My New Year Wish To You

New Year Wishes

I wish you Health...

So you may enjoy each day in comfort.



I wish you the Love of friends and family...

And Peace within your heart.



I wish you the Beauty of nature...

That you may enjoy the work of God.



I wish you Wisdom to choose priorities...

For those things that really matter in life.



I wish you Generosity so you may share...

All good things that come to you.



I wish you Happiness and Joy...

And Blessings for the New Year.



I wish you the best of everything...

That you so well deserve.



HAPPY NEW YEAR MY FRIEND!

Author Unknown

Making a Ginger Bread House

Isn't this just too much fun. Justin and Sydney came over to help Grandma and Grandpa put together a Ginger Bread house for Christmas. We had sooooo much fun. First we ate lunch and then moved on to the big project. Because we were so excited we left our sandwiches on the counter just in case we got hungry while we were doing our house. (Sandwich or candy need I say more?)

We had a kit so we followed the instructions very carefully while putting up the walls and then the roof. The roof didn't hold so we called on Grandpa for help. You see Grandpa used to be a roofer when he was a young man soooo....

It took a lot of holding and a lot of icing, but Grandpa did get our little house to stand. The excitement was almost too much! Because we used a lot of icing Grandma made some frosting to decorate the doors and windows with.  Justin thought it was really cool that you could use a plastic bag to write with the frosting and decided to decorate 'his' side of the house while Sydney applied candy.

Before we knew was happening a hurricane hit in the kjitchen and the roof colapsed. The children were so upset they started eating the house and candy on the side of the roof that came down. We bagged up some for their parents and ever so nicely proceeded to take these sugar ladden children home to their parents!

We had a great time, but took a Sunday afternoon nap after they securely home with their mothers and fathers. We praised Jesus for the quiet time!

Merry Christmas

I had to share a photo of our tree. My grandchildren Justin-7 and Sydney-6

 decorated it for me! Didn't they do good? I added a couple of the glitter

ornaments and they did the rest! They love helping.

We wish you a Blessed Christmas

filled with love, laughter, friends and family.

May your table be heaped with delicious holiday foods

that thrill and excite your appetite.

May your tree be adorned with lights and ornaments,

Presents abounding beneath its limbs,

surrounded by those you love.

Be blessed this year by the virgin birth

of the babe who came to earth

so many long years ago...

It Started In a Manger

I chose this photo as it reminded me of what I think it was like the night Christ was born. You can see the love of parents and the helplessness of baby Jesus. The King of Kings, Lord of Lord, gave all to come and be with us, God and man, born to save us from our sin.

I don't beleive it was a silent night! The angels were rejoicing, the stars shone bright and there was music all around, and the shepherds praised God on this glorious night. "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" seems to be the cry of my heart.  I hope that this photo stirs thoughts of that first Christmas and that you are blessed by that.

Greetings From Alabama

We Wish For You The Best Christmas Ever!

This has been such a blessed year for Jim and I. We have been able to spend a lot of time with our family this year. I can’t even tell you how many times we have been to Chicago, but it is plenty. Jennifer and Sam moved here to Alabama in May, living only 6 blocks from our house in a beautiful ranch home. Sydney adjusted almost immediately to her new surroundings. She and Justin spent everyday of the summer at our church’s day camp and loved it. They fight like brother and sister as they are together so much.

Our 6th grandchild was born in July, little Aiden Daniel Hudson arriving in perfect time so we could be there to welcome him into our family. We teased Heather as we were able to be at Greg & Sue’s wedding party the same weekend. Aiden is a little cutie and will probably be our last grandchild according to our children. So we continue to spoil them all!

Our little Carissa decided she wanted to have her birthday party in Alabama eating steak, corn on the cob, baked potatoes, cake and cupcakes. Of course we said yes and flew them in. We added lunch at Chucky Cheese’s! This left us with a dilemma, so there was nothing we could do but fly into Chicago and surprise Brianna on her 7th birthday in October. Another Chucky Cheese lunch, and an opportunity to visit with everyone. We also saw Aiden’s dedication.

Our little Gavin is growing in leaps and bounds and started walking when we were on Orange beach this summer holding onto the chairs as he did so. He’s now a year old and has a sweet spirit and a temper to boot! He now goes to daycare at Riverside Baptist and all the ladies pamper him. Justin is so grown up now, “in second grade and everything”, and doesn’t want to play with 1st graders anymore! Don’t worry Grandma & Grandpa they (his cousins) will understand when they get to 2nd grade! Can you stand it?
God is good, you see it’s not about worldly goods, and where you’ve been and who you know… it’s the love of family that makes you rich. I know God gave these beautiful children to us so we could understand Him more. So we could have a better understanding of how great His love is for us! We are children of God. Just think of how much you love your child, that’s how much God loves you and more.

We wish the love of a child for you, filled with awe and wonder at this the Christmas season. May your hearts be softened as that love of a child during this holy season….

Jim & Sheila
John 3:16 (New International Version) 16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Making Christmas Glitter Ornaments

Supplies:    Martha Stewart Fine Glitter
                  Glass Ornaments from craft store
                  Pledge Future Wax - Clear
                  Matching Ribbon to tie on ornament
                  Small piece of plastic wrap
                  Napkin or paper towel
                  Sheet of paper

         
This is just so much fun! Start by getting your supplies and may I suggest that you use the 1/2 off coupons that Michael's, Hobby Lobby and Joanne's offer to hold your cost down.

Remove the metal clasp from ornament. Pour a little wax (about a 1 or 2 TBS) into the ornament, place plastic wrap over opening and then swirl and tip to coat entire ornament (don't shake as it creates bubbles). Pour excess wax back in bottle. Immediately pour glitter into the ornament (1-2 TBS) and swirl again until entire inside is coated with the glitter. This time cove the opening with the napkin or paper towel to prevent glitter from spilling out. Pour out excess on a sheet of paper so you can funnel back to bottle. Retain for another project or ornament if dry. Toss if wet. Carefully place the clasp back on.

Tie a ribbon on the clasp and you have a beautiful ornament just as it is to place on the tree. Or you might like to add stickers or even use your cricut to cut beautiful designs, words, or monograms on the ornament. If you choose vinly my I send you to this blog as Denise has a video on cutting vinyl and applying it to glass and tile. Either way this is a gift that is sure to please everyone on your Christmas list. I will ad another photo after mine are all decorated.

I like to do projects with my grandchildren. They are too young yet to handle glass ornaments, but that is ok many of the craft stores carry plastice ones that would be perfect for the little guys. You might want to get some cheap plastic bottles at the dollar store and place your glitter in that to make it easier for them to handle. If you are on a tight budget but still would like to do this project with the children you can use the inexpensive glitters at Walmart. They work, just not quite as shiny and you may need to put a little more glitter in to cover effectively.

I got this idea from the projects on Christmas with the Cricut gals. If you haven't visited their site, run now. It is full of ideas and they have give aways each and every week.




Thank you for leaving a comment! I do appreciate and am encouraged by them!

Shhh, Its A Secret!!!

This is my grandson Justin and my grandaughter Sydney and we are making Christmas presents for Mommy & Daddy so don't tell anyone, OK?.   But, just so you know we are not going to tempt them by showing a photo of their project until after Christmas. We just want to share how important it is to spend a little time together as a family to make someone else's Christmas as special as can be.

All the craft stores have pre-made projects this time of year for these little ones. So even if you feel you are not creative you can pick up at kit for under $5. I picked up a little project that took them only an hour to do and both Mommy and Daddy will have a gift under the tree made with their little hands. What a wonderful memory both creating and receiving this special gift!

Justin finished his first and decided to have a little snack while Sydney was hard at work on her Daddy's gift. She told me she loves her Mommy and Daddy a lot so they needed to be really really nice presents!

Sydney is sooo happy her gifts are done and she said she will have to put them way under the tree all the way in the back up against the wall so her Daddy couldn't get at it and shake her gift to him! Don't you love it!

We want to wish you and everyone in your family a very Merry and Blessed Christsmas Season!

Jesus Is The Reason For The Season

I love this Christmas page. It is wonderful not only as a Christmas decoration for the holidays, but when thats over I will place it in my scrapbook for the start of the Christmas section. I spent a lot of time designing the page on my Gypsy, around 3 to 4 hours.

This was my entry for the Gyspy Cricut Board Contest that ended December 1st. This took 3rd place in the contest!

I used a frame that I purchased from Creative Memories 4 years ago that was never used, it was perfect for this project. Please follow the instructions and the Gypsy file is available for you also.

Materials:             4 sheets of 12x12 cardstock/paper your choice of color.

                            1 Sheet 8 1/2x11 white cardstock.
                            1 small 5x5 scrap paper
                            Glue
                            skittles, diamonds amout per taste
                            frame of your choice - I used CM as after season over I will insert page in my scrapbook
                            to start Christmas pages.

Carts: Gypsy Font, Gypsy Wonderings, Joys Of The Seasons

Worked design on a 12x24" mat on the Gypsy to allow more room to maneuver letters and switched to 12x12 after completed.

1. Outline square at 8", surrounded by shadow letters from GF at 2" high on the page 1 of my LO. All letters welded together. Many times letter widths were changed to make the word fit.
2. Using the cutout GF at 2" height form letters in a square. This time adjust each letter to individually place to insure perfect shadowing, again many letters will need to be adjusted to fit within the outline letters. I did weld letters so not every letter is placed individually.
3. Another square is made this within the 2nd page this time at 7 1/2" allowing it to float on page and background square to show through as a shadow.
4. On page 3 on my gypsy I used JOTS for a light piece of greenery at 3.64wx1,12h forming a square centered over the prior two welding it together for one cut. I also cut 4 strips at 1/4" wide from this left over paper so don't throw out.

5. On page 4 I made the words King 1.25h and Lord 1.5h to hang on frame. Also on separate sheet, The Christmas story from Luke was printed on the 8 1/2x11 sheet of paper.
6. Put together, shadow letters first, ornately cut letters next, colored square place on top of shadow square. Then place 1/4" colored strips within both squares so the shadow color doesn't overwhelm. Add greenery and place diamonds and skittles to your preference. Then center Bible passage under the squares as if framed.

7. Flip over adhere double sided foam squares and attach to your background paper. Frame or place in your scrapbook.

Here is a link for Jesus Is The Reason For The Season. Here is the link for the PDF Bible Passage in Luke on the Birth Of Jesus.



Thank you for your sweet words of encouragement! I do appreciate and am inspired by them!

12x12 Filagree Background Page

I love this background page!!! I used Storybook and can't wait to use it on a page.

I decided to make this when I had seen other full page backgrounds at Hobby Lobby, Michaels, & Joannes ranging from $5 to $15 per page and having only certain color choices. My  Gypsy Woman made this cut possible with very little effort. I can't imagine doing this on the Design Studio from scratch. It does take about 20 minutes for the Gypsy to prepare for printing and another 15 to 20 minutes to cut. Make sure your mat is clean and ready for a detailed cut (see my previous post). Remove slowly and carefully so as not to tear.

Download your copy here.  Tell me what do you think of this page?

Caution - Dirty Mats Will Not Cut Properly

Be sure to use a clean sticky cutting mat. This morning I tried cutting a 12x12 lace looking border cut. My Gypsy took 20 minutes getting ready to do the cut and another 20 to cut. I was busy doing other things and when I cam back this is what I found!!! What a waste of time and good paper.

So I wanted to take a minute and just share what a great friend shared with me... Zig 2 Way Glue with the wide cap. All you need to do is first scrape your mat as clean as you can. Then, scrub it with soap and water till it is clean and not sticky to the touch. After it dries, use the Zig 2 Way Glue just 1 swipe on the entire mat and let it sit over night to completely dry out. It is amazing and cuts great. Hope this tip helps you out... Thanks Jennifer!

This is how great it cuts after this process is done!

Hot Chocolate Folder Card

Here is how you do it:

I was looking for a card that I could give the men at work for Christmas that was just a little more than a card yet not a gift. This is what I came up with and I love it. It is simple to do and looks masculine to boot. I will add the cut file in the next couple of days from my Gypsy. I want to play with the flap a little more before I post as I would like to give the pocket just a little more room. Hot chocolate takes up a lot of space and I want to make sure the pocket doesn't pop open.

After cutting (note I have a couple of different snowflakes available - you choose you're favorite) score the card before folding. You should be able to do about 4 score marks on the card itself - 4 1/4" from right, and 3 more score marks to the left of that about a sharp pencil tip away from each other(I designed the top a little wider) allowing it to close without a gap showing the contents of the card. The flap should be scored and turned up. Use a strong adhesive so the flap will not pop open and shake the contents of the milk chocolate so it fits in the flap better..

You can decorate the card with whatever artwork you want, the main card is from George and Basic Shapes and the lettering is from A Childs Year. The art I chose is from Joys of the Season and the heading from Winter Woodland. Enjoy.

Download your Gypsy File HERE.