BTW the Phantom Subscriber has struck again!!! Yes, after many, many months of quiescence, we received another subscription request from her. Doesn't she know she has a lifetime subscription?

While our phantom subscriber waits to hear about the grant proposal she made to the Iraqi Redevelopment Counsel to set up a string of in-country stamping, scrap booking and craft venues, she was hanging out with a unit of the 101st Airborne (going out on a few patrols in between stamping classes), when they got the big tip and captured Sadam Hussein. She said her sciatica was killing her riding in the back of an armored personnel carrier. If you look carefully you can just see her in the background of some of the pictures journalists took – she's the one with the flack jacket over her camouflage muu muu. Then the commander of the unit asked her to clean up the spider hole before it was to be photographed. “I don't do windows” she kept muttering.

Thank you, a million times thank you, for writing to The Hun and requesting his little missive on kitchen knives. So many of you wrote asking for his advice that he printed out all the e-mails and went around showing them everyone in town. He thinks he is semi-famous now and is a bit easier to live with.

Fairy Wings I - med
277-002J

up coming shows and classes ta ta!

Why you ask? Let me count the ways:

1. Organized and produced by Paula Amari, one of the nicest and most fun people in the craft world.

2. No dreary industrial convention hall. The vendors and classes are distributed among the many historic buildings in beautiful St Mary's. Tree shaded streets, brick sidewalks and white picket fences set the stage for the most beautiful venue of all the craft shows. The weather is mild this time of year and the short walks to and from the historic building housing the vendors and classes, some dating back to the 1700s, provides a needed respite from classes and shopping.

3. No admission fee. You heard me right - zip, nada, nothing. And no parking fees as well.

4. Classes will be held on Thursday the 12th, Friday the 13th and Sunday the 15th. Saturday is reserved for shopping, thus no conflict of interest, nothing to divert your attention, no bouncing from class to booth and back again.

5. Some of the best teachers in the US will be there, not just me, but Susan Rothamel, Fred Mullet, and Suze Weinberg will be down from the wilds of New Jersey and a scad of others – over 90 classes being offered. I will be teaching four classes with Cheryl Ross of Savannah. Just think, two for the price of one.

   • Cloth Goddess Doll – stamped, beaded and stuffed, this is one of my most popular classes.

   • Elegant Asian Vessel– a vessel pendant in polymer clay. This class is uses a variety of techniques to produce a stunning Japanese Inro, a wearable vessel pendant. This project was developed by Cheryl and we will team teach.

   • Antique Brooch – a fabulous new polymer clay project.

   • Beaded Bracelet – back by popular demand, yet another technique to make a beaded bracelet.

6. You get a chance to shop at Old Town Crafts, arguably the prettiest and most crammed full of great stuff you just have to have, craft store we know of.

7. And The Hun will be there to make your trip an event to remember.

This year the town will believe Paula when she told them a hoard of crazed crafters were coming and be better prepared. Not that it was bad last year, but the sight of the town's people walking around looking incredulous was priceless. For info go to www.oldtowncrafts.com or give Paula a call at 877-313-6745 (and say hi for me).

Dragonfly Wings - lg
277-007L

On March 27th and 28th I will be at Auntie Amy's Unconventional Rubber Stamp conventions in Portland, OR. For information Auntie Amy has ads in every major stamping journal.

On April 2nd and 3rd, 2004 I will be teaching at Artiscape, in its second year, a three day artist's retreat in historic Roscoe Village, Coshocton, Ohio (east of Columbus, near Dresden, and a hop/skip from Cleveland).

European Papers of Columbus, Ohio has taken a page from The Creative Palette and Artunraveled and is putting together a retreat that will combine the best of both worlds. Over 25 workshops in a historic village setting, beautiful (and reasonably priced) historic inn accommodations - what more could you ask for. Time to ditch the kids, get hubby to do the cooking, and kick back and create to your hearts content. Alas, it will only last three days.

For an info packet send a SASE (#10 with $.60 postage) to:

European Papers Ltd.
377 East Kossuth Street
Columbus, Ohio 43206

And start preparing your spouse for the away game now.

saddle up!

I will now (again) offer retail mounted stamps for those of you who want them this way. Just tell me which way you want your stamps when you order.

Noodle Maker
278-004I

new stamps

Also nine different designs drawn from Chinese paper cutouts that depict Chinese country life. And two different Chinese opera masks, each in two sizes.

Paper cutting is a very popular folk art among the Chinese people. They can be seen virtually everywhere and each region has their own characteristics. Since the designs are the work of folk artists, they have a marked peasant flavor and display great vitality. Their outlook on life is one of hope and lofty ideals. Some cutouts are done with scissors and other with a sharp knife. Most are done to decorate the artist's own home. They are pasted on doors and windows, used to decorate paper lanterns and gift packages and to serve as embroidery patterns.

All new designs are on New Image Flyers 51 and 52 on my home page.

Flyer 51: Fairy Wings for Dolls and Collage

Flyer 52: Scenes from Chinese Country Life

For all you Trading Card artists we have many backgrounds that are 2-1/2” by 3-1/2” (or slightly smaller) just the right size for your ATCs. You may want to look especially hard at:

• Runes 246-001K
• Moon and Stars 91-004I
• Mask of Insight 200-001J
• Dreamtime Woman lg 223-001L
• Sea Fan lg 145-001K

Farm House
278-003I

bistro hun

“Heard you were on the edge” said Trish – I sent her the info in spite of the terrible pun.

“I meant to write but life ran off without me and left me standing at the curb, thumbing for a ride” wrote Marie A. I have no idea how to respond to this one except to say – I am so sorry.

“You are a good person and not forgotten” wrote Barry S. to assuage my feelings.

After requesting the information a reader signed off as "Babette Does Dallas” but I refuse to go there.

“The Hunster Rocks” wrote Mickey, who added “I missed the missive due to electrical problems.” This is a whole lot better than the dog ate my homework, which was getting a little tired.

What better in winter than the comfort of mashed potatoes. Everyone loves them and you can live dangerously by adding copious amounts of butter and cream – or not. Of course those on the low carb diets will miss out.

Here is a way to kick them up a notch (damn – I cannot stand that guy and here I am using his punch line) without additional expense or work. The French have for years added boiled (or steamed) and mashed root vegetables to potatoes for a wintry dish they call Blanc Mange. It adds a whole new world of flavor to simple mashed potatoes.

Try adding some turnips, rutabagas and/or parsnips to your mashed potatoes (about half and half). You do not have to treat them any differently than the potatoes (except for the parsnips where you have to cut out the woody core). Peel, cut and cook – then mash and add your butter and cream - or milk and some chicken stock for a lower calorie version. You can also do some variations using roasted garlic, caramelized onions, wasabi or horseradish.

Also do not forget polenta or risotto as the starch for a lovely treat on a cold winter's night. Both are different and so, so easy.

The trick to polenta is to drizzle it slowly into the hot broth so as not to create lumps – a whisk helps until it gets too thick then resort to a wooden spoon. Serve it up soft or let it cool in the fridge overnight, slice it thickly and sauté to a brown crust for a really cool side.

The trick to risotto (and this is a critical step) is to cook the rice in the pot along with the sautéed onions, for five to seven minutes or until it gets just a touch of color. This helps immensely in getting the rice to release its starch and make the dish super creamy - with out the cream of course.

I recently made risotto, cooled it in the fridge for a few hours and made risotto cakes. Wet your hands and take about 1/3 cup of the risotto and form it into a fairly thick patty. Make an indention with your thumb and put in a small piece of mozzarella (about the size of a melon ball) then work the rice to cover up the cheese. Coat it in seasoned flour, then an egg bath, then bread crumbs. Sauté until you get good color on both side and keep warm in a 175 degree oven. When you cut into them the cheese oozes out…oh please stop me before I run into the kitchen and start cooking again.

That's all for now!
Roberta