Bat Mitzvah Card

     Hello Monday. Wow, these days are just flying by!!! Fall is really in the air around New England. Here at  My Cricut Craft Room, Erica has given us the option to use the CCR Exclusive carts so I decided to use the Jewish Icons. One of the reasons I love being on Ericas' Design Team is the opportunity to think outside of the box as well as to learn something new. I always have been curious about some of the practices of the Jewish faith. We all know about Christmas, however, about the same time, our Jewish friends celebrate the Festival Of Lights called Chanukah. I will be participating in the Chanukah Hop in December so I wanted to get my feet wet on starting some projects. Since I am Catholic, I turned to several of my Jewish friends to help me on the road to better understanding. I have had the opportunity to attend a Bat Mitzvah and was in awe of the tremendous job the young man did.
     In many Christian religions we have a Confirmation where the young adult learns more about their faith and receive the blessing from their Bishop in the form of a Sacrament. In the Jewish faith the young adults read in Hebrew from the Torah. Boys have their Bar Mitzvah when they are 13 years old but girls have their Bat Mitzvah a year earlier at age 12. This ceremony marks their rise in their religious standing. I decided to try my hand at a card for a Jewish girl on the occasion of her Bat Mitzvah. With the exception of the banner, this card can easily be made for a young man for his Bar Mitzvah.

     I started with a 4.25" x 5.50" white card stock base and added a layer of blue, gold and green striped paper. This reminds me of a "tallit" (prayer shawl). For the Torah I used the following measurements:

Torah: 3.5", shadow: 2.819w by 3.694, pages of the Torah; 1.403x 1.917. I stamped the pages with a script stamp by Recollections with Versamark Vintage Sepia.

     The edges were inked with Rusty Hinge distress ink and I added some gold Stickles to add a little bling. For the Hebrew lettering I cut this @ 1.417"x 1.944".

     I cut the Star Of David for the both main star and background @ 1" and again inked the edges with Rusty Hinge. I decided to add some gold stickles to these as well. I cut a total of 4 stars with all layers. 

     I wanted to add something "girlie" to the card so I pulled out some paper ribbon I had from K&Company and I was so pleased how well it matched the background paper. Lastly I put some pop dots on the back of the Torah before I adhered it to the card.

     I hope you have enjoyed my tutorial on this card. You can always find great supplies like the ink and stickles I have used here, at Erica's Store. Now be sure to head back over to the blog and see what great projects my Design Team Sisters have to share with you. @ My Cricut Craft Room.

Mr. And Mrs. Claus Ornaments

     I am totally in love with the new ProvoCraft cartridge Santa's Village. When I first saw this cart I was in awe of the fantastic images and rich colors in the graphics. I knew I wanted to make some ornaments and it has taken me a while to figure out how to transform what I have in my head onto the glass ornaments!
     I tried waterslide decals but I was not happy with the results. They looked like a sticker I put on glass. That is definitely not my style, lol. I tried doing the images on card stock but I was not happy with that attempt as well. Sometimes my ideas just pop in my head will I'm in the shower and that is what happened this time. Finally, success!!! Okay, okay here are the pics and details. Without further ado: Tada......

     Isn't he fabulous? Believe me the picture does not do him justice! I started with clear glass ornaments that have a flat front. I stocked up with them several years ago @ M's end of the year sale. I used beacon's Glitter It! glue and Martha Stewarts Glitter to finish the inside of the ball and to set the stage for my design.
     I finally realized the I could use the printable vinyl that came with my Imagine cricut machine to print my artwork. Brilliant idea! I cut it at 1.6" and found it was the perfect size for my ornament. I then just cut a plain circle out of the vinyl and layered the image in the middle. Once it was afixed to the glass ball I used Triple Thick Gloss Glaze by Americana on top of the image and let it dry overnight. I had tried other finishes but they had a tendency to pool or drip of the edges. Some of the finishes needed more than one coat or were not thick enough for what I wanted to accomplish. This finish was perfect.
     One note about this finish is that youhave to brush it on. I globbed it on and it does have a few air bubbles doing it this way. However it seems to give it some character with the air bubbles, almost like it is snowing. Wait a minute, why not make it snow? I pulled out some stickles and added some to create the illusion that it is snowing! Another great idea!!!! I used a gold cording to hang the ornament with and voila, it's done.

     Aren't these just adorable? You have Santa, Mrs. Claus, the Toy Shop and there are images to use for penguins, trains, rocking horses, reindeer etc. the possibilities are endless. I will be adding these to my etsy shop as soon as I figure out the shipping, lol. Hope you enjoy these and don't be afraid to leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Nativity Card

     This is one of the religious cards I made for this upcoming Christmas season. I just love the simplicity of it. The green cardstock has a nice sheen to it as well as the cream background. I decided to emboss the cream card stock with the swiss dots cuttlebug folder to add a little texture to the card. (I love texture!)
     The Nativity image is from Cricut "Inspired Heart" cartridge. This cart is amazing! I also made another Christmas card from this cart but I'll have to show you when it's finished (it's still a work in progress, lol).The cartridge has some great cuts especially for sympathy. I have a lot of ideas for those.
     I also added a gold card stock star but can't remember which cart I cut that one from. (guess I'm going senile!). I wanted a somewhat primitive look so that's why I chose the brown background paper but it needed to be dressed up a bit. I happen to have a lot of this textured ribbon so it just finished it off nicely.

     I have been adding sentiment inside some of my cards lately and found this one in a book i recently purchased.Say It With Style is a great book of quotes and it is great for card makers. I bought mine through Annies Attic. Hope you like this latest offering. I have some new photo emulsion I am trying on my Yudu Cardmaker screens. I am getting ready for when my Word Collage cart arrives because I have big plans for this cartridge, lol.

Mom's Cane

     Hi all I'm back again, did you miss me, lol! I've been pretty busy with a lot of family stuff however I am never too busy that I can't sneak a craft project or two in. Mom's doing better with her pneumonia and is anxious to get back home. In the meantime she is in a lovely rehab center until the end of next week. Although she is not too happy about staying longer I must admit I am some what relieved since this has been the perfect time to go into her small apartment and do some much needed cleaning and reorganization for her. Unfortunately she has been declared legally blind and at 86 years old having been a voracious reader this is pretty tough for her.