December Daily - Days 22-25 (and a look at my chunky little book)

Hello and Happy Saturday!! This is the first of TWO posts today and I catch up a little bit!! I had planned to get this post up yesterday, but I lost the light and couldn't get these last pages of my December Daily photographed until earlier today!! I always love this project every year but I also love when my books is completed and can be put on the shelf next to the past years albums!! Some years take me well into the new year to finish. This year, I think the smaller size really helped me finish right on New Year's Day!!! So, with that being said, this post is going to be photo heavy like the past few, but I've got the last few days of my book to share along with a look at the full, chunky book all tied together with some ribbon!!

Day 22: You may remember from Day 21 that I thought I might add a tab to the outside of the 3x4 page, and I decided to. I didn't take a pic of Day 21 again, but there is a tab on that side of the page too!! This page highlights an awesome Christmas Card we received from my mom's cousin and her husband!! It's a flip up page too. You may also remember that "all is calm" photo from earlier in my book. I decided to move it here because it created a great top to the flip up page. I also added an avery tab to indicate that it was a flip up page.

When you flip it up, it reveals a photo and writing about the photo. In the Christmas Card we received several OLD photos of my grandparents. Such a treasure and I loved it!!

This is how days 23 and 24 will sit in the album!! One has lots of writing while the other has none but is full of traditions, old (top) and new (bottom)!!

 Day 23: I loved this 4x6 card from the SC 25 days class, so I trimmed it down to fit my album. It doesn't include 25 wishes as it might suggest, but rather the story of day 23 and enjoying a lazy morning with my hubby before I went to work (and had to work late). We made pancakes and eggs and it was great to just spend some time together at a point in the season when things get really crazy busy at work for me and really slow at work for him.

Day 24: I kept it super simple for Christmas Even, and eventually Christmas Day as well!! We both had to work, but his day was slow and ended pretty early. My day was crazy busy and ended around 4 in the afternoon! For the first time ever, I made a family cookie recipe that's about 4 generations old. It was my great grandmother's on my father's side for Hungarian Pastries. My mom used to make them every year when I was growing up, one batch with walnut filling and one batch with apricot filling. I was never a fan of the apricot filling so I just made mine with the walnuts! I was excited to have gotten the recipe from my parents this year, as I haven't had these since I moved out and down to FL in 2000!!! We made them together which was also great!!! New Christmas Eve tradition for sure, to go along with our traditional selfie and watching of Scrooged!!

Day 25: The big day!! I have a few pages for this day of course!!! Started off with that old October Afternoon Santa!! Loved it when I found it in my stash when I was pulling supplies for this mini and held it until the big day!! I wanted to use it on the page that marked the day...so that's what I did!! Opposite the Santa are a few photos from our morning at home. Our tree with the presents, watching Mickey's Christmas Carol before the parade with our traditional breakfast of cinnamon rolls, and one last Starbucks red cup (since they were open...and quite busy I might add).

The back of the 4 photo page includes photos from Christmas afternoon at my in-laws. Last year, I did an Insta Weather photo documenting the over 70* temps (it's FL) so this year I decided to do the same and it was only 58*. No chance of a white Christmas here, but much cooler than last year and kinda felt more right for Christmas Day than it did last year!!! There's a selfie with our niece and nephew as well that I couldn't resist taking and a photo of my hubby playing with another niece and nephew shooting nerf darts at my brother-in-law...the willing target (boys will be boys even at 41 and 36)!!! Then the opposite page is our traditional Christmas Day selfie in front of the fresh wreath on our front door (that finally started to smell nice in the days leading up to Christmas)!

I finished off the book with some more word art made with Rhonna's app. Just kept it simple!!

And these last few are a look at my finished book!! I had to tie it with some ribbon to keep it shut. It's still really chunky!! I stamped the label with some older December Daily stamps that I had in my stamp stash.

I was really happy when I added this little book to my December Daily shelf!! Another year complete...more memories made...more traditions upheld or started!! Can't wait for December 2015!!! Thanks for stopping by!!
deb

December Daily Days 18-21

Happy Wednesday and Happy New Year's Eve!!! I can't believe it's the last day of 2014!!! I feel like we just did this!! The years are going faster and faster as I get older!! Time needs to slow down a little!! I wanted to hop on early and share 4 more days from my December Daily chunky mini book!! Today I'm sharing days 18-21.

Day 18: I must have been living under a rock because I had seen a lot of cards, notebooks, and other stationary items from Rifle Paper Co all over my instagram feed and found out that they're flagship store and production space is local!!! We took our dog Daisy to get groomed near the shop so we stopped by for the first time ever on our way to pick her up. I took a quick picture, which I attached to the back of our holiday card (used some strong adhesive) and snagged a business card...both while I was being checked out! Used a to/from tag from the Studio Calico 25 days class printables to type up the story! I just made it relevant to the page by covering up the to/from part of the tag!!

Day 19: One of the gifts my husband got for his birthday was How To Train Your Dragon 2. To say he LOVES those movies would be an understatement. He couldn't wait to watch it so we broke it out!! Took a selfie of me and our new cat laying on him at the end of the movie. Love this page and the memories it holds!!

Day 20: We don't have any human kids but we do have 4 furbabies. One of my favorite photos from a few years back is one of our little family the December before we lost our first dog, Apollo that following June. I am so thankful to have taken that photo!! This year, I knew with 3 cats it would be impossible to have everyone in one picture, so I suggested a selfie with each of our "kids" to my hubby and he was completely onboard with the idea!! I made sure to add the ages of each baby so as we look back we can get a sense of time. I'm already excited about doing this again in 2015 because I can't wait to see how much our newest addition has grown, considering he's only 2 months old!!

Here's how days 19 and 20 look in the album.

Day 21: Crazy Christmas Cookie Baking day!!! I hate to cook but I LOVE to bake!! This year m hubby was able to help and I loved that we were able to do this together this year!! I took a photo of the tray of cookies we kept home. The rest went to work with me the next day!! We usually keep a small sample of each cookie to enjoy!!   We made a lot of cookies and fudge...it took pretty much all day...but I LOVED every minute of it and will do it again next year in a heart beat!! The opposite side of the page is another 3x4 card from the Studio Calico 25 days class kit. I just altered a page protector so the card wouldn't slip slide around!! I ended up adding a circle label to the outside of the page, which you'll see on Friday when I share the last 4 days of this chunky little mini book!!

I'll be back later to share our New Year's Eve selfie for wordless Wednesday!! Do you have big plans for tonight?? I have to work today but I'm off in plenty of time to go out and celebrate a little! Hope you get to as well!! Until next time...thanks for stopping by!!
deb

December Daily Days 14-17

Hello and happy Tuesday!! I can't believe that 2014 is almost done and in the books. I'm looking forward to all that 2015 might bring...the hope and promise of the new year is always exciting to me!! I'm not sure that I'll get my December Daily completely shared before the calendar turns over, but my plan is to get it all completed and shared before the week is over!! I love the project every year but I'm usually really ready to be done with it be the end of the month/year.

Today, I'm bringing you 4 more days in my little mini album. I swear, I am over the moon in love with the size of the album I'm using this year. It's quite a chunky little book already and I've still got 4 days left to complete!! But onto the project for today...

Day 14: Finally getting around to getting a photo of our big fake tree and mantle!! This year my hubby wanted to just use the white and blue lights on our tree. I would have preferred many more lights and mixing in the multi-colored lights, but we did that this year, so we went with what he wanted!! Kept it simple. I'm sensing  theme about our Christmas this year!! I also finally used that wood chip I had been hoarding from one of my Studio Calico kits!! I pulled the twine out of the top of the page protector and stitched around the entire page protector to keep the chip stable.

Day 15: Used the back side of the wood chip for the date again. Put that together before putting it into the page protector and stitching it in place!! This day is all about a tradition that is unique to my hubby and I, not a tradition we brought into our little family from the traditions we each had growing up. Every year, the local fire department comes around the neighborhood with the lights and some sirens blaring, with Santa on a trailer being towed by the last fire pick up truck!! I LOVE this every year and get so excited about it!! There was one year that I had to work late when they came around and my hubby recorded it on his cell phone for me!! That's how much I love this little tradition. But thanks to Timehop...we think we've got it narrowed down to when they will be around next year, so I know to make sure I don't have to work late!!

The photos aren't stellar or award winning, but they are a perfect representation of the tradition!! Just a simple gold label with typed writing on the grid photo. Super simple!!

Here's how days 16 and 17 look in my book.

Day 16: We might put up our big fake tree every year but we get a real wreath for our tree. I love smelling it every time we go in and out the front door!! But since we live in FL...flip flops can be worn when going to pick out said wreath...in December!!!

Day 17: Included our holiday card for this year, but since it was an 8x4 card, I had to get a little creative to include it. I folded the card and created a spot for the writing...which was about how much I loved our card photo this year!! And yes, I did get them out pretty late, but they arrived just before Christmas!!!

I included a tab on the end to encourage flipping it open to see the actual card itself. I punched holes right in the card using a page protector as a template. Love that I included the card again this year. I did it last year too!! Will be fun to look back on these in the coming years and see how we've changed!!

I'm getting to the point where the pages don't lie flat or open enough to photograph the days inside the album!!! Did I mention how much I love that it's getting filled and chunky!! So many memories in this little book!! Happy, merry memories!!! I'll be back tomorrow with 4 more days to share!! Until then...thanks for stopping by!!!
deb

December Daily Days 8-13

Well I pretty much knew once my vacation was over and I returned back to work I would fall behind with this project, even if I was doing my best to keep it super simple! Then once I got a bit of a good start catching up, it was almost Christmas and I decided I'd rather enjoy every moment of the season before it was over and not spend too much time pushing pretty papers around only to miss something spectacular!! I'm so glad I gave myself that freedom to fall behind!! I am happy to report however, that I spent some time last night printing photos for the remaining days and I'm hopeful to have this project done and completed before the new year!! I did want to jump on here and share a few more days and I think I'll break up what's left to share into two separate posts.

This is very much a photo heavy post so I hope you're prepared!!

Day 8: It was as dreary, rainy day and I wanted to go to the UPS store to ship all of our gifts for my family out but because there were to many gifts for me to carry alone, we went over to the UPS store after my husband got done working. During the day, I curled up under the blankets and watched some of my favorite holiday movies! Loved that this is how I spent my last day of vacation. Used the Gossamer Blue numbers for day 8 and 9 outside of the page protector then just carefully stitched through everything so they're nice and secure!

Day 9: It's a two page spread to showcase our annual ornaments this year. Usually we just get one from Disney, either personalized for us or one they've already personalized that we like enough to buy.

This year, however, on a trip into Starbucks we happened to spot ONE "you are here mug" Christmas ornament and had to get it!! I love having these ornaments on the tree as well. Love the stories behind them. This one is totally us and totally showcases our love for coffee (specifically Starbucks) and that we are currently living in Florida!! I love pulling out ornaments and remembering the stories behind them!!

Our annual Disney ornament is one that we found on the personalized rack on a trip last Spring!! We usually try to get our annual ornament early in the year so if we need to get it personalized it doesn't take more than an hour or so. Sometime we find one on the rack that the artists have already personalized, which is the case this year. We found this one of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland and couldn't resist. It was perfect since we've got some mischievous cats ourselves!! 

Day 10: Highlighting our Advent calendar for this year with one of our Santa's and our basket for cards received (they started arriving shortly after taking this photo). I had wanted to get an advent calendar from Starbucks, but by the time I decided on that they were sold out. So old German Advent calendar for the WIN!!! Just pulled it out and set it up on the easel. Super easy and NO chocolate to tempt anyone!!

Day 11: Super simple selfie for this day. Wanted to make sure we both go into the album and since we take lots of selfies...this was a no brainer!! The tag in the middle is one I've had. It came pre-printed with Merry in the middle. Just added it to the top of the protector with a little adhesive, adhered a similar on to the back (which you'll see on day 12 below), and stitched through both at the same time to keep them secured. And can I just add how much I LOVE that gold star vellum!!!

Day 12: Decided I wanted to use some of the 3x4 cards from the 25 days class so I altered a page protector with my sewing machine to make that happen. I used a tag that I had in my stash that had twelve on it to denote the day! This day was my husband's 41st birthday and we celebrated just like we always do. Cake and candles (41 for the year he's turning). We're completely crazy and I do not recommend doing this, but it's become sort of a tradition!! We both light candles and we do NOT sing while they're lit. They get lit, a quick photo gets taken, then he blows them out!! We have a fire extinguisher on standby and NOTHING in the area of the cake AT ALL!!! So while I fully recognize we're insane doing this, and we will need a bigger cake next year, it is fun and we do everything within our control to be as safe as possible!!!

I always get a picture of the cake, then one with the cake and the candles. You can see how crazy it looked when all lit up and then an action shot of him blowing out the candles. I did get a number 4 and a number 1, but he wanted to go for 41 again...so I went long with it!!

Loved that card with all the presents. Thought it would be a perfect fit for his birthday!!

Day 13: National Hot Cocoa Day...nuff said!!

Loved the Merry Everything card and since my hot cocoa mug is an older Starbucks holiday mug, not to mention that hot cocoa is one of my favorite drinks during the holiday season, I figured it fit this day really well!!! I embossed a stamp from an older Ali Edwards stamp set. It fit perfectly behind the twelve tag from the previous day. I stitched then down to the page protector for stability and to keep them secure.

 

Super simple banner with a "13" tag from last year's December Daily kit. I keep collecting numbers from these kits over the years and I love the variety of daily markers throughout the album!!

 

And that's my December Daily so far. I've got the next few days completed and hoping to share them tomorrow!! I'm also starting to plan out my blog schedule for 2015. So looking forward to next year and the promises of wonder it holds!! I've got big plans both personally and professionally...and I've got big plans for the blog too!! I don't want it to come too fast, but I can't wait to turn the page on a new year!! Happy Friday to you!! Hope to catch you back here tomorrow!! Until then...thanks for stopping by!!
deb

December Daily Day 7

Hello Monday!! It's my last day of vacation of 2014 and I am back with another update in my December album. I am really liking the size of the album this year. The 4x4 is really easy to keep up with and I like being able to keep up. Hopefully as the month continues along and days get busier, I will be able to maintain it. I am liking the idea of this album being done right around Christmas!! I'm not going to stress it if I get a little behind though since I'm doing my best to keep it simple as I move through the month!!

Day 7 is no exception.  It's just a 4x4 photo that I instagrammed yesterday about having all our gifts wrapped for one side of the family and ready to ship tomorrow (well, they're shipping later today actually)!! The words are from my instagram post as well (just shortened a bit to fit in the label), 2 gold enamel dots, and a '7' tab from last year's December Daily kit (see why I'm using my stash this year...I've got all sorts of left overs from previous December Daily kits). Simple and done, that's how I like it!

I did a little prep work for later pages in the album and I'm liking the direction the little chunky mini is headed with capturing the moments and memories of the month! We've got some big days a head of us with my husband's birthday at the end of this week, cookie making next week, my father-in-law's birthday at the end of next week, and a nephew's birthday mid-week next week. Birthday's and Christmas...December is a month full of celebration!!!

I'm planning to be back tomorrow to share day 8, and then we'll see from there how regular I'm able to keep my posting. I am going to do my best to share daily, but I can't guarantee that the posting will be done at specific times. Going to keep this low stress too and not sweat it if I miss a day...we will just pick up where we leave off!! Until then, thanks for stopping by!
deb

December Daily Days 5 and 6

Hello!! So glad to be back again sharing on the good ole blog!! Today I wanted to share what I've got done for Days 5 and 6!! Sit back, grab some coffee (or tea if that's your fancy) and enjoy the post!!

 

This is the back side of the pocket page that ended Day 4. I had to plan this out before I closed, sealed, and stitched the pocket page closed. While I wish Santa face into the page rather than out from the page, it is what it is!! I'm going with it and not letting it bug me!! Like the last pocket page, I wanted to make sure everything was secure before sealing the pocket, so there are some staples and stitching right across the labels and the bottom of Santa. Once that was all secure, the pocket got closed and sealed.

Day 5 was all about buying a new car!! Yay she says sarcastically!!! My car was about a month shy of 11 years old so it was time. Don't be shocked by the age...my husband and I keep cars at least 10 years so we only ever have one car payment at a time. It's our 10 year plan that actually came from my parents!! Works really well!!! While I had 3 cars on the short list, we ended up getting a Toyota Camry Hybrid. I have a special affliction for Toyota's since I was born in one (and ironically the dealership we went to had a similar car to the one I was born in on the show room floor right behind the desk of the sales man helping us...it might have been a little bit fate that we ended up with a Toyota)!! Love having the hybrid and being able to get over 650 miles on one tank of gas while also doing my part for the environment!!

Day 6 is all about the Starbucks Red Cup!! I had saved several of their treat bags, and chose one to include as the background paper for the red cup gift card on the right side of the page. I snagged one of these right when they came out (I really snagged 2 of them...one for this album and one for our big annual 2014 album)!! I also decided to include the cardboard cozy in the album that comes with the hot drinks. I think I've got 3 or 4 of these saved for projects...cause I really need THAT many!!! LOL!!!

My album is already quite chunky so I''m planning to keep the next several pages pretty simple and as flat as possible. Every year I finish with a pretty full and big book, and I don't think this year will be any different. I love that they're chunky and full of memories!! Hoping to be back tomorrow with day 7 now that I'm all caught up!! Should be a challenge for me to stay on top of this throughout the month, but it's one I'm willing to take!! Until next time, thanks for stopping by!
deb

December Daily Days 1-4

Oh my word I haven't blogged since June!! That is craziness!! This blog has been well neglected the last few years but I am hoping that will change as we finish out 2014 and head into 2015. I've even got a planner specifically for blog post ideas!! But as I said way back when I don't want this to just be about crafty stuff anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love the crafty stuff and that's what brought me to blogging, but the stress of blogging all the crafty stuff is also what led me to neglect my blog. So for the remainder of this year I'm coming up with my plan of attack for 2015 and in the mean time will be sharing my December Daily throughout the remainder of this month. I would like to keep up with sharing daily, but I'm not sure my work and school schedule will allow for that. So it may come in waves with chunks of days to share at a time. Today I wanted to share with you what I've got done and in my album through December 4th! I'm hoping to have the 5th and 6th up tomorrow!!

This year I decided to pass on the kit (though what Ali Edwards put together is lovely) and pull things from my stash. I LOVE Christmas supplies so I had an abundance of stuff to be able to fill my album without needing to add more. I also decided to use my Gold WRMK 4x4 album in an effort to keep it really simple! You'll see that there are days where I have more than one photo and in the case of day 4, several photos to include. I've found a way to do that while still keeping it simple!!! For me this year that's what it's all about!! I love that there is no right or wrong way to do this project!! Because I'm sharing 4 days today, this is a bit photo heavy!!

I love making the opening pages for these!! This one was completely inspired by Lisa Truesdell's Summer Bucket List mini book that she created for her Penny Arcade gallery over at Studio Calico.

On the back side of the opening page I included a Crate frame with the initials of both me and my husband. Makes books like this a little more personal!

I ended up taking the spread above out because I wanted to use the Magic page someplace else. I would have liked to have left the "all is calm, all is bright" photo art there but it would have messed up the flow of the days. I am sure I'll fit it in someplace later in the album!!

This is how day 1 and day 2 sit in my album. Kept it very simple with some patterned paper, a photo, a label with typed journaling, and the number maker which consists of a star, a punched circle, and a gold number (from 2 different sets that I had on hand).

I actually made the pattern paper for day 1 using some white cardstock, white pearl paint, and an empty toilet paper roll. Just dipped the edge of the empty toilet paper roll into the pant and "stamped" it onto the white cardstock. Super simple!!! For the memory of the day I captured the Santa photo area int he center of the mall my husband and I went to in order to get my side of the family's Christmas shopping done! I have to ship everything up north for my family, so we like to get that done first. My husband's family is local so we figure we have a bit longer to get shopping for them done, though we did get a few of his family members done on this day as well!

For day 2 it's all about our Elf, Bernard. It's funny when I look back at other December albums, because the title for elf day is always the same...Bernard is back!! Our elf is named after the main elf in The Santa Clause movies. Those are my husband's favorite of the holiday movies!! We don't have kids so Bernard isn't too busy in our house during December. He just gets to hang out with us all month long and reports back to Santa on Christmas Eve!!!

Here's an overview of day 3. I knew I'd have some memorabilia and extra photos to include, so I used a pocket page from Marcy's Mini Album class over at Studio Calico for that. Love that the album for that class is the exact one I'm using for this album. Makes this a perfect fit!! The 3 marker for the day is lifted from Maggie's 25 days class last year (also from Studio Calico). I don't have links for these two classes since you have to be signed up to have access to the info and digital files.

For the left side of the spread I used a selfie my husband and I took inside the theater while we were waiting for the doors to open.

The right side of the spread is the pocket page. I wanted to make sure everything was secured down so I had to plan what was going to go onto the back of the pocket page before I sealed it shut. I sewed everything down on both sides, put some patterned paper on what would be inside the pocket to cover the stitching on the back side of the pocket, then closed it up and sewed along the edge that I would punch the holes into. Inside the pocket, I added a glassine bag to keep everything contained. Inside the bag you'll find our ticket stubs and photos of the inside of the theater and the playbill (since the playbill is obviously too large to fit inside the pocket). This will likely find a home inside our larger 2014 album. I must point out that Chris Mann from the Voice was The Phantom and the show was wonderful!! So very glad we got tickets and included this in our December this year!!

The hello magic frame is from Ali Edwards and I think it's from the 2012 December Daily. I had it on my computer so I am sorry that I don't have a link. It was a 4x6 file that I resized in the Silhouette software to 4x4 and it turned out wonderfully! I put it on some book paper, added the #4 embellishment and stitched it all down. Again, I did my stitching BEFORE  I closed and sealed the pocket page!! This is one case where you need to do a little planning!!

Day 4 is all about Disney and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. I knew this day was going to have a lot of photos so I did my best to plan for it! I altered a 4x4 page protector down to 3x4 sewing along the outside edge for the first page of photos. I floated the two photos back to pack on a transparency. I also made the conscious decision to save my words for the very end of what would be the day. You'll see as you scroll through the photos.

I cut the vellum using my Silhouette and used the attacher dies from Studio Calico to include it in the album. This is an idea I got from Maggie's 30 Days of Me class (from Studio Calico of course). Since you won't really know what the day is about until you get to the pocket page I used to bookend the day, I figured this was an easy, non-bulky, way to let anyone looking at the album know what day 4 is all about!

I used a 2x2 page protector to showcase the rides we went on. We ended up going on 9 rides all together so, I had to figure out a way to include them all!! Got 8 here between the front and back of the page protector. The 9th would get something a little special as a 4x4.

I'm not exactly sure when it started, but my husband and I started taking a selfie as we waited to get onto Big Thunder Mountain railroad...so I decided that's how I would highlight that ride and use a 4x4 photo with a label and typed journaling to showcase this tradition. The other rides we went on are all showcased with photos of the ride from the park, with the exception of Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin which is a photo that I took of the screen of the photo taken on the ride. This one is my husband's favorite ride. He's very competitive and crushes my score every year. It's always funny to see how into it he is on the photo they take while we're on the ride so I always take a photo of that with my phone (they're so expensive to by)!

And there is the Magic page I originally had at the beginning of the album. Once I saw the photos taken by the photo people at Disney*, I knew I wanted to include this one with the wooden solders, trees, and ice covered (with lights) castle. It fit perfectly under those letters, I just had to pull them off the vellum a bit to slide them under. You'll see this photo again later in the book because we both loved it so much we decided to use it as our Christmas card!! I used a second pocket page to book end the day. I did the same thing and planned the back side, completed the back side, then sealed & stitched the pocket page shut (again, this requires some planning)!! I sized another pocket page slightly smaller to use as the journaling block, stitched that down to the front of the pocket and hand wrote the journaling for the day. Inside the pocket, I included the map/program from the event, our tickets, and our wrist bands.

*I have gotten into the habit of buying the digital copies of the photo pass photos as they are the same price as most of the physical copies, but I can download them and have them printed in what ever size I want, and I also have immediate and forever access to them. Just a tip.*

And that's my album up through Day 4!! I hope to be back tomorrow to share some more of my album!! Might be Monday though! But I will be back!! Until then...thanks for stopping by!!
deb