Completed: December Daily 2013

I don't know about you but my December was literally a blur. It was a frenzy of activity, traditions, holiday parties, baking, snow & general holiday insanity.

Honestly, I started the month with awesome intentions! I thought I would get a chance to work on my December Daily a few times throughout the month but no such luck. I'm not totally unrealistic-I knew that doing a DD daily was not in the cards for me but I usually print pictures on the weekends and have some time to sit down and put together the previous week in one shot. I didn't crack the spine until December 23rd.  In fact, my scrapbooking table remained piled high with stuff-new product, class kits & supplies, wrapping paper & tools.

See, we decided to lay hardwood in our hallway last month. Or rather, my Dad is awesome and laid hardwood for us two weeks before Christmas. It looks amazing and I am very grateful the awful carpet is gone but it created a mess in the scrapbooking room as it became a bit of a catch all for the tools- saws, hardwood, scraps, screwdrivers, you name it. It really put a damper on my crafting process.

But I finally got around to printing photos and cleaning up the room the weekend before Christmas. I had everything ready to go for Crop night at my LSS on December 22nd. I packed, got the photos developed & then I forgot to bring the album with me. Yep. I was bummed.

So finally, two days before Christmas I started it. And then I vowed to finish it before the end of December. And I did.

There are so many photos to share from a full album so instead of posting each one I created a slideshow using Flikr.


Created with flickr slideshow.
If you're still interested in a closer look you can check out the set of pictures on my flikr page here.

The album I used is by Studio Calico's Magical collection. For the contents of this album I used mainly the December Daily kit created by The Paperie. I did add some stamps from my collection & some other embellishments like the gold thickers you see throughout the album in addition to the kit.

If you are still trying to finish your DD, or still in the holiday spirit, I've also been closely watching a few others creations via their blogs including Ali's. Here are a few links to some bloggers whose December daily posts I loved this season:

Ali Edwards: Studio AE
Layle Koncar: 6 Degrees
Kelly Purkey: It's me, KP
Amy Tangerine
Gerelyn Sy: In A Creative Bubble
Elsie of A Beautiful Mess

Just a little extra inspiration for you this week if you haven't finished yours yet. If you're working on yours I'd love to see it & if you're procrastinating, don't worry! It will all get done eventually! My recommendation is to carve out some time to create for yourself! Schedule it in and treat it like an appointment you can't miss! It will feed your soul & get it crossed off your list.

xoxo
K

Bring it: December Daily 2013

Welcome to December! 

You know what that means don’t you?! It’s time to start documenting in your December Daily! I’m obviously very excited! This month I'll be sharing ideas for working on your December Daily with the community at The Paperie and here on my blog as well. 

So today, as you embark on your December Daily or your December Memories-whatever you’re title or theme may be- I’d like to share a little wisdom with you. 

First and foremost, keep it simple. 

The holidays are overwhelming enough without adding your scrapbooking to the stress as well. This is supposed to be fun- for you and your family, if you chose to involve them. 

Stick to a formula. 

If you’ve already created your album then you know what you’re going into each day. Keep your album handy when you’re getting ready to develop your photos so you have an idea what size to print. 

Get organized. 

Gather all your materials in one place. 

Put the little embellishments in bowls so you can see them. Stack your larger sheets of embellishments and letters in a container. Store your bits and pieces of paper in your pizza box that your December Daily came in. If everything is stored in one place it will be easier and much quicker to put together each day.

You don’t have to record every day. 

For that matter you shouldn’t feel obligated to scrap the days events every night either. I tend to work in spurts. I develop a few days worth of photos and then I work on a couple days at a time. I wish I were more organized and motivated enough to do each day as they come, but that’s not my style. Do what works for you. 

Remember that this is all about the photos + words. 

Don’t forget to tell your story. Beautiful pictures are only the half of it so use journaling cards, envelopes, pockets-whatever you have on hand to get the stories in there as well. 

Happy December! I can't wait to create and share mine with you! 

xoxo
K 

5 For Friday

*The fountains at The Bellagio. 

1. We just returned from Vegas early this week-more on that soon- & I'm reliving it all by watching Ocean's 11. Love. The Hangover might be next in the line-up.

2. It's hard to believe but Christmas is upon us! I, for one, am pumped! Tonight we're holding a Parent Survival Night at The Paperie from 6-9 for anyone who wants some entertaining babysitters-complete with a pizza dinner & some handmade cool cards! Call the store to sign up or check it out!



3. Write. Click. Scrapbook. is doing a 'Documenting Your December' on their blog this week which is worth a look if you're working on a December Daily for the holidays. There's some excellent information in there.

4. Elsie & Emma from A Beautiful Mess can truly do no wrong! Check out what they did to their Laundry machines to jazz them up. Seriously?! Where do they come up with it all?! Love. It. So, that just got added to my 'lanudry list' ;) of things to-do around the house.

5. I've been reading voraciously this Fall and have a number of books to share with you. Be on the look out for that post next week! Right now I'm reading 'Crazy Rish Asians', recommended by a friend. It's very good so far.

Have a happy weekend! We stickin' around home for the first time in two weekends and I for one am pumped to clean the house (weirdo aren't I?!) and laze around with my fur-baby and husband.

xoxo
K

December Daily- You Are Done.

So it turns out having too much Xmas supplies is as bad as not having enough. One of my biggest issues was choosing what to use.

This year I ordered the Studio Calico DD kit & Kelly Purkey's DD kit. And then I couldn't resist a few extras from Basic Grey, October Afternoon, Crate Paper. Not to mention the ton of supplies that I had left over from all the other years of Xmas bits and pieces. So I had so much to choose from when I finally got down to business in making my album.

But it's finally done.



Cover supplies include: Studio Calico DD kit: album,  washi tape, Crate Paper boarder sticker, SC wood veneet, AC gold letters, BG blue letter, sequins. Kelly Purkey kit: 'Joy' card, background paper polka dots. Tree is a Chapters ornament that I stuck on there with a load of glossy accents.

I stuck with 25 days instead of my usual 31 because I was ready to be done-and by the look of the size of the album so was it. I will admit that the 4 by 6 size made it very easy to complete the album in record time seeing as how I didn't prep anything ahead of time. I also stuck to focusing on one event per day rather than trying to cram everything from each day into the album. In the past that's made it very overwhelming.

Even though it took me a little longer to get it all done this year I was pleasantly surprised with the ease with which it all came together.

So here's a bunch of photos of what it all looks like.







































And my very favourite-the last page...



How can you not be in love with that sleepy puppy? Christmas IS exhausting. This was taken using my iphone on the way home from our Christmas day festivities. It was a fluke that it turned out so perfect. Might be framing this one.

A few of the pages I love the most are December 4th-



The stamped sentiment is from an old SC set but it was so perfect for this pattern paper.

Then there's Dec. 9. It was so hard to chose photos from this one because it was such a fun night.



I love this shot. In the car, rear view mirror, using the iphone.



This was one of the few interactive elements I did to include a few more shots. It's a little strip of photos that folds out. It's adhered on top of the page protector.




And that's it. She's just full enough and she is lovely. I am so pleased that it's all done.



xoxo
K

5 For Friday

1. I wanted to share the layouts that I made in the class I took from Kelly Goree at the Crop & Create in Ottawa. She was too cute and her layouts were easy to replicate and are exactly what I love-lots of layers. She has a knack for combining pattern papers.

I've finally added photos and finished two of them. There's one more but it still needs some journaling so I'll share that one when it's done.






2. Have you seen Kelly Purkey's December Daily album kit? If not, check out her instagram feed. If I could marry a kit this would be it. It's such a beautiful combination of exclusives from small shop owners. I love that she's showcasing some special talent that's out there! I WILL be ordering one. 

3. More Kelly Purkey love-new stamps at Simon Says Stamp. Probably going to grab this one and this one. She really should just take my money when she makes the decision to create something.

4. Selling a bunch of stamps at The Paperie's stamp sale tomorrow. There will be lots of exclusive SC stamps from older kits. It's worth coming to check it out. Doors open at 10:00!

5. Tonight we're going to a Halloween party. I'm pretty excited to debut our costumes. I've been working on them tirelessly all week long. They're pretty cute!

Have a wonderful weekend. Enjoy any Halloween festivities you might have going on this weekend!

xoxo
K

December Daily: 1-4

I've been busy living life and haven't been very good about blogging it lately. I have managed to get some scrapbooking done though.

So, without further ado, the December Daily 1-4 pages.

December 1st: our tree went up. One simple 6*8 photo. I love that size.



December 2nd: we said goodbye to Matthew's mustache which he grew to raise money for the children's wish foundation. I'm having to have this clean, baby face back!



December 3rd: The nutcracker at the National Arts Centre (spectacular by the way!).



December 4: (page one) Skype dates with by camp BF...we laughed a lot



December 4: (page two) Baking cranberry bliss bars

That's all I have so far. I will do another chunk tomorrow night or on the weekend to catch up I suspect. We have a busy couple of days coming-a dinner out with friends, a play, M's holiday work party, a holiday brunch and Secret Santa with our friends. It'll all make for some great photos though!

xoxo
K

Hello December!

It's here! Today is December 1st and that means December Daily time. I've got lots of random things to discuss today so if you're her for my December Daily pics scroll toward the bottom.

It's been a rainy day here in O-Town but that hasn't lessened my holiday spirit. I started my day with a lovely email informing me that a donation had been made in my name to the Stephen Lewis Foundation. The Stephan Lewis Foundation is supported by a group near and dear to our hearts at school as we have a number of friends who are members of Grandmothers to Grandmothers who raise money to support African women. Today is International Aids Day. I was honored to have a donation made in my name. If you are interested in making a donation you can go here.

Today I also made a discovery via Ali's blog. I found Reverb 10. A very cool journaling site just for December. Here's the description on their blog:

Reverb 10 is an annual event and online initiative to reflect on your year and manifest what’s next. The end of the year is an opportunity to reflect on what's happened, and to send out reverberations for the year ahead. With Reverb 10, we'll do both.

The idea is you receive a prompt each day, write about it and then share it with others. Here's today's prompt as an example:

December 1 One Word.
Encapsulate the year 2010 in one word. Explain why you’re choosing that word. Now, imagine it’s one year from today, what would you like the word to be that captures 2011 for you?
(Author: Gwen Bell)

I would love to keep up with this activity in addition to the December Daily but I don't think i'll be able to write and post every day. I may have to do it in spurts like the December Daily creation.

And finally...

December Daily Day 1.

I love to decorate more than anything. It's a trait I inherited from my mother. Nobody does holiday decor like my mom. Sunday I put up our garlands but tonight, in honor of December 1st, we put up our tree. I fluffed, lit, ribboned and hung ornaments on, what we've dubbed, as our 'toilet brush tree'. We've had it for four years now. Next year we'll have a new pre-lit tree but for this year we're stuck with this one. I figure the more lights, ribbon and ornaments that we add to it disguises the actual tree itself. Here's a few shots of the process.

First the fluffing...

Then the lights. Not my job.



Ribbon.



Ornaments.





All done.

All of our decor is red and silver. I love the way the lights sparkles off all the silver. It looks magical.

In addition to the tree I also put out our nativity set. My mom has been giving me pieces of this set for years. It's finally complete.

And of course, no Christmas is complete without this-

Matthew proposed to me 3 years ago with this book on Christmas Eve. Fitting that our wedding photo stands in front of it don't you think?!

I hope you kicked off your December with a wonderful day today. Happy December!

xoxo
K