One more card for January Club

I've seen so many things made with the beautiful "Hello Tweety" stamp set (B1420, $9.95), but I hadn't yet worked it into one of my workshops yet.  This stamp set, along with lots of other cute stamp sets, will be retiring at the end of this month, so NOW is the time to purchase it.  If you'd like to see what other items are retiring, head on over to my website, http://christina.ctmh.com and click on "Shop" and then on "Retiring Items" to see photos of retiring products.  So many cute stamp sets. . .so little time!

We're on Cloud Nine in January!

You're going to love our fantastic January special.  With a $35 purchase, you can get the Cloud Nine Card Kit for only $15!  This kit includes a full stamp set with year-round images (compatible with the Cricut Artiste cartridge), card bases and envelopes , cardstock and patterned papers, metal accessories and FULL rolls of our new Teal Shimmer Trim and Gold Polka Dot Washi Tape.  You'll also get a color instruction guide. 

If you purchase this kit in January, you're invited to my Cloud Nine workshop on Monday, February 10th, where you can put together your cards together.  We'll be using Sunset and Lagoon inks, so if you don't have those, you might want to make those colors part of your qualifying purchase. 

Don't forget. . .you have to order it in January to do the class in February!

 

January Club Projects--we'll have you in stitches!

I have some fun projects designed for my January clubs.  If you'd like to come join us for club this month, we meet on Monday, January 13th, at 10 a.m. or 6:30 p.m.  Just give me at least a day's notice that you're coming!

Scrapbookers will be creating a two-page layout with the Sarita paper packet.  This "Best Day Ever" layout will work with all kinds of photos--wedding, vacation, etc.

Card makers will have "SEW" much fun this month as we play with our January Stamp of the Month, Cross-Stitch Wishes and the Stich Wonder stamp set (C1564).  These stamp sets really do look like Cross-Stitches and sewing stitches!

Some Banquet Recipes for You!

I've had several requests to share recipes from the Christmas Banquet back in December, so I'm finally getting around to it!  The most-requested recipes were the Parmesan Roasted Potatoes and the Chicken in Basil Cream Sauce, so I thought I'd post those two.  The potatoes actually come from one of our old church cookbooks. . .a recipe shared by Jean Fleming and Deanna Wylie.  The chicken recipe was one of the zillions I've found off the internet (I'm a bit of a recipe collector).

Parmesan Roasted Potatoes (a.k.a. Golden Parmesan Cheese Potatoes)

6 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed (that's 2 1/2 to 3 lbs.)
1 c. Bisquick
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 stick butter
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pkg. Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Combine Bisquick, Parmesan and ranch dressing mix in a large bowl or a Ziploc bag.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Toss the potatoes in the mixture (shake them in the bag if you're using a Ziploc).  Place them into a 9 x 13 dish.  Melt butter and pour it over the potatoes.  Bake about 30-40 minutes, turning occasionally, until potatoes are tender and golden brown.  Note:  you can also sprinkle the ranch dressing mix on after the potatoes are in the pan--it will work either way.

Chicken in Basil Cream Sauce

1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast (4 halves)
3 T. butter
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 4 oz. can sliced pimientos
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
1/2 cup grated parmesan (you can use the jarred stuff, but freshly grated will probably give you a better flavor)
1/8 tsp. pepper

Heat skillet over medium high heat.  Place milk and bread crumbs in separate shallow bowls.  Dip chicken in milk and then coat with crumbs (I added a little salt and pepper to the crumbs).  Add chicken to the skillet with half the butter and cook about five minutes.  Flip the chicken, add the remaining butter and cook another five minutes or until chicken is cooked through.  Remove chicken from pan and keep warm.

Add broth to the skillet.  Bring to a boil over medium heat, scraping the bottom of the pan.  Stir in cream and pimientos; boil and stir for one minute.  Reduce heat and add parmesan, basil and pepper.  Cook and stir until heated through.  Serve chicken with sauce poured over the top.

Christina's notes:  Because I was cooking this recipe for 300, I made multiple batches of sauce in a separate pan, but it's better if you can make it in the same pan that the chicken was cooked in.  I cut the basil and pimientos down a bit, partly for cost reasons and partly because basil is a fairly strong herb, especially to those who do not love basil.

To help my chicken be tender and cook evenly, I pound it to an even thickness.  Use the flat side of your meat mallet, and don't obliterate the poor chicken!

ENJOY!!  Cook without fear!

Thanksgiving Specials!

I have some great specials that I will be running all through the week of Thanksgiving.  To take advantage of any of the specials, just call me or e-mail me anytime next week.  You can "stack" multiple deals in one order. . .and, if your purchased items add up to $50, you'll get the November stamp of the month, Illuminate (so cute--scroll down to see it) for FREE!

Check out my holiday deals (you can take advantage of multiple deals on the same order):

• Order a My Crush Book and get a My Crush Assortment FREE ($4.95 value)--these books are similar to the "Smash" books you might find in craft stores--they're designed for easy, informal scrapbooking, and they're also perfect for teens and kids.
• Order a Close to My Heart Cricut Collection (Art Philosophy, Artiste, or Artbooking) and choose TWO FREE PAPER PACKETS ($19.90 value)
• Order two "Cards & Envelopes" sets and get a free ink pad in the color of your choice ($5.25 value)--choose from Circle Spin Cards, White or Colonial White Value Pack Cards, Col. White Die-Cut Cards & Envelopes or the White Daisy Die-Cut Cards and Envelopes, p. 129 of catalog
• Buy three Glitz Glitter Gels and get one FREE ($2.75 value)
• Buy FOUR ink pads, get a FIFTH one FREE ($5.25 value)
• Buy $30 worth of stamp sets, get any clear My Acrylix Block ($7.50 or less) for FREE
• If your order totals $50 or more, I will give you the November Stamp of the Month FREE
• Buy one of our AWESOME Faux Leather My Legacy Albums, and I'll add an extra 10-pack of page protectors FREE ($5.95 value)
• Buy the value pack (50 pages) of our Memory Protectors and get a free package of Spine Expanders ($2.95) to add stability to your albums

Cards for my Christmas Card Sampler Class, Monday, December 2nd

I didn't get a chance to use every Christmas stamp set that I wanted to use at my Christmas Card Marathon class, so I thought I'd add the Christmas Card Sampler Class.  These cards have a bit more layering, coloring, etc.--not good candidates for our speedy card marathon class--but they're perfect for this class.  Here's what I've come up with so far. . .

This card is a Center Step Card--one of those fun, 3D cards that we all love.  You can find the instructions for these cards on www.splitcoaststampers.com (look under Tutorials).  I saw a similar card made by Cathy Derouche and knew I had to make one, too (thanks, Cathy, for the inspiration)!  The stamp set is C1506 Flakey Friends.

I just adore our polar bear stamp set  (C1557 Polar Bear Holiday). . .can't get enough of these cute little fellas!  My inspiration for this card came from one of the display boards at Convention this year (not sure who the artist was--perhaps Michelle Snyder?).   I took a picture of the card, and I've been waiting to make a similar card ever since.  One of the quickest ways to get some background snow on your card is to rip white cardstock and then add some Prisma Glitter (on top of Bonding Memories glue) to the edge where you ripped it.

The stamp that I used for this card (B1424 Classy Doily) is the coolest thing.  The doily is one stamp image, but you can stamp the image multiple times on different papers, cut out a specific section and then layer them back together for a really dramatic look.  It sounds time-consuming, but I promise it's not too bad!

Decisions, Decisions

I designed two different Kraft Containers for my Great Gifty Ideas Workshop, but I can't decide which one we should do.  So, my answer to that is to let you pick.  So, if you're attending the workshop tonight, let me know which one you'd like to make.  The top one features the Sparkle and Shine papers and lots of sparkly red shimmer trimmer.  The second one has a lot of beautiful detail using the Classy Doily (B1424) stamp and the Frosted Paper Packet.  Both of them have some sparkle, which doesn't show well in my photos.