HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!!!

Thanks for joining us for our Happy Birthday Jesus Blog Hop. Today, we are worshiping the King & celebrating the TRUE REASON FOR THE SEASON! This Hop is Hosted by Tina from Crafty and Green. If you've hopped along from The Fantastic Kari, then you are in the right place!! If you are just joining me from your dashboard, or reading this via email, please be sure to start at the beginning with Tina (We wouldn't want you to miss a THING!!)

Thank you for Celebrating with us Today! In the midst of all the hustle and bustle of the Holidays, We have to remember the one we really celebrate and love and who is the TRUE REASON FOR THE SEASON! Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

BLOG CANDY:

There is TONS of Great Candy in this Hop. We have 7 Sponsors for this hop with FANTASTIC PRIZES!!!!
1. Jen's Digi Stamps - http://www.jensdigistamps.com/ (Gift Certificate)
2. Michelle's Scrapbooking & More- http://michellescrap.com/ (Gift Certificate)
3. Heather Flaherty w/ {ippity} - http://www.iheartippity.com/ (Gift Certificate)
4. Papercrafting World - www.papercraftingworld.com (Gift Certificate)
5. Scraptastical Kreations- http://scraptasticalkreations.com/ (Gift Certificate)
6. K Andrews Designs- http://www.kandrewdesigns.com/ (Stamp Set)
7. My Family Keepsakes- http://myfamilykeepsakes.com/ (12x12 print/page)

What You Have to Do To Be in the Running for these Fabulous Prizes:

1. The Ladies have all worked hard on their Projects, Please Comment on Every Stop Along the way on Both Days. (Separate Line up December 17th & 18th)
2. Please Become a Follower of CraftyAnd Green (http://craftyandgreen.blogspot.com)


My favorite part of the Christmas Story is when the angel visits the shepherds: 
"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."
(Luke 2:9-14 KJV)

Keeping this angel in mind, my favorite Christmas craft is always to make those near and dear to me an angel pin to wear as a reminder of that wonderful night!  I hope you enjoy!

 Here are the supplies you need to make these (and don't forget the hot glue and the pin for the back!):

It's really quite simple; each angel can be made from 1/2 of a gold pipe cleaner.  You first fold the end of the pipe cleaner to make a "knot" that the beads won't slip off of. Then, you slide down 3 large paddlewheel beads and then 4 small paddlewheel beads.  With what's left of the pipe cleaner, cut it in half to get the small piece you see in the picture above.  That will be for your arms:  fold the end of the small pipe cleaner piece to form a "knot" and apply 6 small round beads.  Make the "knot" at the other end of the pipe cleaner; you should have about a half-inch to inch leeway.  Spread the beads 3 and 3 with the bit of leeway in between and then wrap around the pipe cleaner sticking up from the angel's "body" to form the arms.  After attaching the arms, slide a large round bead down the pipe cleaner to make the head.  The leftover pipe cleaner at the top is to be bent over and rounded to form the halo of the angel (I have found that wrapping it around a round pencil works best).  Last, but not least, hot glue the wings and pin on the back and, VOILA!, a beautiful angel to remind you of the blessings bestowed upon us that wonderful Christmas night so long ago!

And, just for your listening pleasure, this is a cool song I've recently discovered that makes saying "Merry Christmas" COOL again! :)





Now, Hippity Hop on over to Judith To see her Fabulous Creation Today!

My Cricut Craft Room's Card Creating Tuesday

It's Card Creating Tuesday over in My Cricut Craft Room!! Yay!! It's one of our (the Design Team's) favorite days!!  If you just happened across my blog, thank you for visiting and welcome to my crafty world!  Also, please don't forget to stop by My Cricut Craft Room for some more wonderful inspiration!!  If you came from My Cricut Craft Room, welcome!

For today, I made two very simple cards using Damask Decor.  Who knew a card called "Damask Decor" would have holiday cards built right in????  By the way, these can be "dressed up" in any way you can think of.....I am just not that great at the "dressing up" of it all, so I did what I could with the papers and all that I chose...

My first card is a Christmas card....it uses the tree card and layer from p. 70 of the handbook.  I cut both at 4.65" (I use my Gypsy for everything, so you can use just the cart in your machine at 4.5" or 4.75").  For the card, I used a burgundy cardstock and the tree is a dark olive green.  Both of these are just plain cardstock from my stash.  My mind's eye tells me that the tree needs some "decorating" but I am at a loss right now as to how....maybe you guys can help! Comment away on how I can "decorate" my Christmas tree!!  The inside is stamped with a little "Merry Christmas" sentiment I've had on hand for years and the ink is Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Barn Door (I liked the kind of watermark effect it had).

My next card is a Halloween card, or could just be done as a fall card. :)  Again, I used Damask Decor, the Pumpkin card feature and its layer - page 68 in the handbook.  I cut both of these at 4.41" (again, using the Gypsy...if you're using just the machine and cartridge, you can use 4.5").  The card base is just basic black cardstock from my stash and the pumpkin is an orange metallic cardstock from a package that I picked up at Target a few years ago. I believe the paper company is Wasau Paper.  For the inside of the card, I decided to try something I've been a little hesitant to try: embossing!!!  OK; so it didn't turn out quite like I wanted it to, but at least I tried something new!  The sentiment is a stamp I picked up on a clearance aisle a long time ago, and I used Stampendous! embossing powder called Star Dust - a lovely gift from Erica of My Cricut Craft Room herself (THANKS!!).  Note to self: if the embossing powder says "Transparent," you need to use a color underneath it if you want it to really show up on black. LOL  I probably should have stamped it in white before I embossed, but I tried just the embossing powder alone.  Not too terrible, but not too visible, either.  Oh, well, you live and learn, right???  Without any further adieu, here is the Pumpkin Card:

I hope you've enjoyed my creations today; keep checking back, as we have projects going on ALL the time!!! Also, remember to check My Cricut Craft Room daily, as she has new things going EVERY DAY!!!!  (PPPPSSSSTTTT: she's also very fond of giveaways, so be sure to watch for those!)

Have a fantastic day, and remember to stay crafty!



My Cricut Craft Room's Christmas in July Blog Hop

Merry Christmas!!!!  I know, I know; it's not Christmas YET. However, it's never too early to get started on your shopping NOR is it ever too early to get started on your cards and gift tags and other handmade items!  For this reason, today is My Cricut Craft Room's Christmas in July Blog Hop, where we hope to give you plenty of inspiration for your handmade Christmas items!!

You should have come from the wonderfully talented Tammy; if not, please go back to My Cricut Craftroom and start at the beginning. Believe me, you're not going to want to miss ANYTHING!!

My big thing at Christmas is wrapping the gifts!!! I used to LOVE spending hours making sure the wrapping was just so, the ribbons so pretty....But, then LIFE happened and I just don't have time for all that anymore. My new favorite Christmas wrapping idea is GIFT BAGS!!!  They're so easy!! But, who says they have to be boring??  I love dressing up my gift bags with cute gift tags and now, thanks to My Cricut Craft Room and all the ladies that I have met through there, I know how to make some pretty cute gift tags, if I do say so myself!  I have two different ones to show you today. Remember, I'm all about simple yet cute, so either of these takes a very long time and can be turned out by the dozens fairly quickly.

This tag was made using Create a Critter (yes, Create a Critter!) and Tags, Bags, Boxes and More (TBBM).  I first cut the tag out of manila cardstock from my stash using the blackout feature of a basic tag from TBBM. I used my Gypsy to make the tag our standard Tag Swap size of 4.75" tall by 2.375" wide. Then I added a tree cut from Create a Critter (Accessory button on p. 33 in the handbook) that was cut at 1.47" high on my Gypsy (1.5" on your machine if you don't have a Gypsy) on green cardstock from the Creative Memories Shades of Green cardstock pack. 

Here, I have a confession to make: the tree was in my stash because, when I made the card for Card Creating Tuesday (see post below), I cut the trees too large.  But, so as not to be wasteful, I put the trees into my "scrap shapes" box and saved them for later.  See, WHOOPSIES don't always have to be a bad thing!!

Now, back to the tag. Once I added the tree, I wanted it to look like snow had fallen on it, so I added some Star Dust Stickles to the branches.  Then, I had to add the "To:" and "From:" which came from a little pack of acrylic stamps I picked up in the Michael's clearance bin some time ago using Tim Holtz Distress Inks Barn Door.  Lastly, I added an eyelet and some red and green raffia ribbon from my stash so I can tie the tag onto my gift!

I took a little poetic license with this tag, as our rules say our projects HAVE to include AT LEAST 1 Cricut cut. Well, the tag itself is my Cricut cut: I used the blackout feature of a standard tag from TBBM and cut it using my Gypsy at our standard Tag Swap size of 4.75" tall by 2.375" wide. I just used some light gray cardstock from my stash.  I then "dabbed" or "rubbed" some ink onto the background to give it a cloudy, chilly effect.  The color is Tumbled Glass from the Tim Holtz Distress Inks line (I'm absolutely LOVING these inks!!).  I then used the same color, Tumbled Glass, to stamp the snowflakes all around the tag using some more of my Michael's clearance bin Christmas acrylic stamps. And, of course, what gift tag is complete without "To:" and "From:" - same as the tag above, using Barn Door ink again - and an eyelet and ribbon for attaching to a gift?

I hope you have liked the Gift Tags I have created for you. As I said, I am all about quick and simple - yet cute! - so these can be turned out by the dozens! You could even add your own flair by embossing the snowflakes, or the to and from....the possibilities are endless!  Enjoy, and Mele Kalikimaka!!! (Hawaiian for Merry Christmas!)

Your next stop will be:  Melissa

Here is the whole line up in case you get lost:

Start http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com

Tina http://craftyandgreen.blogspot.com

Laurie  http://www.lauriecandoit.blogspot.com/

Gayle http://gscraptime.blogspot.com/
Jen  www.mybusycraftylife.blogspot.com

Lucinda www.thegrowinggibson.blogspot.com

Sheila  http://2pawprints.blogspot.com

Yvette http://gammascreativecorner.blogspot.com/

Enjoli http://mississippihippycrafts.blogspot.com/

Connie  http://conniescraftycloset.blogspot.com

Raina http://www.scrapwithraina.blogspot.com/

Heather www.papercrafteranonymous.com

Tammy  http://crazycardcreator.blogspot.com/

Autumn http://autumnsbuggycreations.blogspot.com  YOU ARE HERE

Melissa http://pinkpolkadotscrapping.blogspot.com  NEXT

Erica http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com/2011/07/my-entry-for-christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html
Kat http://katkscrapfever.blog​spot.com/

Festive Fridays over in My Cricut Craft Room

Today in Erica's Cricut Craft Room, it is Festive Friday!!!!  Yep, you guessed it:  all holidays all day long!!! This could be Christmas, Halloween, Easter - any holiday!  If you didn't come from Erica's blog, please go back there so you don't miss any of today's wonderful creations!  If you did come from Erica's blog, then you are in the right spot, and I hope you enjoy what you see!

Christmas Caroler

First off, let me start by saying that I totally scraplifted this idea from my son's teacher at school, Mrs. Katie Hamilton.  She has some fun ideas for kid crafts that I just adore, so I figured out how to make it using the Cricut and here is what I came up with:  first, you paint a toilet paper roll (or a piece of a paper towel or wrapping paper tube - can be cut to varying heights if you want to make yourself a choir).  In this instance, I used Folk Art acrylic paint - it dried almost instantaneously! - in a Christmas-y green. For the caroler's face, I used Plantin Schoolbook (p. 72 <oval>) cut at 2" on flesh-colored cardstock and drew in the eyes, nose and mouth using a black gel pen.  I then used a little pink chalk to make the rosy cheeks.  For the caroler's hands, I used Christmas Cheer (p. 82 <santa-s>) and cut it at 8" on basic red cardstock.  (I used my Gypsy and hid all the parts of Santa other than the mittens so I didn't waste as much paper.)  Then, all you do is glue the face onto the toilet paper roll, print off a shrunken piece of Christmas music for the "book" and attach the hands to the music and then to the roll.  **PLEASE NOTE:  I tried this with scrapbook tape adhesive first and the parts fell off during the night. A liquid glue like Elmer's or even Alene's Tacky Glue works better**  For the hat, just attach a baby sock tied with a piece of yarn or ribbon for decoration.

Thank you for looking, and I hope you enjoy your Festive Friday!!