Write. Click. Scrapbook.

12 Days {Before} Christmas

Ahhhh I love this time of year. The peppermint ice cream, the chocolate oranges, the Christmas concerts, the snow...oh wait. No snow. Somehow I thought moving back to Northeastern Ohio would bring me more of that white stuff, but nope. I believe we have near 60 and rain predicted later this week. I am however, enjoying a bowl of peppermint ice cream as I type. Another one of my favorite things is my 12 Days {Before} Christmas project and album, all of which happens to start TODAY! Let's take a closer look.

I have done this project for the past five years now. You can see the photos from 2006, 2007, 2008, and the album from 2009 featured here last year. While I used to get super detailed on my layouts (yes all years have been scrapped, just not all scanned) I have decided simple is the way to go. Here are a few pages from 2010's version.

My husband had the coolest idea for a "cookie tasting" for the cookies we left for Santa. HUGE hit I tell you.

It just occurred to me the other day that Santa will have to juggle three on his lap this year.


Our ramshackled gingerbread train :)


Lillian's first official handwritten letter to Santa. Ahhh creative Kindergarten spelling-hee hee. I keep the original and send a copy off to Santa.


I always keep all the photo cards and personalized messages from family and friends-bad scan because the pocket I create is stuffed! I also always include our Christmas Card for the year so I can have a record of that too.


Daddy is also going to have to juggle three this year!


This was the first time in five years I didn't have a photo because this year, while nine months pregnant (and totally miserable) I got the stomach flu (cannot express to you how much more miserable.) ON CHRISTMAS. Yes, this year is going to be AWESOME compared to that.



So won't you join me this year? Plan some fun Christmas-y activities with the family. Write down a few thoughts-I always do all the journaling on my blog so all I have to do is reformat and print and just like that, five years of wonderful, priceless memories. It all starts TODAY! I can't wait. Tonight is Christmas Jammies!!

December Daily 2011 | The Online Version

Hello! Are you enjoying our daily posts so far? I personally have added a few extra projects to my list based on what everyone else has shared. Today I want to talk about my approach to December Daily this year. I love the idea of the December Daily project, but even though I have attempted one since 2008 (or maybe it was 2007?) I have never completed one. I am horribly bad at keeping up with daily projects; I think I am missing the gene for that kind of thing. Because of our recent move, and a couple unplanned trips, I didn't have the time to pre-make my album this year. And honestly? I think part of the reason I have failed at the project is because that empty book scares me. All those pages to fill! Am I the only one?

At the very last moment I decided I wanted to try again, partly because this year Kieran is old enough to understand and take part in all the Christmas festivities. So I came up with a low stress idea - forget about pre-making the album and just do a daily tag. I decided I would combine the December Daily with an Advent Calendar, and hang each day's tag on twine, like an inspiration wire. Sounds good, no?

Sadly that was before I realised that my printer was totally on the blink. Enter my even less stress idea: December Daily online. Each day I will simply upload the days photo(s) to Flickr and Facebook and include the journaling. I found a layered template for two photos, and I choose two photos from each day, add to the template and that's it. Here are some of my favourite days so far

December 1 - Today was a gorgeous day out, it was probably close to 15 degrees Celsius and sunny. I decided that it would be the perfect day to plant the last of the bulbs I got (some yellow crocus). You were very happy to go outside: when I suggested it you nodded your head and said "yah yah!". You were even happier when I pointed out that you could wear your boots!
You were a great little helper, dropping the bulbs in after I dug the holes. Then you spied the bubble solution that was still out from summer and ran and brought it to me saying "Bubbles?". So our spot of gardening ended with a bubble blowing session!

December 3rd - You and Papa had a jamming music session this morning. Guitar, flutes and even the saxophone. We love that you like music so much, and will sing to yourself when playing.
Today we also got our Christmas tree, but I forgot to walk with the camera! We got our usual Ikea tree, a nice tall one this year since we have the room for it

December 6th - You were home with me this morning and we did a bunch of colouring in your Jungle Book oversized colouring book. Now that my scrap room is clear of boxes it means that we can spend more time in there working on arts and crafts. You love sitting at your little table (and insist that I sit on a tiny chair too) - but you were also happy to be able to spread out on the floor.
In the afternoon while you were at playschool I went shopping for gifts and craft supplies, and planned out the holiday projects we would work on later in the week.

December 10th - Right after breakfast we finished up the tree. You really enjoyed helping me, and you loved unwrapping the ornaments and saying "wow!" at each one. Then you would point out where on the tree you wanted me to put them. You also insisted that we hang the stockings on the tree, and so we have a tree with a funky quirky twist! That afternoon we went to the local Christmas market and you met Santa Claus (actually I guess he was Pere Noel). You happily accepted the chocolate he gave you, and he was happy to let Mummy get some photos.

 

At this point I will confess that this year is the furthest I've ever gotten with a December Daily project. I have up to the 11th documented! You can follow the rest of my online project on Flickr or on Facebook.

We did get a new printer over the weekend, but I am going to continue with the online version. The lack of stress makes it so worthwhile. Once the holidays are over, I will either print out the photos to make a paper album, or I might just have them printed into a photo book.

Oh and there was one day when I took no photos because we were sick. This was my solution

 

What do you think about this online idea? If you've been taking photos all month, but have done nothing with them, maybe you can try an online version like I did! You can upload them to an online album, or share them on your blog if you have one. One of the best things about this too, is that my family and friends far away can follow along with us this month!

Happy Holiday documenting!

holiday traditions

We all hope that you're enjoying these December Dailies features as much as we are...it's so exciting to see who's up for the day and what project they're sharing! Speaking of Dailies...I have been around the block on whether or not to do a December Daily album this year and yesterday, when I was thinking about today's topic, I hit upon an idea that I think will bring me much happiness over the years.

Hi, I'm Monika Wright and I scrapbook.

Today I'll be sharing with you a few ideas that might help you to capture your family's memories that don't involve an intense month long commitment. Now, as much as I adore my 2009 December Daily, I will admit that it involved some time...preparing my pages ahead and then embellishing them further as I added my photos each day...and I didn't feel that I could dedicate those precious minutes this year but also didn't want to miss out on capturing some of our holiday traditions. And that's when I thought of using an 8x8 album in my stash as the home to Holiday Traditions. At least that's my working title, as I've not yet embellished the front cover...remember this was literally a last minute brainstorm.

Here are two pages that came together rather quickly for me because I used a template {which you can find in the Download section of my blog sidebar} and only had to add the photo and a strip of patterned paper. You could also add some letter stickers in that space instead, but I opted to add the title to my photo before printing. 

Wondering why the years begin with 1991? That's the year I became a Mommy!

The plan is to include Holiday Traditions in this album from all my Mommy years and from each and every holiday we celebrate. I look forward to browsing our photo archives, printing photos and journaling memories. So, no December Daily for me this year, but instead I've come up with a project that I'm really excited about. I hope it's so successful that I have to move on to a second and third album. If you happen to use the page template to begin your own Holiday Traditions album, upload them to the Write.Click.Scrapbook. Flickr group so we can all take a look!

Here are a few more ideas that might help you to document your traditions:

• December Daily for Kids
• Ornaments and Their Stories
• Yummies in Our Tummies
• Christmas Planner
• Holiday Wrap-Up

May your holidays be blessed with joyful memories,

 

Favorite Quotes Calendar

Hi there, it's Celeste sporting a new 'do! Calendars make great gifts for friends and family. This year I put together a printable calendar base for you that you can display in an empty CD case. Please download the file at this link. The file includes blank printable PDFs for each month of 2012. As well, I’ve included digital templates so you can make a calendar like the one I did or use them as a starting point for your own creation. I also created a PNG file of digital stamps for each month. You can use these and create any size calendar you’d like!

For my calendar, I decided to collect some of my favorite quotes and share them with my friends and family. I chose the Quatrefoil #2 Paper Pack and Spring/Summer Labels element pack from our dear friend Crystal Wilkerson. Lucky for me Crystal included 12 different colors in the pack, perfect for my calendar! I simply added paper to the tops of my bases and then a label. Using the font Rockwell, I added my quote on top of the label. Easy peasy!

By creating my calendar digitally, I can print out a slew of them to give to relatives and friends. Here's my calendar in its CD holder. If you wish to display your calendar like I did, you'll need to find an old CD case you no longer need or buy some new empty ones. Follow these directions to create the CD case holder for your calendar. You could also purchase magnetic clips from Staples so that the calendar can hang on the fridge.

I shared my calendar templates with Monika Wright. She created these fabulous 4x6 calendars and is sharing three amazing display options.

January shows the calendar embellished with some baker's twine from The Twinery and attached with cute mini clothespins. February has the calendar inserted into an inexpensive frame, this one from IKEA and embellished with ribbon...and you know you have plenty of ribbon in your stash to change out the ribbon to match each month's featured color! And for March, shop your paper scraps, adhere a bit to the top of the calendar and display on a small easel, this one from the Dollar Tree. In the extra space, jot down any important dates that you don't want to forget.

If you'd like to use these free downloads for your own office space or craft room, Monika has made them available on her blog, and will have the next quarter's calendar downloads available mid-March.

 

Cheryl Overton made a calendar using the digital template. I love how she used the artisan shapes as spaces for her photos. Her calendar is amazing!

Marnie Flores made a wall calendar incorporating all twelve months onto one poster. She created 12 boxes for photographs from each month of this past year. Marnie created her poster in a 16x20 size for her kitchen, and then had two extra printed in 8x10 as a little Christmas extra for the grandmas!!

If you make a calendar, be sure to share it with us in the Flickr gallery. Happy Holidays!

fall surroundings

Clouds here again, and a Happy Wednesday to ya! If you have ever lived in Colorado then you really learn to appreciate the very little "Fall" season we get, 3wks at most, and one day you see it, the other you don't. This season me, my hubby, and friends had the opportunity to visit the Rocky Mtn Natl park, and we took some amazing pictures of the foliage, and immensely enjoyed!

the aspen leaves were a hit ...

leaves turning reddish color ....

Bear Lake - Rocky Mtn Ntl Park ...

here's what I came up with those colors ...

-Clouds

to celebrate and be thankful in november

Hello there, Clouds here, I've taken over the blog this wk, and my hope is to bring inspiration to you as we get ready for the holidays this season. I didn't grow up celebrating Thanksgiving (born in a different country) so, when I came to the US, the thought of making tons of food for one meal baffled me, and then, I began to understand why we celebrate Thanksgiving and how people incorporate their own traditions into the major holiday. So, the hubby and I have celebrated now, quite a few Thanksgiving dinners, each different as we celebrate with different people (friends and family). So, what are you thankful for this season? For me, it's always life, and the ability to prusue a college education, the hubby and my fam, and health ... simple things that we can really appreciate, don't you think?

Here's to celebrating the month of November ....

supplies: from Jenni Bowlin kits - ribbon, maya road wood embellishment; Martha Stewart punch, 7 Gypsies calendar die cut, mini envelope, Kraft card stock.

supplies: Jenni Bowlin month bingo card, JB journaling sticker, ric rac ribbon; Martha Stewart punch, Making Memories pin, Kraft card stock

Have a great day!

Clouds :)

DIY inspiration projects

Hello there, Clouds here again hosting this wk, it's four days of fun and quick ways to get ready for the holidays, whether its gift cards, tags or treat boxes, so get ready to use what may already have, put it to use and make those handmade gifts that anyone on the receiving end will enjoy. So, here's some inspiration, if you're having guests over for Thanksgiving, or if you're planning on making gift boxes for your family for Christmas
:) Enjoy!

Here what you'll need:

punches, twine, gift boxes, scrap paper, rhinetsones, tags, treat bags ...

 

Here's what you can do with them:

I hope these simple quick projects inspire you to start thinking of what you can do for the holidays! 

See you tomm,

Clouds :)

Christmas in July

Hi again, Jody here! I don’t know  where you may live, but where I am from this past week we reached record high temperatures. I’m talking 108 degrees. Yes, 108! And wouldn’t you know that same day my central air conditioning stopped working in my house and the next day I went to work and the air conditioning was broken there as well. I work in a restaurant where the kitchen normally is make-up melting hot. This makes for a very unhappy Jody. So in honor of this heat wave that I just experienced I give you…

 

Christmas in July!

 

Now I am a procrastinator normally, so I really hadn’t scrapped any pages from this past year’s Christmas photos. (For the W.C.S. for the Holiday pages, I used the previous year’s photos) I dug out some older Christmas papers and embellishments and went to town.

My youngest daughter loves to make gingerbread houses and October Afternoon’s older but still adorable line “Very Merry” fit my photo to a tee!

 

Next up, I got a great shot of all three of my daughters opening their gifts on Christmas morning. What I love most about this photo is that fact that I didn’t crop it too tightly. I am notorious for taking close-up portraits of my girls but I am trying not to do that as much because it crops out little details of our life that we may not remember years from now. Like the decorations in the wall unit, the cotton ball Christmas tree that my youngest made in pre-school or the nutcracker that has been played with so much that it is missing a foot. I want to remember these details always.

 

 

It is embarrassing the amount of photos I take in front of our tree every year in hopes of getting the perfect picture. But one of my favorites last year was this one of my middle girl and her dog Sweetie. I added the mini alphas into the center sticker so I could title this page "Have Yourself A Furry Little Christmas" I like punny titles, it's my "thing" if you will  ;)

 
I hope you enjoyed a little break from the heat, or a little Christmas inspiration in July.

Oh, and and if you were wondering, it's never too early to start shopping...there are only

148

days until Christmas! Ho Ho Ho!

 

Make Your Own "Best of 2010" List

A Note from Wendy

Do you enjoy watching the end of the year highlights? Reading best of lists? I certainly do. As I was thinking about different aspects of 2010 I thought about all of the scrapbook pages and projects I have made as well as the other crafty stuff. And you know, it was pretty remarkable when put all together. Let me share some highlights with you. (and think about making your own while looking at mine)

Favorite layout- of the year hands down, (from the WCS OCtober gallery)

Favorite project- ABC Curio originally done for my blog hosting week here at WCS. (video on my blog here)

Favorite photo-My five boys and husband playing on a beach I frequented as a child

Favorite new mantra- from favorite Etsy selled, Dazey Chic

Favorite photo tool- Picnik's collage maker, love it

I could spend hours putting together a list of favorites however I chose to be spontaneous and include topics that came right to me. That way it remains most authentic I believe. Allow yourself to do the same, jot down whatever comes to you and celebrate it as your 2010 favorites.

Now it is your turn!

2011 Calendars: More Fun Ideas

A Note from Cheryl

To make this little calendar as simple and inexpensive as possible, I printed 4 months per 8.5 x 11 page, trimmed them down to 4 x 5.25 and then matted each one with a 4.25 x 5.5 piece of coordinating cardstock. I usually make one of these each year, throw it on a little dollar store easel by my computer and have it to glance at when I need to know the date :)

mini-calendar | materials digital embellishments (Creativity by Crystal, Libby Weifenbach) + font (French Script MT)

 A Note from Francine

Digital calendar kits make great gifts and can be used over and over in different ways! I made this calendar with Kate Teague's printable kit and my own photos:

materials Monthly Bits 2011 Funky Version kit (Kate Teague for Design House Digital)

This one features Kieran, one photo for each month, and like Celeste's calendar, is sized to fit into an empty CD case for easy storage and display:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

materials 2011 calendar kit/printable (Karla Dudley for Design House Digital)

We wish you a happy 2011 full of many clever ways to keep track of the date!

A special thank you to Crystal Wilkerson of Creativity by Crystal for her generous sponsorship of our second annual WCS For the Holidays celebration!