'Zine fashion spread

As a long-time sew-er, craft-er, writer, performer, etc... I had a nice run making 'zines a few years ago. This fashion spread is still so cute to me, I decided to post it for fun... Hope it makes you smile.
Have a great weekend.

Next week, I promise more fashion styles and tasty recipes!!!

Blue Dot Dress

I'm still loving this thrift-store find. It's the drape of the dress that I think I love so much. It just flows and swishes in lovely ways. Now to find more ways to style it... My fave, of course, is the wide belt... (this one is new/used, from Urchin Vintage). Now that it's getting chilly in LA, I'll be adding cardigans and scarves to everything, including this dress. I'm also sewing a similarly flowy wrap dress out of some white-on-black polka dotted knit fabric. It'll be finished soon and I promise to share the pics!

Halloween Butterfly

Since I love posting my crafting/sewing work, here's my halloween costume.
Kraft paper, a pipe cleaner, craft paint and a long piece of ribbon. Viola!

Have a great weekend! xoxox

Lady in Red

I used to have so many red dresses and sweaters...I don't know what happened to them all. One day I woke up and just noticed this big gap in the color spectrum of my closet. Thankfully for the most recent ModCloth sale, I scored this lovely red jersey dress. O so cute! and O so flattering! I love the ruching at the shoulders and the inset of navy blue. Nice details on a simple dress.

Twisty "pretzel" hair and a red flower for a fun and playful look. Dangly earrings too. Can you ever OVER-accessorize? (Not me.:)

Clean-out-the-fridge fritatta

I love this frittata - from Taste of Summer -- but I decided to, of course, alter the recipe to use what was in the fridge. I love trying new recipes, but I am not afraid to leave something out or replace an ingredient. No food goes to waste at my house, so we use what is in the cupboards before we go buy a bunch of new stuff. Especially fruits and veggies.

Preheat the over to 400, and use a cast iron pan so you can move from stove to oven in the same pan. I started by frying up 5 chicken sausages, then set them aside to cool/drain on a paper towel. In the oily pan, I cooked broccoli while 8 small golden potatoes were steaming in the microwave. Once the potatoes were soft I chopped them and tossed them in with the broccoli, sliced the sausages and laid them on top. In a large bowl I beat a dozen eggs with a 1/2 cup of milk and a healthy dash of garlic salt. Pour the eggs over the meat and veggies, sprinkle the top with cheese; cook in the pan till the eggs are a bit solid on the bottom, then move the whole pan into the oven for 15-20 min.

Curtain Skirt

  I had this left-over fabric from some Ikea textiles I bought for curtains several years ago. I just love the colors and print so I had to make something with the remnant. I whipped up a dress, but I had made the yoke too small and the body of the dress had no drape since the fabric is so thick so I ditched that. And then I attempted this skirt.
  I made it without a pattern and made a few errors. But these were excellent learning errors, like putting in darts in the rear before attaching the waistband, and how best to shape the waistband before cutting it, and cutting it on the bias. Excellent exercise for sharpening those sewing skills.
  I am very pleased with the end result. Cute skirt. Eye-catching and bright, like me!  One-of-a-kind! :)

Sophie Dahl's Chicken Stew

This stew recipe ...

...was in Glamour last winter and I ripped it out long ago and finally made it. OF COURSE, I did not follow the recipe exactly... adding extra this and that... But it came out great. Really, it's the wine and the olives that made it so tasty. I didn't even add a bit of salt or pepper and it was very very flavorful. Make this tonight!!!

 

From Sophie Dahl's cookbook...but I altered it a bit...

In 3 tbsp. olive oil, brown the chicken pieces. I used 8 thighs (about 4lbs) but the recipe calls for a whole chicken. Once they are browned, sit aside. It's ok if they aren't done; the chicken will cook through when you let the stew simmer. Add another tbsp of oil, "sweat" a diced onion and 3 cloves of garlic chopped. Sweat means cook on low, covered until soft but not browned - about 5 min. Add 2 cans diced tomatoes, 1 cup of white wine, 1 can of chicken stock, and 3/4 cup of green olives (I like mine sliced). Put the chicken back in. Lastly, I added a tbsp of dried basil and about 8 small golden potatoes, diced. Cook for 30-40 minutes on med. heat till potatoes are soft.

YUM-YUM-SUPERYUM!!!!!