Jesus - the Reason for the Season!

2 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.  ² (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)  ³ And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.  ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)  ⁵ To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.  ⁶ And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.  ⁷ And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.  ⁸ And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  ⁹ And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.  ¹⁰ And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which  shall be to all people.  ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  ² And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.  ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,  ¹⁴ Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.  ¹⁵ And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.  ¹⁶ And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.  ¹⁷ And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.  ¹⁸ And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.  ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

Luke 2:1-19

 Welcome to the Third Annual ’25 Days of Christmas’ in conjunction with My Paper Crafting.com, the blogsite for which I am on the regular Design Team – and loving it!  Here’s a bit of an introduction, history and explanation of what you can expect during this 25 Days of December.  Don’t worry if you’ve missed any of the original posts to this point – You can click on links on Melin’s post to get to posts from previous days.  I am posting on Days 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 18, 20, and 25, corresponding to the days of this month – and possibly some other days in between, depending on how my time goes…

We have almost 30 designers who have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to create some spectacular projects to share with you! So pull up a comfy chair and get ready to be inspired! There will be daily projects featuring:

* Cricut Cartridges

*Electronic Die Cutting Files

(Svg type, using Pazzles, Silhouette, Gazelle, Cameo type Machines)

*Digital Stamps with Coloring
(Using Copics, Digital and other coloring mediums)

*Stamping and Inking

*Traditional Dies, Punches and all the other tools we love.

A Little Something For EVERY TYPE of "Paper Crafter"

Format:  Each day the designers were given a “theme” to work with, so each day will be different.  We will also have a daily FREE Cutting File and a daily FREE Digital Stamp-Printable along with some FREE Royalty-Free Vintage Graphics. Today's theme:

Here we are at Day 25 of our December daily Challenges and gifts!  Where has the month gone?  I trust that today, Christmas, will be a Blessed day of remembrance of Jesus’ birth – God’s Great Gift to Us on Earth – and, hopefully, a time to share with Family and Friends. 

Today’s theme is ‘Jesus – the Reason for the Season’ -  I chose to make another new-to-me type of card – called a ‘Surprise Pop-up Card’ by the person whose video I found onYouTube.  It’s fairly easy to do, although a bit tricky at first, and I like the way it ‘works.’  For this card I used the ‘Nativity Sil v11 cf’ from MyPaperCrafting.com. 

Here is the card I made –

Card front - closed

Card open - front side view

View from the back side -

View from the back -

Usually, a silhouette is done in black or a dark color against a light background.   Being the ‘rebel’ that I am, I decided to do it in reverse for this project.  I wanted the Bible background to be Black – and the silhouette to be White – a whole Black and White clean-line theme going on – with a splash of my favorite Christmas colors – Red and Green.  I cut the card pieces from White cardstock and then embossed the top piece before cutting it.  I used the Corner Rounder punch on the corners of the tag.  I printed the sentiment on white cardstock and adhered it to black cardstock before adhering it to the card – the first piece on the bottom section of the folding flap of the card – the second piece, also adhered to black cardstock and then to the ‘base’ of the card inside the open which is revealed when the Tag is pulled out and the card stands up.  I used the MS ‘Pine Branch’ to make pine boughs which have red berries, punched from a regular hole punch, nestled among them.

I really enjoyed making this style of card and I look forward to making more in the future.

 **********

I have thoroughly enjoyed this month of creative expression and have loved seeing the various projects that our Regular and Guest Design Team members have offered!  I have learned much from these talented and giving women – I hope you have, too -  I hope you’ll continue to visit Melin’s blog – and mine! – in the New Year, as we continue to share our creative ideas and projects with you -  ;-}

I trust you are enjoying a lovely day today and that you’ll experience a wonderful New Year – 2013!  Many Blessings to you all – and Thank You for visiting my blog and offering your kind comments these past months!

************

 As mentioned above, Melin will be giving away FREE digital die cutting files, digital printables and vintage graphics. Please note: Each day we will have new files. Be sure to stop by each day as they will be free one day only! Please also note, the free files will have a price listed by them, but when you add them to your cart to check out, they will be free during the day they are posted only. These files have been generously donated by PaperCraftingWorld.com. Be sure to take advantage of the great 50% off sale on all downloadable files through December!

Today’s FREE files are –

Here are just some of the prizes we will be sharing with you!

~ Quick Quotes Prize Pack
~ The Twinery: Twine
~ PaperCraftingWorld.com: Gift Certificate
~ Page-Kits.com: Gift Certificate
~ Melinda Beltran: Close To My Heart Stamping Items
~ Miscellaneous Weekly Prizes

We will share details on all of these prizes as the days unfold. 

SO HOW ARE YOU ELIGIBLE TO WIN?!!!!
Be a follower of Melin’s My Paper Crafting blog AND leave a comment on any of our daily posts.   That's it, that's all we ask!!! Please only one comment per day.  ALSO join us on our Facebook Page and leave a comment telling us you did and that will be an extra chance to win! Pretty easy!

Thank you for joining us today. Be sure to go back often in the future for some more great projects and our new FREEBIES which Melin offers weekly!  Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year 2013!