Friday 25 November 2011

Simple Sewing Projects


I just thought I would share some photos of some simple sewing projects I have put together. I didn't use any patterns when making the chair so I cant really give any instructions on how to do this at home. I just cut the fabric where I thought it should be and sewed it all together.  :P  Simple as that! Perhaps my designs will inspire you to try something similar yourself. Good Luck! :)

Stuffed elephants and cube

Back of chair
Kids chair made from old denim jeans
Pockets full of goodies!

Kiarra testing her new chair

Pooh Bear bean bag teddy
Pooh Bear bean bag teddy

My girls just LOVE the toy elephants. The teddy was a gift and little Kiarra enjoys her chair every time she watches her favourite shows. So simple to make just using foam padding (which I picked up at Clark Rubber) and old jeans!

 
 
elephant 1 pattern                                        elephant 2 pattern                                              teddy pattern

Wednesday 9 November 2011

Owl Pillow Project

Giggle & Hoot
My youngest daughter (who will be turning two soon) is a HUGE fan of Giggle & Hoot. When we recently moved her into a 'big girl' bed I thought it would be cute to have a Giggle & Hoot bed for her. Unfortunatly there were no Giggle & Hoot bed sets available, so I did the next best thing. We managed to find a cute bed sheet set that had little owls all over it. It was cute but it still needed some extra pizzazz. After looking everywhere for some owl pillows or stuffed owls I came up with a solution. I went to our local arts/crafts/sewing supply store and found a baby quilt panel with owls that closely matched the ones on the sheet set. This is what I did with it.



Baby quilt panel and backing fabric
I cut up the quilt panel and used some of the images
to make pillows and some to make little stuffed owl
toys to cuddle. I bought backing fabric in matching colors but I also used some of the scraps from the quilt panel as backing as well. From the three owls on the branch I made a baby sized body pillow. The owl in the blue circle became a round throw pillow. The large green owl became an owl toy with contrast backing and the two little owls I sewed together to make a reversible owl toy. Together with her owl sheets and blanket and her stuffed Hoot toy it makes a cute little ensemble. The best part is SHE LOVES IT!


Kiarra lovin her new bed :D

The backs of the pillows I made

The pillows I made
Kiarra's new bed
Kiarra's cute pillows

Tuesday 8 November 2011

Savory Pumpkin Pie


Stormy-Kym's Savory Pumpkin Pie
This pie is fantastic. This recipe is one of our favourite meals. My husband and I make this dish regularly. We love it! It's a great dish for vegetarians and kids devour it! I know that pumpkin isn't very popular over in the US but I highly recommend trying this dish. It's full of flavour and you can easily add different ingredients to suit your taste.

Jap/Kent Pumpkins

A very popular variety, Jap/Kent pumpkins
have ribbed green skin which is covered with
yellow flecks.

Butternut Pumpkin

Butternut pumpkins have a sweet and
slightly nutty flavour.





Ingredients

  • 1kg (about 2 lbs) Japanese pumpkin or Butternut pumpkin
  • 2 sheets puff pastry
  • crushed garlic to taste
  • 1 cup grated mozzarella
  • ½ cup grated parmesan
  • 1 egg
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Method

  1. Peel and chop the pumpkin into slices, place in a roasting tray with a good coating of light olive oil and garlic to taste. Bake at 200C for 15-20 minutes.
  2. Line a flan or cake tin with 1 sheet of puff pastry, prick the bottom thoroughly with a fork and blind bake at 200C (390 F) for 3-5 minutes.
  3. Arrange the roasted pumpkin in the pastry shell and sprinkle with mozzarella and parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Place the pastry lid on top (sealing the edges with egg wash) and crimp together, bake at 220C (430 F) for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
  4. Let cool before serving. Serve with a fresh salad or side of your choice. ENJOY!

Mmmmm Yummy!

Thursday 20 October 2011

amateur photographer

I am absolutely in love with photography! The only thing is... I dont know anything about it :P I take LOTS of photos ( Mostly of my girls ) and some of them turn out good, but mostly they look like average photos. In high school I took a photography class, but it focused mostly on developing film in a drak room. I have read a few books, but I just can't seem to understand how to work a camera and get the best lighting. I have played around with my camera and fiddled with the settings and tried my best. Here are some samples of some of my work so far.

Aurora

Aurora
Satina
Satina
Aurora and Satina

My three girls

These photos were taken of my girls in the back garden one hot summer afternoon. They had all stripped off to keep cool and I found them sitting and chatting in the grass :)


New baby sister

This photo was taken after our youngest was born. We had them set up to take a nice photo of the three of them and my two eldest daughters spontaneously kissed their baby sister at the same time


Kiarra
Kiarra



This is our youngest daughter


Christmas 2010
I was trying to get a good shot of the three girls to send out in our Christmas cards. Our youngest daughter was getting fussy and making it hard to get a good photo and then she fell asleep in the arms of her older sisters.

Me and Louis
Me and my youngest

Aurora at the park
This is our oldest daughter. I took this shot at a local playground on one of those things that spin around really really fast :P

Kiarra in the bath
Kiarra up close
Satina

The girls on Christmas day

So there are some of my photos I have taken of my family. I would love to hear some feedback on how I'm doing or any pointers on how to capture a good shot. I'll keep you posted on my progress as I get better at using my camera.


Saturday 8 October 2011

Oven Dried Tomatoes


Stormy-Kym's Oven Dried Tomatoes

Here is a recipe that we LOVE! We had been growing tomatoes in our veggie patch in the back yard one summer and the tomato plants just TOOK OFF! After giving away bags of tomatoes to friends and family we were still left with dozens of tomatoes. We didn't want to waste any of our home grown beauties so we decided to try and make our own oven dried tomatoes. I did some research on how its done and put together my own recipe. I was a bit worried that it wouldn't work out, but when they came out of the oven they looked great. When they were cooled we gave them a try and were blown away by the flavour!! They were FANTASTIC!

Dried tomatoes are great in salads, on pizza, in sandwiches, in spaghetti sauce, rolled up in puff pastry with cheese, in pasta salad, in stir-fry, on bread or crackers or even just on thier own! Just use your imagination!

So this is what I did...

I cut the tomatoes into wedges. I didn't remove the seeds because there weren't many in our tomatoes, but if you seem to have a lot of seeds and liquid then you might want to remove the seeds and let them drain.
Next I tossed the wedges in some olive oil, salt, garlic and oregano (but you can use whatever seasonings you like). I placed the wedges skin side down on a tray and baked them at 100 c (200 F) for several hours (6 to 12 hours, depending on the size and moisture content of the tomato).
The tomatoes should be flexible, leathery-dry and not wet when they're done drying. They'll be supple but won't feel "squishy" to the touch. Tomatoes shrink in size and get darker as they dry, much like the way grapes do when they become raisins; the pulp will feel firm but flexible when they're done.
You should be able to store the dried tomatoes in a sealed container or ziplock bag in the fridge for several months.

Tomato wedges going into the oven

My delicious oven dried tomatoes

Wednesday 28 September 2011

My very first blog post!

Hello,
Welcome to my blog. This is my very first post! I'm just getting my bearings and as soon as I have figured out how all this works I will get the ball rolling.
I hope you will come back soon to check on my progress!



Stormy-Kym