Mojo Monday sketch challenge

Finally, I managed a productive day in my design studio.  It has been a good long time since I've actually made a card for a challenge.  Between traveling for the month of October, house guests here since the day after we returned and all my design teams' responsibilities I haven't accomplished anything extra.  But today I got to spend the whole day creating.  I even got to go to massage therapy this morning.  I think I undid all my massage therapist's work though, hunched over the work table all day.  I made this card following the sketch from Mojo Monday.  I just love circular cards and couldn't resist.  My stack of Christmas cards has grown by leaps and bounds today.  I managed to get six cards made and two major projects finished, which I'll share in the next few days.  I used Cutting Cafe digital sets to complete this card.  The wonderful Night Before Christmas background paper and the Not a Creature was Stirring made completing this card a cinch.  I also used my Cricut Wild Card cartridge for my base card, Mini Monograms cartridge for the circle and scalloped circles and My Community for the little mouse.

BBTB2 Winter Frolic Deck the Halls

Good morning everyone.  It was my turn to pick the challenge this week at BBTB2.  Since we are heading into December and the holiday season I had to make this a Christmas challenge.  I chose the new Winter Frolic cartridge and asked the Design Team to use either of the ornament cuts from pages 64 or 65 and include the sentiment Deck the Halls from page 65.  I decided to make a shaped card using my Gypsy.  I used the shadow cuts from the sentiment and welded the shadow from the ornament so it would be hanging from the letter T of the sentiment.  I made my base card from black cardstock and cut it at 5.75.  Then I cut the shadow again slightly smaller from red cardstock.  I used My Mind's Eye patterned paper for my top layer and cut it twice for more dimension.  Then I added some bling with red rhinestones, glittered star brads and red glitter.  Hope you can play along with our challenge. Don't forget you can use any ornament cut and any font cut from any cartridge for the Deck the Halls sentiment but you must have both elements on your card.  I'm really excited because this will be my first opportunity to choose the weekly winner.  I can't wait to see your designs.

Paper Cutz Anything Goes

Happy Day after Thanksgiving.  At Paper Cutz today it's Anything Goes.  This is the card I made for my granddaughter Payton's birthday on Saturday.  I used my Cricut to cut the crown from the Once Upon A Princess cartridge.  The number 4 and the sentiment Happy Birthday Princess are from The Cutting Cafe.

Speaking of The Cutting Cafe, Regina is having a great Black Friday sale it's buy one get one free on her digital stamp sets. Click on the link and hurry on over for this one day sale. 

Cricut Cardz Challenge #52

I'm very excited for this week's challenge at Cricut Cardz Challenge.  This is my first week as the Design Coordinator for Cricut Cardz Challenge Design Team #1.  I'm so happy to be working with Mary to help her on her fantastic blog.  I will be setting the challenges now for Design Team #1 and helping Mary in any other way I can.  For my first challenge I've chosen a Christmas theme but only using words cut from your Cricut and no image.  I used the Winter Woodlands cartridge and my Gypsy to design this card.  I welded two of the greetings shadow features together to form the base of my card and cut it from green cardstock at 5.75" for the width.  At this size it fits on a piece of 12 x 12" cardstock.  Season's Greetings is cut at 4.72" width to fit on the base.  I cut it twice from black cardstock and then from a DCWV Christmas stack (last year's) so I could offset for a shadow effect.  The holly is cut with the layer feature on using a scrap I had.  I used some glitter on the berries for a little sparkle.  I can say I am ahead of last year's handmade Christmas card production, but just barely.  It's been so hard to get anything done with my son still home on leave from the Marine's with his wife.  But, we've had a fantastic time being with them and that's much more important.  Kyle will have left for his new duty station in Chantilly, VA by the time this posts.  Nicole will be staying behind with their two kitties until their new house is ready for them on December 1.  Tonight my husband's brother will be arriving to spend Thanksgiving with us.  I have no clue where I'm going to put them because our one guest bedroom is already occupied.  I suppose I should figure that out real soon now.  I'll probably send my husband to the store to get an air mattress we can throw on the floor in the family room.  It's going to be a wild few days.  I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families.  For those of you heading out for shopping on Friday...May the force be with you!!!

Christmas Daily Days 21-25

Here's the last installment of my Christmas Daily album.  I gave the album to my granddaughter Payton at her birthday party yesterday.  She is only four and I wasn't sure if she would get it or not.  Not too long ago she was over and wanted to go into my studio.  I told her we couldn't go in that day because I was working on a big project (this album) and had it layed out all over.  She asked what I was working on and I told her it was a project for her.  So yesterday I reminded her of that day and told her this was the project.  We sat down on the floor and I went through all the pages with her.  She was completely mesmorized while I explained it to her.  I told her she had to take very good care of it and couldn't play with it so it would be around when she got to be a big girl.  She said "Okay Nana".  Even after this conversation I wasn't sure if she got it.  But then my daughter called me today.  She told me that she was looking at it with Payton and that Payton told her what every single page was for almost exactly as I had told it to her.  She is very excited to get started on it when it gets to be "cember, in a few days".  Well, wonders never cease, maybe she did get it.

It was a big tradition in our house on Christmas Eve for the kids to all get to open one present.  It was always a pair of pajamas.  Then we would gather them around in their new jammies and my husband would read the Night Before Christmas to them and they would toddle off to bed.  We had the same routine from my oldest daughter's first Christmas to the Christmas before my youngest son graduated high school.  That was from 1974 until 2004, thirty years.  Gosh, that's a long time. 

When it was Payton's first Christmas we bought her the book 'Twas the Night Before Christmas so my daughter could begin the tradition with her children.  This year we went to Hallmark and bought the recordable version so my husband could read it for them.  We haven't given it to her yet, but will soon.

When I did the Sugar Plums page I knew I had to make the bed with a pink pillow and purple blanket.  Those are Payton's favorite colors and what her room is done in.  I'm not sure if my daughter will be able to get a picture of her sleeping on Christmas Eve.  You've never seen a kid who sleeps less.  I'm glad I'm not going to be at her house trying to get her to go to sleep.

I'm really proud of myself for finishing this album.  I have to admit, I would rather make cards than scrapbook.  This did give me the inspiration to get busy on some of my old pictures.  I'm hoping to finish albums for each of my five children and give them to each of them next Christmas.  Plus I will try to get one more album done for my son.  A Marine scrapbook.   Thanks so much for following along with my Christmas Daily album.  I hope I've inspired someone to give it a go.  It really was so easy using Regina's digital stamp sets from The Cutting Cafe.  I used both her December Daily set from last year and this year's December Daily 2.

Project Tuesday Reindeer Bags

Every year I try to make up some small Holiday gifts to have on hand.  You never know when you might need them. I was really excited when I saw this week's Project Tuesday challenge because I knew it would be perfect for my little gifts.  I bought these hand gels from Bath and Body Works a couple weeks ago when they were on sale.  They are so cute with those reindeer on them I knew I could make up something with a reindeer using my Cricut.  I used the Doodlcharms cartridge for my reindeer and they're cut at 2".  I used darkbrown cardstock for the base layer, kraft cardstock for the face and red cardstock for the noses and shadows.  I added some glitter to the noses.  The stamp is from Inkadinkado. Here is the link for the bag directions.

Christmas Daily Days 17-20

This installment of my Christmas Daily album includes days 17 -20.  All the digital elements are from The Cutting Cafe, either December Daily or December Daily 2.  Just click on the set for the link to The Cutting Cafe.  I made pages 17 and 18 a little more interactive for my 4 year old granddaughter Payton.  I included an easy to put together foam Christmas ornament I purchased at JoAnn's for $1.  For day 18 I included a packet of hot chocolate.

If you aren't from the east side of the state of Michigan you probably have no idea what the significance of day 19 is.  Here in this area we have the most fantastic Christmas store ever.  They are open year round and you have never seen so much Christmas stuff in your life.  They do sell online so if you are looking for an ornament with a particular theme in mind, check out Bronners.  My husband and I started a tradition for our children as each of them were born.  Every year we went to Bronners and picked out an ornament for them.  It went on the tree that year and then went into a box with their name on it.  When they grew up and got their first home they had a box of ornaments for their tree.  Now we do the same thing for our grandchildren.  This year, for the first time ever, we are going to take a grandchild with us (Payton) and let her pick out her own ornament.  It will be a day just for us to spend with her.  It is about a two hour drive to get there.  We will shop through the store and let her find the perfect ornament then we will go out for lunch.  Days 18 and 19 will document this little trip.

I can't wait to see what Payton will pick out.  Whatever theme it is, I have the feeling it will be a pink ornament.  Preferably, pink and purple, her two favorite colors.  I think she will pick something with a Disney Princess on it.  She's at that princess age.

Thanks for stopping by.  I will be posting the final installment of my Christmas Daily album Monday or Tuesday.