the.amanda.sewell

I made this card for my SIL a long time ago, but I did not want her to see it before it got to her in the mail, so I decided I would not upload it till her birthday. Usually I am WAY behind on sending out cards, but I decided to try and get ahead and make a few super early!!! This was made using a previously stamped image -- I have been making efforts to use up my collection of these. Happy Birthday to Kari! Hope you like my creation! I used SC188 on Splitcoaststampers. Here are the rest of the details: Stamps : Cakeabella, Sentiment by Hero Arts Paper : Pixie Pink, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White, Carolees Creations - Pink Scratch Dots Ink : Close to Cocoa, Pixie Pink, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip Accessories: Sewing machine, brown thread, prima flowers, swarovski crystals, quickie glue pen, SU 1 3/8 and 1 1/4 circle punches, glue dots, aquapainter I am off to take my 28 week glucose test today -- wish me luck -- I hate drinking the nasty drink, but worse than that is the deal...

I have had such a lovely relaxing Saturday. I went with my kids to see "Igor" which was actually quite funny (if your kids hate villains though, skip this one because it is a little dark). I have been in kind of a funny mood all day -- full of giggles, which is fun. This morning at breakfast I was laughing so hard I choked on milk. *giggles* Oops! Maybe it is just out of control pregnant hormones, but oh well. Anyway, after the movie, we ate some yummy leftover chicken noodle soup and played some Mario Kart (I seriously *heart* that game). And then . . . off to the stamp room! Saturday is Inspiration Challenge day on SCS ! Today was a lovely set of dishes, that inspired me both with their gorgeous complimentary colors as well as with their textures. I went on a paper digging spree and came across some in the perfect colors to match my card! Next I needed a layout, so I stumbled on over to Amy R's blog, where she had a Friday sketch challenge, and I used that f...

I recently added a weekly challenges guide to the sidebar of my blog. There are so many blogs out there with so many challenges on them -- it is easy to be inspired by color, sketches and much more. I hope you will take some time to tackle some of the challenges that are out there (everyday there is one on SCS waiting for you). Is it Autumn where you are yet? Unfortunately for me, it is still 87 degrees outside here in the Phoenix area -- which is INSANE! I cannot wait for the cool crisp air and the colors of Autumn. I have been playing with Autumn colors recently trying to get in the mood. Maybe I can inspire mother nature to drop Autumn on us here in the hot desert. This card was created using the Mojo Monday sketch (#53) on Poetic Artistry . Julee always has the most amazing sketch ideas, and I am such a sucker for a sketch challenge. I wanted to use all the cute little images in the Jump For Joy set by Hanna Stamps -- they all just SCREAM Autumn and made a lovely background ...

Guess what came in my mail yesterday? Yep, you guessed it, my COPIC CIAO markers that I ordered from Hanna Stamps. I ordered one of each of the 5 sets she has. I really loved how they were organized seasonally! FUN! So I immediately began to color . . . and I was surprised by how much of a learning curve they have, I mean, I had heard that they did take some learning, but WOW! I threw out at least a full page of images that did not look right when I colored a spot on them, so I tried again. But, I am proud to say, I finally managed to get an image to look decent enough for it to adorn a card. YAY! This is the stamp I refer to as Booty Bella and it was the first time I managed to get her inky! Here are the sites that helped me to figure out coloring with these babies: http://ilikemarkers.blogspot.com/ and http://ellenhutson.typepad.com/ Without those two sites, I would never have figured it all out. Ellen's site had great tips on how to color with the markers as well as a...

I made this one for Jenn's challenge -- it was an inspiration challenge ... we were to use this image as inspiration: My challenge for you is to make something, anything, inspired by this amazing cake. Draw from the colors, the patterns, whatever. My lime color is not quite the same as the inspiration, but in real life it looks really close. I chose to use the black and white with a POP bright color, rather than the pattern on the cake. I like how this cute little Bella turned out. I think I would like to try this with an electric blue color or a super bright pink. The way the color just pops is amazing. I also discovered I need to stock up on my black and white designer paper stash (shame on me for having such a limited selection). Stamps : Cupcakeabella Paper : DCWV Tiny Dotted, Basic Black, Whisper White, Prism Iced Kiwi Ink : Onyx Black Versafine Accessories : Black gel pen (to color details), prismacolor pencils, sansodor, blending stumps, silver and black brads, bla...

I decided to take some time to participate this year in the Dare to Get Dirty SCS celebration. After all, I am a wannabe, aspiring dirty girl . . . I can use all the practice I can get right?? I made this card for Jody's challenge: It's time to think like a ribbon addict! Your task is to create a card using ribbon as your inspiration and starting point. Dig through your stash and choose some ribbon you love. Then choose everything else for your card with the ribbon in mind. Let it set your color combo, style and maybe even your stamp set. The ribbon is in charge here... because it's all about the ribbon! This card kind of just came together for me. I found this ribbon when I was shopping on the weekend, and when I was looking through my stamp drawer for the perfect stamp that would match a friend theme, I came across some pre-stamped images I had, including these huggybellas. I also picked up the brown felt Heidi Swapp flowers on the weekend -- just because I knew I w...

So the other day I was browsing around Michaels (I actually went in to get some Wilton cupcake stuff for DD's birthday coming up soon as well as for Valentines day) and came across some Christmas gift card holder tins that were on clearance for only 40 cents each. I immediately thought they were a steal and knew they would be perfect for nuggets or whatever and at that price you cannot resist. I only bought a few because I recently organized my alterables into groups in big bins (paper, glass, tins, goodies) and I *may* have a bazillion tins to alter . . . DOH! Anyway, they are absolutely perfect for nuggets, just like I thought they would be! I am tempted to go back and get more (but you didn't hear me say that *wink wink*). I used Jody's altering Elvis tin tutorial to try and take off the image on it, but I figured out as I was doing this that the side edges were really hard to sand off AND I planned on covering the top, so really only that little corner part between ...

I woke up really early this morning (5:30 am) because my cute little boy was awake. He quietly played toys in his room with afforded me some quality stamping time. I am so glad I made use of my early wake up. This first card was an effort to use some of my gorgeous stamps from Skipping Stones Design. I recently got this set called "Beautiful Blocks" which features all sorts of cool strip patterns like the swirl, as well as a few backgrounds. I really like this set. In this card, I stamped the swirls tone on tone on the apricot card stock, and then pierced along the stamped lines. I love how it turned out. I think it looks so neat. Bella was watercolored in and her pants/hat were made by stamping on my designer paper and cutting them out and applying them to the image. The brads in the corners are by Little Black Dress Designs and are called Fastenations. Ribbon is some that I got at Michaels. Sentiment is using my Karen Foster snap stamps again - says "wish....

This is her official coming out party - lol! I love this one. I think she is so versatile and just plain cute. The background plum paper is by Prism Papers. Remember a while ago I told you about the samples I got, well, the two plums I used here are some of that. I really like the texture of the paper. I am not sure if it is white core, I did not sand that long, but when I sanded it, it did lighten up a bit, to create a cool looking texture. The background was then stamped with SU Springtime Stems. Then I layered on the Bella on mellow moss and a light plum color (but I did not glue her down yet). She was watercolored and then details were added using some gelly roll pens (sparkle and clear) and some stickles (diamond). Then I layered her on the lighter plum, faux stitched using a ruler and paper piercer as well as a white gelly roll, and then layered her on the background. I then placed the primas around her to get a feel for where I wanted to place them. Then using glue...

I got my Bellas yesterday *giddies* I only ordered three because M instituted a new "budget" into play this month, and I have been trying to do better! I admit it, I have a serious shopping problem *smiles* But I am a good shopper! So I started out yesterday by creating a coaster box. I had never done it before, so I followed Taylor's directions on SCS. Her directions are awesome and make it really easy to make one of these, so if you have coasters, try it and if not, next time you are out for dinner, as your waiter if you can have 5 of them . . . hehehe. I did end up making a couple of changes. One, I used glossy accents, which is similar to crystal effects, instead of modge podge. I couldn't find my modge podge for the life of me. Anyway, the other change I made was that i put the base of the box inside the patterned coasters. It fit with ease and I glued on the exterior bottom area, but inside the box so you don't see the undecorated coaster. It tur...