It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I really, really love Christmas!  I would seriously start celebrating in mid-September if I could get away with it, but somehow that's not okay... unless you're Costco, I guess.  The people around here want to celebrate things like Halloween and Thanksgiving, the weirdies... :)  But one of the benefits of being a crafter is that you have a great excuse to start your own personal celebrations early -- after all, you've got to be prepared ahead of time, right?

This month ScrapbookPal.com sent me the "Joys of the Season" cartridge to play with, and I was very very happy.  This is one of my all-time fave cartridges -- I love the elegant shapes and all the different goodies on the cartridge.  My first assignment this month was to create a card, and I did start out with that in mind, but then I thought, "What good is a card at Christmas without some chocolate to go with it?!"  So I turned my card into a big tag for a jar of Candy Cane Kisses (oh, yum!).

I used my Gypsy to size everything on this tag just right, but I'll give you the basic measurements. I cut the ornament tag base at about 4", then the wreath at about 3 1/2" and Santa at about 2 3/4".  I used adhesive foam to give dimension to all the different layers.  I also used Creamy Brown chalk ink for distressing, and these awesome Glaze pens to add some accents.  The smaller tag is just a die-cut from this Basic Grey paper pack with a couple little paper strips added.

These Glaze pens are so cool, because the create a raised effect like embossing.  I was just going to use them for accenting my die cuts, but then I read on the package that they can write on glass!  Well, that's just cool, right?  So I used them to add some vine-y artwork to my jar, and it turned out beautiful.  They write really smoothly on the glass and dry quickly.  (It didn't show up very well in the first photograph, so here's another with a white background so you can see it better.)

Bonus projects!  Like I said at the beginning, this cartridge is one of my favorites, and I use it for all sorts of projects.  I thought I'd include a little trip down memory lane, sharing some of my favorite Joys of the Season cards and other goodies:

All sorts of goodies...

I have been busy-busy getting ready for the boutique on Saturday. It's my first try at actually doing something as a Memory Works rep, so I wanted to make it a good one. I chose a few of the collections and tools from the new catalog and decided to show just how many projects you could make with each the thing. Here we go!

From the Cosmo Cricket "Honey Pie" set:

This one also uses a "blackboard" album from Cosmo Cricket, Prima flowers, and "baby" is cut with the Alphalicious cartridge. I did the scallop edge with Threading Water. The inside pages are covered with paper, but no pictures because it's waiting for baby Eliza! (You'll notice this is a common theme with all these girly things.)



This altered frame is something I made for a challenge at the Cricut SWARM this past weekend. The flowers are from the George cartridge and the swirly thing in the background is from Joys of the Season.



I did this layout at the SWARM as well -- I love it when things come together quickly! I usually don't do layouts before I have pictures to put in them, but I'm sure I'll have lots of material once this baby makes her appearance!



This cute post-it note holder was our make-and-take at the SWARM.



I've posted this card before, but it goes with this set:




The next few projects are from the Cosmo Cricket "Cogsmo" line -- I just love the cute little robots on this paper! I'm still going to make a card or something with this collection.

This mini-album is another "blackboard" album from Cosmo Cricket. I gathered a bunch of fun pictures of the boys together that probably wouldn't have made it into other layouts -- just everyday stuff, but so fun! I cut the letters here from Zooballoo.



Here's a layout with the same papers, about Sammy's first "book."


And these are from the Autumn Leaves "Cuteworld Girl" set -- I can't even tell you how much I love this paper! So exciting to be able to do all these girly things! I've only used a few sheets from this set so far. I think tonight I'll make a card or two to go along with these.

A baby book for Eliza! I also used WIMG for the flowers, and I drew the little birdie with my pen tablet and cut it out with SCAL. "Eliza" is also done with SCAL.



This layout was super quick, very possibly my fastest ever! The big flower came that way in the paper set. I came together so fast, in fact, that I took a few extra minutes to add the new Doodlebug crushed velvet flock to the flower and leaves. It's hard to see here, but it's really cute IRL.



I also altered the front of this American Crafts album:


And, last but not least, this is the make-and-take I'll be doing. They'll be able to try two different stamps (both from Autumn Leaves), Primas, and the Cropadile, all things in the catalog. I think I'll ink the edges of the tag. I've never done a make-and-take before, but I wanted to make sure it was something quick and easy. What do you think?

Santa's Little Helper

Wow, I had SO much fun playing when I made this. I hadn't gotten around to making any of the characters on the Cricut Disney cartridge because I'd heard they were so time consuming, but this was a blast to make! I made it for a challenge on the "Bitten by the Bug" site, where we were to use this Mickey shape with non-Mickey-traditional colors. With those cute little shorts, how could I resist making leiderhosen? I used Fun Flock from CTMH for the first time, which was a very fun effect, and I cut a felt flourish with a Sizzix Bigz die. PP is from DCWV.

I cut Mickey at 4 1/2". The Santa hat is from Christmas cheer, cut at 3 1/2", and the scallop tag is from CC at 5 1/2".