WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

This past weekend's blog hop winner of a $30 craft store gift certificate (Michael's, Joann's, Walmart, or Hobby Lobby) was drawn using Random.org.  I combined the comments from Days 1 and 2, arranged them in time order, and then counted down to the Random.org number...and the winner is:

Congratulations to Trisha and many thanks to all who joined us for the hop!  

I hope you enjoy a festive, fun, family-oriented Holiday Season!!!  

Hugs to you all!!!  ~~Angie~~

Hopping Through the Holidays Blog Hop ~ Day #2 (Saturday)

You are on the last and final stop in the hop...In case you just hopped on here, you'll want to start at Stop#1 (Belinda) to start from the beginning.  Here is our amazing blog lineup:

1. http://beeshiveofdrama.blogspot.com - Belinda

2.http://4goofballs.blogspot.com  - Julieta

3.http://cherevansstudio.blogspot.com - Cher

4. http://dare2beecreative.blogspot.com    -Bee

5. http://happycardfactory.blogspot.com    - Becki 

6. http://inlovewithabug.blogspot.com       -Melanie

7. www.mythoughtsExactly.CO      - Alyssa

8. http://queeniesscrapmad.blogspot.com     - Tracy 

9.  http://atuttletime.blogspot.com     -Angie (me)

I hope you have enjoyed all the fun, fabulous, and crafty projects featured today.  For my Day#2 project, I decided to create a Holiday Scrapbook layout page.  Usually, I dread scrapbooking holiday photos.  I never really understood why, because I love the holidays and my family gatherings.  I think I figured out my problem...I can't stand the colors red and green together...

and in years past that's really all you ever see.  Thankfully, now, I have seen a whole rainbow of colors to signify the holidays...

so I had a blast with my newest holiday layout.  I purposely refused to use red and green..and I really love the way the layout turned out.

I started with some cool scrapbook papers I found at Archiver's.  Then I grabbed all of my favorite tools and started getting colorful and crafty...I felt like a kid again!

I used the Gingerbread stamp set I bought years ago from Stampin' Up!

For the house, I used some dimension dots to make certain candies pop.  I also went crazy with Stickles again to give the house some sparkle and bling.  I really love how it turned out. It's much cuter in person... :)

The colors I used for the paper and to color in the images were picked to match the colorful background paper.  

I plan to use this page to scrapbook our traditional Gingerbread construction.  It's a real fun time...usually the house doesn't meet OSHA standards and the feds usually shut us down. LOL.but it's a great time.  

Here's a photo of my guys a couple years ago surrendering to the whims of the Mom of the Gingerbread House...Don't they look thrilled.  Hee hee. I love it!  :)

Have Fun this Holiday!!!  This hop has been a blast. Thanks again to Belinda for asking me to be a part of it.  I love my new layout...I just may not dread scrapbooking this Christmas after all.  :)

OK now onto the fun stuff....BLOG Candy...Prize:

You have a chance to win $30 gift certificate, but you MUST follow these instructions:

1.  Please become a follower of mine and tell me you have done so in your comment.  I love meeting fellow crafters!   Leave your contact info, so I can get back with you if you win! :)

2.  Read the post just below and tell me what my family made.  Then, tell me if your family has any traditions or what you do to spend some quality time with your family during the busy holidays.

That's it.  Good luck!  Hope you enjoyed the hop!!!  Tata for now. :)

~Angie~

Hopping Through the Holidays Blog Hop

Hi and Welcome to the Hopping through the Holidays Blog Hop!

You are on the last and final stop in the hop...In case you just hopped on here, you'll want to start at Stop#1 (Belinda) to start from the beginning.  Here is our amazing blog lineup:

1. http://beeshiveofdrama.blogspot.com - Belinda

2.http://4goofballs.blogspot.com  - Julieta

3.http://cherevansstudio.blogspot.com - Cher

4. http://dare2beecreative.blogspot.com    -Bee

5. http://happycardfactory.blogspot.com    - Becki 

6. http://inlovewithabug.blogspot.com       -Melanie

7. www.mythoughtsExactly.CO      - Alyssa

8. http://queeniesscrapmad.blogspot.com     - Tracy 

9.  http://atuttletime.blogspot.com     -Angie (me)

I hope you have enjoyed all the fun, fabulous, and crafty projects featured today.  I am going to try to have two fun projects posted for this hop, but my work schedule has totally interfered with my crafting time...!  I want to thank Belinda for asking me to participate in this hop, because it has given me an excuse to stay up and craft!  Thanks so much!  Ok now on to my project...

I don't know about you but the holidays tend to become so busy that the true meaning of the season gets lost in the shuffle.  When I was trying to think of a project for this hop, I decided to center it around my family...

Here is what Michelle (my 3yr old) and I came up with...

~~Our Family's 25 Days of Togetherness~~

~~25 days of Family time...10 mins a day...for the 25 days prior to Christmas~~

I just love my family...but our family is busy...so busy we often do not even get to eat dinner together.

Each day during the month of December, my son or daughter will peel the number of the appropriate day of the month..and behind each number will be a name of an activity...Here is an example of some of I came up with:  

Ornaments (Make and Decorate ornaments)

Garland (Popcorn garland)

Egg Nog (Try egg nog and see if we like it)

Christmas sock hop (Entire family puts on Christmas socks I bought and  dance to holiday tunes)

Reindeer Games (Wii game system)

Candy Cane Hunt (Hide candy canes throughout the house for kids to find)

Gingerbread House

Lights (Drive around the neighborhood area and look at lights.)

Etc..Etc...just some quick activities to get the family together.

It's just a time to focus on spending time together...even if it's only for a few minutes.

Well, for Day 1 ... We made ornaments.  At first when I suggested the entire family gather in the dining room for crafts, you would have thought I asked them to do laundry...

but once we got started, it was so nice to all be in a room together doing an activity.  

The highlight of the evening was when my daughter said, "I love the family.  Family do dis together, ok?"

She expressed on more than one occasion how much she loved our "family" (a word she just now started using a lot) being together.  It was really nice..despite the looks on my guys' faces. LOL.

I asked each person to cut out 3 random or same shapes...and decorate them any way they like...

 My daughter went crazy with the Stickles and rhinestones.  My sons used up the remaining rhinestones to make a tree..and then drew a cross and what he says is Santa's "foot" coming down the chimney..I don't see it. LOL.  My hubby didn't have the patience to work with stickles..so he just punched hearts and wrote our names on them.  The one that says, "Dad Loves Mom" is of course my favorite! :)

 I took a little more time than the rest and made a Snowman, Christmas Tree, and Star using my Stickle collection..This photo is a bit dull but if you saw these in person, they just sparkle so nicely!  I love bling!
I will have to ask for Stickles for my birthday, which is in December. We used alot for this project.

 Once we made the shape, I applied a generous amount of tape runner (ATG) to the back and cut some rainbow thread.  I punched the same shape out and glued it to the back.

 Voila...

My daughter has a little tree in her bedroom..so she made it clear that all of these are to go on "her" tree.  I nicely corrected her and said these are our ornaments, so we will be sharing them...thank you very much! :) LOL

Although my project and ornaments may not exactly be worthy of this awesome blog hop, they were made with alot of love and certainly meant alot to me..

I hope you don't mind my sharing this with you!

May you also get the opportunity to enjoy time with your family this holiday season..for truly that is what the holidays are supposed to be all about!!!

Please stop by here on Saturday...All comments left on my SATURDAY POST..will be entered into a chance for $30 gift certificate to Michael's or Hobby Lobby. Thanks again for HOPPING by. :)  

~~Angie, ATuttleTime~~

Versatile Blog Award recipient

I was selected as one of 7 bloggers to receive "The Versatile Blogger" award.  I've seen this cool award passed around before and am so happy to be a recipient!


As a recipient of The Versatile Blogger Award, there are 3 rules to follow…

1. Thank the person who awarded you.
2. Tell 7 things about yourself that your readers may not know.
3. Award 7 other bloggers with this award.

I am so very thankful to my sweet blog friend, Ms. Judy (a.k.a. Moose Lady) from Scrappin' Nana...I just love her moose avatar!  It makes me smile each time I see it.  It's so wonderful to meet fellow bloggers and paper crafters.  Thanks, Ms. Judy, for this fun award.  I'm honored and so happy to have "met" you through our blogs... :)

Rather than state the obvious (ie. how much I love my hubby and kids and family), I am going to state 7 things make me smile...

1.  My hubby doing the dishes...(don't have a pic of this)

2.  My kids laughing and getting along...

3.  Christmas decorations, lights, and homebaked cookies.

4.  Dunkin Donuts coffee...

5.  Working with things that glitter and shine...

6.  Traveling...Someday, I will get one of these!!!

 7.  Googly eyes...

Now on to my nominations for the "Versatile Blog Award."  I hope you spend time clicking their picture to check out their creative blogs.  I am always amazed when I do.  I have such fun and creative blog friends!!

1.  Rachel (my fab sis) at Yarn Over ... she is definitely one versatile blog momma!  I love her whit, taste in movies and books, sense of humor, and the fact that she considers a day with a hot cup of tea, pastry, and yarn or good book (or both, because she can do 10 or more things at once) her best day EVER!...

2.  Crystal at Rustic Daisy.  I met Crystal at a crop one night about 1 1/2 - 2 years ago...I actually think I pee'd myself from laughing the first time we met.  She will say just about anything that crosses her mind and most of the time it's hilarious.  Crystal is one of the most artistic people I know and has the "Taj Majal" of craft supplies!  It is because of her that I even got into card making.  In fact, I should start sending her my Paypal bills for craft supplies!  LOL...  

3.  Belinda at Bee's Hive of Drama.  Belinda just makes me laugh and I love that.  On top of being super funny, she is crafty...which I consider a lethal combo! :)  I have to be careful not to read her blog while the kids are sleeping next to me...I'd wake them from bouncing the bed and snorting from laughing. :)

4.  Amanda at Crafts by Amanda.  I met Amanda during a "blog hop" and card exchange.  I just love her whimsical happy designs.  She is also new to this card game.  So fun to see what she has cooking...

5.  Wendy Roo and Gilby from Gilby's Craftster.  Wendy and I have partnered up on a couple of blog hops and exchanges.  She is one of the sweetest and most patient person I have met in this blog world.  She is also very creative and gets all of her coolest ideas from her sweet doggy, Gilby.  :)  Gilby, Gigi sends her licks and hugs for a speedy recovery!

6.  Sarah from Simply Sarah.  I also met Sarah through hopping and exchanging cards.  I just love her designs and the cuteness factor that goes into most of her projects.  I am a huge fan of cute and whimsical.  It was always a treat to get her cards in the mail for our exchanges.  They were always one of my favorites.  

7.  Last but not least is, Tracy from Tracy's Cricut Corner.  Tracy and I both participate in September Ninth's Tacky Tuesday Challenges.  On more than two occasions, I have swiped ideas from the cards that Tracy has designed.  I recently discovered her blog and am a new follower.  She has some of the most adorable card designs...

  

Many thanks to Ms. Judy at Scrappin Nana for awarding this award to me.  I hope it continues along to other fun and versatile blogs out there!!!

Hanafuda (Japanese) Birthday Easel Card

Growing up in Hawaii, I used to play a Japanese card game called hanafuda.  It was the inspiration for my brother's birthday card....

Hanafuda decks consist of 4 card sets of images for each month of the year....For October, it's the deer and maple.  I wanted some of the images to have a 3-D effect.  I printed two of each image and ran them through my Xyron to ensure they bonded down to the cardstock to them sturdy.

After the Xyron, I posted them down to cardstock....

Using my Cutterbee scissors, I cut a few of the images out and added pop dots.  The effect came out very nice...(although the photo is a bit blurry)

I made the card an easel card with the sentiment, 

"It doesn't matter if you win or lose... It's how you play the game!"

Happy Birthday Brandon!!!  You are one cool bro!

Never-Ending / Everlasting Bday Card

If you have ever wanted to try a fun, easy card design, you must give the Never-Ending / Everlasting / Endless card a try....It's called "endless" or "never-ending," because as you open..you keep flipping and flipping to reveal the designs over and over again.  Because it's just easier to show than to explain, please check out my quick vid:

This card looks more difficult than it was to make...In fact, I would say it was one of the easiest I've made.  The only challenge is coming up with 4 designs and getting all the pieces set up in the right direction so that words aren't upside down.  To me, that was fun.  The best and easiest to follow directions were at Robin's Craft Room.  She did the best job at explaining the process.  I am simple and need simple, clear instructions.


Here is each flap...I used somewhat stiff cardstock to ensure the card was sturdy.  A cool, college student friend of mine drew the dragon...I colored it in image with markers.  I added some paper ribbon and accented things with Stickles.  I love sparkle.

The person I made this card for loves red, purple, and green...so I incorporated those colors into this card.  She loved it.

I made this Dragon card for a neighbor friend, Ashleigh.  She said it was, BY FAR, the coolest card she has ever seen....You know, it must be cool if a 12 yr old says it is.  LOL!

Hope you get a chance to try the card...It was fun and the recipient will LOVE it!  ~ Angie