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December Daily: Stephanie's Update

Hi there!  Stephanie here with you today!  Are you enjoying this wonderful month at write.click.scrapbook.  All of the gift ideas, holiday decor and paper crafts are just so amazing and inspiring, don't you think?

Today I wanted to share with you a few pages from my December Daily album.  I have been working on my book throughout the month whenever I have the time.  I don't stress about trying to get a page completed every day.  I actually find that I work better when I have a few days to do at a time....especially since I am using the page protectors and like to sew on my pages. It's easier to complete the front of my page when I have an idea of what the back of my page will look like.  I'm also a big fan of using chipboard pieces, dividers and smaller sized page protectors in my album.  I love the texture and dimension they can add to a project.

 

As you can see, my book is already packed with photos and memories.  Let's take a peek inside! 

 

Day 8.  The left side of this page is actually a piece of trimmed chipboard.  I measured the dimensions of the outside of a page protector and then cut my chipboard to those measurements.  I adhered a piece of white cardstock on top of the chipboard before adding my paper layers, photo and journaling.  The flowing ribbon, clothespin and tags add so much fun and movement to my book.

 

Day 9. We had a hot chocolate bar on this day so I just had to document the cute cups and all of the yummy toppings.  I kept this spread pretty simple by printing my photos at 4x6 inches.  I had a few extra photos that I wanted to include so I created a fun little photo strip as you can see in the bottom left photo.  This is a great way to include more photos without taking up too much space in your album.  To finish these pages, I typed my journaling directly onto my photo and then decorated the remaining pockets with either a date card or a pretty embellishment.  

 

Day 10.  I used a three different pages for day 10 of my book.  I had pre-planned my day 10 by sewing a confetti pocket on the bottom of my page protector, so I knew I wanted to use a larger photo for the top section.  I wasn't really sure about our daily activities when I planned this page, but we ended up writing our letters to Santa on this day.  Sometimes planning ahead makes things easier; sometimes it doesn't.  But in the end these pages worked out really well.  I ended up adding my journaling and a few "filler" cards on the left side of the spread and my large photo on the right.  I had a few extra photos of my kids writing their letters, as well as photos of their actual letters that I wanted to include, so I backed my photo with a vellum bag and added the additional bits in.  Perfect and easy!

 

Day 11. My favorite day so far and a perfect example of what to document when you don't really have anything "Christmas-y" to document.  Some days are just typical and ordinary during the beginning of the month and this was one of them for us.  We didn't do anything too grand that deserved it's own page, so I decided to go through the house and snap a few photos of our Christmas decorations.  I love doing an "around the house" type of page because it captures us here and now.  They are always my favorite pages to look back on. 

I used a coin page protector for this day so I could include a variety of smaller photos.  The pockets are each roughly 2x2 inches so they are great for photos and smaller embellishments.

And that's it from me today!  Thank you so much for joining me and for letting me share a few of my December days with you.  How is your album coming along?  

 

December Daily Update

Last month I blogged about my plans for my December Daily album. This is my fourth year doing this project, and I wanted to give you an update and show how my album is coming along.

December is often a busy month, and it has been even more so for me this year since I defended my PhD the first week of December. While still wanting to put together a December Daily album (it's my favorite project of the year!), I decided to cut myself some slack by choosing an easy format - pocket page scrapbooking. I knew I would end up being several days behind when I started working on my album, and wanted to make it easy to catch up at my own pace. So, here we are - it's December 16, and I have only 5 pages documented in my album. But it's OK, and I know I will catch up easily.

In the past I always worked on my album first and only at the end completed the cover, but this year I started by embellishing the cover of my album.

My cover is very simple. I bought a Christmas ornament at Target and used it as the main feature of my album. I love how the red pops off the woodgrain album!

The first page of my album is my favorite so far - I attached a die cut embellishments on top of a gold vellum page using two brads.

The opening page has a full page photo of our Christmas tree that I decorated over Thanksgiving weekend. And then the December pages start. I don't have a set rule for how much space to dedicate to each day. Day 1, for example, takes up almost three pages, while Days 2-4 take up 1.5 pages total. I am using some big vellum numbers by Crate Paper to mark the days.

In the first spread I documented one of our favorite Christmas traditions - Advent calendars. We have four of them this year! :)

With such a busy month we haven't had many holiday related events to include in the album, but there's always a photo or two relayed to Christmas for me to include - more often than not, it's a picture of our Elf on the shelf.

How are you documenting your December? Do you wait until the hustle and bustle of the holidays is over or do you attempt to document it while it's happening like me? I'd love to hear!

Make a Decorative Advent Calendar or December Daily With Photos

Hi everyone! Francine here to kick off our daily blogging for December. It's usually around this time of year (i.e. late) that I panic and try to come up with Advent Calendar and December Daily ideas. Last year while I was working on our Advent Calendar and thinking about December Daily,I suddenly had a fabulous idea! I can use last year's photos to do a quick decorative Advent Calendar! And so I did.

 

 

It came together really quickly, so if you're looking for a last minute idea, you could totally pull this off today.You can use this as an Advent Calendar, or as a way to display your December Daily. I used my daily photos from December of the previous year, and hung it all up at once. You can hang each day separately if you like.

Here's how I did it.

I used the Windows Photo Printing Wizard to print my photos off in the 3 x 5 size (9x13 cm if you're in Europe like me). That gets you four photos to an A4 or letter page.

 

I cut 24 pieces of kraft cardstock measuring 4 x 5.5 inches - I used four sheets of 12x12 paper.

 

Once the photos were stuck to the cardstock, I added some washi tape at the top.

Then I punched out 24 circles from white cardstock and added the numbers 1-24 using stickers.

I then hung the cards from Baker's twine using mini clothespins.

 

Squuuuuuueeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaal! I just loved it!

We were able to relive our Christmas Past. Kieran really enjoyed looking at the photos everyday (they were right outside his bedroom), and telling me about Christmas "when I was a baby."

 

Here are some ways you can use this idea:

1. You can hang the cards daily to use as a countdown and talk with your family about what happened one year ago.

2. You can write an activity on the back to do each day.

3. You can do this with the photos you take this year! A hanging December Daily!

 

Have I mentioned that this makes me so happy?

Once Christmas was over I bound the cards together in a book. All my journaling is in my online album, so I printed it out, stuck it on the back of each card and added covers.

Are you doing an Advent Calendar and/or December Daily this year?

Documenting your December | My Approach

Hi there and happy Friday! Doesn't the time seem to go by much faster this time of year?! It feels like we just wrapped up summer!

Either way, I am one of those people that loves the holiday season! I begin to plan the decorations and crafts I am making way ahead and I can't wait until December 1st (Advent 1st) to put all the decorations up!

Meanwhile, I made the decision to make a new album this year. Past years I have made a December album in different shapes. 

 

I have made my minibooks myself mostly. One out of an old children´s board book, loose pages with book rings and bound books like Amy Tan makes hers. My focus in these books have been different also. In 2007, I made a book that had favorites from the Holidays, like opening gifts, my favorite decoration etc. In 2009, I only made entries of what we did on each of the Advent Sundays leading up to Christmas Eve. 2010 was the first time I did a little bigger project. I didn't make a daily entry, but rather collected stories from throughout the month that were meaningful for me. 

 

Enter 2011. This is the year I made 2 (!) minibooks over the month of December. Yes, 2! Why you ask? Well, these two hadn't the same approach. One was much like the year before, with random stories from the holidays.

 

 

I made my book by just adding papers to a bunch and then folding everything in half, then sewed the spine together. 

 

In these books I like to play a bit more than I do in my other projects. You can see that I used one page per story.

 

I like to use up what materials I have on hand for the Holiday minis. Perhaps I buy a printable embellishment set or something to have little bits to add.

 

The other mini was built around the eBook from Ella called List it! Christmas edition. I loved this project! I picked 24 lists that spoke to me and filled one out for each day. You can see my whole finished book on my blog here.

 

Enter 2013, and I am going to start a whole new album. As I met my new love this year I am looking forward to start creating new traditions as well as introducing him to ours. So, I decided to make an annual December mini. I am going to add little bits and stories from throughout the month and keep it all in one album. I am using a Sn@p album from Simple Stories and their pocket pages. I haven't done a whole lot of preparing in the album, but rather gathered my supplies. I am using things that I already have and both the digital Christmas Project Life kit and the Holiday kit from Cocoa Daisy.  

I am looking forward to see how my album will turn out! I also hope that you have gotten a lot if inspiration from this week to document your December!

Lisa O

Documenting Your December - Keep It Practical

I have completed a December Daily album in each of the past three years, and I am at it again this year. It is by far my favorite project ever. I love Christmas, and working on my December Daily album makes me happy. The best advice I have to keep the process fun and manageable is not to set unrealistic expectations for yourself. If you're a planner, then plan ahead; if you like to fly by the seat of your pants, then do that. :)

Each of my albums has been different, and I love each one in a special way. If I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be my 2011 album - I really love the format, and I love that I made it entirely up from scratch.

In 2010, I had just gotten my Silhouette digital cutting machine, and I was going to be traveling for part of December, so I decided to make the entire album ahead of time with hybrid designs, and fill it in as I went. I turned out not being able to print photos and keep up with the second half of the album during my travels, but I put it together in the following months with no hassle.

The following two years I was home and able to more or less work on my albums as we progressed through December, so rather than preparing the whole album in advance, I chose to take it day by day. It worked very well for me and I love the freedom of being able to choose the design of each day based on the photos I have.

In 2011 I made the album from scratch, and bound it with my Cinch. One of my favorite parts of this album is that I included several full page photos.

In 2012, since I had a busy schedule in December with classes and exams, I decided to make things easy for me and used a pocket page system (the Martha Stewart 5.5"x8" album for Staples).

If you want to check out the completed albums, take a look on my blog.

This year, once again, I know December will be crazy for my schedule, so for the second year in a row I will use a pocket page style album (I'm using a 6"x8" Studio Calico Handbook this time).

I already cut out several hybrid cards, mostly from the Document Your December collections from The Lilypad. Last year I put together all my Christmas supplies in a tray. They don't get used very much during the year, but they will certainly get a good workout this next month. :)

I find it really helps to have everything at hand, because I have a tendency to forget about supplies that are not in plain sight. :)

And now.. I'd love to hear from you! Are you looking forward to December? What are your plans for documenting this month? Leave me a comment and let me know!

Documenting Your December - Photos To Capture

Hi and welcome back to "Documenting Your December" at write. click. scrapbook!  Monday was all about organizing your Christmas stash and yesterday was all about planning ahead. Today I am going to talk a little bit about photographing your December. A December Daily is a wonderful treasure to create, but the glue that holds the whole album together is the photos you capture throughout the month! 

Taking a photo a day for a month is relatively easy, but to get a nice complete album that encompasses the entire holiday it is good idea to set some time aside to plan a few activities/photo ideas before December rolls around.  You definitely don't need to plan each and every day of the month but it is nice to have a game plan in place to get you motivated to see the project through til the end!

 

Here are a few of my personal favorite moments to document throughout the month.

 

Document the traditions you share with your family. Be it a silly little elf that visits, cookies you make together, or games that you play. Take the time to document those traditions that make this the most wonderful time of the year.  

 

Something as simple as documenting the weather, adds to the overall feel of your album. We always dream of a white Christmas here, and when it happens it is something that gets photographed and goes in the album!

 

Christmas morning is the most wonderful time to take photos! The joy and excitement is easy to capture and makes for a fun photo collage for an album.

 

Of course, a December Daily is never complete without the yearly photo(s) with Santa. 

 

 

A Holiday Photo Checklist is a great tool to use to help keep you on track for the enitre month. Rebecca Cooper has a great holiday photo checklist here that I have used for my December Daily albums in the past! Better Homes & Gardens Scrapbooks etc. also has a great checklist available for use! Download and print these checklists out to keep as a constant reminder to capture those memories! 

There are so many magical moments we hope to capture when undertaking a project of this magnitude. My number 1 tip is to start off with a game plan, and always keep your camera nearby & on hand at all times. Capture what is happening and get it documented, the time you take to do that will make the album so much easier to put together :)

Documenting Your December - Planning Ahead

Hi and welcome back to "Documenting Your December" at write.click.scrapbook!  Yesterday was all about organizing your Christmas stash.  Be sure to check out yesterday's post for some creative organization tips!

Today, I thought I would talk a little about pre-planning your album.  As I mentioned previously, this is my third year doing a December album.  I pre-planned my pages by creating daily page dividers and daily pages my first year.  Last year, I took a more causal approach and decided to only prepare my cover prior to December.

 

My goal with last year was to use my Christmas stash and try to minimize any large purchases.  I stuck with a simple paper covered chipboard cover and just used large rings to bind my book.  The pretty red ribbon was definitely a necessity as the month went on....this book is jam-packed with goodness!!

I liked the freedom the "daily" approach gave me.  But it definitely was more work and December is just a crazy busy month as it is, so it was a challenge to get it completed!!

This year, I am using the December Memories kit from Gossamer Blue.  Kits are great because they have everything you need for both pre-planning your album, as well as completing your album throughout the month!  This Gossamer Blue kit is amazing and I'm so excited to have my album pre-planned well before Thanksgiving this year!

I am using the page protectors that come with the album and I also created some of my own page dividers by trimming paper the same size as the entire page protector.  I like a mix of plastic and paper throughout my books.

I also like to have lots of "peek-a-boos" throughout my albums and have created confetti pockets and used alpha/tags by themselves in pockets to give that "see through" effect.  Don't feel like you have to add something to every pocket when you are pre-planning your pages.  You will need plenty of room for journaling and pictures throughout December!

When pre-planning your album, be sure to "think outside of the box".  For the page above, I trimmed down a page protector so I would have a smaller 2 picture insert.  This continues with the transparent effect and leaves the next page peeking through.

The album may look pretty bare now, but soon it will be filled with our December memories!!

Have you started your planning process yet? Remember to keep it simple!  You don't have to do too much now.  Just try to get things in your album!  You can always move them around when you have your pictures and memories in mind.  Sometimes it's easier to have a "base" rather than trying to organize, plan and create all at the same time!

Thanks so much for joining me today!!  Be sure to check back tomorrow for more "documenting your December" fun!!

Documenting Your December - Introduction & Organizing

Hi everyone!!  Welcome to a new week at write. click. scrapbook. This week we are diving into the holiday season early to get you all ready to document your December.

Ali Edwards embarks on her traditional "December Daily" every year and the result is just amazing! This will be my third year of completing a December album and it is, by far, my favorite project each year. I love pulling out my albums at the beginning of the holiday season and flipping through our memories. My kids and husband especially love them, which make them even more special!

Today I thought I would focus on "getting organized" since that's the sometimes the biggest part of the project....and the most fun, I think! I keep all of my Christmas supplies tucked away in plastic bins and only pull them out when Christmas is in sight! It keeps them "magical" and new!

Once I pull out my supplies, I try to organize them to see what I have to work with.  I love using random little bowls and muffin tins when I organize. Cups, bowls and smaller dishes make it easy to transport your embellishments and other supplies when working on your album. 

Glass jars are perfect for storing your supplies as well! They keep everything in sight, and like the bowls, are easy to transport from place to place!

Baskets are great for storing larger items like sticker sets, bags, stamp sets and alphas. You can often find great baskets at the dollar store of the dollar spot at Target!

I keep loose items, like tags, trimmed papers and die cuts, in a small suitcase. When I work on my album, I dump everything out on my table and then rummage through them to find the perfect embellishment! To clean up, I just add everything back into the suitcase and then close the lid. 

So go get your supplies out and start organizing! I promise you will be inspired to create once you get everything unpacked and out in the open!  

I will be back tomorrow to continue on our "Documenting Your December" week!

Calendar Week - Day 4

So far, in this Calendar Week, we have been focusing on calendars in their most traditional use, and as standalone projects. Now, let's look at how to incorporate calendars in mini albums and other projects to keep track of time.

The reason I include calendars in these projects is to add a time reference, but I always like to make the calendars part an integral of the design. I usually accomplish this by customizing colors and themes.

Mini Albums

For mini albums, especially ones that are dedicated to specific periods in time such as December Daily, I love to include a calendar. Here are two examples for my two past DD albums.

In 2011, I included a printed digital calendar element to the inside cover of my album. That year, my album had a red+aqua color scheme, so this calendar was a perfect match.

Last year, I layered the calendar on top of a digital paper, and used it on the first page of my album.

Pocket Page Scrapbooking

I am a huge fan of Becky Higgins' Project Life concept to document our everyday life. I make weekly 2-page spreads, and each week I like to include a way to keep track of time. Calendars are a great way to accomplish this purpose, and also add visual interest.

For this card, I used Amy Tangerine's customizable calendar stamp by American Crafts. Since this particular week was spanning two months, I thought this ampersand card would go be a good complement.

Here is another example of how I included the calendar stamp in another pocket. I added some arrows to highlight the particular week.

Finally, here's a card created digitally, and printed out. I used the calendar cards by creashens. I love how the different elements on these cards come in separate files, because it allowed me to change the colors and rearrange the big numbers as needed to spell out the week number.

Do you include calendar elements in your mini albums? I'd love to see your examples, please share them in the comments!

Christmas in July

Carey Bridges here, and today I'm bringing you a little Christmas in July! Yes, you read that right...Christmas. Being in the heat of the summer in the middle U.S. makes me think of the cooler days ahead and how quickly the Holiday Season will be upon us. Plus, all of the sneaks peeks from the Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) Summer Conference and Trade Show have been tempting me with the gorgeous winter and holiday releases.

 

Since 2007, I have set out to capture my Christmas Season through daily documentation, whether you call it a Christmas journal, December Daily or Project Life. I've gotten anywhere from a completed journal (all the way through January 6th, the Twelfth Day of Christmas), to just notes on my phone and photos awaiting time to scrapbook them, to fizzling out after a week. 

 

As I look back over my various attempts and look forward to planning for Christmas 2013, I realize I’ve been successful at completing albums when I adhere to the following tips.

1. Keep it simple. I love decorating my pages, but when I give myself permission to keep it simple and just move on, the project is much more manageable.
2. Limit the choices. Generally by staying with one line and a few coordinating embellishments to repeat throughout the album, I spend less time looking for or picking out products and more time scrapbooking. Using one line also gives the album a more cohesive feel.
3. Prepare in advance. This is probably the most important key to success. I’m an “in the moment” kind of scrapper, and I love to play with my newest acquisitions. But for a big project like this, I prepare page bases beforehand that can be reordered in the album to fit the daily topic. I leave the embellishments and finishing touches for during the season. This keeps me from feeling too restrained and gives me the ability to change it up when I’m adding the photos and stories.
4. Don’t stress about falling behind. The Holidays are busy, and I do fall behind in documenting and creating. I set myself up for success by having page bases ready, by making sure I at least jot down a few notes each day, and also by telling myself it’s OK if I’m not caught up. I know my notes and photos are there for when I do get time to scrapbook them.

When I look through what I’ve captured from past Christmas seasons, through the various stages from notes all the way to completed albums, I am so happy to have those fleeting memories recorded!

How do you plan to capture your Christmas 2013?