OK - so how much fun will this be!

Through a little hyenacart research, I learned that you can dye protein fibers (wool and silk) with unsweetened Kool-Aid. (I'll never drink the stuff again!). Now, I couldn't find the unsweetened here in town, and an awesome Mama offered to find me some in the States and send it to me.

Anna from A Mother's Nature bought me a whole bunch of different colours and is shipping it to me next week! I'm so excited, because I was a little intimidated by the Dharma Dyes that I have on order, so this will be a great step in!

So now, as if I didn't have a whole whack of different crafts to do, I'm going to be a yarn dyer!!!! I have some Roving, and some Cestari Bulky and some playsilk blanks on the way, so I imagine by spring, I'll by creating my own beautiful yarn- yippee!

Matt's Hat got finished this afternoon, just in time for his trip so that's awesome. I'm really going to make a run at finishing my Ice Queen Cowl tonight, since it's the last of the month, I want to start a new monthly project on time and this one has been lagging me for awhile- but it's so pretty!

I also want to do a papercraft mural for Avari this week- she can help me glue things on it. Thank goodness for Dollarama (while hanging my head in shame...) Once I'm a rich designer, I'll shop responsibly!

Here it is...

I give this recipe 5 gold stars














I ordered some figs this week from Sunshine Organics and was looking for a recipe that used them. The glaze has to be one of the best things I've ever made. Since we're trying to cut out the "bad" stuff, I ordered some raw blue agave syrup as a sweetener to use instead of brown sugar. I was also just informed that agave is what is used to make tequila, so that makes it even more interesting! Roasted Sweet Potatoes rounded up the meal very nicely!

Here's the recipe:

Fig and Lemon Chicken

Prep Time: 10 Minutes Cook Time: 50 Minutes

Ready In: 1 Hour Yields: 12 servings

"Sweet figs provide a rich contrast to tart lemon in this citrus-glazed composition."

INGREDIENTS:

1 lemon, juiced 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup white vinegar 1/4 cup water 1 1/2 pounds dried figs

1 lemon, sliced 12 chicken thighs salt to taste 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 1 teaspoon dried parsley

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2.	In a small bowl, combine lemon juice, brown sugar, vinegar and water; set aside.
3.	Place figs and lemon slices in the bottom of an 11x16 inch baking/roasting dish. Arrange chicken thighs on top, then pour vinegar mixture over chicken. Finally, sprinkle with salt and dried parsley to taste.
4.	Bake/roast at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 50 minutes, basting frequently (turn figs if they begin to brown).
5.	With a slotted spoon, remove chicken, figs and lemon slices from baking dish and place on a warm platter. Skim fat from cooking juices, then pour over chicken as sauce. Garnish with fresh parsley and serve.

and that's that- try it out!! Tomorrow morning I have a new "pancake" recipe on the list. I've heard if you scramble one egg with one banana and fry it in a pan, it makes some great pancakes- so we'll see!

Woo hoo- it's Wednesday!!!

Wednesday is treat night- I adore it! I don't have an idea of what the treat is yet, but I did get my little "monthly spoil me" in the mail today- it's a beautiful headband - I'll share fund pictures tonight. I'm off to make a Moroccan Chicken for dinner- yumm

Some New Projects

I've had to put my personal knitting and sewing aside this week because I've had so many fun projects for people!

This is part of the fun secret project I was working on last week- I'm still waiting for some little goodies in the mail to put in it to be sent away- crossed fingers they get here by Friday!











































Today at the Mom's Cafe, it is Finger Puppet Day- I was asked if I could make some finger puppet forms so the moms and kids could decorate them, so here they are!













I made Pigs, Bees, Bears, Frogs, Bunnies, Birds and Ladybugs- sounds like fun! I'll bring the camera so I can get some action shots of the decorating

Featured Hyena Cart Momma!

Today, I'll be reviewing KreativeMindz and I'm so excited about it!






KreativeMindz is an incredible company run by Aly, Beau and An-g, who create beautiful clothing, accessories and wooden boxes and signs.

Goddess wraps are the hottest items they carry- they are gorgeous hair wraps for short or long hair and they come in every pattern to match all of your clothing!



















With a Hyenacart, and Etsy Shop and an awesome photo gallery
you're sure to find something for everyone!

Ahhh... Mom day!

Today was my Christmas Spa day. I can't think of anything more wonderful that spending a morning at the spa, being pampered overlooking the ocean while is snows!

Then in the afternoon, I got to do my second most favourite thing- a fun maternity photoshoot! I think the best thing about doing a maternity photoshoot is that always leads to a wee little baby shoot as well-





























Here's mom Rhonda and big sister Aleesha

and baby!

















Now I have to get sewing for this baby ASAP!

I love sewing!

I'm loving my sewing machine SO much!!! I've been working through quite a few more projects- it's been wonderful!

I had a great grown up day yesterday. I got up pretty early, packed up Avari and went to visit Rhonda, who is coming up to being due with Aleesha new baby sibling! Avari loves Aleesha so much, she talks about her all day. Both girls actually took a nap at the same time and so we got a nice chat in. I had such a wonderful time. In the evening, we had a goodbye party for Tara and went bowling which I haven't done in SO long! All in all, it was a great day and I hope to plan more like it in the future