I love the things you can create with the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartrigde.  There are so many versatile shapes that you can use to make just about anything.  At Halloween, I made a Frankenstein gift bag and I've been waiting for the time to put a Christmas spin onto the same thing.  And here they are:

It all started with Rudolph.  He is simply the cutest thing ever! 

The Santa bag was inspired by a tag that I saw one of my CTMH teammates make. Heather Pitre's little tag was adorable and I thought it would look great on a bag too.  I was also inspired by the Inspired By blog, whose challenge this week is all about Santa.


The elf bag is a spin-off of Santa, inspired by Cupcake Inspirations, whose challenge this week features some yummy cupcakes with red, green and adorable characters.  I thought these bags would fit right in.

By this point, my creative juices were gushing.  Who else could I turn into a bag?  A snowman?  A penguin?  Why not?  And I'm so happy with the result. 



As I said, these were all using shapes from the CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge.  It's amazing what you can do with some basic shapes and a little imagination.  The hardest part is parting with these little guys.  I want to keep them for myself!  But Sam and Charlie's teachers will like them too, filled with some chocolates and a candy cane.

We're heading to Florida tomorrow morning for a big family vacation.  Thanks to all who read my blog and I hope you'll continue reading in 2012.  Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Best Wishes for 2012!

My newest addiction is Magnolia stamps.  I love Tilda and Edwin, and am so glad I could work Tilda into this beautiful round card. It turned out so much better than I had hoped.  Now it's your turn to make a wish!

Entered in the "Going Round in Circles" challenge over at Allsorts.

Check out my snowman.  He's so super cute and when you open him up, there's a pocket inside to hold a gift card.  And he's really very simple, which I love.

I'm entering my snow friend in the "Going Round in Circles" challenge over at Allsorts!

I've found a new challenge blog and so far, I am so inspired.  Thank you to the talented Laurel Seabrook for your new challenge and your inspiring photo.  Check out Inspired By

Here is the photo for this week's challenge.  I goofed and thought I had until THURSDAY, so I'm just getting this in under the wire.  But my main problem was that I had not one, not two, but FIVE different sketches I came up with inspired by this photo:


Here is my first card.  I was really inspired by the colours and the simplicity in this one. Random stamping is one of my fave techniques.  I also liked the stepped look and incorporated that into the card.



Here are two versions of my second card.  I tried to layer in the vertical panels from the walls and juxtapose it with the steps.  The tree brings in the many shades of green.  The base is actually cocoa cardstock with acrylic paint applied then sanded around the edges to get that distressed look.



And then there is my favourite.  Two versions of this one too, and honestly, I don't know which one I like better.  Inspired by the distressed panels (painted and sanded cardstock again) for my base, I then brought in a cluster of images to add some holiday spin.  In the first card, the tree is water-misted and distressed.  The pops of red add some sparkle.  The second card has liquid glass on the dots of the tree.







I will get back and try some of my other sketches.  But I'm happy with what I've shown you here.  Thanks again, Laurel, for letting me play.  I look forward to a new inspiration tomorrow!