Ring the Bells

Another Christmas carol about bells kept playing in my mind today. I discovered there were at least different songs of that name. The one I was thinking of was Ring the Bells by Harry Bollback. His life was highlighted in this biographical info shared HERE:

I love the song, Ring the Bells.  It was written by Harry Bollback who has been serving the Lord for 50+years.  He was an aspiring concert pianist who was saved in his teenage years and gave up his career to serve the Lord.  His passion was the youth of our world.  He served 5 years in the jungles of Brazil, fouteen years as Founder and Director of Word of Life camps and the Bible Institute in Brazil, co-Director of Word of Life Fellowship in the US and now, along with the late Jack Wyrtzen, as Founder of Word of Life.  As Bro. Bollback gave of his life to the Lord, the Lord gave him an opportunity to use his music.  He has written many songs and musicals of patriotism and Christianity.

I was inspired by the sketch at Atlantic Hearts Sketch this week. I thought the angled image would be perfect for some bells.

The lighting for photos is terrible on cloudy days and at night, so the color of my card is off. I used a gold embossed cranberry set of bells from a retired 2016 stamp of the month. The paper strips are from the current CTMH Silver and Gold paper pack, with a topper of gold dots from last year's All About the Gold Fundamentals here.

Inside the card I printed the words of the song:

Ring the Bells, ring the bells.
Let the whole world know

Christ was born in Bethlehem many years ago.

Born to die that man might live,

Came to earth new life to give,
Born of Mary, born so low many years ago.

God the Father gave His Son,

Gave His own Beloved One
To this wicked, sinful earth

To bring man kind His love new birth

Ring the bells, ring the bells,
Let the whole world know

Christ the Savior lives today
As He did so long ago!

Thank you for visiting! I know that many of you will be sharing this message of Christ's birth when you send Christmas cards. May God bless you and the receivers as you share your creations!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge #242 - sketch

Christmas at Sweet Stampin' December - anything Christmas

Craftaholics R Us #49 - embossing

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge #364 - anything goes (optional glitter)

Scrap and Craft #10 - anything Christmas

Sisterhood of Crafters - All About Christmas

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

Yesterday I read the story behind the making of this Christmas carol written by famous poet,Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The words and tune stayed in my mind all day and I was so overwhelmed by it's timeless message I decided to make a card highlighting the message of this song. Just like today, it was written when his world seemed overwhelmed with violence and hatred.

In 1861 his wife had died when her dress caught on fire. The Civil War broke out and two years later his 17 year old son ran away to join the Union army. He contracted typhoid fever and went home for two months to heal. When he went back he was shot in the shoulder and was nearly paralyzed because it was near his spine. Longfellow took him home December 8th to nurse him.

Longfellow wrote this carol while sitting by his bed . I included the entire verse below that I printed inside my card. I had never realized it talked about canons in the South or how the continent was rent, torn. The verse that keeps playing in my mind says,

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said:
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Thank God the message of hope is found in his last stanza:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

I cut out the bell and holly image from one I had saved previously and printed from Clearly Vintage. I printed two more bells and cut those out, covered them with CTMH Gold Shimmer brush for added dimension and shine.  I used the new challenge to use an old challenge from Christmas Card Throwdown's February 2012, Red, Green, and Gold and the sketch from Try Stamping on Tuesday #352:

Inside I stamped the bell from CTMH retired Yuletide Joy using Sweet Leaf ink and the Christmas sentiment from retired Holly Jolly Christmas. The background holly paper is from Graphic 45 Winter Wonderland, the red glittery paper is unknown from my stash, and the gold glitter paper, punched with a scallop, is CTMH. The Colonial White diecut is from Our Daily Bread Design's die, Lavish Layers and is embossed with a Cuttlebug dotted embossing folder. I wanted to keep it flat enough to mail so I embellished it with a thin  red satin ribbon and CTMH gold sequins.

Thank you for visiting! I hope you'll share my prayer for peace on earth, goodwill toward all men!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
Christmas Card Throwdown December Challenge - pick a previous challenge from 2012-13
Christmas Cards All Year Round December Challenge - anything Christmas
Craft-Dee BowZ December challenge - anything with handmade bow
Creative Craft Cottage Digi Creations #87 - Happy Christmas
Eclectic Ellapu December Challenge - Christmas

Ike's World #103 - anything goes / optional Victorian Christmas
Let's Craft and Create #132 - Anything Christmas
Paper Creator's Crafts #64 - Christmas and New Years
The Twelve Months of Christmas #36 - anything Christmas (optional-Christmas cupcakes)

Try Stamping on Tuesday #352 - sketch (and celebration twist)

Here's a copy of the entire lyrics written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said:
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

The Magic of Christmas is in His Presence

It's time for quick, last minute Christmas cards. I've used the stamp from this card several times. It's certainly one of my favorite Christmas sentiments (from Verve) because the message is about having the presence of Christ in our lives. We celebrate Christmas, named after Him, because He came to earth to be born as a baby, ministered to those hurting in life, and died to take the punishment for the sins of all mankind so that those who believe can live forever with Him. 

What a gift!  I used the colors from today's Color My Heart Color Dare to use Reds, Greens, Neutral (Kraft), and Gold.

The papers are from CTMH Beary Christmas. I attached an old chipboard gift from Pear & Partridge and decided to use up some Cranberry brads.

May your Christmas be blessed with His Presence, His peace, love, and joy!

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:

Color My Heart Challenge #272 - Traditional Color Challenge
Crimbo Crackers#147 - gift boxes (the chipboard one on my card)
Jingle Belles - Holiday wrap-up
Merry Christmas Challenge #47 - anything Christmas
The Sisterhood of Crafters - All About Christmas
Sunny Day Crafting #65 - X is for Xmas
Winter Wonderland Challenge - anything Christmas goes

Dreaming of a White Christmas

It may be December but we're having a lot of 55 degree days in northwestern Missouri. Mexico, Texas, Georgia, and even  Florida have seen snow in the last week, but we've had lovely weather. Last night the weatherman on TV talked about the probability of snow for a couple of days through Christmas Day. Tonight one of them amended that to say we wouldn't have a white Christmas. So I'll have to send a white Christmas to some of my friends using a set of cards I embossed like this one. It may be the only white Christmas they get!  I had a little inspiration from the lovely ladies at Everybody-Art-Challenge.

I'm sharing this card with the following challenges:
City Crafter #392 - Christmas Tree
Craftaholics R Us Challenge #49 - emboss
Everybody Art Challenge #414 - White
The Holly and the Ivy Christmas Challenge #21 - anything Christmas goes
The Sisterhood of Crafters - All About Christmas

December SOTM Blog Hop - A Little Bit of Pun

Welcome to our blog hop featuring the Close to My Heart December Stamp of the Month, A Little Bit of Pun! If you've come from Haley Dyer's blog, you're on the right path. To see the entire list of participants you can visit Melinda Everitt's post here.

The stamp set this month has 10 simple images that go with this set of fun puns! Knowing the group of ladies for whom I'd be making these cards, I chose to add a touch of elegance to the whimsy by using shades of pink and gray with a little something shiny. I used papers from the Basics Fundamental paper pack, Mink and Bashful Cardstocks, and Bashful, Silver, and Gold Glitter papers. Here are the five cards I'll be sharing with them:

Here's a better view of the Bashful and Silver Glitter papers, silver embossed gems, and the ones painted with Bashful ink and highlighted with the Clear Shimmer Brush:

The lightbulbs were stamped with Pixie ink. I colored in the center heart shaped coils with a waterbrush and Pixie ink.

The Artbooking alphabet Cricut cut was welded with a heart big enough to stamp the next one:

The last one was the music treble clef sign from the new YOU ARE HERE Cricut cartridge. It was separate from the words "Band Camp," so I slanted it a little and welded it to a rectangle background.

You may feel free to use my cut file for the last two cards if you have the two cartridges and use Cricut Design Space.

I also used the following Thin Cuts die sets:  Basic Hearts, Scallop Border, Basic Ovals, and Ribbon Border.

This fun stamp set is available only in December and is a special price of $5.00 with a $50 order or can be purchased for $17.95.  You can order this or any of the other supplies from your Close To My Heart consultant or on my website using the links above.

Thank you for visiting! Now you're ready to move on to Miss Carrie's Creations.

https://misscarriesctmhcreations.wordpress.com/2017/12/03/a-little-bit-of-pun-blog-hop/