CHRISTMAS GIFT OF MEMORIES Remembering Christmas-past Imagining Christmas-future Merging in the moments of Christmas-present ... with Christmas presents! A Handcrafted Christmas Gift of Love PROCEDURES OF HEAD, HANDS AND HEART YOUR HEAD - BUILD IT WELL IN YOUR HEAD This ornament will be saved with all the ornaments you’ve ever made from the time you were in preschool. At four years old, you followed the teacher’s directions and our ornament turned out as well as it could ... considering. That’s all changed... You are practically an adult and your final-product must be executed with excellence. Cilluffo has a Santa bag of tricks to make your work professional! Be creatively adventurous! Don’t be afraid of the failure. The garbage can is your friend as much as God is. Yep, the Lord casts our sins into His sea of forgetfulness; likewise, we cast our mistakes into the trashcan of forgetfulness. Paul told us that he forgets the past and presses forward. Do it! YOUR HANDS - BUILD IT WELL WITH YOUR HANDS Be intentionally clean (snappy) about how you work to maintain excellent craftsmanship. Shluppy gluing, kinky wire bending, dog-eared corners all scream, “I’m a needy klutz, a bit of a slob, who needs help and didn’t ask for it.” Get with a friend in class and take photos of each other. Photoshop the photos. Fix your face, add overlay layers of Christmas-glitz. Download These Christmas brushes from the Internets. Search for “CS5 Photoshop brushes.” Layout four images that are 4”x4” each. Print your file, cut out each image or tear them out. Select a black or white 4x4 square as a background Play with the various components of your ornament design until you are satisfied. Then glue it using a fitting glue/adhesive. (rubber cement, white glue, spray glue) Add a ribbon or wire hanger with grace. Don’t force any element of your design. Let it flow baby! YOUR HEART - SAY IT WELL WITH YOUR HEART - YOUR WORDS Visit GodAndGraphics.com, Digital Media, Challenges, Christmas Surprise Gift and read from the top of the page through number 4 of “Parameters and Panoramic Scope.” You’ll embark on a heart-searching journey that leads to the discovery of love and appreciation for family. Please remember that there is not one family throughout the Bible that is not dysfunctional in some way. There’s no place for pity-parties when we receive and celebrate the greatest gift ever, Jesus. God is aware of every relational hurt and moves to heal and make us His message of love to those closest - especially at this time of year. Include your heartfelt words on the back of the ornament. How will you do this? Will you hand write them, and will you use a pen, a colored pencil or crayons? Maybe you’ll print the words on a separate piece of paper, cut them out and glue them to the back? Make momma cry (for the right reason this time) ... a noble quest that connects hearts.