i’ve gotten tons of alert emails from the county, and forwards passed along by friends and family so just in case you are in the area and weren’t aware i’m passing it along some more! there have been several prowling incidences in the area and it appears that he’s also been featured on America’s Most Wanted. kind of scary (reminds me of years ago when i was still in highschool and the area was dealing with the Centreville rapist).

so- keep your doors locked and beware of your surroundings!! since my husband was away for the weekend (comes back today, yey!) it’s made me a little more anxious just being home by myself and having to walk the dog alone as well. the pup doesn’t get as long of a walk, and definitely not further along the trails! i’m constantly rechecking to make sure all the doors are locked, and my nights were somewhat restless just because every little noise i heard would wake me up- in addition to the cat being a pain and climbing all over the bed and rustling the blinds all night!

this was probably the first weekend i’ve had to myself in months! my husband went back home to Michigan for the weekend, and my nephew finished his Saturday morning skating class for now (we just enrolled him in the next class starting in September), so i had the morning to myself! i spent it at the fabric store (nothing exciting just boring ol’ stabilizers and solid cottons and such!) and then laid out at the pool for a few hours to get some much needed sun! (wish my Sunday wasn’t so packed, otherwise i would’ve squeezed in another pool day!)

my little cousin spent last week in Charleston with her boyfriend and came back the other night. she was excited because she found some quilt shops there and bought a few yards of some fun stuff for me to make her bags, and let me chose one to keep for myself! i chose the Anna Maria Horner Lollipop fabric (i’d been wanting it for a while, but always put it back when i’m at  Artful Quilter!) so i’m excited to finally be able to make something for myself! not for the shop, not for friends, not as a gift! for MOI!

i had my niece for the night, and had my mom over for the weekend, so i wasn’t so lonely! and i was even able to finish up one of my cousins bag for her so that she could have something new once classes started! i made her a pleated tote from Heather Ross’ West Hill collection.

here’s a custom order i just finished up! i LOOOOVE this Sketchbook fabric! i’m tempted to go to her shop and buy the whole stack of this fabric in all the shades!!! (my birthday is coming up…hint, hint!)  the local quiltshop only has it in the pink shade, but the ivory shade is calling my name…well, along with the entire Garden Party collection!

the inside of the bag has a pale yellow lining with large pockets that coordinate with the outside. the backside has the large gray circle with the bird in it centered (sorry i forgot to take a picture of different views of the bag!) i was fortunate enough to not lose that part of the fabric when cutting out the bag pieces! i also made this bag with the magnetic flap closure rather than the zipper.

and with some of the leftover fabric i made this large pleated zipper pouch!

i haven’t been so good on updating everyday like i try to! been swamped with things, so i don’t really have anything new to share just yet, so i thought i’d share one of my new favorite things! i loooove dim sum! and i loooove shrimp! so the other day i decided to make some shrimp balls similar to the ones you can get at dim sum! it’s a pretty easy recipe (i think next time i might add some ginger to it!) but it turned out pretty  good!

ingredients:

• 1 lb  peeled deveined raw shrimp
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 egg white (beaten)
• 2 tsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 pinch white pepper
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• (optional 1/2 tsp salt- i personally think the shrimp is salty enough on its own. i originally made it the first time with salt, and thought it was too much!)
• approximately 1 cup flour
• approximately 1 cup tempura flakes

directions:

• chop the pound of shrimp and mince in a food processor to create a shrimp paste
• add remaining ingredients except for flour and tempura flakes
• shape the paste into small balls (i used a heaped tablespoon to create my balls, so they were small, but definitely puffed up to a good size when i fried them!)
• roll the balls in flour, then the tempura flakes
• in a pot, heat about 2 cups of oil, and deep fry the shrimp balls until they are a nice golden brown color

this recipe makes about a dozen shrimp balls. sorry i don’t have any kind of dipping sauce to go with it, i generally take the easy/quick way out and just use some soy sauce mixed with some chili sauce, and that satisfies a craving for me!

just added some cute new gift sets in my shop!

this retro owl print is one of my favorites!

and of course, more pink skulls!

and finally some stuff for boys! (i never really have any boys to make stuff for, so coming up with ideas is never easy!)