the.amanda.sewell

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 ...

I am so lucky and have so much to be thankful for today. To start things off, I am so thankful for my family, my awesome husband who is so loving. For my sweet children who keep me young and keep me on my toes, and are patient with me while I learn how to be a good mommy. I am thankful for our freedom. What a lucky girl I am to be able to be who I want to be without fear. I am thankful for good friends. I have made so many awesome friends on Splitcoaststampers who literally get me through my day each day. Their knowledge and humor always keeps me set on the right path. They lift me up when I need it and kick me down when I need it. I am so thankful for that blessing in my life. I am thankful for technology. I am so excited that I can write my feelings down for the world to see. I am so thankful that when I have babies, things are quick, and painless and just easy. I can not imagine what women went through in the past. Technology is a wonderful thing. I am thankful to be ...

My dear friend Lisa suggested I make this on Monday when I was totally out of ideas, but since I have not made it yet this week, I think we will have it tonight. Here is my recipe for poppy seed chicken. Tonight for dinner: POPPY SEED CHICKEN INGREDIENTS 5 cups chopped cooked chicken 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 cup sour cream 1 1/2 cups crushed buttery round crackers 1 teaspoon poppy seeds 1/2 cup butter, melted DIRECTIONS: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place the chicken into a 9x13 inch baking dish. In a medium bowl, stir together the condensed soup and sour cream. Pour over the chicken. In a separate bowl, stir together the crushed crackers, poppy seeds and melted butter. Sprinkle over the chicken and sauce. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top of the casserole is browned and the sauce is bubbly. ENJOY! Tastes delish served over rice!!!

Yesterday I was inkspired to work on Christmas gift tags because I wrapped all my presents while I had none and I just put initials on the top of each one, and I think they will look much cuter with tags. ALSO, I am going to do my drawing from my first 100 subscribers today because we finally made it there, and in their prize pack, I will be including a bunch of gift tags. I will post the winner late tonight or tomorrow morning, depending on how bedtime goes with my kids tonight. They are so simple to make but pack quite a punch -- people will think you are so sweet and caring to have made them *wink wink* I did four designs yesterday but I have some other ideas in mind . . . This first one is using that Stampendous Holy Family stamp again. I really love that stamp. I also love it mostest with creamy caramel. It seriously just sets it off. I aquapainted the caramel details on their clothing. The ribbon on top is cream grosgrain from SU! I also used my corner punch from SU! to...

So I was going through all the pictures on my desktop and I realized that I did not post the ones for this starbook I made. Oops. This was for Super Saturday and I think turned out really cute using the SU designer series papers. I learned how to do this when I was in El Paso, from Tracy Tripp. She has some cool ideas -- obviously!!! If you are interested in a tutorial on how to do these, please post a comment and let me know. I have two tutorials that I am working on already, and three's the charm right . . . The ornaments are from that bucket set and wouldn't you know it, I cannot remember the name of it right now. *annoying* They are colored with a blender pen and watercolor pencils and then crystal effects was placed on it and dried so it kind of bubbles up and has a 3D effect. You could put pictures on the inside of this and also some journaling and it would look just snazzy open or closed on a Christmas tree. Speaking of which . . . is it really thanksgiving alread...

I spent all day yesterday Christmas shopping and today has been a busy day of recovering from the week -- cleaning, cooking, picking up, and laundry -- all my favorites -- NOT!

These were probably the biggest hit at Super Saturday. I got one of these in the mail from an awesome stamper and friend last year in our swaps, and I love to make them because they are so simple, but so neat looking. These two (pictured above) were created by me, to show at Super Saturday. The girls liked them so much, I have been asked to teach a class on how to make them, and I need to create detailed instructions on a handout in order to make it easier. SO, when I get that complete, I will post them to my blog as well, so that you too, may try these ornaments. Then class will be held the second week in December. I am really excited about it.

I found these great little glass candle holders at Walmart for less than $1 each, but they were so plain, so I used glass etching cream and etched them with small snowflakes and then embossed larger silver snowflakes on top after the etching was done and the first layer of embossing was removed. I used the emboss resist etching technique, which was really simple and produced awesome results. I wish I could get a better picture where you could see the smaller flakes more clearly, but just know that they are super pretty in real life. I placed those faker tea lights inside them and the girls at church thought they were great!!! To complete them, I tied them with a piece of white organdy ribbon and a little bit of silver cord. The large snowflake is from "All Through the Year" stamp set by SU, and the smaller snowflake is from "Cold Play" also by SU! You can buy etching creme at JoAnn's and Michael's and I am sure lots more places, it is not cheap, but the ...

So I decided that by Wednesday, I am usually tired, stressed, in pain, annoyed, or any combination of these things and the last thing I want to do is figure out what's for dinner -- so I have decided to do that before Wednesday and post it here on my blog. We will call it "What's for Dinner Wednesday" and you are welcome to try out my recipe and let me know what you think -- any ideas you have to make it better, etc. Think it sounds fun???? Tonight, for dinner: CHICKEN ENCHILLADAS - Manda Style. This recipe came from a friend in college. She was from Texas and I fell in love with these yummy enchilladas. They are easy to make and satisfying. Serve them with a side of rice. Ingredients: Cooking spray precooked and shredded chicken La Victoria Enchillada sauce (or sauce that you prefer) Medium chedder cheese, shredded 2 cans Pinto Beans Flour tortillas (one package - or more, depending on how many you want to make) DIRECTIONS: Gently spray pan with PAM cooking ...

WE LOVE POPCORN IN MY FAMILY! My kids just love to have it for a snack, and I personally love to take kettle corn by Orville Redenbacher (nice salty and sweet combination) and sprinkle it with dill pickle popcorn salt. YUM! So, I was browsing in my Dollar Tree store, and I came across these little white cardboard totes. I think there were 12 in a packet for only $1. Perfect little alterable item. I decided to play with my Adirondak alcohol inks with it. It worked out great. This was just one color of the alcohol inks, mixed with the blending solution and then left to dry. I had to wait for one side to dry before doing the other one (ask me how I learned that?). After it was all dry, I stamped a poinsettia from SU "Happiest of Holidays" in versamark ink and then embossed it with gold embossing powder. I added brads to the handle for interest and a little olive ribbon, burgandy ribbon (organdy) and gold cord to make it all pretty. Then I put some popcorn in a plasti...

BLINK BLINK (my eyes need tooth picks I am so tired) Okay, so it has been forever since I have stamped something, so I decided to visit last weeks sketch challenge on splitcoast and I was surprised with the results. I really truly do not normally use rich regals at all and the embossing in two colors was all new to me too. I had fun though. What do you think of the results? Should I send it out to someone??? Oh, and lucky you guys, two posts in one day . . . looks like I am back and bloggin'!!! I am working on trying to create and get the size right on a header for my blog . . . so look for that soon . . . and for tomorrow morning -- some more Super Saturday stuff . . . Have a loverly evening. I am just dead tired and headed off to bed. Goodnight!

I got this idea from a cool album that I got from texasjodylynn. I decided to create my own similar item, using a winter/christmas theme, and then leave the pages inside blank to add christmas photos and journaling. I used fun winter paper as the background and paired it with some almost amythest SU cardstock. The image is from SU "It's Snow Time" and is watercolored using a blender pen and the lid of the ink pad. I think I only watercolored using going grey and then only orange for the noses. I really like the soft look it has and since the background paper had grey dots - I thought it would work. In the sideview photo, you can see how a paper accordian was created. Off of each of those on the inside is a page in the book. I stamped "Be Merry" on the bottom of the front cover in going grey using the "Warm Words" set. I think it finished it off really well. All in all, I was pleased with the result of this and got lots of positive feedback on ...

Okay, sorry I kept you guys in suspense -- or just kept neglecting my blog. Anyway, I am going to start posting the things I made for my Super Saturday display. This first item is a simple tote made by using the same technique as you would to make a 2,4,6,8 box and then adding a ribbon handle. I used decorative paper to cover some of the sides to make it more exciting and stamped "Holiday Greetings" on the side. This would be the perfect little gift to give to a co-worker or friend. I filled it with cinnamon jolly ranchers candy. To create the 2,4,6,8 box bottom, take a normal 8.5 x 11 paper, score at 2,4,6, and 8 inches (width wise -- the 8 should leave you a 0.5 strip at the edge). Then score at 2 inches from the bottom lengthwise. Then you cut up to the 2 inch score line on the lengthwise side to create bottom flaps. The little 0.5 inch edge piece is used to fold it into a box shape. Then you close up the tabs to for a bottom and tada -- an easy box. Okay, so thos...

to Karen (gamblemom) for posting comment number 100 on post 100. She will get 100 embellishments in the mail! YAY! She has a really cool blog too -- so if you have not seen that -- check it out. and now . . . I am off to stamp something . . .

So things did not progress in the organized fashion they were supposed to. They did manage to move the wall and the drywallers came, however, it is Monday now and the carpet guys and the shelf guys were supposed to both come today. Well, the shelf guy came and it is now all done that much, but the carpet and baseboards need to be put in and apparently the carpet guy cannot come today. *is seriously annoyed* The puppy is arriving tomorrow, so he will be scared already after his trip on the plane and then with the two kids in his face, more scared and then when they are hammering and such because they are putting in the carpet, he will be terrified. Have I mentioned recently that WE HATE OUR BUILDER? We do. I would never use K Hovnanian as our builder ever again. BUYER BEWARE. We have had so many issues with them. *is frustrated* Anyway, I wanted to update you all, so you knew where we were at with things. My office/stamp room is still in a state of disarray. I cannot access ...

For the next three days my stamp room/aka office, is is a mess because the builders accidentally screwed up and put the wall in the wrong place, so they are going to knock out the wall and rebuild it in the right spot. I had to move all my stamp stuff to one side of the room, which is sad because now I cannot use my stamp room. They should be done in three days though, so I will be able to stamp next week. I will post the stuff from Super Saturday soon too -- maybe this weekend, after they finish because I went to look and there is no way I can access anything of mine in that room. It is all plastic covered and scary. I really want to photograph the stuff for you and I promise I am not just teasing you all -- it has just been seriously hectic. I am sure you all know how it goes . . . be back soon!