It’s officially the holiday season! This magical time of year always has us pulling out our cameras and taking photos, but there are some special holiday moments you might not normally think to photograph! Here is a list of 15 things to be sure to capture with your camera this winter:
1. Picking out the perfect tree
2. Opening your daily advent calendar3. Little ones eating sticky candy canes
4. Kiddos writing letters to Santa
5. Decorating the Christmas tree (and putting on the star!)
6. Each kid’s favorite Christmas ornament (after all, your photo can last forever, though the ornament may not!)
7. Family story or Bible time
8. Fur babies in their Christmas gear
9. Christmas shopping
10. Little hands helping with holiday baking
11. Kids wrapping presents all by themselves
12. Setting out Santa’s cookies
13. Blowing or throwing snow in the air
14. Warming up by the fire
15. Hot chocolate mustaches
Also, be sure to check out our video on how to take high-quality photos with renowned photographer, Wendy Whitacre, of Blue Lily Photography.
What unique Christmas photos do YOU like to take? Tell us in the comments below!
The “most wonderful time of the year” deserves equally wonderful scrapbook pages, wouldn’t you agree? In the spirit of the season, we are sharing four scrapbook pages that show how Cricut® Artistry can make your Christmas memories absolutely magical!
First off, let’s have a look at this classy piece:Shapes from the Artistry cartridge add a festive feeling to this page, especially the layered deer head that literally pops right off the page with the help of some 3-D foam tape. The Cricut® Artistry collection also gets credit for those delicate two-toned holly leaves.
What other details do we love about this page? We love the calendar card from the Picture My Life™ Through the Year scrapbooking program. We also love the “joy” sentiment on the bottom-left corner of the page; it was made using white embossing powder, giving it the look of snow in stark contrast to a nighttime sky.
Speaking of snow . . .There’s no easier way to cut intricate snowflakes than with your Cricut® Artistry cartridge! With some watercolor paint splatters, mini snowflake stamps, and bitty sparkles, these flakes become something really special. It may seem counterintuitive to put white snowflakes on white cardstock, but you can see it definitely works! The snowflakes add a subtle background and texture to the cardstock, which has us dreaming of a white Christmas!
And since we scrapbookers are all about getting the most out of our papers, we’ve got a clever Cricut® trick for you to try out. After cutting out shapes with your Cricut®, use that sheet of cardstock as an overlay, like in this example:See how the snowflake-shaped spaces become stunning designs on this page? Let’s zoom in on that.Try out all sorts of different backgrounds behind your cutouts. We used white shimmer trim and silver foil tape, in addition to clustered embellishments, to add the wonder to this winter wonderland. When you have all your backgrounds in place, attach the cardstock with the cutouts with 3-D foam tape so it pops.
Feeling inspired? Well just wait until you see all the Cricut® magic on this page!You know, we heard Santa Claus was coming to town, so we really went to town with the Cricut® cuts on this page—Santa is made of four different layers of paper! And the trees and “Joy” tag are each made of three layers! What’s great about the Cricut® Artistry collection though is that it makes creating elaborate scenes like this simple and fun. You also get to decide which scenes to create and how to arrange the cuts on the page.
The Santa scene pairs perfectly with our White Pines paper, and some watercolors and embellishments really top this page off perfectly.
Ready to make your own Christmas masterpiece? Then pull out your Cricut® and put on your thinking cap—or Santa hat—for a day of holiday crafting! Make sure to use the hashtag #cricutartistry when sharing your creations online!
Recipes
12″ x 12″ Joy Page
A1174 My Acrylix® Spray of Joy, X7202B Kaleidoscope Paper Packet, Z3176 Picture My Life™ White Pines Scrapbooking Program, Z3177 Picture My Life™ Through the Year Scrapbooking Program, 1385 White Daisy Cardstock, 1386 Black Cardstock, 1282 New England Ivy Cardstock, X5777 Fern Cardstock, Z3146 Watercolor Paper, Z3126 Paper Fundamentals Enchantment, Z2163 White Daisy Exclusive Inks™ Stamp Pad, Z891 VersaMark™ Ink Pad, Z3077 White Pines Assortment, Z1263 Bitty Sparkles, Z2010 White Enamel Stars, Z3090 Red Enamel Gems, Z2068 Ranger™ White Super Fine Embossing Powder, Z726 Sponge Daubers, Z555 Craft Heater, Z3132 Watercolor Paints, Z3188 Paintbrush Set, Z1151 3-D Foam Tape, Z1979 Marvy® Uchida® LePen™ Journaling Pen, Z3167 Cricut® Artistry Collection, Thread
All these products are available through one of our Independent Consultants. To find a Consultant near you, visit closetomyheart.com and click on “Find a Consultant” in the top right corner of the page.
One of everyone’s favorite things about Convention is having the chance to see the newest products in an up-close and personal setting. Nowhere does this happen like it does at Extravaganza.
At this fast and furious (but super fun) session, everyone gets to see almost every new product used in artwork created by Consultants. These Consultant artists take 20 minutes to teach ideas and techniques they used to create their mini museums of amazing artwork, filling attendees’ heads with an incredible amount of ideas for what to do with all that is new in the annual idea book. It is one of the BEST parts of Convention!
At last year’s Extravaganza in Anaheim, some very talented artists showed off their work. Though the products featured here have been around for several months now, the ideas are so fresh, they’ll have you seeing things in a brand new light. Enjoy this little sampling of the awesomeness we saw then, and get excited for the awesomeness we’re going to see again in just a few weeks!
Tresa Black created these incredible projects with the pages from My Crush® books, both on and off the page.
Sara Batkin took the Base & Bling line by storm by introducing this array of beautiful goodies—some for wearing, others for sharing.
Michelle Snyder reminded us of the joy of not only keeping memories, but also of making them with her collection of clever party creations.
Exciting? Most definitely! Convention is an event just for Consultants, so sign up to be one yourself! Then YOU will be among the first to see this level of gorgeous artwork and gather inspiring ideas when you attend Convention this year.
Not quite sure what to expect at your first Convention? Here’s a look at the fun and creativity that takes place.
2. Opening your daily advent calendar
3. Little ones eating sticky candy canes
5. Decorating the Christmas tree (and putting on the star!)
6. Each kid’s favorite Christmas ornament (after all, your photo can last forever, though the ornament may not!)
7. Family story or Bible time
8. Fur babies in their Christmas gear
9. Christmas shopping
10. Little hands helping with holiday baking
11. Kids wrapping presents all by themselves
12. Setting out Santa’s cookies
