Tag Archives: December Daily

Memory keeping: December Daily – Day 1

Posted in Creative Practice, December Daily, December Daily 2016, Memory Keeping, Scrapbooking, Writing by

Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit

Happy December !  Is anyone else as astonished as I am that we are at the last month of the year?  Holy mackerel how did that happen?  Well, if it’s December, it’s time for December Daily.  December Daily is a memory keeping project by Ali Edwards.  This will be my 7th? 8th? 9th? year documenting my December (I’ll have to count the albums I have completed to be sure on the #).  I love this project.  I give myself design parameters, it has a beginning and an end date (both things decided by moi) and I love that is different from year to year as our lives are unfolding differently every year.

One of my intentions was to do a little work upfront and set up the album ahead of time so I could just slip photos and stories into the pockets and be done with that day.  Nah, didn’t happen…life and the “lets make all new flannel covers for the throw pillows” project got in the way of that.  Add in a last minute 4 day trip to Rochester to see my Dad and help him with a few things and yep, no upfront work.  BUT   I have a story and a photo and that’s all I really need isn’t it?!

day1-print

Todays story is about how thankful I am for my sorority sisters (and Dave – honorary Alpha Gam) and how lifted up I was last night with them.  We had the waitress take a photo of us…and, it’s not a great photo…the bar was dark but who cares?  A photo, a story, a bit of cute card…that’s all you need, I have always used paper and hybrid/digi in my albums and this year is no exception.   I’m still on the road so this layout is all digital,  when I get home I will be printing this out at home (it’s 6×8, my album size for this year) perhaps adding some embellishments on top (washi tape, stars, have to see what’s in the kit) and slipping it in the page protector….easy peasy done!

Happy December Documenting everyone!

 

December Daily …yes, another project (!)

Posted in Craft, Creative Practice, December Daily, December Daily 2015, Documenting Life, In the Studio, Memory Keeping, Writing by

I’m excited to start working on our 2015 December Daily album, it is finally December (my birthday month for which I wait patiently all year!)  and time to dig in to the project.  This will be the 6th or 7th year I’ve done a December Documentation album and this project is one of my very favorites.  If you’re not familiar with the project, hop on over to Ali Edwards Blog and read about the project and her approach.  Love Ali, Love this project and Love December!!

Let’s begin… I’ll apologize for the crummy photos, I will try and re-shoot everything at another time but it’s pretty much dark here at 3:45 because of the weather so not so good for photos.   My goal for this year is really to tell one story a day.  Some years I’ve told one, some years I’ve had several things going on and some years it’s just been a piece of pretty paper (not that there is anything wrong with that).  I’m really starting my album with Thanksgiving but those pages aren’t done yet, wanted to get a jump on December stories and try and get into a daily rhythm .

DD2015-Day1blog

The story of December 1 was a story of being able to laugh at yourself, being able to not take yourself too seriously, and being gracious in the face of extreme goofiness.

DD2015-Day1ablog

Why you ask?  Because my hubby last night took a photo of me nodding off on the couch and posted it on Facebook (!)  general consensus?  He is in very big trouble.  Everyone thought it was hysterically funny (In my defense, it was well past 10 and it had been a long day with a glass of wine at the end).  So not only was I a good sport about the whole thing, It was the perfect story to document general everyday silliness around here….and I will note that when I asked him to take down the post this morning, he did it right away.

This year I’m using Ali’s December Daily Kit as well as the One Little Bird Mini-Kit for my album, along with other supplies I have around the studio.  Hope you give a project like this a try, it can be as simple or as ornate as you like!  I’ll post more general photos/thoughts/ideas later…time to go pick up the girls from basketball practice…one bonus of December here in New England…sports (at least the ones the girls play) move inside!

What are you working on this December?

 

memorykeeping:: December Daily-my why…

Posted in Creative Practice, December Daily, December Daily 2014, Documenting Life, Make Stuff, Memory Keeping, Scrapbooking by

I do not think I have included a formal introduction page on any album I’ve done.  Honestly, it really never occurred to me since most of my albums are either from a vacation or a special event.  My general albums are arranged chronologically, at least until 2007 when I fell off the bandwagon and now I just stack layouts into albums haphazardly…but that is another blog post.  anyway  I thought it might be a nice introduction to talk about why I make these albums, so Inspired by Ali, I made up a “why” page.  I made this page digitally using Christmas themed digital paper for the background, then lowering the opacity by about 50% so its faint in the background.  I used Remington Noiseless as my font and made it bold to stand out.   It was looking a little plain so I added a bit of Christmas washi tape and a “joy” button. The finished page is on the right in this photo, it will be the back of the title page for the album.

DD2014-first two pages

The text reads:

We record the holidays:

To stop time even for just the instant it takes to record an image. That moment will never come again, but we can relive it over and over as an image.

To honor the past as we trim the tree, we talk about the ornaments we have, where we got them, who gave them to us, the family stories come alive. At gatherings, we share stories and old traditions and start new traditions.

To dream of the future this time of year gives us pause to reflect and dream about what we can make manifest in our lives for the coming year. Because time goes far far too quickly and we want to remember every little detail.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas 2014

I like it.

You can learn more about Ali (an awesome person and inspiring memory keeper) and her December Daily project HERE on her blog.

 

memorykeeping:: December Daily-beginnings and endings

Posted in Creative Practice, December Daily, December Daily 2014, Documenting Life, Make Stuff, Memory Keeping, Scrapbooking by

This will be the 6th year I have kept a scrapbook album specifically about the holidays.  I have been inspired the last several years by Ali Edwards December Daily project.  You can learn more about Ali (an awesome person and inspiring memory keeper) and her December Daily project HERE on her blog.  I have included photos from my 2012 December Daily on my blog, that year was one of my favorites for ease and simplicity.  Hopefully if I get some time, I can get other years up to share.

This year I am once again participating in December memory keeping, I have decided to run my album from Thanksgiving to Christmas…and maybe to New Year’s, we’ll see.    I have been doing a lot of thinking about process lately and one place where I get hung up is on the beginning and ending of album projects.  I decided to solve the problem by doing the first and last page in one whack tonight and wanted to share them here with you…

DD2014-first two pages

The title page is on the left, the page behind it on the right.  Yes, the photo is crummy as it’s dark at 3:30 around here now and consequently, most projects are getting worked on in the dark!  I used some new paper that I picked up that I love…very vintage-ey…I colored it oh so slightly with colored pencil, tried some embossing on the tree in white and silver and used some new brads for the top, and number stickers for the bottom.  Simple. Easy. Done.

Back Page

The back page?  I saw a beautiful wood cutout at Absolutely Everything last weekend and knew it was going to be the focal point of the last page… I embossed it with silver embossing powder, picked out a piece of beautiful paper, attached one to the other and voila!  Last page.  Simple. Easy. Done.   (note…working with these die cuts is tough they are very fragile so handle them with great care so they don’t snap…like mine did!)

There now, that’s better!  Solved the beginning and ending bits quite nicely I think!  Looking forward to working on this project more in the coming week!  Hello the Holidays!

Do you have a Holiday project you’re working on?!  I’d love to hear about it!

 

 

 

Memorykeeping::December Daily 2013…and notes for this year

Posted in Craft, December Daily, Documenting Life, In the Studio, Memory Keeping by

December Daily 2013…

Yes, you read that right, 2013…. but, aren’t we getting ready for December Daily 2014?  Yes… OK full disclosure, I finished my 2013 December Daily… on October 5, 2014.  Yes, 9 months later I finally finished it.  And boy, does it feel good to get that project off my work table.  Honestly, it took a few uninterrupted hours that weekend to pull it all together, at the end of the day, it really did not take that long

hellooo procrastination!

So what worked and what didn’t as I get ready to document December 2014?

  • Not focusing on taking a photo a day, some days didn’t have a dedicated photo, some photos I just tucked in anywhere.
  • Printing photos at home/local photo printing…. I’d planned out the album/photo sizes with post-it notes in December/January so I knew what photos needed to be which size.
  • Using “themed” products… Last year I fell in love with the “Reflections Christmas” line by Lori Whitlock for EP Designs… because I also work digitally, I was able to purchase the digital package that matched the paper products.
  • Adding words and embellishments onto the photos before printing
  • The 6×8 format with multiple options for page protectors…. Love this size, it’s perfect for a project like this.
  • Transparent elements…If I hadn’t been so behind, I would have used my silhouette to cut things out.
  • Actual “Stuff” this format was perfect for everyone’s Christmas lists folded and tucked into a full 6×8 page protector.  Also lots of drawings and programs punched and put right in or pasted onto cards.

What I used most of:

*Paper….love love love paper, a lot from the line and some I had in my stash that coordinated.  I basically bought one or two sheets of every design plus a 6×6 paper pad.

*Brads…some that I bought that coordinated with the line and some I had

*6×6 paper pad… Loved working with this!  The scale is just right for the smaller pockets

*3×4 and 4×6 “cards” that coordinated w the line… I’d purchased 12×12 sheets of paper that had 3×4 and 4×6 cards to cut apart…used a lot of these for journaling.

*Digital Dates from Ali Edwards on the photos to identify those from specific dates.  I changed the colors to match the colors of the products.  Love doing this.

*Card stock and regular stickers from the line

What I didn’t use at all…

*Stamps, did not stamp one thing.  The girls had even bought me a cute santa stamp for my birthday to use but I never even thought to pick it up….can use it on a layout but honestly, I just don’t think I’m really a “stamping” kind of gal.

*Rub-ons, had some cute gold stars pulled but never used them.

*Wood veneer which I love the look of but totally forgot to include.

*Washi tape and ribbon…two of my faves but just couldn’t seem to work them in!

Notes for next time…

*Definitely pick a themed product line with a lot of stuff and buy strategically. I have tons of extra stuff…. will look for papers, journal cards, brads, stickers and other dimensional items.  I’m hoping that October Afternoon with have an awesome vintage Christmas line this year.

*Print at home/local worked great.

*Using the 6×8 album format…will be my go-to again this year.

*Taking lots of photos so I have lots to chose from…I will say I’ve been taking less photos as I’ve been involved in doing more things!

*Organize my silhouette cut files and files I can convert so I can easily find and use them!

Today is the Friday after Thanksgiving and I’m just getting started working on DD for 2014, tomorrow is a quick trip to my local scrapbooking store and then some strategizing and setting up the album in between tree trimming, house cleaning and Patriots game hosting!  I’ll keep you posted on the progress!