SST Christmas and Countdown to the New Year Blog Hop

Christmas is coming and so is the New Year! To get you in the spirit of the season, the divas of Sistas Scrap Too! have come together for a Christmas and Countdown to the New Year Blog Hop! There are 17 blogs in the hop, so make sure you use the links below this post to hop to all of the participating blogs. No worries if you miss one, you can always go back! These 17 divas have a lot in store for you. From exquisite creations to offers of blog candy, you will enjoy hopping your way to all of the blogs involved! Don't forget to leave some blog love for the creators -- they love getting feedback on their designs!

Welcome to Cassie's Corner. Since Thanksgiving Eve, I've been listening to Holiday Music. From Jingle Bells, Santa Baby, Silent Night, Winter Wonderland, and tons more. This year, listening to the music inspired me to start my Christmas Cards, which usually become Happy New Years cards, early. Thank you for stopping by.



Project 1: Blessed Christmas:
A) Recollections large folded card
B) Celebrate It Ribbon
C) Snowflake Embossing Folder
D) Martha Stewart Punch
E) Cricut Carts: George & Basic Shapes and Graphically Speaking







Project 2:  Merry Christmas
A) Recollections small folded card
B) Celebrate It Ribbon / Buttons
C) Swiss Dots Embossing Folder
D) Me & My Big Ideas pattern paper
E) Cricut Carts: George & Basic Shapes, Accent Essentials, & Winter Frolic

Project 3:  Glitter Ornament
This is my first attempt at creating a glitter ornament.  I'm actually practicing, because I volunteered to do this project with my son's 1st Grade Class.  I have my work cut out for me in a room with 25 childen.








Thank you for participating in the Sistas Scrap Too! first ever blog hop! Remember to visit all of the blogs and leave blog love -- you never know where you'll find candy!! Here is a linked list of all the participating blogs:

1. Treva's Craft Corner
2. Stampin' Dymonz Creative Space
3. Nubian Crafter NC
4. My {Life}, My {Blog}
5. Step Into Nita's World
6. Sweet Lil Scrapper
7. P-Kaysunshine Creations
8. Sharing My Stuff
9. Yaya Philly Craft World
10. Cassie's Crop Corner
11. M. M. DeZigns
12. Made By Dee
13. Riley's Custom Creations
14. It's A Family Affair!
15. Cuttin' Up
16. Stamping On The Road

17. In Shelly's World

Elegant & Enjoying Eight

I love these pictures of my darling daughter; especially the one where she's making an 8 with her fingers.  One month from now, she'll be celebrating another birthday and this layout just reminds me of how far I'm behind on scrapbooking.  LOL!!!!  I'm alright with that though, because it gives me something to look forward to.  Now, maybe in 2011 I'll fill in the years between 6 and 8.

What Are You Thankful For

It's that yummy time of year again, THANKSGIVING. I can smell my plate just days away. I am looking forward to the arrival of my brothers and just hanging out with my family. I love this time of year. What are you thankful for this year? Over at Platinum Scraps this week, our challenge was to list 5 reasons why we are thankful. Here are mine:

Monkey Themed Baby Shower

No more monkeys jumping on my head. Karen's Babyshower to welcome her little boy has come to an end. My girlfriend Chante and I brainstormed for 2 months to make this shower happen. And tadaaahhh, here are some pictures. The invitation and thank you card. Along with monkey centerpieces {which included banana nut muffins & banana fritters}, party favor {pillowbox}, game prize table, and cake table {which Nana supplied equipped with monkey cupcakes}.

Here Comes Baby...

I have been tucked away in my corner for a few weeks now, working on a baby shower gift for a special First Time Mom. Nothing like celebrating the arrival of a precious bundle of joy. And all those who know me, know how BIG I am about taking pictures, especially during the first year of a child's life. So, there's no reason I shouldn't pass that same madness on to my friends. To get them started, I began scrapping a list of firsts. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christening, Birthday, Crawling, etc. Here are a few pages from the book. The baby's color scheme is pink, purple, and lime green, so I tried to use that as much as possible.

Coloring and Copics... At it again...

Hello Family, Friends, and Crafters. This weekend was my annual Shades of Color Fall Scrapbooking Retreat. We had a lot of fun and those of us hardcore crafters, went to bed after breakfast the following day. I am so surprised that I was well rested after being up all night, but I typically get 5 hours of sleep anyway. I am so looking forward to doing this again next year. I spent most of Sunday, coloring with my copics. Man, this is so relaxing. I still have a lot to learn, but I am truly enjoing it. Also below, are page layouts. I'm working on 2 Scrapbooks for 2 Moms to Be.

STOP and smell the Roses.

Today, my best friend and big sister, celebrated her birthday. Although I had a rough weekend with my dental woes, I was praying that I'd be able to make it out to dinner tonight. Her favorite restaurant is Olive Garden. That was a plus since I'd be able to at least slide some pasta down my throat, since I'm barely able to chew. We had more laughs than my face could take and it was worth it. Back to crafting... I was finally able to play with my Copics and she received the first of such coloring. Here's her birthday card and a few pics of us. One from her sister's 50th birthday and the other photos from dinner.

BACK TO THE BASICS

It is Time Out Thursday over at Platinum Scraps and this week, I am taking you back to the basics. George & Basic Shapes that is. When I first purchased my Baby Bug in 2006, I constantly used the George & Basic Shapes cartridge. Why? I had to. It was only 1 of 3 cartridges I owned (that month, lol!). That seems like so many ages ago. Even 50+ cartridges later, I almost always use this cart to make my photo mats. Today, I'm dusting it off to show you how I created a housewarming invitation.

FREE FOR ALL

This week at Platinum Scraps, we are on our own! Each designer chose their own project and I am in the mood for Fall. Something about September, the cool nights, and all the leaves my hubby has already had to rake. It's just that time of year.

Each year, the kids have a harvest party at school. It comes full of cupcakes, candy, and lots of hyper kids. So, I want the teacher to get hype right along with them. LOL!!! The tin pail if from the $1 spot at Target.

I used the following carts: Straight from the Nest, Just Because Cards, & New Arrival.

This week's challenge over at Platinum Scraps is a layout sketch from Mix It Up Challenges

Check out my take below and be sure to visit Platinum Scraps to see what my fellow design team members cooked up.

I Give Myself Away

Last week, we celebrated a Special Occasion in my world. A very good friend was Ordained as a Youth Minister. As we ministered in dance to William McDowell's, "I Give Myself Away", you can't help but wonder what are you holding back on. What is keeping you from drawing nearer to God? The young lady singing at the end is the new International Church of Christ Youth Minister. Think about and let the song speak to your heart. So, are you wondering where the craft portion is? It's the program that was designed for the service. A FAN! Of course, it's my most used cricut cart to the rescue, George and Basic Shapes. Add some wire ribbon and a popsicle stick and tadaaaa!!! By the way, my cricut expression died while I was in the process of making these and I had to cut the remaining squares with a 12X12 trimmer.



Here's the video:
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Our First Home

Good Morning All,

As I celebrate the start of a new school year, I'm reminded of how far behind I am on School Scrapbook page layouts. I've only made it to Preschool graduation for my now 3rd grader and the 1st Preschool Graduation of my 1st grader. (Long story but he had 2). So in my head, I'm gearing up to get those pages done by the end of the year. Yes, it's ambitious but I'm aiming high.

This week over at Platinum Scraps, we are celebrating Our Homes. Whether your first home, childhood home, or any in between, we want you to scrap about it. Here is our first Home. We just celebrated one year of home ownership!

Cards are everywhere.

I finally got a chance to use the Handyman Lite Cricut Cartridge. I was refusing to pay full price ($39) for this cart although I really wanted it. What happened you ask, I had a Walmart store credit for $8 and I headed straight to the scrapbook aisle. LOL!!! The sketch over at Platinum Scraps this week was from Karen Giron's blog . Here's the sketch and my take on it. Head on over to Platinum Scraps to see how my fellow design team members interpreted the same sketch.




A dear friend of mine asked me to make 50th party invites. What tickled me the most was she made it clear that the standard colors could not be used. She specifically asked for Pink & Purple. Here it is:


Another great idea presented itself for an Ordination Service. This simple, yet elegant card can be used for other occasions as well. You can't tell from the picture, but the ribbon is a gorgeous royal purple.


Let's see what else... Oh, we just celebrated our annual Women's Day at International Church of Christ. Each year, I make something to hand out to some special sisters. This year, I made note holder. The idea came from papertreyink while at CHA this year. Very nice and the recipients were very appreciative. The first picture is how it looks while closed. The second shows the notepad inside.





One more. Today is my Dad's 53rd Birthday. I was up last night making cards. The first card was an idea taken from my good friend Nicole. Check out her blog, she does some nice crafting!!!

Let's Get to Crafting!!!!

Hello Family, Friends, & Fellow Crafters. It's been 3 weeks since my last update and it is time to get back into the swing of things. I have 2 interesting stories to share.

I am officially part of the Cricut Demo Army!!! What does that mean? It means I work for a company that sends us out into the world (Michaels, Joanns, and now Best Buy) to demonstrate the various machines made by Provocraft. I am at Best Buy in DC every Saturday prior to Labor Day. My first day was last week and it was not good. The demo machine they sent me didn't work and my girlfriend Shanel C. saved the day by letting me borrow her baby bug at the last minute. The store associates had no clue and the manager was slightly lost as well. They thought I was a cell phone rep. After a little over an hour of looking for a table for me to use, they came up empty. Needless to say, I'll be trying it again this weekend.

Next, my Cricut Expression was on life support over the weekend. I was one night away from an emotional breakdown. I started thinking back to my scrap days before cricut and I shuddered at the thought. Anyway, My E would not turn on. When I hit the power button, it just made a clicking sound and the green light flashed bright then dull. Since it happened over the weekend, I couldn't call until Monday morning. A very nice rep walked me through the reset process and I am officially back to crafting. Phew!!!

CHA Updates: Products

CHA is over and it was a blast. I had to exercise so much restraint. I am already onboard for next year. Here are some more pics:

1) Me with the ribbon cutting ceremonial scissors
2) The new Tim Holtz Sizzix Machine
3) The secret Cicle Members only box. Inside were binders on a table that featured cuts from carts to come. They were not allowed to take pics or film video. One of the PC staff told me that someone actually walked away with some of the pages from another binder. That binder had all the cutouts from the 4 carts that were just released.
4) The new Cuttlebug Machine. It's a slighty different shade of green and the handle tucks in. I want one. It's not in the stores yet and one of the Employees wasn't sure if it will be an HSN exclusive or not.






Oh yes, I did win a $100 Gift Card from one of the vendors there. That was very exciting and help to soften the blow of not winning a cricut cake. I decided this weekend that I probably really want one. I haven't decorated cakes in a long time but that is what I need to get it started again. LOL!!

CHA Updates: Products

Several new CB folders are coming that match the carts. We've seen a few of these before but I'll list all that I saw: Freshly Picked, From My Kitchen, Sentimentals, Wall Decor & More, Mini Monsters, Robotz, Heritage, Create a critter, Cindy Loo, and Preserves. It's 4 embossing folders and they are priced at $17.99.





Here are some folders that emboss and cut a frame out in the center:






I mentioned that I was getting a whole new appreciation for cards. We stopped at a booth called Sparkle and Sprinkle. Besides the stamp sets, everything they sold did just that. Lots of glitters and embossing powders and glitter pens, etc. I took a pic of some sample cards they had on display. Just beautiful.

CHA Update

Lisa and I are having a blast. Lots of walking and oohing, ahhing, drooling, and ooohing again. Here are a few pics of us. Oh yes, check me out trying to rock my Provocraft shades.