Finally! I have completed my December Daily album! I am so excited, but, now I have to finish Project Life and get 2013 started! Egad! I’ve been busy with work, getting sick, Christmas, New Year’s, and my 13-year-old’s birthday, as well as other life obligations. It doesn’t help that my computer is so darn slow. Yes, I did take it to one of those computer geek repair shops a while back, and they said nothing was wrong. It worked as fast as lightning for them, of course. Just like a car, huh? Anyway, instead of posting my DD photos here, I put them on Flickr so it would be easier (there are something like 36 photos of my album).
I used Basic Grey’s Aspen Frost collection, some My Mind’s Eye stickers, Ali Edwards’ digital Christmas files from Designer Digitals, bought some silver and gold glitter paper at Michaels to cut my own stars with either my EK Success star punches, or my Big Shot for the larger sized ones. I also bought some washi tape at Michaels as well as the bright red Chevron tape from Two Peas In a Bucket and I couldn’t tell you what brand it is. I also used various things I already had in my stash, or downloaded from Pinterest. My mom was wonderful about stamping some Project Life cards for me with stamps she received from Studio Calico (Thanks, Mom!).
Now, on to Project Life. I don’t tend to show many photos of this project here because I do such a rush job, there wouldn’t be much to see. I am going to try to do a better job this year. Hopefully.
Are you taking Ali Edwards’ class One Little Word at Big Picture Classes? I am, but I still cannot think of my word. Nothing has come to me, except maybe the word LEARN. I have a lot I want to learn, so I can grow more, personally as well as professionally. I’m mulling it around in my brain. It would be interesting to know what your word is, if you’re in this class, and let me know. Thanks for coming by, and Happy New Year!
I know it’s just the beginning of November, but I am already in the mood for the Christmas season! Why? December Daily madness! Ali Edwards started it a few years ago, and it has spread like wildfire, and now everyone seems to be doing one. If you’re not in the know, it’s a month-long documentation of Christmas activities, shopping, decorating, preparing, visiting and partying in the month of December. Each day of December seems to be about Christmas, or getting ready for it, no? This is a way to put your special activities into a sweet little scrapbook to remember this Christmas in the years to come when 2012 is long forgotten.
Ali Edwards has a special December Daily kit available through Studio Calico, but it’s pretty expensive, and they run out quickly. Her album, this year, is only going to be 6×4″, too small for me. The album I did last year is approximately 6×8″, which is a much better size, but mine got way too full, so this year I’m going to do another 6×8″ album with divided page protectors, thanks to Simple Stories Snap album.
I think it will cut down on the bulk, and make decorating much more fun. I got the idea when I signed up for Lisa Truesdell’s class “Divide and Conquer” at Two Peas In a Bucket. She uses this same album and shows how to have fun with all the pockets. “Why don’t I do this with my December Daily?’, I thought. Good idea!
After printing out the PDFs for this class and reading through them, I got online and shopped at Two Peas In a Bucket for some essential supplies.
Rather than spend an arm and a leg on a pre-made kit for my December Daily, I decided to make my own (after all, I’m going to need that arm and leg when I shop for Christmas gifts!). Even though the Simple Stories album was unavailable when I wanted to purchase it, it was only two days later that I received an email announcing its return to the shop, so I purchased it maybe three days ago, and it came in the mail today! Good service!
In her class hand-out, Lisa Truesdell explains that she only used a 6×6 paper pack for the album she created; the smaller size is perfect for this album, and all the papers will coordinate together to ensure a cohesiveness throughout the album. I decided on Basic Grey’s Aspen Frost line (I thought it to be the prettiest one), so I purchased the 6×6 pad (saving a lot of money!), a sheet of stickers, a package of mini envelopes, a stitched garland and some more Micro Mini Monogram letters. I wanted some pretty brads, and I loved the ones My Mind’s Eye has in its All Is Bright collection, so I got those as well. I shopped at Studio Calico, too, and had to have their wood veneer Christmas trees, and their Wonderland adhesive badges. I also got my washi tape at Two Peas In a Bucket, and I found sequins at Joann. I still had some left-overs from last year’s December Daily, so I don’t see anything wrong with using those supplies as well:
[Correction: the word stickers are by Authentique, not Glitz.] I’ve also noticed some great ways to make tags on my own: look for free downloads from your favorite blog, or on Pinterest. I’ve found plenty on Pinterest and I got a free downloads from Ormolu,and Creating Keepsakes:
One of the front, title pages of my DD album.
This is called “subway art” from Creating Keepsakes; you can download it here. The Ormolu download is really nice, too:
You can also download this printable for free, here.
All I need now is for December to get here, and get my camera out and ready for some action! I promise to be back when things are under way to show my progress from time to time. I am really looking forward to it, and I hope you will share your December Daily ideas with me, too! Thanks for stopping by!
Work, work, work! That’s what I’ve been doing, whether it be at the job that actually pays me, or the ones at home, life gets so busy this time of year! I took some time this weekend to play catch-up for my December Daily (luckily I have remembered to take photos, at least!), and after downloading some pics to put on my pages, I suddenly feel so grateful that I did at least some preliminary foundation work. I don’t have all of the PDF pages printed out yet, and I’m waiting for more Hambly transparencies to arrive in the mail to make more page dividers, but I at least had the first 5 days somewhat ready. I just put my photos on, did a little embellishing, journaling, and here you go, so far:
Hmmm, notice anything missing? No page protectors…..no binder! I ordered it with the kit from Studio Calico way back when, but I have not received my binder. I got a note in the kit that apologized and indicated that I would be receiving it by December 1……I was hoping they meant this year. Phooey! Well, these things happen, and it’s not going to stop me from completing my pages, anyway. I can always make my own binder, or pages, can’t I?
Extra ephemera I'll be adding
I am so glad that I am doing this; this kind of project is going to help me enjoy and appreciate the holiday season even more than usual; instead of feeling anxious, stressed or worried, I feel excited and full of anticipation (not expectations!) for joy, pleasure, and lots of love. That’s what the season is all about!
On another note, I did get the chance to make a layout which I am adding to our monthly calendar (It’s a My Mind’s Eye scrap calendar):
Photos from my daughter's recent Christmas recital
I used Mr. Huey's spray mist in white with a tree mask on the green background.
Not thrilled about the alphabet font….it came with a Christmas kit from a year ago, and had been unused, so I though, why not. The layout itself is scraplifted from a recent one Ali Edwards did. Thanks, Ali!
And thank you, too, for stopping by. It’s getting late, so tomorrow I will be sure to include the products I’ve used. Any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
I’ve had an itch to scrap lately, so I did. I came up with two new layouts:
This one I made colorful since it highlights my daughter’s recent school carnival. I printed out the photos in 3-4″ sizes and used my 2.5″ square punch to get uniform sized-photos. I then rounded the corners, and staples the photos and papers together…something I saw Laura Kurtz do on one of her layouts. Once the photos were all stapled together, I taped them down to the paper and added my embellishments, which came with a kit from Scrapbook Circle (Grandma’s Attic).
This one is using an old patterned paper from My Mind’s Eye, cut down to 8.5×11″. I don’t like this layout so much. It looked much better in my mind, and looking at the completed result does nothing for me. I may do this one over. The stamp is from Studio Calico. I never would have thought I would use it, but it seemed appropriate here.
What I’ve noticed (this is part of an on-going process of self-improvement) is that 1.) I always have to stamp a date on the back of the layout. For some reason, I find it important to know when I created the page since it often times is far different from when the experience actually took place. I do recommend doing this; you never know when you look back on things like this and say to yourself, “when did I do that?” Or, maybe I’m just being anal. Whatever. I also notice that 2.) I am working much quicker than I used to, and the jury is out as to whether that is a good or bad thing. I used to spend an entire day putting together one, maybe two, layouts. Now I do one in 30 minutes or less, sometimes on the same day the event has taken place. I like that I’m not devoting so much time to one or two pages, but does that mean I’m getting sloppy? Judging by the second layout above, I would say yes. I’ve also notice that 3.) I have way too many products to purchase new things for each new layout. I’m just using what I already have on hand. If I don’t have it, find something else in the overgrown stash.That’s it. 4.) I have started using more photos that I’ve taken with my phone instead of hauling out my camera for every little thing. It seems to be faster, as well. Last, but not least, 5.) I have noticed that it is about time to start a new album. The current one, which I began in January, is getting pretty darn full. I like that! So this will be album 1 for 2011 (Jan-May), and on June 1 I’ll begin #2 for June-Dec. Or should I wait until July? I’m still learning and figuring out things. 6.)And I’ve noticed that, too.
On Mother’s Day, my family and I went out for lunch, and as I was sitting at the table feeling so blessed to be with my loved ones, I wondered how I could take a photo with everyone in it. iPhone to the rescue! I used my Pano app to take an almost 360° photo, so everyone at the table was included. I then transferred it to my computer, and printed it out in landscape. And, if anyone out there has a Studio Calico subscription, you know about the super-cute ends of the papers that have the company logo on one side, right? I cut some off to use as borders! I love some of those edges; I normally would throw them away, but I started thinking how cute some of the patterns are, and what a waste it is to toss them. Thank you, Studio Calico for your ingenuity! So here’s what I came up with:
I used Tattered Angels spray mist in brick on top of kraft cardstock. I also used Crate Paper Toy Box Story time paper strips as borders, as well, and did a little sewing. Other embellishments are by Crate Paper (chipboard, stickers), My Minds Eye (brad), Ormolu (half circle tag), and 7 Gypsies (“family” sticker).
I also did another simple layout earlier in the day, just for fun:
template by Cathy Zielski at Designer Digitals
I’ve got to admit that I have been having the time of my life while on vacation; scrapping my little heart out has done me a world of good! Happy scrapping to you, too!
The entire December Daily album can be seen here.
