I AM BACK!

I am back and I am slowly returning to the daily routine...

Sorry for leaving without any notice.  April turned out to be much busier than expected and I did not get a chance to say a proper "good bye" before my trip to Europe.  Yes, the trip I was planning a couple of years ago, finally happened and not only did I get a chance to visit France, Italy, Czech Republic, and England but I finally (after more than 14 years) saw my childhood girlfriends.

We had an amazing time and I will definitely share some images and will probably talk about this trip over and over again.  Meanwhile, thank you for visiting SAS-does and, to continue with a tradition, here is free printable June calendar:

Click HERE to download the calendar

The calendar will fit perfectly on a regular 11x8.5 sheet of paper.  All you need to do is click the link below, download the .pdf, and print it out.  The file is rather big but you will get a nice-quality image, I promise!
JUNE 2013 CALENDAR.PDF

_____
A year ago: PINK HYACINTHS AND WEEKEND COLOURS
Two years ago: IKEBANA INTERNATIONAL

MAY CALENDAR {free printable}

Click HERE to download the calendar

The calendar will fit perfectly on a regular 11x8.5 sheet of paper.  All you need to do is click the link below, download the .pdf, and print it out.  The file is rather big but you will get a nice-quality image, I promise!
MAY 2013 CALENDAR.PDF

_____
A year ago: "MAGICAL IDEAS" UPCYCLED NOTEBOOK
Two years ago: WEDNESDA COLOURS

BLACK BEAN SOUP

Spring is slow this year. Warm sunny days turn into cool evenings. It's raining today and apparently there is snow in the forecast. On days like today I feel like staying in bed but I have so much on my plate right now: studies, work, finalizing details of my 3-week trip... I get up early, rush through my day, and in the evening warm myself up with a bowl of soup.

what you need 

• olive oil
• 1 small onion finely cubed
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can diced tomatoes  (replace with 4-5 fresh cubed tomatoes)
• 2 cups tomato juice (could be replaced by 2-3 tbsp tomato paste)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2-3 medium sweet potatoes, cubed
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground oregano
• 1 can black beans 
• 1 sweet red pepper, cut in strips
• salt, pepper to taste

what to do

•  In a large pot heat olive oil and cook onions and garlic until tender
• Add sweet potatoes, tomatoes, tomato juice, vegetable broth, sugar, and spices.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes (or until potatoes are tender)
• Add black beans and cook for another 10 minutes
• Add pepper, cook for 5 more minutes, taste and adjust for seasoning
• Serve with tortilla chips, guacamole, fresh cilantro, sliced green onions, shredded cheese, or a dollop of sour cream

What is your favorite recipe to keep you warm in Spring?

_____
Looking for more Spring recipes?  Here are some of my favorites:

WEEKLY PRINTABLE QUOTE - week 13

This quote was sent to me by my yoga teacher, who is celebrating her birthday today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY, IRINA).  I hope you never forget about joy and happiness in your life!

To print the quote simply right-click the image you like and choose to open in a new window/tab. You can then right-click the image and save it on your computer. All images are 3x4 inches.

_____

Click HERE to see printable quotes from past weeks.

KNITTED PLACEMATS

This simple knitted project has a fun story. Sometime last year I found a bag of yarn in my stash box and wondered for a while about a pretty project I could turn it into. Since I was quite busy with all kind of other projects I wanted it to be simple yet practical. I've settled on knitted placemats (inspired by these ones from Debbie Bliss magazine)

The off-white and dark brown colours of yarn seemed perfect for a rustic feel of knitted placemats.  I've decided to make them in a simple seed stitch (described below) and casted on.
After several days of sporadic knitting I found a couple of other crafts  to keep me busy and my half-finished project slowly migrated from the craft basket in the living room to the office/craft space downstairs.

Weeks have passed until I remembered about my unfinished project.  I got enthusiastic about knitting and thought of different ways of incorporating knitted placemats in our decor.

Turned out that faith, or should I say Sebka (our cat), had a different plan for the placemats; I found him sleeping on my unfinished project on the floor in the craft room.  He managed to drag it out of the basket and though it to be a perfect sleeping mattress.  It also looked like it wasn't the first time he was using the placemat leaving me no choice but to finish this new cat mat project.

I still believe these would make nice placemats or decorative mats. No matter what purpose they would serve you, here are simple instructions:

• Decide on the dimensions of you final placemat 

• Cast on an even number of stitches

• Seed stitch: 

          First row (k, p) repeat until the end           

Second row (p, k) repeat until the end

• Repeat 2 rows until the placemat is of desired size. Cast off. 

_____
A year ago: SPRING TAG
Two years ago: BERNAT CABLE HAT