More Anniversary....

I'm back with 3 more cards for the Paper and Such Anniversary Challenges. This first card is for the Black and White +1 challenge. I went with the Song in My Heart set from Paper and Such. I just love these birds. I really kept this very CAS. I thought about adding embellishments but felt it would detract from the beauty of the image and sentiment itself. A true friend knows who you are under all your embellishments! ;-) The paper in Gina K and I added some shading with Copics.

This card is for the sentiment only challenge. These tend to be difficult for me for some reason. This one came together pretty easily with the help of the Paper and Such Just Sayin' set. I created this card as a mommy card. Sometimes being a mom can be challenging..but upon reflection, it's way beyond worth every challenge/problem that could present itself. I went with pink..because it was my daughter with the challenge at that particular moment.. LOL!

Last but not least is the monochromatic card. I was pleasantly surprised with how this one came out. Masculine cards can be difficult to find especially for friendship cards. Admittedly, there are some flowers on the DP, but I don't think it makes the card overwhelmingly feminine. I pulled the Song in My Heart set again. I "colored" the heads of the birds with bleach. I wanted there to be a slight color differentiation.

Thanks for stopping by, and there is still time to get in on the Anniversary challenges at Paper and Such...

Paper and Such Anniversary

A very Happy 1st Anniversary to all the peeps at Paper and Such! It's been a great year and I'm so happy that I've gotten the chance to participate in some of the challenges from the Design team this weekend. Go on over and check out the blog a get yourself a chance to win some new stamps. This is the first time I've stamped in about 5 months... so be gentle ;-) The first challenge was to make a birthday card.

For the birthday card I chose to use my Paper and Such poppies set. I colored the poppies with copics and broke out Spellbinders dies. This card is actually 5*7 so I could highlight as much of the image as possible. I "antiqued" the focal image with Tim Holtz distress ink.

The second challenge was a sketch challenge. Frankly, I hope I'm close on this one. I looked at the sketch Friday night, but didn't stamp until last night.. so I was working from memory.

I know, I know it's too early for Christmas. But I'm trying to be organized this year and am waaaaaaaayyy behind on the Christmas Card Challenge, so I decided to make this my Christmas card for one month. On this card I tried to combine traditional and modern by using the swirly trees image.

Thanks for stopping by! Hopefully I'll have more later to help celebrate the Paper and Such Anniversary.

Mini Chicken Pot Pie Muffins

I saw this great looking recipe on Pinterest, Betty Crockers mini Chicken and Broccoli Pie. After reading the reviews, I noticed the main theme was that the pies were tastless, so I read up on some Chicken Pot Pie recipes and decided that would add flavor to the chicken... then.. why not just add the pot pie type veggies too (except the potatoes) and so was born Mini Chicken Pot Pie Muffins. There are still a couple of tweaks to be made... but overall these turned out pretty good. Served with a side salad, it would make a good take and go lunch or supper. Oh, and I ate a "pie"/"muffin" a little later after dinner and it was really good. My biggest issue was getting the muffins out of the tin whole. I probably should have let them cool a little longer and shouldn't have used a sharp knife to loosen the edges. I will probably try these in muffin liners next time and see if that works better. It's not as much work as it looks like ;-)

Mini Chicken Pot Pie Muffins
Ingredients:
1 lb chicken (I used thighs) cut into bite size pieces
3 Tbsp margarine
Bay Leaf
½ large onion chopped finely
Celery rib chopped finely
2 tsp Poultry seasoning
1 tsp minced garlic
Salt
Pepper
Cr of Mushroom soup
Chicken Broth
1 Tbsp Flour
1 c. frozen mixed veggies
Shredded cheese
¾ c Bisquick mix
¾ c Milk
2 eggs

1.) Preheat oven to 375
2.) Melt margarine in sautee pan over med heat
3.) Add chicken and bay leaf and sautee/poach until chicken is no longer pink
4.) Add onion, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning
5.) Sautee until veggies are soft
6.) Add flour to pan and stir
7.) Add ¼ can of Cr of Mushroom soup and ¼ c of Chicken broth to add some moisture. Don’t want it to be too wet.
8.) Remove pan from heat and let cool slightly
9.) Add 1c shredded cheese (optional)
10.) In a med bowl mix bisquick, milk and eggs until combined
11.) In a greased muffin tin, add scant tbsp of batter at the bottom
12.) Top with approx ¼ cup of chicken pot pie mix
13.) Add another Tbsp of batter on top
14.) Bake approx 30 minutes