December Daily

 

So, I haven’t forgotten about this little project- loving it more each year. Love love love how the cover came out. I was inspired by some others on the Studio Calico board that had used the chevron fabric paper from Amy Tangerine. I paired that with some charcoal acrylic paint (just mixed black & white), and then this $1 felt ornament found at Target. Love Target   It has a tiny bit of glitter to it too which adds a nice touch. Button from Ormalu. Haven’t decided what to do with the spine yet, and ordered more of the chevron fabric paper for the inside pages.

I find it hard when December finally gets here to find time for posting updates. I will get to sharing all of them- maybe just in January Still working on doing both December Daily & Project Life. I’ve found that my PL in December is a bit less detailed, and that’s okay. I’ve also found it much easier than I thought to find stories for both, which is great.

 

I’ve been traveling quite a bit for work and have found the weekends to be super busy with family & friends (which is always a great problem to have). So in order to keep things simple, I’ve used mainly the templates and digital pages from Ali Edwards. And I’m trying to keep the embellishments and perfectionism to a minimum. Some of them aren’t my favorite, but I can always go back later & adjust..although I know that will never happen- somehow it makes me feel better

Here’s one of Ali’s templates- I resized it a bit in Photoshop Elements to have it fit the space. Love this picture of the girls holding hands on the way home from the bus stop. Warms my heart - thought it was a perfect opening photo.

 

Ryan running to see Santa Another template from Ali & a tag from Bananafish studio’s etsy shop. Love her tags – my favorite stuff this year has come from her.

 

Ali’s post on the Silhouette inspired me to try my own. I just purchased a used Silhouette for a good price, and am still learning how to use it. Loved that tutorial b/c now I can use my favorite word art and cut it. Yay. Jenni Bowlin star tag- love these, wish I had 10 more   I added a conversation I overheard Ryan asking Tim about why the Santa from this year was different than last years (whew! Glad Daddy got that question instead of me!)

Going to add something fun to the top left pocket- a small picture of some of the fun places Elfie has been this month most likely (this page was about our Elf on the Shelf and the trouble she gets into).

Love this picture Tim caught of us watching Santa’s PNP video. This is something we started last year and is sooo fun. Ryan was even more captivated this year. Julia loved watching Ryan’s video, but the trauma of her Santa visit must have been too much because as soon as her video started and he said her name, she clung to me. At the end she said “I no like that Santa”. Oh the cuteness. Word art from Ali. Want to cut this one out with the Silhouette too when I get a chance to play.

 

You can see more photos & details in my Flickr Album here.

Sock Monkeys!

Finally finished up my sock monkeys and got them mailed off to Craft Hope just in time – whew! Here are the six that were sent to homes in Texas – yay!

Advent Calendar

So for a long time I have done all of my crafting without a digital die cut. I bought a cricut once at a craft yard sale for $50, used it never and then donated it to my daughter’s preschool. I bought a Slice, used it a few times, but became frustrated with the effort of setting it all up, etc. And to be honest, most of the cricut designs are just not my style. I’ve loved the idea of the Silhouette for a long time, but still not sure I’d actually use it – somehow die cuts I make just aren’t as appealing to me as purchased ones maybe??? who knows. Anyway, I stumbled upon a used Silhouette SD that someone was selling for cheap since they’d just upgraded to the Cameo. I jumped on it and have been so happy. I love the idea that you can make your own designs, and buy individual ones in the shop for $1. 

Here’s the advent calendar I made this year for the girls- took quite a while (and distracted me from finishing the December Daily pages for a bit) but so worth it. The girls love it. And I love that it’s got a wood base, and if the paper boxes ever rip or I become tired of them, I just cut new ones. Yay for that. And I’m happy to say most of my Xmas paper stash is now depleted. Or at least my favorites that match the green/red that I was going for.  If only I could find more of the old American Crafts merrymint collection – oh how I loved you….

Ryan goes running downstairs every morning so excited to open it – love that So far, we’ve had a mix of squinkies, littlest pet shop guys, and hershey’s kisses. All the little guys I catch them playing with every day.

December Daily- the guts

Yes, I know it’s December 2nd already. ha! That’s how we roll around here. Here are the guts of my album, the base pages- just finished them up today.  Still working on the cover, but I have ideas in my head- just need to find time to play. These are some of my favorites- you can see the complete pages in my flickr album here. I stuck with Ali’s basic layouts and used her templates, as well as the Studio Calico binder from the kit. Honestly I’m okay with that given how busy things are and that project life continues too – I’m just so happy to have some time to play, and to get some things documented.  Most of the paper, transparencies and ribbon were from my stash.

Used some of my project life pocket pages and trimmed them down. Then put a punched out star in a pocket with some Martha Stewart Snow glitter & sewed the top shut. One of my better ideas in a while  

Typed this on my new vintage typewriter that I’ve been wanting forever & finally just bought myself. Yes, it’s almost xmas- but really how can you ask someone for a vintage typewriter when you really are picky about the color, look, feel etc? I finally just went for it ! yay!  Works almost perfectly – space bar just sticks a bit but easily fixed. I’ll have to take a picture to share later.

Coasters from SC kit (sold out), Joy tag from Bananafish studio on Etsy- my favorite purchases for this album have come from her. Star tag from Jenni Bowlin, and silver star is a $1 ornament from Target. Love raiding their Xmas section for good finds to include!

Bought some cork at the craft store a million years ago, and put it through my die cut machine – love!

The more I go through this album, the more I love it- although it’s starting to get a little tight and I’m thinking 3″ binders might not be enough? yikes! I stuck with my favorite classic red and limey green, with a little black thrown in, and stars- lots of stars.  I’m thinking next year a new theme is emerging- creams, whites and silver with a touch of red- and snowflakes. My favorite page so far is this one…

Tinsel ribbon was one of my favorite finds that I’ve been hoarding- red & silver from my LSS. Love this but it adds some bulk.

I’m not sure I will need or keep the pages and patterned paper strips- may end up using some full page photos, etc. but it’s easier to have them done and have less to do later on.

Love that my husband is humoring me with this project- look what he posted to instagram yesterday with the comment “hello december”