Camping on the beach = Cajun Shrimp Soup..

Vaughn helping saute' .

This weekend our family went camping on the southern tip of Guam at a private beach...it's nice having friends who's husbands are Navy cops and have connections. We set up camp and snorkeled, swam, the kids played and we ate..A LOT! One of my favorite camping recipes is for Cajun Shrimp Soup, its so easy to throw together if you dice and chop ahead of time. Just get to the beach and throw it all in the pot and in 30 minutes you have a delicious seaside meal... don't forget the crusty bread.

Cajun Shrimp Soup

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup chopped green pepper

1/4 cup chopped green onions

4 cloves minced garlic

28 ounce can diced tomatoes

8 ounce bottle clam juice

1/2 cup water

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried basil

1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

1 bay leaf

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice

3/4 pound fresh uncooked shrimp, cleaned and tails removed

dash of hot pepper sauce

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Saute' green pepper, green onion and garlic until tender. Stir in diced tomatoes and clam juice and water. Season with thyme, basil, red pepper and bay leaf and salt. bring to a boil. Stir in rice, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for 15 minutes until rice is tender. Add shrimp and cook an additional 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Remove bay leaf and season with hot sauce. Enjoy!

How to make a french seam...Ohh La la..

This is a great tip for those of you who don't own a serger. You may not even know what a serger is, in that case its a sewing machine that sews and finishes seams off simultaneously , so you have a nice hem with a neat finished edge. For those of us who don't have access to a serger gone are the days when our seams look like a frayed mess after we wash our new creation once. That is unless you are going for the frayed, unkempt look. For some projects a little fraying adds texture and visual interest but in all the other projects where a clean seam is preferred you can follow this quick tip..the "french seam"....

Step 1. With fabric WRONG sides together, sew a seam with a 1/4 inch allowance down the right sides of your fabric. Again this is with the WRONG sides together!!

Step 2. Now turn your fabric RIGHT sides together. You will have a nice clean seam. Press this seam. ( I am a compulsive presser, I press everything.) This just helps it lie nice and flat.
Step 3. Go back to your machine and sew along that neatly pressed seam, with a 1/2 inch seam allowance. What you are doing is sewing in that raw edge and essentially hiding it.
Step 4. Press the finished seam to one side.
Step 5. Voila! Admire your french seam and congratulate yourself on a nice clean seam!

Très Magnifique!!

Sew Liberated - Book Give Away! Here are the rules..

In celebration of my new Etsy shop and blog I am hosting a give away! Yeah! This item to be won is this GREAT book by Meg McElwee called Sew Liberated - 20 stylish projects for the modern sewist. This book is hot off the press, just released! There are several ways to win this book! Here are the rules:

1. Follow my blog (1 entry) Leave a comment (remember to leave me a way to contact you if you are the winner!

2. Friend me on Facebook Leave another comment

3. Fan me on Facebook (1 entry) Leave another comment

4. Visit my Etsy shop and tell me what your favorite item is! (1 entry)

5. Heart my shop on Etsy (1 entry) Leave another comment

6. BLOG about my giveaway and leave the link (to your blog) here in a comment (1 entry).

7. Purchase from my Etsy shop! (5 entrys)

This giveaway will end on April 1st, 2010. The winner will be notified as soon as all of the entries are tallied up!

Fringed Cotton and Vintage Lace - A Sweet Pairing

Recalling the scarves worn by Russian grandmothers, this sweet babushka scarf is made of fringed cotton in a petite flower print and trimmed with fine vintage lace. All of these features favored by little girls are sewn together with tiny stitches.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41275381

Jane of all Trades Etsy Shop up and running!

Please take a moment to check out my etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/janeofalltradesshop

Trial run on a new pattern

My friend Liz in Maryland sent me her new eBook pattern and instructions for her scrappy organizer for me to test out! What a great little pattern Liz! These adorable organizers whip up in under an hour and are great to use those random pieces of fabric that you have left over from your bigger projects. You can purchase Liz's eBook in her etsy shop or a finished organizer in either her or my shop. Either way you will love it!

Bag finished...What shall I do with it??

Here is the finished bag. I'd say overall the instructions were clear and if you have basic machine sewing skills this project was fairly easy. I do love that the pattern pieces in the back of the book are ready to cut out and use instead of needing to be enlarged and copied straight from the book.

Of course I love the patchwork look and I also love the braided straps , they give a little different texture and look to the bag.

I will definitely make this again. What a cute gift! Not sure what I will do with this one; use it, give it or stick it on etsy.