St. Louis or Bust!

This weekend we are headed to St. Louis for Troy's family reunion. Troy comes from a very large family, his mother is one of seven and when everyone gets together -- it's a large crowd. There are more than thirty first cousins alone! I am excited, since most of the family members we haven't seen since the last reunion two years ago.

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We are driving, yes you read right, we are driving. Wish us a safe journey. We've got our inventory of DVD's, toys and books already packed. I know I will be spending most of the trip in the back seat keeping Micaela entertained and happy in her car seat during the 10+ hour drive.

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Once we arrive everything will be okay but until then, I am praying!

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At the reunion, Micaela, our daughter will get to spend time with her five cousins that are her age. (There was six of us pregnant in the family at the same time two years ago). All six babies were born in a ten week span. Here are five of the six babies two years ago when they were between 2-4 months old. Micaela is the second one from the left, wearing yellow.

It was a challenge to get all the babies to look the same direction, let alone smile. In the end, this was the best picture. I can't wait to see what pictures we take this weekend.

Family reunions make me think of pasta salads. So here's one of my favorite recipes from one of my best resources-- Betty Crocker. You all have a safe Labor Day weekend! I gotta get packed-- see ya next week!

Dijon Chicken and Pasta Salad

1 package Betty Crocker® Suddenly Salad®

classic pasta salad mix
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp cold water
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 cup cubed cooked chicken

Fill 3-quart saucepan 2/3 full of water. Heat to boiling. Add contents of Pasta-Vegetable pouch to boiling water. Gently boil about 12 minutes or until pasta is tender; drain. Rinse with cold water until chilled; drain.

Stir together Seasoning mix, oil, water and mustard in large bowl. Stir in pasta-vegetable mixture. Stir in chicken. Toss with Parmesan Topping. Refrigerate any remaining salad.

Big Things come in Small Packages...

This little box held a $100 gift certificate for one of my customers.

Back in January or so I saw a very cute box done by Sarah Moore, a demonstrator in Chicago. I've had the idea filed away in my brain since then and this week I finally used it.... I hope this idea inspires you too

The birthday girl (lady) loves horses so I knew anything with the new Boho West stuff would work for her.

I embossed a metal blank "Altoid" type box, put an accordian message inside and put a belly band on it. The belly band is meant to be around the top half of the box so you can see the embossed horse and the C monogram. Here's the box without the band.

Here's what the box looks like when you open it.

The inside message stretched out, it reads:

Happy Birthday Caren!

Shop til you drop, then sit down & Stamp!

Enjoy spending $100 from your Stampin' Diva Friends ( names listed)

Redeem your $100 gift certificate with your demonstrator Martha

The box was embossed using Versamark & silver embossing powder. I used the Wanted horse and the letter C from Jumbo Outline Alphabet. I made several versions with different color schemes but in the end liked the Chocolate Chip and Sage Shadow combination the best because it reminded me of the western stuff with turquois that you see in Santa Fe. I embossed the medallion from Wanted with Chocolate Chip Craft ink and clear embossing powder, and used a simple brad from HodgePodge kit. The band is crimped chocolate chip, layered with sage shadow and some 1/4 inch chocolate chip grosgrain. The inside accordian was done with chocolate chip and sage shadow card stock. I used our new 3/16 corner rounder punch to round the edges.

She got it!

Kristina Werner got my package and she actually mentioned me in her blog!

I get alot of inspiration from her blog and I sent a box full of goodies when she mentioned that she had gotten a new KitchenAid mixer. (Most of you know that I work for KitchenAid). The card I sent is in a blog entry from last Sunday.

She's sending me a card with my name on it using the new Outline Alphabet stamp set. I just got that stamp set and I will be showing it next month for stamp club.

Check out her blog by clicking http://kwernerdesign.com/blog/.

Back To School Stamp Camp

Start the new school year off right or preserve last year's memories with this cute little scrapbook. This is one of our "On Board Itty Bitty Books" covered with our "Primary Colors Simply Scrappin Kit" .The inside pages are decorated using the same elements as the sleeve and cover.

Classes:
Tuesday, September 18th @ 7pm &
Saturday, September 22nd @ 1pm
(If these dates don't work for you let me know, I'll be happy to set a personal date with you)

$28.00


Your class kit will include:
One Itty Bitty Book (9.95)
One third of the Primary Colors Kit (6.66)
One package of Sticky Strip (6.95)
variety of buttons, brads and ribbon to coordinate
plus tax & shipping is $28.05


Bring your favorite adhesive, your basic cutting tools and your imagination. If you have a Zyron 510, it works exceptionally well for ahereing paper to chipboard.

* 1/3 of the Simply Scrappin' Kit will yield enough supplies to make more than one book especially if you supplement with solid colored card stock.

I will have the following stamp sets, ink pads, accessories and tools available for you to complete the book. Elementary Essentials, It's a Date, Short Order Alphabet, and Short Order Numbers stamp sets; Brocade Blue and Whisper White card stock; Basic Black Classic Stampin' Pad; Old Olive Craft Stampin' Pad; Basic Black, More Mustard, and Old Olive Stampin' Write markers; Bold Brights and Earth Elements brads; Natural hemp twine; Stampin' Dimensionals; 3/16 Corner Rounder, Horizontal slot, Round Tab, and 1/4 Circle punches; paper clip; sanding blocks; and stapler

Coordinating Punches & Stamp Sets

Coordinating Punches & Stamp Sets Everyone asks which punches coordinate with stamp sets.... here's a list! You can see all the punches online by clicking here. I am offering free shipping on all punches from now through the end of September.... start making your wishlist! The samples shown in this post are all ideas I have copied from SCS. You can find them by doing a search for each specific punch Happy Punching! -Martha New Scallop Circle Punch: In the Spotlight, Glorious Garlands, Punch Pals, Double-Line Doodles, Wanted Tag Punches: Perfect Presentation, All About Occasions, Flakey Friends, Punch Pals, Be Happy, Tagger's Dozen, Bundled in Love, Business Boosters 1¼" and/or 1 3/8" Circle Punch: Simple Delights Simply Sent kit, Perfect Presentation, Batty For You, Holiday Tag Team, Sparkling Sayings, Be Happy, Figures of Speech, Double-Line Doodles, Polka Dots & Petals, Big Flowers, Stamp of Authenticity, Carte Postale, Think Happy Thoughts, Big Pieces, Seeing Spots, So Happy, Dots Are Hot, Brocade Basics, Labelicious, Genuine Articles, Circle of Friendship, It's All Good, Sporting ½" and/or ¾" Circle Punch: In the Spotlight, Holiday Tag Team, Glorious Garlands, Cold Play, Snow Flurries, Merry Merry, Punch Pals, Forever in My Heart, Holiday Blitz, Double-Line Doodles, Sweet Thing, Wanted, Star Struck, Little Flowers, Little Pieces, Please Come, Dot Spot background, Alphabits, Art by Design 1" Circle Punch: Sending Happy Thoughts kit, Perfect Presentation, Glorious Garlands, The Snowflake Spot, Perennial Favorites, Holiday Blitz, Double-Line Doodles, Polka Dots & Petals, Create a Coupon, Genuine Articles, Business Boosters, Calendar Cues 1 ¼" and/or 1 3/8" Square Punch: Simple Delights Simply Sent kit, Perfect Presentation, Forever in My Heart, Sealed With a Kiss, Be Happy, Figures of Speech, Tagger's Dozen, Sweet Thing, Office Accoutrement, Stamp of Authenticity, Carte Postale, Glad Tidings, It's All Good, Art by Design, Sporting, Business Boosters, It's a Date ¾" Square Punch: Punch Pals, Calendar Cues 5-Petal Flower Punch: In the Spotlight, Be Happy, Priceless, Simply Said, Looks Like Spring, Heartfelt Thanks, Ginormous Flowers, Office Accoutrement Spring Flower Bouquet Punch: Looks Like Spring Three for You Punch: Three Thoughts Simply Sent kit, Punch Pals, Take Three, Three for You punch box . Word Window Punch: So Many Sayings, Block Party, Boatloads of Love, Fun & Fast Notes, Take Three, Everything Baby, Short & Sweet, Happy Everything, Wonderful Favorites, Warm Words, All Holidays, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Amazing to Zany, Fundamental Phrases Designer Label Punch: Party Punch, Labelicious Round Tab Punch: Party Punch, Office Accoutrement, Totally Tabs Snow Blossom Punch: In the Spotlight, Simple Snowman, Wondrous Gift, Snowflake Spot, Merry Merry, Snow Flurries, Punch Pals, Snowfall

Fall Frenzy Promotion

Stampin' Up! just announced the special for September. When you spend $30 on regular priced merchandise, you can purchase six of this fall's hottest stamp sets at 30 percent off!

• 105355 page 26 Bitty Boos Too $12.57
• 109284 page 29 Haunting Halloween $13.27
• 107383 page 30 Thoroughly Thankful $16.07
• 109373 page 108 Autumn Fest $16.77
• 109421 page 91 Elementary Essentials $19.57
• 110366 page 17 Stem Silhouettes** $22.37

Page numbers in Fall & Winter Collection Catalog.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken

This is one of our other favorite chicken recipes. I noticed the recipe on the Bisquick box one morning when I was making pancakes back when I was pregnant. We've been making it ever since!




Parmesan Crusted Chicken

2/3 cup Original Bisquick® mix
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt or Garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
1 egg, slightly beaten
3 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Heat oven to 450ºF. Line cookie sheet with foil; spray with cooking spray.
Mix Bisquick mix, cheese, salt and paprika in 1-gallon resealable plastic food-storage bag. Dip half the chicken strips into egg; place in bag of Bisquick mixture. Seal bag; shake to coat. Place chicken on cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken. Drizzle butter over chicken.
Bake 12 to 14 minutes, turning after 6 minutes with pancake turner, until no longer pink in center.

There is a lighter version of the recipe on www.bettycrocker.com

KitchenAid Card

I just made this card for Kristina Werner. I am sending it along with some KitchenAid goodies. Kristina Werner is another SU demonstrator in Utah. She has a fabulous blog that I read regularly. I get alot of inspiration from her projects. Just this week she purchased a KitchenAid mixer and I wanted to send her a little "congratulations" card.

Sorry it's not a very good picture. I forgot to scan the card, and this is a snapshot I took at the last minute before I sealed the box.



Stamp Set: Mix & Mingle (retired), Linen Background, Congratulations is from new Hugs & Wishes Supplies: Real Red & Basic Black card stocks. Red gingham ribbon. Mixer is stamped with Real Red Craft ink and embossed with clear embossing powder. Black mat is pierced in corners using mat pack. All supplies SU except Black Stitched grosgrain ribbon.

Storage Ideas: 2

I am tardy with my Storage Idea Newsletter, sorry about that!

This next idea is for storing ribbon. I absolutely love ribbon. Stores have endless varieties of widths, patterns materials and textures. I personally like to organize mine by color so I sort of have a rainbow thing going in one of my wide shallow drawers. I typically store my ribbon on the spool but find that it takes up alot of space that way.

Here's an idea I got from an online friend/customer in California. Jessica used an acrylic paint bottle spinning rack to store ribbon. She took the ribbon off the spool and wrapped it around clothes pins then clipped the pins to the rack. I have seen similar grids like this at the container store so the same idea could be adapted to a wall unit rather than something to have on your work surface.

Happy Organizing!

Back To School Favor

Here's a fun little favor to make for the children going Back To School.

Nothing gets kids excited about going back to school like new stuff. Heres a fun pencil holder idea. This would be a cute favor to hand out on the first day of school. You can adapt it to teens by using pens instead of pencils.

Supplies & Tools:
Fundamental Phrases Stamp Set. Basic Black, Old Olive and Very Vanilla Card Stock. White Craft Pad. Real Red wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals and Spiral Punch.
You can copy the pattern by clicking here.

Choose Your Family Promotion

August 10-September 30, 2007

Being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator is a fun and rewarding way to share your love of stamping with family and friends. And the Choose Your Family promotion is a great way to share that opportunity.

From August 10-September 30, new demonstrators will get to choose a color family of Classic Stampin' Pads free when they purchase the Starter Kit. That's up to a $57.95 value in addition to the excellent value of the Starter Kit!
You may choose between our four color families (Bold Brights, Earth Elements, Rich Regals, and Soft Subtles) or choose a pack of our 2007 In Color pads. Color family packs include 12 ink pads, and the In Color selection includes six ink pads.

Contact me today for more information!

Statement of the Heart

My upline, Denise Sullivan made this frame for our Statement of the Heart using the new Outlaw Designer Paper and Simply Scrappin' Kit and the On Board Chipboard for the frame. Isn't this lovely?

Creative Cottage Retreat August 25-27, 2008

I am hosting another retreat at the Creative Cottage here in McKinney the weekend of April 25-27. The cost including tax is $169.14. To reserve your spot, I need a $50 deposit. The balance will be due 30 days before the retreat. Please let me know if you are interested, there are 11 spots and they are going quickly!

Swaps for Convention

Thanksgiving Card

Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, Naturals Ivory, and Real Rust Card Stocks. Outlaw Designer Paper. Pumpkin is from Year After Year stamp set and Happy Thanksgiving is from Holidays & Wishes Stamp Set. Happy Thanksving was stamped in Vanilla and embossed with Vanilla embossing powder.

Bareback

Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip and Naturals Ivory card stocks. Outlaw Designer Paper. Horse and sentiment were stamped with Chocolate Chip Craft ink.

Snowflurries Card

Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi and Whisper White Card Stock. Pomegranate, Wasbi and Versamark Inks. Snowflurries and Holidays & Wishes Stamp Sets. Circle Scallop and 5 Petal Flower Punch. Pomegranate stitched grosgrain ribbon. White embossing Powder.