the.amanda.sewell

Time seriously flies by too fast. It seems like only yesterday that we were *worried* about Y2K and such and now here we are headed into 2007. I am so excited because as my kids grow - they are becoming more and more interesting and fun. I am also excited because new years always make me feel more motivated to be a better person and to make something out of myself. I have had the goal to be published for a long time, but I have been letting the "no" responses get me down, and I have been letting myself slack off and forget about my goals, but this year, I want to make myself a better person and accomplish some of my goals. I am tired of my bad attitude and my big butt and I am going to work on them both. And, I am going to work on submitting to one design call a month, whether that be with SU or whomever. I want you all to hold me to it each month -- check in with me and make sure I am behaving. M decided he wanted to play video games for a bit, and no doubt that is how...

Ah the joys of a Saturday, you get to sleep in, eat a big breakfast and play all day . . . well, except in my family. The kids woke up bright and early this morning and we skipped the big breakfast and opted for cinnamon rolls (pillsbury), juice and fruit. Then we decided to get some of the stuff done that we have needed to do (like put beds back in the right rooms, and strip off all the sheets from the guests we had, and clean up the toy mayhem). And finally, after all of that got done -- it was time. E and J have been wanting to test out their new bikes all week. I have been so busy trying to keep up with the chores around the house that needed to get done, I had not been able to take them yet -- but today, they got to go. Picture1: Getting ready to go. Picture 2: Man to man talk about this bike riding thing with dad. Picture 3: E figuring out how to push the pedals. Picture 4: I think I can, I think I can. Picture 5: E does it all by herself. YAY!

Training is not going so well for us here. Dobby just does not seem to get it. I am not sure what to do at this point since he just misses the concept completely and I am so frustrated with all his piddling and pooping on the carpet. So today I just decided that if he is going to act dumb and pee on the carpet all the time and not even try to make it outside, then he can wear a diaper. Any ideas on housebreaking him would be greatly appreciated. I love him to death but seriously he is the dumbest dog ever. Oh, and that is the funny part, DH wanted a poodle cross because poodles are smart . . . Bwahahahahahaha! It brings new meaning to "pampered pooch" eh?

I am behind with sending out my Christmas cards this year, so I thought I would post this cool idea so those of you who have to send some still can use it, or if you are not a mega procrastinator like me, you can remember it and save it to use next year. TIP of the YEAR: Use your aquapainter to "lick" envelopes when stuffing cards for any occasion. It makes you not have to taste it and it works AWESOME!!!! So, there you have it! Here is a of what I am sending out today -- a few days late, but better late than never . . . *grins* You can see the Lily Kate Card I made here. This card has handsome hunter stamped with canvas layered on a white background. Then I stamped and embossed the holly from SU "Happiest of Holidays" and then layered that on white after cutting it out. Then I punched three holes and set three eyelets (all using my silent setter from provocraft and done while my kids and hubby were sleeping -- that thing is a Christmas miracle if I have eve...

It has been a very busy past couple of days. My mom and my sister, V, arrived on the 20th. My mother in law, father in law and sister in law arrived on the 23rd. Needless to say, in my 1600 square foot home, we are a packed house. My kids are sleeping on mattresses on my bedroom floor. It is crowded, but quaint and comfortable. We had a chance to go look at the lights at the Mesa Arizona Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We got to go to Zoolights at the Phoenix Zoo. We got go see Ballet Arizona perform "The Nutcracker" and we got to have lots of fun family meals together, and some family game time. It has been interesting as usual. Family is rarely boring *smiles* M is putting together some last minute items and my mother in law is sewing together our pajama pants because we got busy doing other stuff and I kind of neglected my yearly task. The children are nestled all snug in their beds with their new pajama pants on . . . J is asleep an...

We went to Zoolights in Phoenix. We had planned to go on a Friday night, but then it rained all day Friday (rain in Phoenix, the nerve). We ended up going Saturday night, which was MAYHEM! They had a place that you could park and take a shuttle to the zoo. Well, one look at the shuttle line up and we knew we were walking -- much to the dismay of M's parents. Poor things. My mom did not fare so well either. It was a workout for her. We had pre-bought our tickets so we just had to go pick them up at "will call" and then walk up to the gate, rather than wait in line at the gate (one major bonus if you saw that line). Once inside, it was still a little crowded and crazy. We took the kids for some carousel rides, and then walked around the zoo. We got to see the talking giraffe (which was a giraffe they made that had someone walking around and you could tell that someone your kids names and such and they would say hello (as the giraffe). A really cool idea. Then w...

Okay, so bazillions of you are asking for a tutorial on how to do the star book ornaments, and because I love y'all so much -- here it is (sorry some of the photos are a bit blurry, I am tired and was in a hurry, so they did not come out perfect -- but Merry Christmas all the same): Ingredients: *1 (or maybe 2 if you want variety) sheets of double sided 12x12 paper *2 squares of cardboard (panty hose cardboard is about the right thickness) cut into 2 inch x 2 inch squares (sometimes I add an eighth of quarter inch on these, try it once one way and if you prefer it a little bigger, go ahead and make it bigger) *adhesive *ribbon *beads (the cheap ones from walmart that are a little big big and ugly -- but not in this case) *terrifically tacky tape (or similar) *Any embellishments you may want STEP 1 Choose which side of the paper you want to use for the cover and what will be used for the inside. Cover your 2 inch squares with the paper you choose for the cover -- (Remember you can ...

So as you know we decided to try to get painting done before Christmas. I decided to take a minute and post a couple pictures of the room (apparently my camera decided to suck and forgot to tell me). I used BEHR paint and was satisfied with the results after three coats on the red wall. The red was called "Red Red Wine (S-H-130)" and the neutral color is called "Toasted Wheat (280E-3)." I really like the warm feeling it gives the room. I also love the contrast of the black frames and white mattes on the bright wall. Anyway, be brave, be bold and paint something a bright color, it is FUN! I really like the works of Vettriano, so I decided to put three of them on the walls in this area. The three pictures I have are in there are: The Singing Butler , Dance Me to the End of Love , and Waltzers . M also has a "space" - kind of an office - in this area, so he is going to put up a couple of posters there. I think his posters (framed I might add) will...

Okay, so time is going WAY too fast. Seriously, my mom gets here at 1 pm on Wednesday, which means I have today and tomorrow to clean, decorate and make some treats. I got this awesome recipe from the girls on the Fawanda thread on SCS -- and they turned out YUMMY!!!! They are really addictive. These ones were made with candy cane kisses and mint M&M's and I made another batch with caramel kisses and the mint M&M's. The caramel ones are not as pretty as the oozed out, but they taste amazing!!!! Anyway, need a quickie treat -- this is it!!!

I don't know about you, but I love holiday baking (well, when I am not rushed and it is just for fun). This year M has a cookie swap at work that he would like us to participate in, so I had to find a recipe that sounded fun to make (I have to have 4 dozen cookies). I decided on this on and thought I would share it with you because some of you may have a cookie swap or something and still be in search of the perfect recipe. UPDATE: Oh, and M made his cookies this year all by himself. Well, almost until this morning when he hit catastrophe and they stuck to the wax paper on the pan . . . lol -- then I made some regular good old sugar cookies for the rest of the cookies. Apparently one of the homosexual men at his office claimed my basket of cookies cause he thought it looked pretty! YAY! I win! Anyway, to the recipe: RASPBERRY SWIRLS 1 cup butter, softened 2 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp lemon extract 3-3/4 cups all purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1 tsp s...

So I decided to get in on an order of grosgrain ribbon that Jody was doing. I took a half spot, and so I got 5 yards of 30 different colors of ribbon. SO COOL! I was so excited when it arrived. It is wonderful. Now I just need to make it to the local stamp store to get some cards to wrap them on. Now don't be jealous, but do feel free to drool! What a merry christmas. I also got in on an order of Prima flowers a friend was doing and might get those before christmas too! YAY! I will show them off as they arrive.

I almost neglected you on What's For Dinner Wednesday again . . . Well, to be honest, M and I are still working on getting our rooms back to normal. We finished painting the livingroom, diningroom and kitchen. We still need to do the library. E and J have come down with a cough and cold. So, I am dealing with two cranky children while I try to get all the painting and cleaning and decorating and food prepared and done for Thursday(aka tomorrow - YIKES). Tomorrow is the ornament class, so here I am up at 11 pm, working on getting everything clean and tidy. Anyway, tonight for dinner we had KFC. But, here is a quick and easy meal idea, inspired by KFC for you to try: Wannabe KFC Bowls Have you seen the bowls they have at KFC? They actually do taste really yummy. Here is how we make them at home. Still super fattening, but tastes so yummy! Mmmmm! 1/2 bag of popcorn chicken (the frozen kind) 1 can corn 3-4 potatoes, cooked and mashed 1 pkg instant chicken gravy, prepared shr...

Wondering where I am??? Well, M and I decided that we wanted to get the downstairs and the loft painted before my mom and my inlaws come to visit us over christmas, so I have been painting up a storm. My mom arrives on the 20th, which leaves me *gasp* only 9 more days to get it done. I will post some pictures of the room so far -- I am in the middle of painting a red wall, so when you see the nasty pink primer .. . don't snicker too hard . . . I promise I will get back to stamping soon -- maybe even late tonight -- because I have to come up with a card design for a stamp class/christmas ball class on Thursday night . . . so I need to get crackin' Anyway, just wanted to keep you updated so you all don't start to worry and think I am in trouble or that I got sick or at the very worst, my stamp room burned to the ground. *smiles*

I am by far the biggest slacker ever. I want to send out Christmas cards to all my friends and family, but they are SO time consuming and repetitious, I just don't know if I can make it through. A couple nights ago I worked on a set of 12 cards . They had lots of paper piercing involved and I actually gave myself a blister on my thumb. Then today when I was working on cards to go in the box I showed you a long time ago -- to send to my DDSS, I realized that I was totally out of cranberry crisp paper, or rather I misplaced it because I am pretty sure I did not use that much . . . but then again, maybe I did? Who knows? I have so many projects on the go on my desk (see photos on the side --note the great leaning tower of books, magazines, stamps and crap pile), it is a disaster and even though I am getting stuff done, slowly, it seems that it never ends. I haven't even finished my shopping for Christmas yet, and nevermind all the cards. Oh, and did I mention not only do ...

So if you have been checking in recently, you may have noticed that I have been sort of MIA. Well, that is because a couple of things have been happening with me. One was that I miscarried a baby. I was only ten weeks along, but it is still a pretty traumatic event. I am so thankful for all of my caring and concerned SCS friends who kept me on my toes and helped me to deal with things, you all know who you are. The second thing I have been up to is I have been working on this christmas wreath. I did it in the same method as the christmas balls seen in the popular tutorial (scroll down if you missed that one). I am really satisfied with how it turned out. It took a few hours, but looks pretty neat. My hubby was admiring it last night. I used paper by "The Paper Studio" that I purchased at Hobby Lobby. I think it took a total of 5-6 sheets all in all. I found that I could cut three sheets at a time, which helped to make the cutting go a lot faster. The most time wa...

So I was surfing the internet today and I came across this recipe for gingerbread and it sounded yummy and E has been bugging me to bake gingerbread men with her, so this year for Christmas, we are going to do it, using this recipe. You should try it too and tell me how your cookies turn out. Ingredients: 5-5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons ginger 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 teaspoon cloves 1 cup shortening 1 cup sugar 1-1/4 cups unsulphured molasses 2 eggs, beaten DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 375° F. Thoroughly mix flour, soda, salt and spices. Melt shortening in large saucepan. Cool slightly. Add sugar, molasses and eggs; mix well. Add four cups dry ingredients and mix well. Turn mixture onto lightly floured surface. Knead in remaining dry ingredients by hand. Add a little more flour, if necessary, to make a firm dough. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4" thickness for cut-out cookies. If you...

This sounded yummy, I have not tried it yet, it is a new to me and you one . . . let me know how it goes! Hugs, Amanda Tonight for Dinner: Barbecue Chicken Casserole Ingredients 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 broiler/fryer chicken (3 to 4 pounds), cut up 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 cup chopped onion 1 cup chopped green pepper 1 cup thinly sliced celery 1 cup ketchup 1/2 cup water 3 tablespoons brown sugar 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon salt ...

I was browsing another site and came across this. Hope you all like it. Happy Tuesday! The Secret World of Scrapbooking I have some pages I did in the last couple of days that I need to upload, but no time to do that . . . so, maybe tomorrow . . . I read this thought today and I really like it: We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person. -William Somerset Maugham, writer (1874-1965)

So I was a little late on sending this month (so what's new?) Seriously, that is why I cannot be on a design team for anywhere, I have issues with deadlines. I don't mind being early or late, but rarely on time. The first thing I made for Miss Jody, was some CD's of awesome Christmas music I have collected. I dressed them up all pretty and I think they turned out cute. I used that Michael's snowflake stamp -- which has proven to be a favorite, in spite of its $1 cost. Seriously, I hear about people stocking up on $1 stamps and never using them, but I have to say, that is not me. I love them all -- all stamps deserve a little love!!! This second project is three panels of a coaster frame. Yes, I just had to get in on that coaster deal on SCS. I mean, how cool are blank coasters. As usual I did not go over the top though, and I just got 50. I like them. I did add hinges in between so this little frame can stand on its own. The photo corners are in place and re...

Drum roll please . . . . And the winners are . . . artfullyinking at comcast.net and memorygarden at cox.net If both of you would email me your private information, I will send you your prize. I decided that this will include, a christmas ball, some gift tags, some candy and some sort of embellishment, still TBD (aka, I did not make it to Hobby Lobby yet today). Thank you all for your support by subscribing to my blog. If you are interested in how the winners were chosen: I took the list of the first 100 subscribers and messaged my DH and told him to tell me 2 numbers between 1 and 100. Then I counted subscribers, not including the anonymous ones, until I got to the numbers he gave me, which were 17 and 74! Thanks for playing!

UPDATED: For all of you interested in winning a kit to make these balls -- go HERE by December 1st, 2007 to enter to win!!!!! HAPPY BLACK FRIDAY -- So you missed the greatest deal ever because you were too far back in line -- never fear, I am here to help your day get better!!! Okay, due to the overwhelming demand for directions, I decided to do this a little earlier than I planned because SERIOUSLY you guys are all overloading my email box. I really hope you "get" them and that at the end of this tutorial you all will be happily playing with your pretty christmas ball. Bear with me, this will be my first time ever doing this . . . INGREDIENTS: 1 sheet of 12x12 paper (or a couple if you like) 1 three inch foam ball (white foam kind) 1 package of pins (I use Applique pins - 19mm - you can get these at walmart) 1 length of ribbon (I prefer wide SU organdy) 1 thimble 1 paper cutter STEP 1 Choose your paper(Mine is by K&I Memories). Small prints or loud paper work best ...