Tournament season has begun!

My job with Release Marine takes me all over the place and this week marks the start of our 2013 tournament tour.  7 hours to Savannah today and 10 hours to Biloxi tomorrow.  We will be set up all week at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Billfish Classic selling apparel and fighting chairs.  I'll take some great pictures to share with y'all!  In the meantime, here are some pictures to catch y'all up on what I have been working on this past year.

Marlin ladies shirt

Set up at a boat show.  How cute is the romper??

My favorite custom bag and clutch of the year!

Coral and starfish 

A shot of one of our popular Release Marine apparel shirts during the Fighting Chair Competition.

Hope y'all enjoyed the quick catch-up! Cheers from Savannah!

Chevron!

I am in love with all things Chevron. I mean, who doesn't love the pointy and perky zig zag lines?? My entryway was in need of an update and my initial plan was to paint chevron on a large canvas. So silver and white zig zag the canvas went, but when I hung it on the wall I was not satisfied. It did not make a big enough statement. I need to chevron the whole wall with a more vibrant color. I got my 6x24 fabric ruler and went to work marking the wall. Each chevron is 6 inches wide and the points are 12 inches apart. I drew all my lines and then taped it out. The base of the wall is Morning Fog by Sherwin Williams and the accent color is Splash.

   Wall with pencil marks (you have to look closely!)

 All taped and paining started...

 

 I used a small brush and a little roller.

 Painted & loving it!

It took me one night to mark, one night to tape, and about an hour to do the painting. I added some pictures, flowers (fake & oversized) and made a light out of a lantern I picked up at Hobby Lobby. I love the results!

Back in the game

I'm back! I've had many comments that I should get back to blogging, so here I am! I will have fresh new projects to share, loads of recipes, and adventure of traveling. Buckle up and come along for the ride!

You're in the Right Place

Hello new fans and thanks for visiting my website! If you saw me at a festival, tournament, or boat show, you are in the right place! I am currently too busy to keep up my blog and will be transforming my little spot on the web into a webpage full of pictures galleries and information on ordering from me. In the meantime, you can see pictures on my facebook page. I'm always available by email at marian@perfectchancememories.com

Thanks for your support!

cuteness

I bet y'all thought I had abandoned my blog, huh? Sorry about that - been supa busy 'round here. I've got a few pictures of some recent items and many more to come as I've been making lots of custom stuff and new things. Here's a new pillow:

love the bow & stripe combination!

I've been doing more baby stuff this summer! This are my two latest ones:

an owl, because you can never have enough owl stuff :)


because football starts next week - Go Pack! p.s. anybody know any wolfpack twin babies that can model these onesies?!?

pirate's cove tournament

Hey y'all! I'm here in manteo at the pirate's cove tournament selling cute handmade goodies:) if you meet me this week, please shoot me an email saying so! Also, I am excepting custom orders with a two week tusxrnaround! Happy fishing and tight lines to all!

Spicy Chiptotle Shrimp Skewers {Tasty Thursday}

Happy Thursday Y'all! I'm here with another edition of Tasty Thursday. I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, which is my favorite recipe site because it is so easy to save the ones you like all in one place. Simple, love it.

These skewers are great! I could actually handle them a little spicier, but they were the perfect level for the hubs and I do try to compromise the spice level every once in a while. And how can you beat grilled pineapple? You can't, its just delicious. I forgot to take pictures (again), but there are great shots on Simply Scratch. I suggest using large shrimp so you're not loading the skewers all day long. You can also use two skewers to keep the shrimp stable while grilling. Okay, here's the recipe!

What you need:
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce
2 teaspoons Reserved Adobo Sauce
1 Lemon, juiced
2 tablespoon Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Paprika
1 tablepoon Fresh Cilantro, or more to taste
1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
1/4 teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 1/2 pounds Fresh Uncooked Medium Shrimp, peeled and deveined {I suggest using large}
4 Pineapple Slices
Rice, cooked
Soaked Wooden or Metal Skewers

What you do:
In a food processor combine the garlic, chipotle peppers, lemon juice, olive oil, paprika, cilantro, kosher salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and cayenne pepper. In a large bowl or plastic bag place the cleaned shrimp. Pour the marinade over the shrimp, and mix well to thoroughly coat. Marinate for 20 minutes. {longer, if you have time!}

Preheat an outdoor grill for medium-high heat.

Remove the shrimp from the marinade, and discard the excess. Thread about 6 shrimp per skewer, and grill on the preheated medium-high grill until the shrimp turn pink and opaque in the center, about 2-3 minutes per side.

Serve on top of grilled fresh pineapple and your favorite rice!

*Remember to soak your skewers in water for up to 60 minutes before grilling!

So delicious, fresh, and summery! Invite some friends over this weekend and try this recipe!

a balanced life

Hey y'all! It's been a few weeks since my last blog post, but thanks for following me anyway! And it leads to the the topic of balance. How does one balance it all? Fellow bloggers, how do you balance it all?

No matter how I schedule my day, something always seems to fall to the wayside. My days go something like either of these two situations:

wake up, pilates, run/walk the dogs, work (at my ft job), create (on days I get off at 2:30), go the the gym, cook, eat dinner. by then is is usually 9 pm and I am out of energy to blog.

the other scenario is the same as the first except substitute working out and or walking the dogs for blogging. My weekend days are filled with cleaning, creating, and hopefully Sunday Funday time.

I just can't seem to fit both keeping fit and blogging into my schedule on a regular basis without totally running myself down. And while I do love blogging and did enjoy my daily posts covering different subjects, my health and fitness keeps my body feeling better and improves my well-being.

I think 2 or 3 posts a week is manageable for me and will be my new goal from here forward. I do hope you'll still follow me and my adventures! I plan to keep Tasty Thursdays as one of my weekly posts because I cook almost nightly and love it (and trying new recipes!)

Any tips of living a balanced life and what choices you make?

Custom Owls {handmade wares}

I've been busy with custom orders recently and I love it! Here's some custom owls I finished up this weekend.











I'm going to the big city {Wilmington, ha!} to see my little sis from Chi Omega today and one of these is for her! I haven't seen her in 3 years because she lives on the West Coast and I'm here on the East Coast. So excited about our mini-reunion!



Happy Monday y'all!

Wednesday Wednesday

Hello to my new followers! So glad to have y'all here! I hope you like hanging around:)

I'm finally bouncing back to life this week after a super fun, crazy weekend. I had some girlfriends in town and we acted like we were 21 all weekend. Sunday the hubs and I spent the day on the boat with our friends - so glad boat weather is here!!

I'm so excited about my first Giveaway over at Suz's Treats going to such a great person! Congrats Julie!

I'm also excited to be featured over at Your Girlish Whims! Check out all the fabulous features!

Keep on crafting y'all!

pillows ...for my house! woot -woot! {handmade wares}

I actually took the time to make pillows for my own house this weekend! What a concept, right? Y'all know how it is, we just stay so busy that our own houses get neglected.

This are in my dining room. Love the color combo:)


These are in one of the guest rooms. The walls are yellow and the bedding is green, turq, and yellow. The pillows will be for the bed of course, but it is not made today. oops.


These are in the other guest room. We've got two twin beds in here and the colors are grey, white, and yellow. I decided to add a pop of pink - love it!



And lastly my favorites! In my living room:) The whale on the big pillow actually started as an Etsy listing, but I love it so much that it found its home in my Mitchell Gold chair!


Which is your favorite?

*Updated* I've been featured!


Linking up this week! Check out my linky parties page for my favorite parties!

some things I liked last week

Happy Monday & welcome to my new followers! Happy to have you here. Don't forget to hop on over to Suz's Treats and enter her giveaway this week for one of my whale pillows.

I've been wanting to start a "what I liked" post for a while, so here it is! I will try to keep this up weekly:)

These sweet blooms have been added to my to-do list! Check out out to make your own over at Homemade Ginger:


BeingBrook made these lovely, simple curtains:


This Owl Tote is adorable! Looks a little like my pillows:) From Oopsey Daisy.


And my Etsy favorite this week is Make a Difference Sign from Barn Owl Primitives:

Giveaway! {Suz's Treats}

The lovely Suz is having a giveaway this week of this pillow.

You know you want it! And don't you love Suz's header? An owl and a cupcake? Yes, please!

Suz gives great recipes {especially for parties!], book tips, and fun stories. I hope you'll follow her too!

Tasty Thursday {chicken with tomatoes and garlic}

Happy Thursday y'all! Almost through the week. It's been gross and rainy here most of the week, but at least it washed the pollen away!

This week's recipe is one of the Pioneer Woman's from Tasty Kitchen. I actually found it about 4 or 5 months ago and it is a quick, easy throw together meal that my husband approves. Here's the link on Tasty Kitchen.

Sorry, no pictures. Boring, I know. But Ree's will be better than mine anyway!

What you need:
* 8 boneless, skinless breasts
* Salt And Pepper, to taste
* 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
* 1 Tablespoon Butter
* 1 can (28 Ounce) Diced Tomatoes
* 1 can (14 Ounces) Whole Tomatoes
* 2 Tablespoons (Heaping) Tomato Paste
* Fresh Herbs: Basil, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary
* 8 cloves Garlic
* 16 ounces, weight Pasta
* ½ cups White Wine (or Red Wine)

What you do:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Salt and pepper chicken legs.

Heat ovenproof skillet or dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add olive oil and butter. When oil/butter is hot, add chickento the pan. Using tongs, brown on all sides, about 2 minutes. Remove chicken from pan.

Pour in wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen any bits. Cook for 1 minute. Pour in tomatoes with their juice and add tomato paste. Add salt and pepper to taste, stirring to combine. Bring sauce to a boil, then turn off heat. Add plenty of fresh herbs, 8 cloves of peeled (but whole) garlic, and the chicken. Put lid on pot and cook in the oven for 1 hour.

Remove pot from oven and allow it to sit on the counter with the lid on while you boil the pasta.

Cook the pasta to al dente, Drain and add to a large serving bowl.

Remove lid and check sauce. If it’s overly thin, remove the chicken from the pot and boil the sauce on the stovetop for 5 to 10 minutes. Check seasonings and adjust as needed.

To serve, pour sauce over cooked pasta, then arrange chicken pieces over the top. Sprinkle generously with fresh Parmesan and serve with crusty French bread.

It was really good y'all! A refreshing, light sauce.

Puff Flower Pillow {handmade wares}

Happy Monday Y'all! We had a great relaxing weekend here even though the weather was terrible! We got teased with 2 weeks of gorgeous 70+ degree temps only to be knocked by down again with rain and clouds. It kept the hubs & I productive though! I've got lots of great stuff in store, we've got a clean garage, and we had delicious meals Saturday and Sunday {steak burritos & spaghetti!}

Today I'm sharing one of my favorite pillows with you - the Puff Flower Pillow. This one is pink, navy, and yellow {one of my favorite color combos!}



The puff is made by cutting a circle {rather large, I use my biscuit bowl as a guide} and hand stitching around the edge to gather the ends into the center. This one is finished off with a vintage square yellow button.



Love the detail! I use envelope closures on all my pillows because I like that they are easy to switch out with the seasons.



I'll be linking up this week! Check out my linky parties page for all the great parties. Visit 'em and make new friends!

handmade baby gifts {handmade wares}

One of my hubby's friends recently had a little girl so I whipped up some gifts for her. Everyone loves my name signs so I created one for little Sunny -



Her mom decorated her nursery will owls, so it was an easy choice! I like to do a fabric background with paper cut-outs and mod-podge finish. Of course for the little girls, I have to add a little glitter!

I also covered a shoe box in this gorgeous yellow & pink fabric and filled it with onesies since I've heard you can never have too many! The shoe box needed a little personalization, so I added the baby's initials to the top in buttons. I love the way it turned out!



I have many more baby gifts to make this year! It is so much fun:) What do y'all like to give for baby showers/new baby gifts??!?

*I am linking up this project. check out my new Linky Party page for my weekly link-ups. Check 'em out, link up, and make new friends!*

grab my button

I've created a button! And you can grab it:)

Grab my Button!

<a href="http://www.perfectchancemories.com.com" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3U7MVeacKDNI2Myrtw0CN0v-au40_j-cK-uoh91FIaGDA7uWEYMG6ASCG0d2riJjnHVKdFkRKJTCobhWE3p9mCHAh14lrcJR2XUMR7QCbO7GdGvkUgqmsfW2_YJS37nPkjHd50gc5EkX8/s1600/pcm+button.jpg" /></a>

My new Button!

Owls & Whales {handmade wares}

Hey y'all! I hope everyone had a fantabulous weekend:) We had great weather here on the Coast of NC & the hub, pups and I spent most of the time outside. Saturday was a day for walking and errands and Sunday I spend the day at my parents beach and antique shopping with my mom. Got a cute bedside table for only $35! I love great finds like that.

Today I ventured into applique and softies. Ummmm....hello? Applique is so fun! And the softies are so cute! Definitely a great benefit of my large machine upgrade. I did sets of one pillow and one softie - I think this would be a lovely grouping for nurseries and playrooms. Here's some (not great) pictures:









And every bit of fabric used in these two projects is repurposed from my grandmother's stash! all vintage:)

I've been featured:



I'll be linking up this week. Here's where: