you love, be it a picture or maybe even a project, and you want to remember it, file it away, have it handy when you next want to access it, well there is a way Pin it!!. I have the little Pin it tab on my tool bar and have used it a few times.


I love pinning and have a few boards to pin my loves to. I pin tutorials, photos, crafts, clothes, kids projects, printables and the occasional hunky man. It is highly addictive and you need an invite to join in. BUT be warned once you start pinning it can get highly addictive.

Well there you have it Pinterest and my love for it........ Go Forward and PIN ON !!!!



Sarah

NEW YEAR

Well it is that time again to say how slack I am at blogging- I seem to just get caught up in my FB page and this blog is not used... I am sorry.... Well anyway last year was a great year for Skip Chasey. I released new items and them proved successful. I was pretty flat out at the end of the year with the christmas stockings I released making close to 60 and nearly selling out. It has been great taking a break over the Christmas/ New Year period and spending time with my little family.


I see Skip Chasey growing more in 2012 with some new products set to be released and the old favourites still hanging around. The Next few weeks I will be releasing a back to school range with a limited number of library bags and Tiggy Tags (bag Tags). I am also hope to get a heap of Walkie Chalkies out for Easter as an alternative to all the chocolate.


Miss 4.5 starts full time in Prep this year and I am so excited that she is so excited. I think she really loves the interaction with others.


This year on my blog I will be sharing crafting tips, sewing tutorials and cooking. Is there something you would like to see?

Well here's to a very happy and healthy 2012....

Sarah

Owl of a Good Time

Special cakepops for a lovely 13 year old.

Cakepops

Fathers Day Fun

Wordless Wednesday- Miss 4 dresses herself.

Wordless Wednesday- Messy Miss 4

Tuesday Talk

So what is new at Skip Chasey. I have been working on all my custom orders and finally I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Once they are all completed I will be moving on to creating stock for my market night at the end of the month. I love creating new items although my range just seems to be growing and it is hard to know when to stop. I like to evolve as a business and create what my customers request.

There will be some new products at my next market night and some of the favourites. Here are some photos of new products that will be available at the market night.

Walkie Chalkies- a travel Chalk Mat


Iphone pouch with front pocket


Car travel cozy- will be available for custom order only

Loving the life I am living

It sometimes is hard and things can get us down. I must say yes there are things that I would love to change about my life but for now I am living with them and dealing with them in the best way that I know how. So let's talk being grateful. Things that you are happy to have in your life, things that may even make it harder or easier day to day.

So what am I grateful for:
- A husband that stands by me and now sees the potential in what I make and sell (never will be a full time career- but a nice little money maker at the moment)
- A daughter that is here with us and healthy (mostly). So many others are unable to have children or have suffered the loss of a child. The time I have with her is so special even if she does drive me crazy sometimes.
- For family. My family always support me it whatever decisions I make even if they seem like the wrong ones.
- My friends- they know that I am crazy but will be there if they need it, just like they are for me.
- Being able to do something I love- sewing, cooking etc.
- Being healthy- could not do this without my WW family hehe- love you girls.

What are you Grateful for???

In other news- I am nearly finished all my custom orders over at Skip Chasey and will hope to have a market night at the end of the month. Stay tuned and see what is happening.

Also over at The Sewing Sisterhood we are sharing the Journey of our Scrappy Doll Martha as she travels Australia seeing the sites- I blogged today about her.

Until next time- have fun!

binding

Making binding at home is so much cheaper- yes it takes so much longer but that is okay. For the price of 1m from Spotlight I was able to make 8m......


Sorry it has been quiet around here- we have had colds, sinus issues and now my little miss 4 has Gastro.

Hope all are well in your part of the woods.

Wordless Wednesday

Monday Menu

Hi Everyone,

I am on a journey to make yummy and healthy foods. Being a Weight Watchers member means that I am constantly trying out some yummy and low fat meals. Our fridge has gone from having a lot of processed foods to being mainly fresh produce. Yes our grocery bill may have gone up in the one shop but over all it has gone down as I am not impulse buying and shopping a few times a week AND my weight on the scales has gone down.

On the weekend we grocery shop for the week and this is based on the menu plan that I have written up. I must admit having a plan has made life a lot easier.
Here is this weeks menu at my house:

Saturday: Lamb Shanks in a mushroom ragout
Sunday: Spiced steak with roasted tomatoes and kidney bean salad
Monday: Tuna, rice and tomato bake.
Tuesday: Thai Chicken Broth
Wednesday: Dukkah Lamb Cutlets
Thursday: Indian Chicken with quinoa salad
Friday: Honey Mustard Pork.

I must admit since menu planning we are eating a greater variety of foods and I am enjoying trying out new recipes. Just need to get Miss 4 to eat what we do- she is very fussy.

Weekend Wrap Up

We had a lovely relaxing weekend. Not much happened and it was lovely. Sorbet and walks on the beach on Saturday. On Sunday we bought Miss 4 a new bike- she has never had a big girls bike and is SO SO SO excited about it. She has training wheels because we did not want to buy a bike that would only last a little time, so we bought the next size up bike. She loves riding it and even made up little songs about riding her bike- SUPER cute.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.