December Daily

December Daily – Days 2-7

| cristina

As promised, I am back to share some December Daily pages. I had started out this project thinking I would be combining my Project Life and December Daily albums in one, but the truth is I love Christmas so much that it deserves its own album! 🙂 So I’m doing a true Dec. Daily album, and I’ll catch up (or not.. ;)) on the ordinary events in my PL album. 🙂 I have been super busy with my last classes and exams, on top of my regular work, so I’m a bit behind, but I am keeping things simple in this album, so I will be catching up soon. Here are days 2-7!

DD 2012 - Day 2

I splurged and bought Kelly Purkey’s December Daily kit – I fell in love with the stamp, and I just couldn’t resist – and I’m so glad I did! For this spread I just used a journaling card from the kit and the stamp for the date. The rest is all photos – I loved them all and wanted to include them. My two favorite people in the whole world!

DD 2012 - Day 2

I thought the confetti journaling card went perfectly with all the Christmas lights/bokeh pictures. 😉

DD 2012 - Days 3-5

I included as an insert a prank from our elf.. 😉 DH was printing out 200 copies of the program for a concert that would take place on Dec. 16th, and our elf decided to steal the show and printed his own version! 🙂

DD 2012 - Days 3-5 

Gotta have glitter in my album! 🙂 The label is from the Studio Calico 25 Days class (Dec. Daily class) kit; the background paper is by Basic Grey Fact&Fiction, I covered a Studio Calico Wonderland wood veneer tree with Stickles, and layered it on top of some awesome glitter tape. Oh and the date stamp? I recently bought this awesome number stamp and I’m in love!

DD 2012 - Days 6-7

You will start seeing a pattern here.. when I don’t have any Christmas pictures for the day, all you get is an Elf picture. 🙂 So I can also combine multiple days in one page and keep the thickness of the album reasonable. I journaled and stamped on the back of the program (stamps by Ali Edwards, Cute and So Totally Happy sets). On the right, filler cards are made with A Christmas Tradition by Jenn Barrette and Valorie Wibbens.

DD 2012 - Days 6-7

For this spread, I added in a paper bag from Starbucks – I love their designs so much, plus you never go wrong with bunnies! <3 a="a" href="http://scrapflower.com/shoppe/product.php?productid=21109" i="i" left="left" on="on" target="_blank" the="the" used="used">journaling card by creashens
 (slightly recolored), and the bottom two pockets are made using A Very Vintage Christmas by Digital Design Essentials.

DD 2012 - Days 6-7

I had so much fun decorating the back of the paper bag!

DD 2012 - Days 6-7

In all honesty, I botched the first stamping: I stamped “Hey Santa!” (from KP’s DD kit) in red but I didn’t press it down properly so the middle remained blank, so I decided to color the whole bubble red and stamp another sentiment on top of it instead (oh what fun, from the 25 Days class kit). I chose green because it matched the Starbucks logo, and I restamped the Hey Santa in green too (properly this time). 😉 I love the result!!

DD 2012 - Days 6-7

I love this page too – I decided to use a journaling card I’d pre-made using Jenn Barrette’s A Month of Memories and I only just realized that it matched the picture on top of it perfectly, with the peppermint sticks! I made the title using Dear Lizzy tile stickers (the package comes with 2 sheets, one with gold letters on white and the other with white stickers on gold) and Dear Lizzy Fox glitter thickers.

That’s all I have for now, hoping to get caught up very soon!

December Daily – Day 1

| cristina

I am happy to be able to share Day 1 of my December Daily album! It uses a gorgeous new kit by Jenn Barrette that is 20% off today:

If you follow my blog, you know I have a bit of an obsession for color matching my pages with my photos, especially in my Project Life album… but I swear to you that this page came together on its own! I prepared a couple of cards with Jenn’s kit, and after printing out the photo of the gingerbread house I was amazed to see how well it went with this particular card. 🙂

DD 2012 - Day 1

I stamped directly on the photo here – all stamps are from the sold out Christmas kit by Kelly Purkey.

DD 2012 - Day 1

Here’s a closer look at the card. 🙂

DD 2012 - Day 1

I made a vellum envelope to hold a few more pictures – I had a lot from this day. The flair button from JCPenney was perfect with the theme and colors of this day too. 🙂

DD 2012 - Day 1

Here’s the stack of photos from the envelope.

DD 2012 - Day 1

And the back of the envelope.

DD 2012 - Day 1

The right page is all photos, with some digital word art added.

DD 2012 - Day 1

And that’s Day 1! Hope you enjoyed it! 🙂

December Daily 2012 – It Has Begun!

| cristina

I am so excited to be working on one of my favorite projects: December Daily. Put together two things I love – Christmas and crafting – and I’m in heaven! Dec. Daily is a concept started by Ali Edwards to document the Christmas season day per day. I completed a mini album both in 2010 and 2011, and I’m at it again this year. 🙂

For my first page of the 2012 December Daily, I used a paper by Sahlin Studio, in the gorgeous December BYOC at The Lilypad (25% off through the weekend!):

This is the first page you see when you open my album:

DD 2012 - title

The picture at the bottom was taken on Dec. 1st, and it’s the only snow we’ve seen so far, but I hope we’ll have a white Christmas this year, so I thought it was perfect to put it at the front of my album. 🙂

Come back tomorrow to see the rest of my Day 1! I’m so excited about how it turned out!

Document Your December and Black Friday at The Lilypad

| cristina

Yesterday was Black Friday in the U.S., the day for crazy sales and holiday shopping. Last year (for the first time) we braved the crowds and went shopping at ~6am, but this year I decided not to. We’re too busy, and didn’t really have much to buy. Instead, I did some very rewarding online shopping, followed by a quick dash to the mall at 10 AM – we visited 3 stores and didn’t have to fight the crowds. 😉 But hands down, online shopping rocks. And the sale that is going on at The Lilypad on all Christmas and winter products is perfect to gear up for December Daily!

I successfully completed a December Daily album in the past two years, so I know what works and what doesn’t work for me. This year I decided to combine the December Daily album with Project Life (I wouldn’t have enough material and motivation to keep up with two albums at the same time!), so I’ll be using the Project Life concept (document the little things, use photo pocket pages) but in a mini album format. I am using an 8.5″x5.5″ binder by Martha Stewart from Staples. I chose this size because it’s perfect for hybrid, and I’m all for saving paper when I print. 🙂 In 2010 I made all my foundation pages of the album ahead of time, because I was traveling in December. In 2011 I didn’t, because I was home and wanted to have the freedom to choose the design based on the photos I had for each day. This year, I will also go with the freedom approach :), but since the holiday products that have already been put in the store are so tempting, I have done a few pockets already. 🙂 Here’s what I used.

Last year I started the tradition of our Elf on the Shelf, and I am excited to bring him out again this year. The tree went up yesterday, so I have a feeling he’ll make an apparition soon. 😉 Here are a few other goodies I’ve used so far.

It’s no mystery that I love deer and reindeer (and glitter too! LOL), so these cards by Paislee Press had to go straight in my album. 🙂 Here’s a peek at the pockets I’ve made so far.

DD 2012

DD 2012 - elf peek

DD 2012

DD 2012

DD 2012

DD 2012

Credits:
A Christmas Tradition by Jenn Barrette and Valorie Wibbens
Peace and Love word arts by Little Butterfly Wings
Pocket Stuffers no. 2 by Valorie Wibbens
Press cards no. 18 by Paislee Press
Reindeer paper from Kitschy Christmas by Jenn Barrette and Sahlin Studio

I will be rearranging my pockets around once I start actually working on the album, but I think I’m off to a great start! 🙂

December Daily 2011 – Completed!

| cristina

I am so excited to share my completed December Daily album! I made the cover from scratch and I love how it turned out. I started from some cardboard from some packaging that DH had put away for me. 😉 I cut it to size and punched the holes with my Cinch.

DD 2011 - 25

Then I just painted it with white acrylic paint, and decorated.

DD 2011

The Santa card is from Kitschy Christmas by Jenn Barrette and Sahlin Studio available at The Lilypad and at Sweet Shoppe Designs; the tree is from Jolly Golly by Cosmo Cricket; the charm is by Tim Holtz; the reindeer is by Recollections; the snowflake is from Snow Day by Crate Paper. I printed out “countown to Christmas 2011” on copy paper (I love how it curls up! I will definitely be doing this on my Project Life too!), with font Traveling Typewriter. I cut the numbers with my Silhouette, layered 3 copies and covered them with glitter and a coat of Glossy Accents. So pretty!! I originally planned to use them on my Dec. 25 page, but ended up not needing them, so they were perfect for the cover.

DD 2011

DD 2011

DD 2011

When I was working on the cover, I’d originally started out with design:

DD 2011

Kitschy Christmas by Jenn Barrette and Sahlin Studio available at The Lilypad and at Sweet Shoppe Designs

Then I came up with the other version, and had a hard time picking the one to go with. DH preferred this one with the bells, but I was loving the one with Santa so I went with it. The bells go in the inside back cover.

I put this pretty calendar from Big Ol’ Tags 3 by Lauren Reid in the inside front cover:

DD 2011 inside cover

I’m so happy with how my album turned out, and I’m really happy to have finished it so quickly! 🙂 I don’t know if I’ll be doing another DD album in 2012, but my process for 2011 was very smooth and fun so I very well might. 🙂

December Daily 2011 – Days 24-25

| cristina

My 2011 December Daily album is almost finished! Here are pages 24 and 25:

DD 2011 - 24

Credits:
Falala papers by Rachel Young Designs
Font: American Typewriter

I love this picture of DH and me in front of the Chrismtas tree!

DD 2011 - 25

Credits:
Downtown Christmas papers by The Tattered Pear
Font: CK Ali’s hand

I was clearly bored with the project by this point (I found it really hard to stay motivated once Christmas had passed), so instead of wasting time on journaling and selecting photos, I made a collage with all my favorites of the day. Works for me! I decided to end the album with the 25th, since this year my album has been focused on Christmas, and also because DH and I were out of town the week of the 26th.

Yesterday I finally tackled the task that was scaring me the most: the binding of my album. I bought a Cinch a few weeks ago but hadn’t used it in a project yet, and I was terrified of botching my pretty December Daily album!! Of course, everything went well. 🙂 This is what my album looks now:

DD 2011

All the pages are done, and I’ve started working on the cover. It will be wire bound. It’s less than an inch thick at this point, so it’s a lot more manageable than last year’s album. 🙂 I will try to work on my cover later today, so I should be able to share the finished album soon.

More December Daily

| cristina

I can finally share two missing pages of my December Daily, since the kit they’re made with has been released today! Days 9 and 23.

DD 2011 - 9

Credits:
Baby It’s Cold by Leora Sanford and Valorie Wibbens, available at Oscraps and The Lilypad
Playing card from Pocket Stuffers by Valorie Wibbens

The snowflakes are something I’d cut for last year’s album and covered with Stickles.

DD 2011 - 23

Credits:
Baby It’s Cold by Leora Sanford and Valorie Wibbens, available at Oscraps and The Lilypad
December tag from December Stories by Designs by Lili

This page is a big favorite of mine! I just love that photo and the colors. 🙂

I still have to finish up my days 24 and 25, plus figure out the binding (NOT looking forward to that – I’m afraid to botch up my pretty pages! 😉 ) and the cover. The album is quite thick already so I’m not sure whether I will be able to bind it with the Cinch or not (I have 1 1/4″ coils). I hope to have more to share in the next few days!

December Daily 2011 – Days 20-22

| cristina

I am all caught up!! Yipeee! Days 1-23 are completed! I cannot share day 23 because it uses a kit coming out next week, but here are the rest:

DD 2011 - Dec. 20

DD 2011 - Dec. 20

Credits:
Left page:
Lift of December Daily Day 2 by Amy (amyjaz)
Music sheet by raidensgrammie21 on Flickr
Font: Carnivalee Freak
Right page:
North Pole by Mari Koegelenberg

This page is completely inspired by one of Amy‘s pages. I love that she writes in detail on her blog about how she is putting her album together!

DD 2011 - Dec. 21

Credits:
Snow Day paper by Crate Paper
December Bits by Sabrina Dupre

I broke out the paper supplies for a couple of pages. These lights were perfect for a page on Christmas lights.

DD 2011 - Dec. 22

DD 2011 - Dec. 22

Credits:
Striped paper from Snow Day by Crate Paper
Snowmen paper from A Christmas Collab by Micheline Martin and Fruitloop Sally
Word strip from Kitschy Christmas: Word Blocks by Sahlin Studio
Number 22: Maestro font

I cut the numbers out with the Silhouette, covered them in glitter, and then coated them with Glossy Accents (just another technique from Pinterest that makes me wonder why I never thought about it before…) I love the sparkle and the shine!

December Daily 2011 – Days 14-19

| cristina

I’m happy to have a few more December Daily pages to share! DH helped me fire up the sewing machine today (i.e., he sewed while I gave directions) – and thank goodness for that, because I have sadly discovered that I cannot sew straight for the life of me! (but more on that later – I will make a blog post about it in a bit). Anyway, luckily for me, DH’s really good with the sewing machine, and I’m loving how these pages have turned out! 😉

DD 2011 - 14

Credits:
Left page: Brown Paper Pack by Sahlin Studio, Santa from Christmas Wonder by Kaye Winiecki, journaling tags from North Pole by Mari Koegelenberg, word strips from Kitschy Christmas: Word Blocks by Sahlin Studio
Right page: Paper from A Christmas Collab by Micheline Martin and Fruitloop Sally, December Daily Numbers by Sahlin Studio, Font: Dear Joe 4

OK, no sewing on this page. 🙂 The inspiration for this page came from a contest DH entered for me last week on the October Afternoon blog – spouses were encouraged to enter, so I asked him if he would write something. We didn’t get a prize, but I loved what he wrote for me, so it had to go in the album! I cut out the words Dear Santa with the Silhouette, and layered 3 copies to make it thicker. It looks so pretty – seriously, I am so annoyed at how blah these pages look in photographs, they are so much prettier IRL! On the left page I wrote up DH’s and my wish list. Did you see all the check marks on my list?? I seriously couldn’t wish for anything more this Christmas! 🙂

DD 2011 - 15

Credits:
Paper from A Christmas Collab by Micheline Martin and Fruitloop Sally
Journal Everyday by Sabrina Dupre

Well, to say the truth, I am running a bit out of ideas for the album. I am all set now, but I struggled a bit a few days to come out with a topic. Since I’ve been making this album focused on Christmas, I didn’t have a special topic ready every day, and I already covered most of the topics I wanted to cover. But our cute reindeer and penguin deserved to make it in the album. And isn’t that stitching pretty? 🙂

DD 2011 - 16

Credits:
Paper from Cheerful by Tickled Pink Studio
Word strip from December Stories by Designs by Lili
Date and stars from Pear Tree album by Sara Gleason

This was my second experiment printing on vellum. I used the fast draft mode and that was a bit faint. I will try the draft mode next time.

DD 2011 - 16b

This is my favorite page so far! I used a piece of a paper bag from Starbucks, and DH’s stellar sewing was the perfect finishing touch!

DD 2011 - 17

Credits:
Paper from A Month To Be Merry by Lauren Grier
Joy element from December Bits by Sabrina Dupre
December Daily Numbers by Sahlin Studio
Word strips from Kitschy Christmas Daily December Add-on by Jenn Barrette

I made and cut the HOHOHO with my Silhouette – I needed a touch of blue added on this page.

DD 2011 - 18

Credits:
Kitschy Christmas by Jenn Barrette and Sahlin Studio available at The Lilypad and at Sweet Shoppe Designs
Christmas party word strip from Kitschy Christmas Daily December Add-on by Jenn Barrette

I sadly found out a couple of days ago that gluing vellum doesn’t quite work, but as you can see sewing sure does! 🙂

DD 2011 - 19

Credits:
Word strip from Kitschy Christmas Daily December Add-on by Jenn Barrette
Number from A Month To Be Merry by Lauren Grier

That’s all I have for now! A few more pages are in the works. I’d love to get this done and posted by Christmas day, but we’ll see what I can manage. 2 more days… 😉 I played with glitter today – it is messy and a pain to work with, but it is oh so pretty!! 🙂

December Daily 2011 – Days 10-13

| cristina

Here are a few more December Daily pages!

DD 2011 - 10

Credits:
Kitschy Christmas by Jenn Barrette and Sahlin Studio available at The Lilypad and at Sweet Shoppe Designs
December Daily Numbers by Sahlin Studio

I really love this photo!

DD 2011 - 11

Credits:
Brown Paper Pack by Sahlin Studio
December Bits by Sabrina Dupre
Very Merry embellishments by Precocious Paper and Sahlin Studio

I kind of realized too late that I used rather similar papers on two consecutive pages… Oh well! 🙂 I took the picture before adding a couple more photos and the journaling for privacy reasons.

DD 2011 - 12

Credits:
Downtown Christmas papers by The Tattered Pear
Border from Pear Tree album by Sara Gleason
December Daily Numbers by Sahlin Studio

I love this photo of DH and the colors of this page!

DD 2011 - 13

Credits:
Background paper from A Christmas Collab by Micheline Martin and Fruitloop Sally
Very Merry embellishments by Precocious Paper and Sahlin Studio
Christmas lights word strip from Kitschy Christmas Daily December Add-on by Jenn Barrette

I added the snowflakes printed on vellum, but didn’t find a good way to attach the vellum to the photo. If you use glue, it will darken the vellum. So I ended up adding some word strips on top to keep it down. Not ideal, but it’ll do!

And this is where I’m at at the moment! I have a couple more pages planned out, but need to do some stitching and glueing before I can share them.