Holiday Tradition: The Celebration of Hanukkah

Another big holiday that is celebrated during the month of December is Hanukkah. Many people know that it is a Jewish holiday, but may not know the history around it. I thought this would be a good holiday tradition this month to research.

Hanukkah is referred to as the Festival of Lights which lasts for eight days and nights.  It is a celebration of two miracles, the great Jewish military victory and a miraculous supply of oil for the Temple.  In Hebrew, the word "Hanukkah" means "dedication."  The holiday celebrates the re-dedication of the holy Temple in Jerusalem following the Jewish victory over the Syrian-Greeks in 165 B.C.E.

Hanukkah starts on the Hebrew calendar date of 25 Kislev.  The secular dates vary from year to year.  This year, Hanukkah starts on December 6th and will end on the 14th.  The Hanukkah Menorah holds 9 candles, with the first candle being lit on the very first night. While there are only eight days of lighted candles, the middle candle is used to light the candles each night. It is tradition to light the candles from left to right, with the newest candle being in the leftmost spot.  This is because the first night is considered the most important night and the candle for the first night would always be lit before the others. It is also customary to place the lit Hanukkiyan in a window so that passersby would see it and be reminded of the miracle.

The holiday itself commemorates the miracle of the oil. As the story goes, once the Jewish revolutionaries were able to retake the Temple from the Syrians, they wanted to rededicate it to God as well as restore its ritual purity.  To do this, eight days of oil were needed, but they were only able to find one day's worth.  Even though they only had enough oil for the one day, they lit the menorah anyway and miraculously the oil lasted for eight full days.

Wow, what a great story! Faith is so relevant in any religion isn't it?!  I am so glad that I researched this. I too was one of those people that knew what they did during Hanukkah, but did not know why. Now I do!

References:
Ariela Pelaia. (Unknown). What is Hanukkah. Available: http://judaism.about.com/od/holidays/a/hanukkah.htm. Last accessed 02/19/2015.
Author Unknown. (Unknown). What is Hanukkah. Available: http://www.ifcj.org/site/PageNavigator/eng/inside/hanukkah. Last accessed 02/19/2015.

Image:
Reprinted with permission from

http://morguefile.com/archive/#/?q=Menorah

Challenge #2: Midway...Optional Theme--I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Hello everyone! We have reached the midway point of Challenge #2.  It is time to see what the Merry Maidens have been up to with their images from Ike's Art our guest sponsor this month!

Check out all the fabulous images that the Merry Maidens got to work with this month for the mid point of the challenge.  Each of these images can be found in the 'My Latest Designs' section of Ike's store.  Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to digital stamp section of the Ike's Art store.

Christmas Pixie

 Santa Hunk

 Poinsettia Fairy

My Teddy

Ooh la la

 

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a couple different sets based on the theme for this challenge.  I created a Santa Kisses set with just three images across...

 Then I also created just one of the papers with five images across...

Finally, I put together a set called Hugs & Kisses that will be very versatile...

The team did such a wonderful job with the papers.  Some even found ways to combine the two!

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of February will earn ONE of the digital papers from the Santa Kisses 3x set.  The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post.

Have your say in determining which colour will be offered up this month by completing the poll in the sidebar on the top right hand side.  Currently the blue paper is in the lead with 66% of the votes.

Now check out what the Merry Maidens came up with to inspire you.  Edwina even had the time to make two!  Monica, my Co-coordinator, also had the chance to make a card for the midway of the challenge.  Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards...

So if you haven't entered already, what are you waiting for?   It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for February.  Whether you choose to link up two Anything Goes themed cards simply to earn your free paper this month, or you choose to also follow the optional theme to have a chance at the sponsor's prize, it is completely up to you!

Here is a refresher of the details for this challenge...

 Challenge #2 (February 1 to February 28, 2015)

Optional Theme:  I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 

It is the month of love, and even Santa seems to be getting in on the action. "I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus." I guess the Jolly ole' guy is allowed to celebrate other "holidays" as well. So in honour of the month of LOVE, we would LOVE for you to use our optional theme and create some "Sassy" Christmas Cards. Use your imagination, but P.G. only please.

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, make sure that your card has some sort of "sassy" element on it.  Whether in the paper you use, your image or your embellishments, your sassy element is up to you.  If you do follow the optional theme, be sure to add FT after your name so that we include you in the draw for the prize.  This is important as we are not always going to have the time to go through each entry to see if it qualifies. You don't want to miss out on the chance at the sponsor's prize.

Remember, you don't need to follow the theme to link up your cards and earn a free paper each month and have your name thrown into the year end draw for some extra digital goodies. You only need to follow the theme if you want a chance to win this month's sponsored prize of a $10.00 gift certificate from Ike's Art.

Your odds at the moment of winning the prize are good.  Out of the 25 people who have linked up so far this month, only four people have followed the theme.  

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab.  As this is a unique kind of link up where we have both an anything goes Christmas option and an optional theme to follow, be sure to read all the details and rules you need to know in order to participate, by checking out the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

You can find the Challenge Details Summary along with the link up for Challenge #2 by clicking HERE.

 Don't Forget...

• Be sure to join us on February 23rd, when Monica will be back to share another holiday tradition with you all.
• Next up it will be time for our new challenge to start on March 1st.
• Then, the winners from Challenge #2 will be posted on March 8th.
• Other special posts may be published throughout the month.  Be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Mini Magazine Holder AKA A2 Card Holder

Hi everyone. Monica here and I am back with another fun tutorial. I thought since we are going to be making at least two Christmas Cards a month, it would be fun to have a little Mini Magazine Holder, AKA an A2 Card Holder.

If you are anything like me, I sometimes have several cards just sitting on my desk waiting for me to post. I don't like to put them away until I post about them, so I usually leave them on my desk, which is cluttered enough as it is. This little card holder solves my problem and it is very easy to make as well.

So here we go:

Cutting:

1.  Start with a 12" x 12" piece of cardstock

2.  Cut it down to 12" x 11"

3.  Band: 12" x 2" & 2" x 2"

Scoring:

1. Score 11" side at 4.5" and 6.5"

2. Score 12" side at 5.5" and 10"

  

More cutting:

1. Cut both sides on the score lines up to the 2" score line in the middle.

2.  Fold both sides on the middle piece up to the 2" score line in the middle. 

3.  Place a pencil mark at top 1/2 " from the score line and at bottom at 2" 

4.  Draw line with pencil and place in trimmer and cut these pieces off

Taping:

1. Fold and tape 2" band on both sides to the outside of the top piece placing the top piece on the inside. 

2. Fold up and tape side panels

3. Tape 2" x 12"  band around the bottom starting from the back and wrapping around the front. 

4. Tape 2" x 2" square on the backside of the holder

Decorate:

1. Decorate as desired

I made a couple of these cute little card holders. One I put the band on and one I did not, but I think they both came out pretty cute. Now you have a place to put those finished Christmas cards that you link up every month!

Thanks for stopping by.

Challenge #1 Winners Announcement

Hello and happy Sunday to all of our friends out there in blogland.  It is time to announce the winner and top three of challenge #1 along with the list of individuals eligible to receive a free digital paper for January.  Are you one of those lucky peeps?!

 

URSULA

Ursula, you are the winner of the $10.00 gift certificate from Limited Runs, our guest sponsor for January (chosen by Mini Web Tool), based on all eligible participants (i.e., those entrants who followed the optional theme).

Ursula, please send an email to the_12_moc_linkup {at} outlook {dot} com (or click  HERE to bring the address in your email program), with the subject, "12MoC Challenge #1 WINNER" to make arrangements to receive your prize and badge.  Please note that it may take me a few days to get back to you.  Thank you for your patience.

Next, it is time to get on with showcasing the Top Three for Challenge #1.  With over 50 entries to choose from, this was no easy task for the design team.  We did however settle on three amazing creations.  So, without further ado, here are our Stocking Stuffers for Challenge #1:

Fit Kitty

Pat

 Hélène

Congrats to our top three Stocking Stuffers!  Kitty, Pat and Hélène, please grab a copy of the badge below for your blog.

Next up, it is time to share all the names of those people who linked up two cards in January which makes each of them eligible to receive the first free digital paper of 2015.  16 people linked a total of 57 cards. 14 of those individuals linked up a minimum of two cards each qualifying them to receive January's digital paper. The gold paper was the one chosen with 50% of the votes in the poll we had up during the month of January so that is the one that everyone will be receiving. I have included the watermark of it, below.

So, the following people need to send an email to the_12_moc_linkup {at} outlook {dot} com (or click  HERE to bring the address in your email program), with the subject, "12MoC January Paper" to make arrangements to receive your free paper:

• Margaret A
• CraftyGirl
• KT Fit Kitty
• Marji (Tiggerscraps)
• Crafting Vicky
• Terrie (Paper Addict)
• Cathy (KraftyKoolKat)
• Hazel
• Rachel Taylor (Blossom Cards)
• Ursula Uphof
• Hélène (2amscrapper) 
• Pat (Patacake) 
• Mandy (Paper Panda)
• Sandy S (2 in one post)

Welcome to CraftyGirl, Terrie, Cathy, Mandy and Sandy linking up two cards for the very first time!  Thanks to the rest of you who've made your way over here to the new blog. We are so happy to have all of you with us and hope that you'll continue to link up your holiday cards throughout the year!!!

Now, as always, if you thought you had linked up two cards but don't find your name in the list above, just let me know and we'll sort things out. We will also add these names to the 'Challenge Win Information' page as soon as we get the chance, for anyone who doesn't see this post.  I ask that you be patient with waiting for me to send out your paper. I promise that I'll get to it as quick as I can.

Now just at the last minute, I've decided to put forth an additional prize.  Each month throughout the year (or at least most of the months) I will be putting together a set of papers for the DT to work with based on the theme for that month.  The single paper that is given out is from this set.  However, I've just decided that I am going to also have a random draw from all the entries and give out the set of six papers, to one lucky individual.  The papers are all made so why not have an extra prize!  Here is the watermark for that set...

The winner this month of the A Matter of Time Pocket Watch Papers is (chosen by miniwebtool.com)....

Margaret A.

So Margaret, instead of using the subject listed above for just the one paper, use the subject, "12MoC: A Matter of Time Set" and I'll make arrangements for you to receive the full set of six papers.

Well folks, that is it for today.  While you are here, please be sure to check out the details for our current challenge going on now (if you haven't already), with the Optional Theme this month of "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".  You can find out all the details along with the link up, by clicking HERE.

Also, be sure to join us on February 15th, for our midway post where you'll get to see cards created by the Merry Maidens!  Then on February 23rd, Monica will be back to share another holiday tradition with you all.  Other special posts may be published throughout the month.  Be sure to sign up to have our posts delivered by email or follow us through Bloglovin' so you don't miss a thing!

Until next time,