Welcome to the Winter/Christmas Themed Blog Hop!!

Welcome to the Winter/Christmas Themed Blog Hop celebrating our favorite time of the year. This Blog Hop is hosted by Paulette, from Around the Bock with Scrapalette. You can start at the beginning of the hop at  http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/.  These ladies are ALL the epitome of inspiration so be sure and don't miss a single stop! Some prizes are available also!

My project for the hop is a Christmas Tree Mini Album! I really had a hard time deciding what kind of project to do and I wanted to do a Winter card and a Christmas project, and then the Cricut Circle posted their challenge and that made up my mind for me! I can post that there and here! One of my favorite projects is a mini album and my favorite subject is Christmas!! If you are a follower you might remember that I made a stocking mini last year at this time! but it was a lot harder because we couldn't use Santa or Christmas!!! Try doing ANYTHING at Christmas without using one of those words! AND I had to design it first!  Cricut didn't have a stocking shape to use for that until AFTER I did that book. Now they have one and would have saved so much time! But it was fun and I learned a lot! This time I used a white mini book from Michaels that I've had since last Christmas!  I did this one in less than 3 days!! (Last years took me close to a week!) I would have never gotten it completed that fast without the new Imagine "Santa's Village". Most of the cuts are from that cart! My favorite tool for this book (besides the Imagine!!) was the Sakura glitter pen! I glittered up Santas beard and the HO HO HO on the front, as well as the little soldier! I used it everywhere I wanted glitter except the buttons on the gingerbread man and Rudolphs nose. That was just Glossy Accents topped with glitter. This book was a lot of fun! 
I did make a charm that has the Santa bust on 1 side and a gingerbread man on the other, using Tim Holtz fragments and Glossy Accents! In the first pic at the top left of the tree you can see the gingerbread man side. On the last pic you can see the Santa side.

Recipe:

Expression2

Cricut Imagine

Imagine Snow Angel

Imagine Santa's Village

Winter Frolic

Calligraphy

All Wrapped Up

Sakura Clear Star Pen

AC Patterned Paper

Colorbok White paper

Glossy Accents

And just what you all came here for!! I have some blog candy for you for hopping! I'm giving away a Cricut Gingerbread cartridge! Chosen by Random.org. (The packaging was cut open by my helpful husband but I have not touched it! Rewards are still there too! )You do not have to be a follower but would love to have a new friend/follower! 

For a chance at the blog candy:
 1.)  Please leave a comment as to whether you make your own Christmas cards and if you've started them!! (I hate to say I have not! I had told myself last year I was going to start them early as well as the Advent trees for grandkids! Then instead of 400 angels on our Lions Club Angel Tree this year there are 800+ and they're already pouring in! Need them done first! Gotta get those angels adoped!) 
2.)  Please leave contact info! 

Thanks for hopping by, your next stop is Cindy at  http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/ 

This is the list of all of the blogs in case you get lost!

1. Paulette at  http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/

2. Debbie at  http://bugginattheseams.blogspot.com/

3. Carolyn at  http://cccscraproom.blogspot.com/

4. Brenda at  http://happyscrapper64.blogspot.com/

5. Maria at http://stampcutcreate.blogspot.com/

6. Chris at http://scrappin-nanapuddin.blogspot.com/

7. Cindy at  http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/ 

8. Michele at  http://www.michelegreen.com/ 

9. Lisa at  http://addictedtothecricut.blogspot.com

10. Dana at http://papermemories4u.blogspot.com/

11. Nancy at  http://lanancyworkshop.blogspot.com/

12. Madylyn at   http://inspiredbycolor.blogspot.com/

13. Wini at  http://www.looneybugdesigns.com/

14. Renee at    http://icameisawicreated.blogspot.com/

15. Tammy at http://www.scrapcavecreations.com/

16. Debbie at  http://debbieduddles.blogspot.com/

17. Kim at  http://blingdazzler.com/

18. Brandi at http://scubascrapperbrandi.blogspot.com/

19. Sharon at  http://designsbysharon.blogspot.com/

20. Liz at  http://liz-lavendarandroses.blogspot.com/

Cricut Circle blog weekly challenge #42: World Card Making Day

Hello friends! I love making Halloween cards for  my grandkids! And especially easel cards! This one is for Faith! She will love it! hope you do too! I made 1 similar to this last year for my DGS and he hung it on his bulletin board and called me and asked several times "how did you do that?!!" He was only 6! He appreciates everything. And he gets so much for Christmas and his birthday and he always remembers who gave him what! even a couple years later, he'll say remember when you gave me this Nana?! don't tell him, but sometimes I don't until he reminds me! So this 1 is for Faith, it was easier because of the Imagine and Enjoy the Seasons, and it doesn't really look as scary to me but Faith will love it anyway!

My recipe:
Imagine Cricut Machine
Expression Cricut Machine
Enjoy the Seasons for the haunted house cut at 4.25" and all the layers as well
Martha Stewart halloween punches, the fence and the corners of the Happy Halloween mat
Jolee's 3 dimensional stickers for the spider and web and headstone behind fence
ImagesbyHeatherm for the trick or treaters SVG (this is one of my favorite SVG's!)
Michaels Recollections metallic paper for the mat and witch
"Raven" glimmer mist on the background paper behind the haunted house. If you click on the pic it should enlarge and then you can see the glimmer mist better. Its really pretty IRL!
Happy Hauntings cart for the phrase and shadow and the witch cut at 1".
 April showers for the cloud cut at 1"
The paper looks 2-toned orange, but its only 1 color, the color is closest to the orange on the left hand side.

Cricut Circle August Monthly Challenge: Create a Scene Submission

Hello my scrappin' friends! Been a little while. I've been on vacation for a few days visiting family in St Louis. And thought about this challenge while high in the sky! I have so much scrapbooking to catch up on it was hard to choose which group to do a "scene challenge" with! But I always love spring and Easter! so...for this challenge I chose a few Easter pics from Spring from a couple of different seasons, thats why some have jackets on and some don't! The Easters in March are sometimes cool here in Texas! Just having to pick out a few pics helped remind me I really need to get all the years scrapped!!
The Cricut Circle challenge is to create a scene with cricut cartridges! of course...preferably, but not required, using the 4th quarter Circle Cartridge: Pop-up Neighborhood. This was my favorite circle cart until we just received "Sophie"!! Love this one most of all the Circle carts! Awesome...Well, you only had to use 2 cuts! I used a whole lot more than that! and I made some I didn't even end up using! The winner is chosen at random (thank goodness! I might have a chance!) and the prize is:

Recipe: (yikes, I hope I remember them all! The gypsy doesn't show you what carts it uses on the Imagine app)
Imagine
Expression 2
Gypsy
The background pages were printed on the Imagine using the Better Together Bonus section and printed full pages.
Cuttlebug and d'vine swirls and swiss dots
Imagine Better Together: little girls on right side cut at 2.5" and balls cut at 1"
Imagine Best Friends: girls on left side of page cut at 2.5", kite at 4", doghouse at 4", flowers cut at 1"
April Showers for the Spring Banner cut at 9"
Campin Critters for the tree with dog peeking out
Pop up Neighborhood for the tree with tire swing
Kate's ABC's for the little bunny in the left hand corner
Lori's Garden for the butterflies, cut and doubled at 1"
Playtime for Playtime title
Enjoy the Seasons for the barbecue pit cut at 3"
Thanks for stopping by!! Hope I remembered them all! Wish me luck! and if you're entering, I wish you luck!! That would certainly buy a few carts at least!

Cricut Circle blog is having a NSD Celebration also!

They are giving away ONE Martha Stewart Cake Machine, ONE Imagine Machine, ONE Cricut Cake Mini Machine, and ONE $250 of Credit to the Cricut.com store! 
All week long the Circle Blog Designers have been sharing their craft spaces (with you ). . . and now we want to see YOUR CRAFT SPACE! AND we want to see YOU in it! Take a quick snapshot of you crafting in your scrap space . . . it doesn’t matter if you scrapbook on the floor, at the dining room table, or in a scrapbook room . . . we want to see! Upload your picture along with your FULL NAME using the InLinkz Tool at the bottom of this post. You have a full week to upload your picture. The GIVEAWAY will close at MIDNIGHT on Saturday, May 14th, 2011. We will announce the random winners on Sunday, May 15th, 2011, here on the Cricut Circle Blog.


So my DGD Faith and DGS Chance wanted to help me! Faith took the video and Chance wanted to help! Can you tell what a help he was!  They are so much fun! DGS is 7 and DGD is 6. We have a ball!

So here's the final pic with Chance. I don't think Faith stood still long enough to get a good picture at all and Chance only got Faith! He cut off my head! Probably looks better that way, but I think they have to see me!! LOL!

Thanks again for 1 last stop....

YAY!! Baby Book finished! and Blog Candy!

In Celebration of the completion of my gift scrapbook for my new great nephew, Wyatt, its time for some blog candy!

It's a set of Martha Stewart Loop around the Page! (I've been trying to load the picture since it Blogger came back up last nite!)

All you have to do is leave me a comment and a way to reach you. Would love for you to become a follower while you are here!!

I'll use random.org to draw a winner on November 4th at 11:59 pm to celebrate my husbands birthday!

 

Make sure to keep checking my blog I may have more treats.

I finally finished the BABY Wordbook! or Shapebook! I guess its both! Shaped like a baby carriage but spells out BABY too! Lots of room for pictures and journaling! I used the Expression and the Imagine. I cut the letter pages welded to carriage pages using Gypsy and Expression. And the shaped papers aslo. I used a baby kit from Colorbok for the pattern pages and used glitter paper from Walmart for the glittery BABY letters. Don't know how much of the glitter you can see. I made the little toy box from the apple crate on Doodlecharms. I made the little toys inside with B is for Boy. The robot is also from B is for Boy.The carriage is from Cricut Sampler. The BABY letters are from Plantin. The flourishes are from Paisley. And of course I used Nursery Tales on the Imagine for the pattern on the train and the last page. I included some 2 sided tape for her to add pictures here on top of the flourishes.

The little toybox has some toys from the B is for Boy cart, as well as the robot and the little set of keys you can hardly see on the corner of the journaling block on the botton left. I added a little post-it in the window of the train cars that they are open at the top to add pics and the tag behind the frame can be used for pics and journaling!

The duck on the frame is open to insert a picture and pull the clip and theres a card for journaling. The little diaper on the right side opens up and can insert picture and journaling also. It has a little Tim Holtz pin with his initials, WZ. BTW, his initials are the same as my husbands! How cool is that! I haven't told my neice yet! I'm sure she didn't realize it! The little overalls and bottle and big were printed and cut with Imagine Nursery Tales. 

Hope she likes it and enjoys it as much as I enjoyed building it!