Holiday Traditions: The Poinsettia Flower

Have you ever wondered how the Poinsettia became the Christmas flower? I have, so I thought that would be a good subject for my Traditions post this month.

There is an old Mexican legend about how the Poinsettia plant got associated with Christmas. A poor Mexican girl named Pepita had no present to give to the baby Jesus at the Christmas Eve Service.  Her cousin trying to cheer her up said that any gift, even a small one given with love will make Jesus happy.

She picked a small handful of weeds from the roadside and made them into a small bouquet.  She placed the small bouquet at the bottom of the nativity scene and suddenly the weeds burst into bright flowers. From that moment on, the red flowers were known as the "Flores de Noche Buena", or "Flowers of the Holy Night."

The Poinsettia flower and leaves are sometimes thought of as a symbol of the Star of Bethlehem due to their shape.  The red colored leaves symbolize the blood of Christ, while the white leaves represent his purity.

Each month as I write these Traditions, I am amazed at the stories I find. I figured that the color RED had something to do with the Christmas Holiday, but never realized the religious connection this beautiful flower has to Christmas.

I hope you are equally amazed and enjoyed the story.

References:
Unknown. (Unknown). Poinsettias at Christmas. Available: http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/poinsettia.shtml. Last accessed 08/21/2015.

Image:
Reprinted with permission from

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

Challenge #8 Midway: Optional Theme...Snow People

Hello everyone! We have reached the midway point of Challenge #8.  It is time to see what the Merry Maidens have been up to with their images from The Stamping Boutique, our guest sponsor this month!

Check out all the wonderful images that the Merry Maidens got to work with this month for the mid point of the challenge.  Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to their page in the The Stamping Boutique store where each of these images can be found.

#525 Snowman-Bring it on!!!

#89 Snowfriends

#498 Happy, Happy Snowman

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called Snow Much Fun, based on the theme for this challenge.  Check out the preview...

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of August will earn ONE of the digital papers from this set. The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post. Additionally, one random winner will earn the full set of papers.

Have your say in determining which paper will be offered to those who link up a minimum of two cards this month by completing the poll in the sidebar on the top right hand side.

 Now check out what the Merry Maidens came up with to inspire you.   Edwina is back with two and Monica, my Co-coordinator, also had the chance to make a card for the midway of the challenge.  Sadly, I didn't get my extra Christmas card done this month.  I'll have to make up for it soon as Christmas will be here before I know it!  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 August.  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...

Please remember that this is a CARDS ONLY link up.  While we've had some lovely tag entries in the past, we've sadly had to disqualify them.

Optional Theme:  Snow People

  “Snowmen fall from heaven, one flake at a time.”  ~Author Unknown

 Another month has passed and we are one month closer to the big day.  In North America and other places around the world, soon the leaves will start changing and after that we will begin to see signs of winter. As children, we always looked forward to that first flake of snow and of course our first snowman. Now, we still have a few more months to wait for real snowmen, but that doesn't stop us from showcasing them on a card right now.

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, make sure that there is a snow person featured prominently somewhere on your card.  Whether it is part of your image, part of your paper or just an embellishment, it 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.

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 2 digital stamps from The Stamping Boutique (3 if your card features a stamp from The Stamping Boutique).

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 #8 by clicking HERE.

 Don't Forget...

• Be sure to join us on August 23rd, when Monica will be back to share another holiday tradition with you all.
• We'll be introducing our new DT members soon so stay tuned to meet them!
• Next up it will be time for our new challenge to start on September 1st.
• Then, the winners from Challenge #8 will be posted on September 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!

Challenge #7 Winners Announcement

Hello everyone.  Sorry about the delay for posting our winner announcement.  Monica has been busy out of town working and I was also out of town for a few days visiting family.  I hope the delay didn't cause you too much of an inconvenience.  Well I'm home and getting back on track so it is time to get on with announcing the winner and top three of Challenge #7 along with the list of individuals eligible to receive a free digital paper for July.  Are you one of those lucky peeps?!

Please note that there are still prizes and digital papers that have not been claimed from past months.  Were you a lucky past winner and may have missed it?  It might behoove you to check our Challenge Win Information page listed at the top of the blog (or you can click HERE to go there now but be sure to come back and check this post as well).

JUDY

Judy, you are the winner of 3 digital stamps from Robyn’s Fetish Digital Stamps, our guest sponsor for July (chosen by Mini Web Tool), based on all eligible participants (i.e., those entrants who followed the optional theme). 

Judy,  please send an email to the_12_moc_linkup {at} outlook {dot} com (or click HERE to bring the address up in your email program), with the subject, "12MoC Challenge #7 WINNER" to make arrangements to receive your prize.  Please note that it may take me a few days to get back to you.  Thank you for your patience.  In the interim, please grab a copy of the winner badge below for your blog.

Next, it is time to get on with showcasing the Top Three for Challenge #7.  With all the great entries to choose from, this was once again a difficult task for the design team.  We did however settle on three wonderful  creations.  So, without further ado, here are our Stocking Stuffers for Challenge #7:

 MARIE

 

ROSINA

TERRIE

Congrats to our top three Stocking Stuffers!  Marie, Rosina, and Terrie, 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 Ju;y which makes each of them eligible to receive the seventh free digital paper of 2015.

25 people linked a total of 68 cards.  Only 12 of those individuals linked up a minimum of two cards each qualifying them to receive the digital paper from July. The Silver Ornament with Pink Ribbon paper was the winner in the poll we had up during the month of July with 57% of the votes.   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 up in your email program), with the subject, "12MoC July Paper" to make arrangements to receive your free paper:

• Marie Bingaman
• Marji (Tiggerscraps)
• Margaret A
• Mandy (Paper Panda) 
• Terrie (Paper Addict)
• Hazel
• Crafting Vicky
• CraftyGirl
• Megan 
• KT Fit Kitty
• Susan Renshaw
• Cathy (KraftyKoolKat)

This past month we saw ten new faces linking up just one card.  Hopefully these ladies, along with our other regulars who only linked up one card during July, will get the chance to link up two this month so they can earn the next free paper.  To all of you who linked up this past month, thanks ever so much!  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.

Once again, we are going to 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 the full set..

The winner of the It's Ornamental Mini Set of Papers is (chosen by random.org)...

ERIN S. (TOAD & MAGIC) 

Erin S., please send me an email (address and link above).  Use the subject, "12MoC: It's Ornamental 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 being "Snow People".  You can find out all the details along with the link up, by clicking HERE.

Also, be sure to join us on August 15th, for our midway post where you'll get to see cards created by the Merry Maidens!  Then on August 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,

Just a Quick Reminder...

Hey there everyone.  Normally I'd be stopping in today to post our Winner's Announcement.  Unfortunately, as I had mentioned at the bottom of the Challenge Start post, we are going to be a bit late in getting this particular post out.  We hope to have it out later this week and hope that you will be back to check it out at that time.

Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

Challenge #8: Optional Theme--Snow People

Hello and welcome to The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up. Before we get on with today's challenge, Monica and I just wanted to say thanks to those people who applied for our design team.  We've made our decision and letters have been sent out to all the applicants.  We'll be introducing our new members soon so stay tuned for that welcome post.

Now as far as the last challenge went, we had just under 70 cards linked up with 12 of those entries also qualifying for the Optional Theme. It was wonderful to see so many cards.  Our biggest haul yet!  Right now though, it is time to get August's challenge under way.

The Basics

While you can find out ALL the information you need to know in order to participate in the challenge by checking out the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page (or by clicking HERE), here is a refresher of the basics.

• Anyone can link up as many Christmas and/or December holiday themed cards (including Happy New Year's cards) throughout the month with an ANYTHING GOES theme.
• Every person who has linked up a MINIMUM of two (2) cards will be eligible to receive a specially designed Christmas themed digital paper.
• Each month there will be an OPTIONAL theme to follow.  Anyone who submits a card adhering to the monthly theme, will have the chance to win a prize from that month's guest sponsor.
• Every holiday card you submit to the link up, earns you one chance to win a special digital Christmas kit that will be offered up after the year is complete.

Now that the basics are out of the way, how about we get on with the details of Challenge #8.

Challenge #8

Optional Theme:  Snow People

  “Snowmen fall from heaven, one flake at a time.”  ~Author Unknown

 Another month has passed and we are one month closer to the big day.  In North America and other places around the world, soon the leaves will start changing and after that we will begin to see signs of winter. As children, we always looked forward to that first flake of snow and of course our first snowman. Now, we still have a few more months to wait for real snowmen, but that doesn't stop us from showcasing them on a card right now.

In order to have a chance to win the prize from our wonderful guest sponsor this month, make sure that there is a snow person featured prominently somewhere on your card.  Whether it is part of your image, part of your paper or just an embellishment, it 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.

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 2 digital stamps from The Stamping Boutique (3 if your card features a stamp from The Stamping Boutique).

Talking about The Stamping Boutique, how about we get to know them a little bit better...

Thank you so much for having us as your sponsor. We at TSB are very proud to offer original digital images and artwork to you. Thank you for giving us a few minutes of your valuable time to look over the store at http://thestampingboutique.com/ Good luck in the challenge and we hope to see you over at our TSB Community network. http://thestampingboutique.ning.com/
 

Thanks so much! Tracey Malnofski

Store Link: thestampingboutique.com
Challenge Blog: thestampingboutiquechallengeblog.blogspot.com

Check out the great images that the team worked with this month for the start of the challenge. Clicking on any of the image watermarks will take you to their page in The Stamping Boutique store where each of these images can be found.

#525 Snowman-Bring it on!!!

#89 Snowfriends

#498 Happy, Happy Snowman

While team members had the option of working with any of my Décosse's Dynamite Doodles papers, I did create a special set called Snow Much Fun, based on the theme for this challenge.  Check out the preview...

Everyone who links up a minimum of two cards during the month of August will earn ONE of the digital papers from this set. The specific paper up for grabs will be shown during the winner announcement post. Additionally, one random winner will earn the full set of papers.

Have your say in determining which paper will be offered to those who link up a minimum of two cards this month by completing the poll in the sidebar on the top right hand side. (Given that it is a holiday weekend in Canada, I might be a bit late switching out the polls this month so your patience is appreciated.)

Now check out what the Sleigh Belles came up with to inspire you.  Clicking on the names will take you to the individual blogs where you can check out the details for all these wonderful cards...

So what are you waiting for?  It is time to link up your Christmas and other holiday cards for August!  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!

If you are new to this unique challenge, you can find out the impetus behind why I started it under the 'Introductions' tab and all the details you need to know in order to participate, in the 'Challenge Details' tab (both tabs located at the top of the blog).

We have a packed month as usual; so, Monica and I hope to see you back with us soon!

• Join us soon when we'll publish the names of the people who earned the free paper for July along with the winners and top picks from Challenge #7.  Normally this post would go out on the 8th but it will probably be a few days late this month.
• Next, be sure to join us on August 15th, for our midway post where you'll get to see cards created by the Merry Maidens!
• Then on August 23rd, Monica will be back to share another holiday tradition with you all.
•  We'll be introducing our new team members sometime this month as well.
• 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!

CHALLENGE DETAILS SUMMARY
Each month we'll include a summary of details for the particular challenge taking place.  If you are new, please be sure to familiarize yourself with all the details and rules in the 'Challenge Details' tab at the top of the page.  Please note that dates and times listed below are for this particular challenge only:

• Cards for this challenge will be accepted from 6:00 p.m. (18:00 hrs), August 1st - 11:55 p.m. (23:55 hrs), August 31st, 2015.  
• You need to link up a minimum of two (2) Christmas or holiday themed cards each month in order to qualify to receive that month's digital paper.
• This is NOT a progressive challenge.  You can jump in at any time.
• You can link up as many holiday themed cards as you want as long as each entry is with a new project.  No backlinking.  HOWEVER, if you decide to follow the optional theme of Snow People (see specific details above), only a maximum of three (3) entries will qualify for the draw for this month's prize of  2 digital stamps from The Stamping Boutique (3 if your card features a stamp from The Stamping Boutique).  You must add 'FT' after you name so we know which cards to add to the random draw for the sponsor's prize.
• Make sure when entering your project that you mention The 12 Months of Christmas Link Up in your post with a link back to this blog.
• Please remember to link directly to your blog post where we can see your creation, and not just the generic link to your blog. Generic blog links will be disabled or deleted. 
• The winners and top picks for this challenge (#8) will be announced on September 8th in a special post.

We look forward to seeing you participate!

Link Up Below:

An InLinkz Link-up