Album for my Christmas Poem Book!

Wow - the Christmas ABC Poem Book swap turned out so awesome! I just wanted to let you guys know that Michael's is having a sale this week on scrapbooks - 40% off! I got a red leather 6" x 6" American Craft scrapbook for less than $8! I decorated the front with several Christmas stickers that I had been saving for a special project! Didn't it turn out cute?!

Christmas ABC 6"x6" Swap

Hello - I am so excited to work on my second large Christmas project!

Below is picture of the page that I created for the ABC Christmas swap that is based on the anonymous poem The ABC's of Christmas. Obviously, I made the letter "G" page for everyone and it will be incorporated into each of their books. I got to use my Cricut, my Cricut Markers, my new EK Success Snowflake Border Punch, and the Cuttlebug die that looks like a postage stamp!! Gramma T from the Cricut Message Board is hosting the swap and making the cover, back, and several pages - what a peach!

The swap pages were due on the 15th of November and everyone got them done and mailed in a day ahead of time so they are already on the way!! If you want to see pictures of all the pages, go to: http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=3160631&mpage=1 .



The ABC's of Christmas

A is for Angels
With halos so bright
Whose carols were heard
On that first Christmas Night

B is for Bells
So merrily ringing
Joy to the world
Is the message they're bringing

C is for Candles
That so brightly shine
To give a warm welcome
To your friends and mine

D is for Doorway
With garlands of green
To make Christmas merry
As far as they're seen

E is for Evergreens
With fragrance so rare
So plentiful at Christmas
Their scent fills the air

F is for Fun
The whole season long
From trimming the tree
To singing a song

G is for Greetings
A merry "hello"
With a heart full of love
For people we know

H is for Holly
With berries so red
To make into wreaths
To hang overhead

I is for Ice
On snow covered hills
Where sledding is fun
Along with the spills

J is for Jesus
The Christ child so dear
We honor his birth
On Christmas each year

K is for Kris Kringle
So merrily he stands
He is who they call Santa
In so many lands

L is for Lanterns
I am sure that their light
Helped Mary and Joseph
That first Christmas Night

M is for Mary
Her heart full of love
For her little son Jesus
Who came from above

N is for Noel
The angels did sing
To herald the birth
of Jesus, our King

O is for Ornaments
So shining and bright
With lights on the tree
To sparkle at night

P is for Packages
With ribbons so gay
All 'round the tree
For our Christmas Day

Q is for Quiet
Christmas Eve Night
With snow covered hills
Glistening so bright

R is for Reindeer
Who pull Santa's sleigh
To your house, to my house
They know the way

S is for Shepherds
Who first saw the star
Over Bethlehem's manger
And followed it far

T is for Trees
We decorate so gay
Then wait for ole Santa
To hurry our way

U is for Universe
Where Christmas brings joy
To all in the world
To each girl and each boy

V is for Visiting
Friends near and far
We travel by plane
Or by bus, or by car

W is for Wise Men
Who brought gifts so rare
And knelt down and worshiped
The child they found there

X is for X-mas
Or Christmas by full name
No matter the language
It all means the same

Y is for Yule Logs
Whose bright sparks fly high
To give a warm welcome
To friends passing by

Z is for Zeal
We show at this time
In giving to others
And loving mankind

Author Unknown

Christmas Cookie & Candy Swap

Here's my first 8"x8" Christmas Swap on the Cricut Message Board. I used sparkle paper from Doodlebug for the snowman - I love the glitter even though I'll be wearing it for a week! I also used Cinnamon Stickles for the arms and Orange Stickles for the nose! I'm not sure who the designer is for the paper, but I love it and hope that I can find more!

Sorry this picture is so fuzzy - I will try to scan it in at work before I mail it.

Fall 12" x 12" Swap

I got to use the Cricut markers for the first time on this layout! I didn't think I'd like them; however I think they gave great detail to the overturned basket of leaves! I was so glad I had the Cricut Design Studio, though, because if you don't, you have to create the marker image and cut the marker image in the "starting position" each time which wastes paper and time. With the Cricut Design Studio, you can create multiple images or letters that you want to outline with your markers, then hit "Load Paper" and then hit your scissor icon on your CDS and it will cut all of the images aligned with your marker lines.

Comment if you have any questions about creating and cutting with the Cricut Markers.

Sweetest Day - So Bittersweet!

My heart is broken and inconsolable - yesterday on Sweetest Day the sweetest animal and love of my life, my pet cat Dolly, took a turn for the worse with his battle with cancer and my husband and I had to make that horrible visit to the vet that no one, that loves animals, ever wants to make. I love my sweet Dolly so much!

Here is one of my favorite pictures of my sweet, sweet friend - just chilling beside me with his two paws over my leg letting me know he was there for me and content to just be with me!



I have written just a fraction of our story, and my sorrow, on the Cricut Message Board in a post about our 12" x 12" Pet Elements swap located at http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=2999001&mpage=4&key=&#3154557 . Those ladies are so supportive - if you're not a member of the Cricut Message Board, you should sign up for an account. I've never met a group of people that are so giving and inspirational! The talent and the compassion are just bubbling over because there's so much over there!

For me, please give your special pet a big hug and some extra treats today!

Halloween 12" x 12" Swap

Here's my Halloween page swap that I created for another swap on the Cricut messageboard! I used the Paper Doll cartridge - it's one of my favorites!

Diabetic Recipe Swap on Cricut MB

Here's my latest 8" x 8" recipe swap. There's a group that's swapping diabetic-friendly recipes on the Cricut Message Board. This recipe is suprisingly low in carbs but high in flavor!

12"x12" Summer Fun Page Element Swap

Here's my latest project for a swap on the Cricut Message Board. We traded elements for a 12"x12" page and here's the picture that I sent to help guide the other 24 people on what they could do with my elements. Some of the other themes are a trip to the zoo, a trip to an amusement park, movie night, etc... My theme was ice cream -super summer fun!

SW Ohio SWARM - All About Me Page

I am so excited!! Tomorrow, Saturday August 16th, some ladies from the Cricut Message Board are getting together for a SWARM at Archivers in Mason. I had suggested that it would be fun to do an 8" x 8" swap titled "All About Me" so each of us could have a page about all of the ladies attending. It's a great way to get to know people plus have great momentos from such a fun day. We are also going to take a group shot and make a group page in our scrapbook! One of the ladies, Granny Anne, made an awesome suggestion that we should make paper dolls of ourselves to swap as well. It was the perfect item to incoporate into our pages!

Here's my "All About Me" page!

Salad Recipe Swap

Here's a simple 8" x 8" page that I created for the Salad Recipe Swap using my Cricut, Vellum, and some beautiful metallic paper.

Another Recipe Swap - Desserts!!

Here's my latest recipe swap - a dessert that tastes fabulous and is pretty too!

Another Recipe Crop Creation

The Cricut Message Board is overflowing with recipe swap opportunities. The latest is Kristy W's Crock Pot Swap. I created two layouts - Orange Chicken and All American Snack for Groups 3 & 5 respectively.

Here's a sample of one of my layouts!

My Submission for the Mixed Drink Swap on the Cricut Messageboard

The Cricut Messageboard is such an awesome community! There are so many talented and giving ladies and gents out there! Currently, I'm participating in some recipe swaps and the ladies that are facilitating these swaps are so amazing.

Andrea aka "Crzykittycat" is one of the Message Board goddesses who is facilitating multiple recipe swaps right now. Here's my submission for the Mixed Drink Swap - I'm not a big drinker, but I love these swaps and the beautiful 8" x 8" cookbook I'm building from all of these talented individual's recipes is absolutely breathtaking!

My First Post

Hi! I want to welcome you to my first post on my blog "Passionate About Paper". I am crazy about paper crafting and I've been so lucky to meet such wonderful ladies and gentlemen out on the Cricut Message Board that I thought I'd create a blog and get in the habit of posting my creations and sharing my heart and soul with new, and old, crafting friends!

This was a gift for my dear friend, Diana Elkins, who invited my family over for the Fourth of July. I have to give props to Dannie's Design! The tutorial for this notecard holder, and many other wonderful creations, is located here!



Don't you love Fourth of July paper?



This is such a great gift because you can customize the paper to fit whatever holiday or occasion you're making the project for!



These are the notecards that are inside the note card folder - I wanted to keep them simple; however just an FYI - embellies definitely make it hard to fit more than a few cards in the folder; however it's fun to tie up the extra cards in a coordinating bow!



Here's a picture of my family in our red, white, and blue - my dear husband of 15 years, Gerald, and our 6'1" 'gentle giant' 14 year old Zach!