To all of my Dear Readers, I wish you all a wonderful, peaceful, and merry Christmas!
How do you wrap perfect love?
God found a way.
Enjoy the miracle.
Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!
Paper Bag Album
I have always wanted to make a Kathy Orta album. So when I joined the annual Cricut Circle Secret Santa Swap and one of the items that we had to give our secret sister had to be hand made, I knew that this was the perfect opportunity. Kathy is owner of the Paper Phenomenon blog. I made her Ultimate Paper Bag album and this is how mine turned out!
There is only one detail that I used my Cricut for – the paper flowers on the front cover. I used Close To My Heart’s Art Philosophy cartridge. I am so addicted to making these rolled flowers.
The little frame is from Michaels. I took off the back easel and adhered it to the album on just the bottom and sides so that my secret sister could put a photo of her choosing in it by just sliding it in through the top. The gem swirl is from Want2Scrap, the cardstock is from The Paper Studio, and the patterned paper is from a paper stack called Sweet Nectar by K and Company.
The leaves are by Prima - (remember the 6 little bottles that came together in the cute little crate from years ago? Yeah, I still have them all and this was the first time that I've ever used the bottle of leaves! See, there is a good side of hoarding scrap supplies! lol)
The only other items used were chipboard for the front and back covers, Distressing Ink in worn lipstick by Tim Holtz, and the binding.
Can you guess what the binding is?
Duck Tape!!! Even though it’s everywhere now, this is my first time using it. I’m always a little late jumping on that band wagon but I eventually get on! 
It’s hard to believe that this really is made from paper bags! There are just two basic page designs and many, many pockets for many, many tags! I wanted the album theme to be rather neutral so that my secret sister could use it in any way that she wanted to. I just made sure that it had her favorite colors (pink, green and blue) and coordinated with her favorite season (Spring). One of the page styles has two smaller flaps on either side with large tags inserted into them and both page styles flip up to reveal even more space. Below are more photos that I can show since my secret sister has now received her package and knows what she got and from who (I hope you like all of your goodies, CricutAddicted!).
Thanks for looking! I’ll post what I received from my own secret Sister soon!
Until next time, Happy Crafting!
Cricut’s Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer!
I was very intrigued by the 3-D Rudolph Head that is a Cricut Craft Room Exclusive image at Cricut.com. So when it was offered as a freebie a few weeks ago, I decided to give it a try. I love that PC gives us a free cut file once a week. It gives you a chance to try something that you may not have thought that you’d like or were interested in and lets you have a test drive with it. And all you need is the Cricut Craft Room which is absolutely free! You can find CCR HERE. It comes with Craft Room Basics and each week just look under My Cartridges in CCR to use the free file as many times as you’d like for seven days!
So here is my 3-D Rudolph:
I hung him on the inside of my front door and placed a wreath
around him. I just used Kraft cardstock and one sheet of red glitter paper.
There is a sheet of fun foam that I hand cut using the shield as a pattern to
make it a bit sturdier. So he was very quick and easy to make and put together.
Until next time, Happy Crafting,
Children Around the World
A couple of months ago I was up to my eyeballs in, well, eyeballs!!!
I know, looks weird, right? But wait until you see what they were for! I joined a swap on the Cricut Circle message board that was hosted by the fabulous Renee, aka RockinRenee. It was for the cartridge, Children Around the World. When it first came out, it reminded me of the Disneyland ride, It’s A Small World, and I knew that I had to have it! We picked one of the ‘children’ and made 25 each. Well, somewhere between reading that and actually making them, I had a senior moment and cut out FIFTY kids instead! So now imagine those eyeballs – 1 doll x 2 eyes x 2 pieces per eye = 200 itty bitty pieces of cardstock!!! There were eyes everywhere! Even now, two months later, I can find eye pieces on the carpet around my work table. But it was worth it!
I choose the African girl. Here are photos of my kids in progress:
When you are part of a swap, one of the best parts is receiving your swap package from the hostess with everyone else’s creations. And I so excited when my package arrived! The other ladies did a fantastic job with their kids. There is so much added detail to each. I am so amazed with my Circle sisters! I am linking Renee’s post on her blog, I Came, I Saw, I Created, with all of the 25 children so that you can see how lovely they all are. And while you are there, take some time to look around her blog – Renee has so many wonderful and beautiful projects to share! Tell her that Angela sent you to visit!
Until next time, Happy Crafting,
My heart hurts.....
... in more than one way today! I'm sorry that I haven't posted for a while but I've had some serious health problems and concerns but I'm working with my doctor to get well. But today my heart breaks again for the families in Newtown, CT. It's just not right, not this early in their young lives, not at this time of year, not at anytime! Please continue to pray for all those who were personally touched by this horrific tragedy and those parents, grandparents, and siblings of the 20 little Angels and the six who tried to protect them.
And if you have a small prayer left over, I'll be blessed to have any that you can send up.
Thank you and God bless you!
And if you have a small prayer left over, I'll be blessed to have any that you can send up.
Thank you and God bless you!