Happy Holidays Blog Hop!!!!

 

Hello everyone, and welcome to the Joy's Life DT Happy Holidays Blog Hop!!!!  If you just hopped here from the very talented Staci, you're in the right place.  To start from the beginning click HERE.

Oh, I am so excited that the holidays are here, and that Christmas is right around the corner!  One thing that I love to do around Christmas is bake!  The cookies that I used in this project are soooo delicious, and I will share the recipe for them at the bottom of this post!  I thought it would be cute to stack the cookies in a jar to give as a gift.  I love using jars!  On this project I used both of Joy's Christmas stamp sets:  Wintery Puns & Oh Christmas Puns!

Storybook- label cut at 1.82", 2.29"

Joy's of the Season- holly branch cut at 2.53"

Joy's Life Stamps- Wintery Puns on label, Oh Christmas Puns on the lid

1.5" circle punch

Ribbon

Jar

You're next stop on this awesome hop is Laura!  Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!  :)

Here's the recipe for the cookies I used in this project!  YUMMO!  :)

White-Chocolate Cherry Shortbread Cookies

Recipe from Better Homes & Gardens

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, drained and finely chopped
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup cold butter
• 12 ounces white chocolate baking squares with cocoa butter, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 drops red food coloring (optional)
• 2 teaspoons shortening
• White nonpareils and/or red edible glitter (optional)

Directions:
 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spread cherries on paper towels to drain well.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in the butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Stir in drained cherries and 4 ounces (2/3 cup) of the chopped chocolate. Stir in almond extract and, if desired, food coloring. Knead mixture until it forms a smooth ball.

3. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Using the bottom of a drinking glass dipped in sugar, flatten balls to 1-1/2-inch rounds.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until centers are set. Cool for 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer cookies to a wire rack and let cool.

5. In a small saucepan, combine remaining 8 ounces white chocolate and the shortening. Cook and stir over low heat until melted. Dip half of each cookie into chocolate, allowing excess to drip off. If desired, roll dipped edge in nonpareils and/or edible glitter. Place cookies on waxed paper until chocolate is set. Makes about 60.

Joy: http://joyslife.com
Stacey: http://staceyscreativecorner.blogspot.com
Jennie: http://earthyscrap.blogspot.com
Lori: http://got2bcrafting.blogspot.com
Debbie: http://bugjuiced.blogspot.com
Sarabeth: http://www.chroniclesofsarita.blogspot.com
Jenny: http://jennyplace26.blogspot.ca
Patty: http://craftykitten1.blogspot.com
Kimberly: http://hellocutiecrafts.blogspot.com
Megan: http://thoughtsoftraveling.blogspot.com
June: http://simplyelegantpapercrafts.blogspot.com      
Staci: http://preciousmem.blogspot.com
Amy: http://redheadedcrafter.blogspot.com  
Laura: http://www.laurascraftsandmore.com
Cyndy: http://arcyscraps.blogspot.com           

 Maria: http://joyfulstamper.blogspot.com

Cowgirl Birthday Card & Link Up Love Party

Well howdy y'all!!!!  Oh my goodness, it has been a busy first week back at school!  The first week is always a tough one, but the kiddos seem to be adjusting to first grade pretty well...  My bookmark was a big hit with all of them, and they are loving the chapter books, so it turned out great!  :)  I can't believe it has been a week since I posted anything!  I was finally able to sit down and make a card, and one of the challenges I wanted to enter is now closed... :(  I am still going to enter it into a couple of other challenges that I came across, though....  Hope you have all been doing well, and I hope to stop by and see you soon!  :)

Whimsical Wednesdays- use 3 cuts, 3 colors, 3 of the same embellishment
The Paper Variety- use twine
Birthday Sundaes- use at least 3 brads

A2 sized card
Country Life- guitar cowgirl cut at 4.18"
Storybook- denim piece cut at 3.35"
Gypsy Wanderings- music notes cut at 0.65"
Sentiment- K. Andrew Stamps:  Positive Thoughts
DCWV paper- The Lodge Stack
Star brads
White gel pen

I am also going to enter this into the K. Andrew Link Up Love Party!!!  This is so much fun and it really does help you meet a lot of new crafty friends!  :)

Start at http://www.gettingcricky.com/ for all the details on how to join in the fun!  :)  One of the rules is to name something you are grateful for....  I am grateful for all of my friends and family, and a job that I really do enjoy! :)



Merry Christmas Snowflake Card

Hello!  I am posting this card today (which is actually kind of tomorrow already) because I am going to be going to Monterey for the next couple of days....  I am so excited to get out of this heat!  Woo hoo!  As always, I will look forward to coming back on Sunday and seeing what you have created over the weekend!  :)  This card is making me really get into the holiday spirit!  I think it turned out looking kind of country...  I had the song "Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays" by N'Sync playing in my head the entire time I was making this!  Very nerdy, I know...  :)

Celebrate the Occasion- make a shaped Christmas card
Bitten by the Bug 2- use the mittens from Joys of the Season cartridge
Scrapbookaholic by Abby- use some bling (I think Stickles are bling)

Cricut cartridges used:
Winter Woodland- card cut at 4.41", snowflake cut at 5.59"
Joys of the Season- mittens cut at 1.47"
Storybook- frame cut at 1.55" for white piece, 1.94" for green piece
Cuttlebug- swiss dots, snowflakes
Sentiment- Stampabilities
Stickles- star dust

Okay, there it is!  Hope you enjoy, and I'll see you in a couple of days!

Rose Birthday Card

Hello everyone!  I am really excited today because I stepped outside of my comfort zone and made some paper flowers.  These flowers were fun to make, and I was so happy that they turned out looking somewhat like roses! :)  I followed a video tutorial to make these flowers... you can see that video here.  This card is definitely more elegant than I'm used to making too...  There is no amount of Create a Critter on here at all!  Hee hee....  :)  Here's the card....

Cricut Cardz Challenge- create a birthday card for a grandparent
Birthday Sundaes- create a birthday card using green, orange, and white
Scrappy Frogs Challenge- use flowers in your project

A2 sized card

Cricut cartridges used:

George and Basic Shapes- flowers (each size is cut x3) cut at 1.5", 2", 2.5"

Storybook- frame cut at 1.51" for white piece, 1.71" for green piece

Disney Princess Dreams Come True- leaves cut at 1.5", 1.94"

Cuttlebug- argyle

Sentiment- Hero Arts Birthday Messages stamp set

Glue gun

Well there it is....  No stickles, no punny sentiment, no Create a Critter....  Just a pretty fancy card!  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy!  :)

**I am also going to enter this into the Kissed by a Frog linky party: http://kissedbyafrog.blogspot.com/2011/07/frog-blog-love-linky-party-5.html

AND

Wedding Card

Die Cuttin' Divas is having a wedding card challene right now, so I thougt I would make a card to match yesterday's favor box that I created.  
Challenge: make a wedding card using any cut EXCEPT for hearts
http://diecuttindivas.blogspot.com/2011/06/challenge-19-wedding-bliss.html

Wrap it Up cartridge:  card cut at 2.68"
Storybook cartridge: striped piece cut at 2.06", white piece 1.67"
My Pink Stamper stamps:  Happiest Moments
Green ribbon
Pearls

This card was so easy to make!  Hope you enjoy!

Wedding Favor Box

The challenge over at Fantabulous Cricut today is to make something with a wedding theme, and you had to include the color white and a bell.  I decided to make something different this time (seeing as I always make cards), so I made a favor box.  I wanted to incorporate the color green somehow and a really cute striped paper that I have.  I kept this very simple and elegant.  Hope you enjoy!

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge:  create something for a wedding using the color white and a bell
http://fantabulouscricut.blogspot.com/2011/06/challenge-me-monday-64.html

Cricut cartridges used:

Wrap it Up cartridge-  box cut at 9.30"

Storybook- striped piece cut at 2.25", white piece 1.82"

My Pink Stamper stamps:  Happiest Moments

Green ribbon

Pearls

Wedding Card

Hello again..... I am really becoming addicted to entering card challenges!  Now I am posting two things in one day again!!!!  My cousin Krystal got married yesterday and I didn't have their wedding card finished in time, so I am going to give this to them as soon as possible....  On Monday, my family and I helped Krystal and Andrew make their wedding cake and wedding cupcakes.  I think it turned out super adorable and we all worked so well together and had so much fun making this cake!  :)  The color theme was black and white, with splashes of blue and yellow.  This is a picture of the cake that we all came up with together.

Now onto the card that I made for them.....  I am going to be entering this card into two challenges:

Cricut Cardz Challenge:  make a wedding card using any cartridge and colors http://cricutcardzchallenge.blogspot.com/2011/06/cricut-cardz-challenge-78.html

My Creative Time:  use a Cricut Lite cartridge and add some "bling"

http://www.creativetimeforme.com/2011/06/throwback-thursday-challenge-wmy-design.html

A2 sized card
Celebrate with Flourish Cricut Lite cartridge: Birds cut at 3.05"
Storybook cartridge: patterned background cut at 3.71", blue piece cut at 1.26"
Home Decor cartridge: black swirl cut at 2.18", yellow swirl cut at 2.06"
Cuttlebug: Swiss Dots
My Pink Stamper stamps:  Love-alicious
Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter

Congratulations Krystal and Andrew!!! :)