Christmas at Home

Although I was born in Ohio, and I call Ohio my home, I have not lived in Ohio all of my life.   My parents are from Alabama, and when my father was 17, he joined the Air Force in the late 1950's.   He was stationed in Plattsburg AFB, NY, when he came to visit my mom, who was attending University of Michigan at the time.  They were married 50 years ago On July 27, 1961, and I was born 3 years later at Lockbourne AFB, Ohio about 5 miles south of Columbus.   I cannot remember any snow during that time, but I saw my first snow when I was 4 years old at the Big Bear Mountains overlooking San Bernadino, Ca. In a picture, my mom and I were in sweaters looking at the snow.   I encountered my first blizzard in 1976, when we were living at McGuire AFB, NJ, and I never saw so much snow before in my life.  My brother and I played in that stuff.   But the worst snow I ever experienced was 6 years ago in Columbus.   An ice storm hit Columbus, and I had no lights.   I had to feel my way downstairs to my living room, and waited until my mom came and got me.   I could not get my car out of the garage. in my parents house was me, my oldest nephew, my sister, mom and dad with no lights, except for the light of the fireplace.   It was warm, peaceful, and I got lots of sleep that night.

Over at the Card-a day blog, the theme is Christmas at home, and a designer on the blog,  I want to show you a card that defines that memory.    It is made almost entirely with the Cricut Imagine, and this is my first project made with this machine.   I also have the Expression and  the Expression 2, 5th Anniversary Edition, introduced back in April on HSN (Home Shopping Network).   I am not sure if you can see it or not, but there is a dog and a cat looking out at the snow.   It reminds me of all those days and nights where i would look out, and wonder when I could go out and play in New Jersey, when we could go to the mountains in California, or when can I dig my car out of the snow here in Ohio.

I used a newer cartridge. Enjoy the Season, and if you never seen what an Imagine cartridge has on it, it is different from a regular Cricut cartridge.   Not only does these cartridges have things to cut out like a regular cricut cartridge, but it has pattern paper you can print out, and images you can print and cut as well.  You do not have to do the whole image either.

I selected my images to print and cut, which if you already have this cartridge, it is on page 20 in the handbook, and I did not change any colors at all.   The size of the image is 2.0", and I also printed a whole sheet of 12x12 snowflake paper, which is listed on page 40 in the handbook.   The reason I printed out a whole sheet was because I did not know how much was needed, but you can determine your size in the settings, and I would print out about an A2 size, which is about 4x6 (or 6x6 on the Imagine).   take a sheet of 8 1/2 x 11, and cut it in half width-wise to have 4 1/4 x 8 1/2.     Fold it in half to get 4 1/2 x 5 1/2.  Set the card blank aside.  I then cut and printed out a Enjoy the season (at 1.5") on page 27 of the handbook, and changed the background to match the mat.
Take you 12x12 sheet, and cut it slightly smaller than the front of the card blank (4x5) and adhere it to the front.   Take pop dots for that 3-d effect, and put them on the dog/cat image and the Enjoy the Season, and stuck them to the mat.  This is a fun last minute card, when you have forgotten someone on your list.   Don't have an Imagine?   You can do this same effect from any die cut machine, electronic or not.   don't have a die cut machine at all?   You can purchase a bunch of Christmas-like 3-d stickers with brands like Jolee's, EK success, K& Co., and buy a holiday-like pattern paper and make some cards.   The good thing about most of these pre-made stickers is most of them already has a pop dot foam on the back of them, so you will save money in the long run.

Well thanks for stopping by.