Christmas is less than a week away. The kids are out of school and if you are a mom, you are trying to find ways to contain their enthusiasm! I used to love to make Christmas crafts with my children. Few of them have survived the years but the memories live on. This week’s Tricky Tuesday is a fun ruffled Christmas tree that the kids can help make.

Wrapping a gift in beautiful paper and bows is half the fun of gift giving. Every year I pick just the right wrapping paper to fit my theme. Well, at least that is the theory. I like to have a different wrapping paper for each of the grandkids but now that there are 11 of them it is impossible. Now I have a different paper for each family, that way it is less confusing when it comes to passing the gifts out on Christmas Day.

Have you ever walked by a home on a frosty evening and caught a glimpse through the window? The Christmas tree sparkles with lights; maybe there are candles on the sill and a wreath hanging in the window. This simple card evokes that same cozy feeling for me.

Christmas is the season of giving and for those of us who craft, our thoughts often turn to making cards. What better way to express our personality and individuality than in a custom made Christmas card. The truth be known, for many of us, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without handmade cards.

We are all guilty of taking our cutting blade for granted, especially if we have been using our Inspiration or other Creative Cutter for very long. After all it is just a little, tiny piece of metal that barely sticks out of the blade holder. We are more likely to focus on our cutting mat and ignore the blade. In fact, we often blame the mat or cutter for problems when we should be paying more attention to the blade. Give the blade a little TLC and it will be the Super Hero of your projects. Today, I want to draw your attention to some lesser know facts about that unsung hero- your cutting blade.

I hope you won’t mind if I take a look back at some of our earlier tutorials. I want to remember that every day we have new Craft Room members joining us that are very new to the Inspiration Studio software. How well I remember wanting to conquer every skill there was to know. There is a lot to learn, but the effort is well worth it.

So, if you are new to the Inspiration, welcome! I hope today’s lesson will help you understand outlining text. If you have had your Inspiration for a while, I think you will also find the new Outlining Guide useful. Even I forget whether the text needs to be broken first or if I need to use the Contour function.