Around here, November seems to mark the beginning of the holiday season. When I think of the holidays, I think of all of the traditions that are associated with them from the special holiday decorations to the special foods. I want to see layouts (and cards if you are feeling up to that challenge) that celebrate your family’s special traditions. What better way to capture the history and meaning of those traditions and to pass them down to future generations?

Family Traditions

Entries will be accepted all month long. Simply post a link to your layout/card in the comments below. If you don’t have a blog or online gallery, you can simply email a photo of your creation to me using the email link to the right. Another option is that you can join the Scrappy Hours group on Facebook (if you aren’t already a member) and post your layout/card there. I will pull from all of these to post at least a sampling of the entries on November 30th.

Looking forward to learning about your family traditions. I have a couple of traditions that I am thinking about how to best capture on a layout myself and hope to be posting some soon.

The challenge over at Stamp Something this weekend was to make a Thank You card. I combined it with the Stampin’ for the Weekend sketch and came up with this:

I guess I made Tinkabella a Snow Fairy on the this card since I used papers from the DCWV Holiday Stack again. I actually used the scraps from the Christmas angel card that I had made last night. Even though I used the same papers, I think it is interesting to see how different the two cards wound up looking. What do you think? Do you like one card better than the other?

Usually, I spend some time on Saturday morning making cards for some of the new challenges that get posted on Friday and Saturday. This morning, I didn’t get that chance as my son had a drill competition for JROTC. His school didn’t win, but they all did a fantastic job and should be really proud of themselves.

This afternoon was dedicated to crafting. My friend came over and we made a bunch of fall borders using the Creative Memories Primary Fall Additions pack. Then we got to business with making cards. I got three done. (Okay, we were chatting and eating and stuff too). One of the cards I made was based on the new sketch over at Friday Sketchers. As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew it was one that I would use and it may even get used more as I make more Christmas cards. Here is the card that I did make:

Originally, I was thinking about using a different image but as I started pulling out papers, I decided to switch up and use this darling little angel. The colors aren’t traditional Christmas colors, but whatever. I love the colors and I am pretty darned happy with the card. I would love to hear what you think about it.

The latest challenge over at Cute Card Thursday this week is “Teen Terrors.” My teens are a 19-year-old who is off at Boot Camp and a very straight-laced 14-year-old — both boys. Instead of trying to make a card for either of them, I decided to use my 19-year-old’s 16-year-old girlfriend as my inspiration. She loves horses and would spend all day at the stables if she didn’t have to go to school, so I decided to use my GiddyupaBella stamp. She is kind of a tom-boy, so I didn’t want super girly colors. I had this “Box of Shapes” that I had gotten from Creative Memories some time ago and had never really used, so I used pieces from that to pull the card together. Here is what I came up with:

I added a little horse charm that I had in the upper-lefthand corner. I think that this card would definitely work for my son’s girlfriend. I also have a friend at work whose daughter is also really into riding. Maybe I will give it to her since she just won grand champion in one of her competitions.

What do you think?

Somehow, I managed to have enough time this morning to make a second card, this time using the the latest sketch from over at Papertake Weekly Challenge. I had purchased a bunch of new Christmas stamps in preparation for a cardmaking session that I have scheduled with my dear friend Laura this weekend. I decided to use one of those stamps and some American Craft Christmas papers to create this:

I guess my colors are quite traditional, but I like them together. What do you think?

I honestly believe that one of the best parts of Christmas is seeing it through a young child’s eyes. The wonder and joy they express makes all of the holiday craziness almost bearable. Well, that feeling ties in with the latest challenge over at A Spoon Full of Sugar – to make a Christmas card for baby’s first Christmas or a pre-schooler. I took this idea and combined it with the latest Mojo Monday sketch and came up with this:

As an adult, I dread untangling the strings of Christmas lights or trying to find the one burned out bulb on a string of 100 or more lights. As kids, my boys see a really cool jump rope just like this darling little penguin.

The papers are all from the Creative Memories Primary Winter Additions pack.

I am really excited for this Christmas because my step-son should graduate from Boot Camp one week earlier and will be home for Christmas, possibly for the last time for a while. I know that I have said it before, but I am so unbelievably proud of him. I made this card with that in mind. I decided to draw inspiration that Michele over at Scrap-N-Dance who has created gorgeous window cards. Since I had decided that since I was going to try my hand at creating a window card, I thought that it would create a Christmas scene for the challenge over at A Spoon Full of Sugar. I think that my window can still get much better, but here is my first attempt:

The Christmas tree is from the Cricut Lyrical Letters cartridge. The window, lattice and random branch are all from the Wild Cards cartridge. I love the gorgeous Christmas tree and plan to use it again and again, so you may get tired of seeing it.

Last weekend, I bought two new cartridges for my Cricut and I am totally in love with one of them: Lyrical Letters. Not only does it have a bunch of fabulous fonts, it has some fabulous sentiments and images. As soon as I saw the Cherry Good Wishes sentiment, I thought it would be cute to use with the latest Sketch Saturday sketch. Take a look and see for yourself:

With just white, red and green cardstock and a piece of ribbon, I was able to pull this card together. I just love how bright and cheery it is. What do you think?

I am really getting into the Christmas spirit when it comes to my cards. Maybe it is because my friend Laura is supposed to be coming over next weekend for us to have a cardmaking session. I can hardly wait.

When I saw the latest challenge over at Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge and they invited us to create a card inspired by at least one of the four seasons, I knew I was in. I decided to use the sketch from Stamp Something for my layout. Here is what I came up with:

The printed papers are from American Crafts. The large snowflake is from a Sizzix diecut and the small ones and the reindeer are from the Going Places Cricut cartridge. I colored the snowman image was colored using colored pencils. I think it pretty much says winter, at least to me it does. What do you think?

 

I had every intention of getting up off of the couch at 3:00 to make another card. I had the idea all worked out and put together in my head. Two hours later, I finally got up and got to work. In my defense, I have a horrible head cold and am feeling pretty miserable. I will admit, working on the card did help me to feel a bit better. I used the latest sketch from Inspirational Card Sketches and for the card’s theme, I was inspired by the Stampin’ for the Weekend challenge: Let’s Celebrate.

Here is what I came up with:

I just love these darling little mice, gluttons that they are. I don’t know about you, but I know I was pretty gluttonous on my 21st birthday. Of course, it wasn’t cupcakes that I splurged on. Regardless, I wound up looking pretty much like these two.

I am home sick again. The one upside is that between blowing my nose and drinking plenty of fluids, I do have a bit of time left to make a card or two. This morning, I decided to make a card using the latest sketch from Friday Sketchers and using a new angel stamp that I recently got. Here is what I came up with:

I decided to stick with a basically black and white design for this one. There is a touch of red on the printed papers and I used red thread to attach the buttons to the flowers. Other than that the only colors are the angels face and hair and the gold of her halo. I used Stickles on the halo and on her wings to give her just a bit of sparkle. What do you think of my little snow angel card?