Melissa's Stamping Blog Colour Challenge

I've become a bit of a blog stalker of late. Another blog I have been looking at lately is Melissa's Stamping Blog. Mel has a colour challenge going at the moment using this picture as inspiration.

Now, I was suppose to use Basic Black, Chocolate Chip, Gable Green and Whisper White, however I think the pattered paper I have used may be certainly celery, so I may have played outside the rules a bit. While I'm confessing, the layout of this card was inspired by a birthday card I received from my girlfriend Tracy years ago. Although the cards are totally different, the idea of the punched hole and the thread to hang the wish label from is inspired from the card I received. So here is the card.

Second Time Lucky

How exciting is this.....A couple of weeks ago I was checking Kari Hughes's great blog (here's the link http://karigail.wordpress.com/) and she was asking readers to post a comment with a link to a cupcake card that you had made.

Back in July I made a cupcake card for one of Gina's sketch challenges but it wasn't the winner but this time around Kari picked it, how lucky am I!!!!, and today in the mail I received a lovely card from Kari and the level 1 hostess stamp set called "For a Friend". That is the stamp set featured on the right hand side of this picture from the current catalogue.



Thanks so much Kari. I'm looking forward to having a play with it. Here is the link to my lucky cupcake card. http://chooksscrap.blogspot.com/2008/07/ginas-july-challenges_31.html)

Chicken Kiev with Bacon and Asparagus

Well it's been awhile since I have posted a recipe so I thought I'd share this one I made last weekend. Isn't it funny how you dislike certain foods as a kid and then you change your thoughts when you are a bit older. I used to dislike asparagus very much (maybe because I had only tried it out of a can...shame on you mum) but now I really like it fresh (still dislike the canned version).

I found this recipe on the internet when googling chicken, bacon and asparagus to see if I could find any inspiration (god bless google). The site is called foodtv. I have just cut and pasted the ingredients and instructions, however I just halved the ingredients to make 2 not 4 kievs. Also it says to cook at 350°F, I'm not sure what that is in celsius but I think I used 180 and I cooked it for about 40 mins not 20. This dish turned out really nice, better than I expected. I made my own bread crumbs and I think that is what made it. So here it is. Sorry, I didn't think to take a picture until I was half way through it and then I was enjoying it too much to get up and find my camera. Next time. I hope you give it a go and enjoy :)

Ingredients:

8 strips bacon
12 tips of asparagus, (top 2 inches only)
4 large skinless boneless breasts of chicken, tendons removed
2 egg
2 cup breadcrumbs, (coarse if possible)
1 cup flour
5 tbsp butter
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a frying pan, cook bacon until almost crispy.
2. Steam asparagus tips for three minutes.
3. Using a mallet, or other blunt instrument (the kind you keep beside your bed to ward off mad burglars), flatten chicken breasts by placing them, one at a time, between 2 sheets of wax paper or plastic wrap, and pound to 1/4" thickness.
4. Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
5. In three separate bowls place: (bowl #1) flour, (bowl #2) eggs (beaten) and (bowl #3) bread crumbs. Line the three bowls in a row.
6. Complete the following procedure for each portion.
7. Take one flattened chicken breast, season with salt and pepper. Lay two strips of bacon side by side, on the top side of the chicken breast. Place three asparagus tips crosswise at one end and top with 1 tablespoon butter.
8. Starting at the end with the asparagus, roll up chicken like a carpet around the bacon, butter and asparagus, and tuck in the loose ends underneath.
9. Dip rolled chicken in the flour, then the egg, and then the bread crumbs, covering thoroughly at each step. Place in a shallow pan with the seam on the bottom. Place 1/4 tablespoon butter on top of each piece of chicken. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until cooked throughout. Towards the end, baste with pan drippings.

Gina's October Challenges

Gina challenged us again this month with another sketch and colour challenge. I even managed to be able to participate in the sketch this month after my disasterous attempt last month that ended in the bin. So here is the sketch template, however you didn't have to use a versamarked background or the ripped vellum just follow the layout. I liked it however and came up with 2 cards, a baby boy card which will come in handy as a friend of mine just had a little boy and also the card I made for the K Werner challenge displayed earlier or here is the link http://chooksscrap.blogspot.com/2008/10/k-werner-color-inspiration-25.html.

And for the colour challenge you needed to use this funky bedroom photo for inspiration. This card was a double up with Makeesha's challenge and is displayed in the post below or this link http://chooksscrap.blogspot.com/2008/10/makeesha-and-ginas-challenges.html. I didn't want to bore you with posting the same cards twice.

Makeesha and Gina's Challenges

I have been following some great blogs lately and gaining some inspiration from participating in their challenges. This is the first time I have played along with one of Makeesha's challenges. This week is a trifold card challenge. Here is a link to Makeesha's blog. She does some great work. Make sure you check out her trifold card examples. http://www.makeeshabyl.com.au/ .

This is also my entry for Gina's colour challenge this month. I will post more about the inspiration for these colours at a later date when I post the sketch challenge cards. There never seems to be enough time lately so sometimes doubling up with the one card is the only way to go. I learnt this style of card through a Splitcoast Stampers tutorial (infact I still have the link http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/Joy_fold_card). They actually call them a Joy Fold card. I hope you like it.

K Werner Color Inspiration #26

I decided to have a quick go at the latest K Werner colour challenge tonight. Now to any Aussies reading this, I do know how we spell "colour" here but I have always kept the title spelt the way Kristina does. I don't know why...I think I just cut and pasted the first one I ever did and have just kept following suit. Anyway, the colours this week are as below and then my very quick card follows.

K Werner Color Inspiration #25

Now Shhhhh Everyone.... I had a thousand things to do this afternoon, so no one telling my husband I stopped to make a card. It has been a while since I've had a go at one of K Werner's Colour Challenges, so this arvo I made a card. The layout is also for another challenge so at least I have killed two birds with one stone. So using the colours from the inspiration picture below, I made a birthday card. There are balloons versa marked in the background, raised butterflies with linen thread coming down and tying up on a blue button on the top of the present which is stamped on vellum. Although I have all the papers in these colours, I don't have the inks so I have snuck black into the card too. Anyway, here it is, something a bit different for me.

Double Pocket Gift Bags

I really enjoy going to Gina's classes but unfortunately, I have missed the last couple. Luckily for me, my mate Mel showed me how to make these great double pocket bags they learnt how to make at one of the classes. I just love the Stampin' Up Berry Bliss paper and being that the paper is double sided, I think it just adds something extra to these little bags. I have made both of these for birthday gifts. The one on the left included a card and a mini photo album and the one on the left included a card and a gift voucher. I can see me making more of these in the future.