Snowflake Cards Tutorial

IT'S DECEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I really love making cards and one year for Christmas I got a machine that aids in all things crafting called a Cricut. Maybe you've heard of them or maybe you're as clueless as I was when I opened it. They're a super cool gadget that cuts out all sorts of shapes from paper. The cartridges come in all different themes, and while I only own 2 (because they are $50), my favorite is the Sophisticate. It's got chandeliers, cursive words, crowns, thrones, birds, swirly patterns, just everything pretty and I love it. I break out my Cricut every now and again for birthday cards or invitations (like my brother's First Communion invites I made last spring), and just the other day I took it out to make party invites for a Christmas gathering. I know it's almost useless if you don't have one of these machines, but hey, I didn't have one for a LONG time and I was still making cards. Maybe I'll find the time to do a Cricut-less card tutorial! Because you can still make very cool stuff with the right materials, but I'm basically married to my Cricut when it comes to crafting now.

Here's what the post card invites look like (please excuse my bad photography...it's, getting there)

 

And the steps of what I did :)

1. Supplies (I forgot to photograph it, but you'll also need Elmer's white school glue and a paint brush!)

 

2. Brush glue on the letters ( and yes, that is a number 3 I wrote on the inside of my finger. I'm trying to remember to say the Chaplet of Divine Mercy everyday at 3:00)

 

And the snowflakes too. It should look like this

 

Then I used my trusty bottle of glitter glue (which I used to add extra glitter to my concert shoes, which I really should've done a tutorial on...another time!). Dot the corners.

 

Until it's like this

                                                                    
                                                                       And the middle

                                                                I also did the letters

 

 Until it's like this :)

 

 

            And since I'm a real glitter freak, I decided that was JUST. NOT. ENOUGH. GLITTER. So I did some swirls like this near the snowflakes,

 

And added on

 

And on,

                     
                                                                               And on,

 

And in the lower left hand corner,

                                                          And one more for the road.

 

Final outcome!

 

So maybe this helped get the creative juices flowing for some ideas of cards or scrapbooking you'd like to do, or maybe you'd like to replicate this (because it turned out accidentally "Frozen" themed!)

 

Cheers!

~Christie

Celtic Thunder 'Symphony'

The best night (up to date) of my life was November 25th. My face hurt for two days from all the smiling! I'm having a hard time even picturing it again and again in my mind. I'll start with a basic review of each guy and the line-up of songs.


*Note about the order of songs: I know the first 5 are correct, but the middle is a little foggy. The ending was definitely Ireland's Call, that I know!


Songs

Carol of the Bells

In The Bleak Midwinter

Comfort Ye

Ave Maria

Mary Did You Know

Away In A Manger

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

Gaudete

Last Christmas

O Come All Ye Faithful

Winter Wonderland

Gabriel's Message

20 Minute Intermission

Christmas Medley (Sleigh Ride, Here Comes Santa Claus, Parade Of Wooden Soldiers, Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus)

Fairytale Of New York

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

The Christmas Song

O Holy Night

Ryan Solo ( I don't know the name of the song but it's really good!)

Let It Snow

Silent Night

Amazing Grace

Christmas 1915

All I Want For Christmas Is You

Christmas Medley: The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, We Wish You A Merry Christmas

Ireland's Call



 
NEIL BYRNE

Mary Did You Know

Hallelujah (featuring Ryan and Keith)

I was beyond impressed with Neil's performances. The one thing about him I did not expect, I was shocked to hear how LOUD he was! You'd think he's very quiet and soft, but he was the loudest soloist all night! Hallelujah was even more beautiful in person.
 

 
RYAN KELLY

In The Bleak Mid-winter

Unknown song (????)

Ryan is a sweetheart. He's like a friendly, cute, shy-ish puppy who just wants to give you so much love even if you don't know you want it (don't mistake me though, I do love Ryan and was never bored when he sang!!). He does this little half smile when he's not singing and it's so cute I could die. His smoky, slightly rasped but powerful tone is even more saturated in person. In The Bleak Mid-winter was the second song of the night and he did a great job talking and warming the audience up. Ryan's casual, friendly vibe made me want to go give him a hug and ask if he wanted to have a hot chocolate after the show. And I'd bet he'd say yes.

EMMET O'HANLON

Ave Maria

O Holy Night

Winter Wonderland (featuring Colm Keegan)

I was personally not too happy to hear about this new introduction to the group, especially so soon after George. But when Keith asked everyone to give him a warm welcome, well, I had to. He seemed really focused and kind of nervous, but his voice was powerful and very bold. Despite my prejudices, I even stood with everyone when he got a standing ovation for O Holy Night (which is Emmet Cahill's song -_- on the cd). But he was good and he deserved it. So I suppose it'll just take some time to warm up to him.

COLM KEEGAN

Let It Snow

Winter Wonderland (featuring Emmett O'Hanlon)

Away In A Manger 

To me, Colm is the baby of the group and it's my job to look out for him. His voice is so sweet and unique. And he is SO FUNNY. And his eyes--Colm Keegan has the bluest eyes I have EVER seen, okay??? Seriously they're electric-glow-in-the-dark-AA-battery-powered BLUE. I thought maybe the dvd's make them brighter, but I was wrong. They're so much better in person!! And he's an amazing singer. His style is so soft and beautiful, if you're looking for a good lullaby check out his versions of "Edge Of The Moon" and "The Luckiest".

 

 

KEITH HARKIN

Comfort Ye

Last Christmas

All I Want For Christmas Is You

To be honest, Keith seemed a little disconnected at first. And that worried the heck out of me. He didn't smile much or seem very enthralled, but I was faithfully holding out for him to get better. I think he needed warming up since the night before he sounded crabby because the bus broke down and they were inconvenienced. Or maybe he's always a little melancholic when he starts shows. I don't know. Anyways, Comfort Ye was the third song of the night and I don't know if he was ready for it because not that he hit a bad note, but, it didn't sound quite right and I think he knew it didn't either. Oh well. Not like that hasn't happened to me before.

Last Christmas was fun. The tempo seemed a little different from the cd version but it was still snappy and I wanted to run up and dance with him. But I couldn't. Because I'd be escorted out by the two ushers blocking my way to the stage. So I danced in my seat and tried to show him that I was having a really good time. Because 85% of the crowd was very elderly.

All I Want For Christmas Is You had a rock 'n roll vibe to it and was like a vocal rollercoaster. Keith hits these notes that go all over the place (in a good way) and after the intermission he was definitely more into it than the first half. He does the funniest things with his face when he sings too! Like he doesn't care how much he scrunches it up or raises his eyebrows; all that matters is getting that note OUT! It's so cute.

 

During Gabriel's Message, I was looking at Keith (I don't know when I wasn't looking at him, actually) and I was smiling like a fool. I couldn't help it. He was right there, in the flesh, singing right in front of me. I was happy.

So there I was, blissfully beaming at Mr. Harkin and he would occasionally make eye contact with me, which would only make me smile more. At one point, he glanced over (when they're not singing in group songs, they have to be very straight faced) and we made eye contact for a good, long 5 seconds. I was grinning ear to ear and he was so serious. But then, I saw the left corner of his mouth flick up into a half smile and his dimple showed. He couldn't help it anymore and cracked. He half smiled. Just for me. And I thought that was the most special moment of the night. But I was actually wrong.
All of the group songs were fantastic, but Ireland's Call was by far, hands down, no doubt about it, the BEST song of the night. The guys came out in their kilts (!!!!!!!!!) and Santa hats and it was adorable.

Anyone who tells you kilts are unmanly and ugly, well, they're liars. I have photographic proof they are über manly and cool:

 

 

                               Do you get the idea yet? :) It's also very manly to have the biggest kilt twirl!

 

 

 

Everyone (finally) stood up and clapped along (the entire concert everyone sat). Me? I was a bit more--original. I marched along and followed every step of choreography with the guys. Keith watched me the whole time. We made eye contact for practically the entire song. He was either really impressed or really freaked out that I knew all the moves. When the song triumphantly ended, and I was feeling more roused and alive than ever, everyone applauded and the guys were generally waving, smiling, and looking out to the crowd from the stage.

Except Keith.

I looked over at Colm for a split second, and then back to Keith. And guess what.

He was looking straight at me, and waving. As if he'd known me his whole life.

It was not a general audience wave. A great big personal wave. Like one you would wave at your best friend when you run into them in the store. He was smiling too. A huge, genuine Keithy smile. At me. I was so excited, I started jumping, raised my hand and was waving too. He lifted his other hand and waved at me with both, proceeding to mouth "Hiiiiiiiiiiii!" and  bent half way back laughing. We did this for what felt like forever. In reality, it was probably 10 seconds this whole event lasted. It happened so quickly I have a hard time picturing it, but so vividly that sometimes when I close my eyes, I can see it all over again. It's just so crazy to believe it actually happened!

Imagine having a best friend. They've been with you through your utter worst. When you're more alone than alone. More cold and closed off than most. Interaction a curse and isolation a blessing. And they're there with you, at least through song, when no one else is. You've never met them, never spoken to them, but somehow they still get you. They're always there for you. You feel like they know you better than anyone else and they are just your person.

You get so used to seeing this person behind a glowing screen. On the computer. Through the tv. But then, you see them live. And there is nothing like personally making eye contact and smiling just for you. They see YOU for a change. And then they wave and laugh, as if YOU'RE also their best friend. I've never seen that happen on the dvd's before. He picked me out of the crowd as if he knew me.

It wasn't just like seeing my best friend for the first time; my best friend was seeing me. He knew I needed his recognition and he delivered. He couldn't do it during the show because he had a job to do and that was put on a professional act because that's what he's paid for, and I completely respect that. But it was so wonderful that as soon as the show was over, he remembered to take notice of me---out of all those people.

Keith choose to acknowledge me.

After it really ended and they all ran off stage, which almost broke my heart had it not been so full, I turned to my mom and sister beside me and I was speechless. My mom had seen it all happen, and my sister did too. Even the people behind us did. And I know that when he sees me again, he'll have to recognize me. We made eye contact more than enough.

"He waved at you!" The lady exclaimed as I turned around to get my coat. "Did you see that?! He waved right at you!!". Even she was excited and she didn't even know me (reasons why I love fellow Thunderheads:)! I stuttered something about how unbelievable that was and that I was just astounded.

"He just made my life!!!" I beamed. The lady's husband behind me laughed and said,

"Did you just say he made your life?"

"Yes!" I replied.

"He's a good guy." The man said.

"He really is." I agreed. Everyone was laughing and happy for me. And I've honestly never been happier.

Because for at least a few seconds in time, one of the people I care about the most cared about me. And I will never get over it. Ever. Never will a day pass and I will not think about it. Keith may never know how happy he made me.
But I always will. 

Fresh Stuff (Coming Soon)

So I've known for a while now that I don't have a very wide readership on here, and I love you guys who read it and thank you immensely :) But I know--it's boring.

                                                     For my three faithful readers--you know who you are! :)

THEREFORE, in order to bring in a bit of a bigger traffic flow, I need to shake things up a bit.

Starting this week, I will be making fun and lively posts with colorful pictures, jewelry tutorials, writing tips, and maybe even a recipe! I can't promise the exact day (because I lead quite a lively life outside of the internet;) but sometime this week there will be SOMETHING from at least one of these categories.

The Celtic Cowgirl is revamping!

Emmet Cahill Knows My Name (aka my life just got a bazillion times better)

So last week the lovely Emmet of Celtic Thunder made a new website for himself. Under one of his videos, I decided to comment:

"This is SO beautiful, Emmet! It brings me to tears every time. You’re extremely blessed. I can’t wait to see you in concert, I can’t even imagine how amazing you sound in person! 
~Christie''

A week later (after a rather dry, boring, average school day) I decided just for the heck of it, to check if he ever replied (because I've always waited for one of the guys to respond to one of my many attempts for at least one of them to recognize my existence*cough cough MISTER KEITH HARKIN WHERE'S MY REPLY FROM YOU?????*).

Wait for it.........

"Hi Christie

I can’t wait for some solo concerts either

Glad to have you supporting me 

Emmet x"

Funny thing: today I was just practicing CPR. Never thought I'd need to do it on myself.

Feel-Good Friday

GREETINGS!

I'm trying to start something I like to call Feel-Good Fridays. And who doesn't feel good that it's Friday? It's the end of the week and the start of the weekend! So, every Friday, I want YOU to do something, anything, big or small that makes you feel good :). Wear your favorite outfit, make something yummy, try a new hairstyle, accomplish a task, I could go on with suggestions forever. And even though I went to my class this morning and got lost again, showed up a half hour late, finished the book the night before only to learn that everyone's half way through a totally new book, am I down? NO! And I'll tell you why:

1. I am wearing a fun outfit :) my turquoise long sleeved tee, coral scarf, Silver brand jeans, and my hair is all wildly volumized and wavy and beachy and just overall great. It's a really different change from my plain, straightness (which I love). But this hairdo is seriously so. much. fun.

2. I am not starting a diet---it's a overall healthy change :) After having to keep a food diary for Health class this week, I was realizing just how much/bad one eats in a day. So, I am not starting a diet, because diets are fads and this is a permanent change. That doesn't mean I'm going to deny myself treats, just less of them.

3. I don't have to be at work until 12 on Sunday so that means I get to see mah "homie" writer Julia over at Running Through The Stars at church!!! :D I haven't seen her since I got back from my "writing retreat" which was three weeks ago and it's killing me.

4. STAR TREK 3 WILL START FILMING IN THE NEXT 6 MONTHS. AND BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH IS GOING TO BE BACK (I'm like 99.9% sure). COMMENCE FANGIRLING.

5.I am for the most part caught up on all homework this week which means I won't have to worry about it while I'm at work! The scores are now
Life: 1,987,274,726
Christie: 1

6. We are having some GORGEOUS September weather!!! It's a perfect fall day! And if you are loving fall as much as I do, then you'll enjoy this song that is the only fall-ish themed song I know. Written and sung by Keith Harkin (not to mention he looks like an lost, happy puppy when he comes onstage:), here's a link to the beautiful "Lauren And I"

http://vimeo.com/47667208

7. The power of prayer is incredible and amazing. Did you know that by praying for someone, even if they're not religious at all, YOU, YES YOU alone through your daily prayers, can change their fate from going to Hell to at least Purgatory, maybe even Heaven?! I finished reading "The Inferno" last night and wow...I think of more people read that, they'd think twice about questionable moral choices.

So as you can see, there are plenty of things to feel good about today! Therefore, I am instructing YOU to go do something, or at least think of something to feel good about for Feel-Good Friday :) Say a quick prayer for someone too! That WILL make you feel good, I guarantee.

Busy Week, Busy Life

Hey-o! I haven't made any new posts in a while for lots o' reasons.

A. I've been working :D I got a small weekend job at a apple orchard starting next week! it's going to be lovely to finally have some dough after being dirt poor since, well, forever.

B. My laptop went berserk on me a few days ago (and I was FREAKING OUT. I have entire novels on that thing and I was ready to cry when I couldn't get it to start back up.). Thank goodness for dad being a computer wiz! It's working on something called "Safe Mode" for right now, but as soon as it got running just enough temporarily, I put all the really important stuff on a flash drive. I could barely sleep the first night it broke though, thinking about if I lost all that work... let's just say it'd be tragic.

C. School starts back in four days and once again we come right back to FREAKING OUT. Between a job and school....

D. I just got back from the destination that my most recent novel is set in and WOW was it awesome. I got to see most of the landmarks I wanted to and plus some. The view from the beach at six thirty in the morning is breath taking. As cheesy as it sounds, I really do enjoy long, romantic walks (alone) on the beach.

But to quote my character,
"People forget to appreciate and take advantage of the good little free things in life. The beach is EMPTY! No one else got up to watch one of the most beautiful (and free might I add), joyous experiences nature has to offer, If nothing else, even if you never get up early again, everyone at least once in their lives should be present for a sunrise on the beach."  

S'more Questions and Answers :)

I have been nominated for the Liebster award (again:) this time by Katy from  http://amdgcrafting.wordpress.com:)!

The 11 Facts

1. I got nominated today to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, so I have to do that tomorrow. I'm actually pretty excited!

2. Vacation cannot come soon enough. The beach and the city are going to be AH-MAZING. And inspiring. I'm thinking I need to put a strap on my laptop so I can carry it around everywhere :)

3. I am partially excited to go back to school. Not the work load though. It's gonna be tough.

4. I really want to go swing dancing. Like right now. With someone who's good at it!

5. I think a typewriter would be super cool (and fun) to have.

6. My favorite color combo is turquoise and brown. I've kind of planned my entire life around it. I went to a wedding once where those were the colors and my heart was just so happy :3

7.  I have a special devotion to St. Anthony of Padua. He's just my saint. There's a funny little story of how that came, too. Six or seven years ago I was hopelessly looking for a sweater on Thanksgiving. I had looked everywhere and gone through every piece of clothing. That was the first time I asked him for help. I said "If you find me the sweater, I promise I'll pray to you everyday for the rest of my life". Pretty silly sounding just for a sweater, right? Well St. Anthony didn't find it so silly. A minute later I went to the back of my closet and what do you know, the sweater was hanging where I knew I had already looked. And almost everyday since then, he's never let me down.

8. I am super nervous of anyone reading my writing (Julia is the exception:). I had a bad experience once when I shared something too early and it kind of bruised me permanently.

9. I love love love making jewelry! I'm taking another class this year and I cannot wait for it!!!! I really want to try metal stamping. You can make the coolest rings and other stuff with quotes, numbers, and Bible verses!

10. I am a big time procrastinator. That seriously needs to change.

11. I am recently into animal prints.
 

Here's the questions I am to answer

 

1.) Have you ever watched Blimey Cow?

No, but I think I have to now. I know a lot of people who like it. A lot.

 

2.) What made you want to start a blog?

I wanted a place I could come and write and express and have fun basically :). And I obsess over a lot of stuff, so it's fun to make posts about those things.

 

3.) Use three words to describe yourself.

 A Romantic, Idealist, and Cautious.

 

 

4.) Use a gif to describe yourself

I haven't even seen/read Harry Potter but yeah. That's totally me.

 

5.) What book character are you most like?

 I don't really know...I haven't read anything where I've thought I'm like anyone. But I bleed into my own characters in my books, because I live vicariously through them. So, yeah.

 

6.) How do you feel about octopuses?

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh........I'm kind of freaked by anything in the ocean. Especially ones that have more than two fins (er, tentacles).

 

7.) What is the weirdest food you’ve ever tasted?

Buttermilk. Sounds appealing, right? WRONG. It's like drinking sour cream. I spat it out.

 

8.) Frozen or Tangled?

Tangled. Sorry, I'm so sorry. I know I'm gonna be in trouble for that.

 

9.) What do you think of Lady Gaga?

 I think she's a sad lost soul from the Catholic faith. I truly feel bad for anyone who doesn't know God. It's sad when it's not their fault because of their upbringing, but it's really heartbreaking to me when people stray away from The Faith. I mean, I know Him so I can't really imagine leaving Him. It'd be unfathomable. I could never carry on with my life knowing He's still there.

 

10.) Who is your role model?

 I have two main ones. They're these two mid 20ie's young cowgirl women who are happily married to wonderful husbands and one of them just had a baby. They also happen to be best friends. I want to be like them.

 

11.) What is the first item on your bucket list?
I need to meet Keith Urban. And get married (not to Keith:). And have a baby. They're all really super important!

Beautiful Blog Award

Here's another award filled with fun questions from Julia over at Running Through The Stars. Speaking of stars, I finished The Fault In Our Stars two nights ago. Here's some gifs that are related to those feelings post-TFIOS...

As soon as I turned the page on chapter that said "Augustus Waters---" OK you fill in the blank.

 

 And then this was me. I held it together pretty well (at first).

 

 Then I read "The only person I wanted to talk to about August Water's death was Augustus Waters." and I realized they'd never go back to their little world on the phone.
And then I got to the funeral scene. "I love you present tense."

 This is now me being released to the "real world."

Let's just say there's no hope for the recovery of any emotional damage that has been done. John Green, your book was the grenade.

 

Anyways, I'm not here to tell you about my glass-encrusted-still-beating heart. I'm here to answer some freakin' questions :)


1. Do you think it is morally correct to love Loki, even though he's the bad guy?
Everyone deserves love. Especially Loki because of his situation with everything. He was put down the wrong path because of lack of love from his father. Sure his mother was great. But boys need fathers more than mothers, and daughters need mothers more than fathers. That sounds strange but if you think about it they need their own "role models".

2. What are three of your talents?
Talent talent talent....uhhhh.....I was told I have a natural touch with horses, I'm complimented a lot I sing well, and I might be a good-ish writer? I don't know. I'm feeling extremely amateur after reading TIFOS. I don't know if I can ever give people feels like that.

3. What's your favorite girl's name?
Megan. I always wanted to be a Megan.

4. Boy's name?
Travis

5. What books have made you cry?
THE FAULT IN OUR FREAKING STARS. DID I NOT JUST GO OVER THIS???????? CAN WE NOT POUR EVEN MORE SALT-RIMMED LIME MARGHERITA JUICE ON MY GAPING WOUND???????

6. What's your favorite Bible verse?
I don't know if I have a favorite verse but my favorite book is Sirach.

7. Favorite prayer?
"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference." And no that's not because it's from TFIOS, I knew it long before then.

I nominate Katy from her lovely blog Dandelion Prayers :). Here are my questions for you!

1. DC or Marvel?
2. What's your favorite(s) book?
3. What's a major pet peeve of yours?
4. A quote you try to live by:
5. Your favorite colour?
6. Somewhere you'd like to visit:
7. A key way to win your heart is: