Finally. Free time + natural light = a chance to take some photos of my December Daily album to show you. YEAY!
I loved putting together this little book, and can’t wait to fill it up as we draw closer and closer to Crimbo. I can’t believe its only three weeks away!!
So without further ado, I want to show you my December Daily album, but because this is so photo heavy I am gonna break it down and spread it over three days. First days 1 – 10, then tomorrow days 11 – 20 and then the next day i’m gonna show you 21 – 31. I know Ali Edwards only goes up to Christmas day, but I wanted to do the whole month, so i just went for it.
Another little note. I left this to the last minute to decide whether I was going to do this or not, so I didn’t go out any buy any new supplies. All the papers and embellishments etc all came from my stash, so I’m sorry if [a] I don’t know who makes them or where I bought them, and [b] if they are no longer manufactured. Although I do think that this is a great way to purge your stash instead of constantly buying more and more (which is oh so tempting to do). I flicked through all my scrapbook papers and picked out ones that were red, green or holiday themed, and some which were black or flourishy – Many aren’t even particularly Christmassy but they all look great when put side by side.
Here goes.
The Cover
I wanted elegance and simplicity on the outside and an abundance of quirky fun on the inside. So for my cover I used 8×8 chipboard covers by Zutter, and cut them down to 7 x 6. I rounded the edges with my lovely jubly Corner Chomper by We R Memory Keepers, and punched holes for the binding rings using my Crop-a-dile – in fact I used this for punching every page. The snowflake is a Quickutz squeeze die, cut from glitter card, and to add more bling i’ve pushed a Trimcraft gem brad through the middle mounted on a piece of grey felt. The metal embellishment was picked off an (almost) old diary. I figured that it was only gonna last for a few more weeks anyway and then I would need to get my 2010 dairy on the go.
Page 1.
An easy start. 10 x 7 folded in half. Taped along three edges so I can insert photos & journaling etc from the top. Tag secured with a brad & a pretty bow with string. Number 1 is an American Crafts felt thicker.
Page 2.
Red cardstock 10 x 6 folded in half and then i chopped a piece of the end so the front piece was narrower than the back. I covered the front with black pattern paper and sewed along the top and bottom edge with my trusty sewing machine. I stuck velour rick rack along the edge of the front flap and made my own layered embellishment using circle punches and scalloped circle punches. Velour snowflake is a sticker from a DCWV sticker pad finished off with a sticky gem, and the glitter number two is from Making Memories Shimmer alphas. To add a bit of ooomph on the inside i lay a piece of Heidi Swapp sticker paper tape along the fold.
Page 3.
Another easy one. Piece of 12 x 6, folded in half and taped along three edges again. A half circle punched from the top edge using a circle punch means that I have more room for photos etc. To embellish, I stuck a narrow ribbon across the front and adhered a die cut label using brads. Number three is American Crafts vinyl thickers. When making pockets like this, i always stick the brad to the pocket rather than using the legs of the brad as this will impede the memorabilia sliding in and out easily.
Page 4.
Love this page. It all started with a page from a Papermania acrylic scalloped circle album, that i inked in Fire Brick Distress ink around the edges. Next I drew around an old CD to make two circles of pattern paper. I stuck these back to back to create a door/ flap. In order to ensure that this page was secure inside the book, i needed to slice a piece of the edge. This ensured that at least two book rings would go through this page, and also made it a lot easier to attach the door flap. I cut a heart out of notebook paper, mounted this on red card and stuck to the flap with a red button (mounted with foam pop dots) and the letter four is from a piece of lace paper that has been glimmered up using mists. You’ll see me use this quite a bit for numbers. To hide the hinge on the back I cut out a third circle from red cardstock, and finished off this page with some faux stitching, an eyelet and a little piece of string. Parfait.
Page 5.
Double sided pattern paper, 8×8. I folded one edge up by 2 inches and then folded the whole thing in half. This created two pockets, one on either side. I secured these with eyelets that also added a little bit of pazzazz. To finish it off, a scalloped oval label (Does anyone know who makes these?) and a cork sticker from Making Memories. I love those stickers.
Page 6.
These pages will be great for letters and simply adding quick photos. It is a mere envelope that I have lined with pattern paper. To do this, open the flap and trace around the envelope on to the back of pattern paper. Cut it out and when cutting around the diamond flap, cut along the inside of the line by about 1/4 inch. Then side into the envelope and score along the fold line, all you need to do is stick it down with glue. Voila. Oh, and the number 6 is once again from the lace paper.
Page 7.
Hello Mister Snowman! This is a piece of that black flourishy paper, 12×6, folded in half and the corners have been Chomped. A scallop border sticker makes lovely snow, and three buttons have been stuck down with glue dots to constuct Frosty the Snowman. I’ve also added a little tiny fragment of 3mm tartan ribbon as his scarf (I love the mini glue dots for this). The chipboard parentheses are from Bisous and the number 7 sticker is a chipboard piece from Heidi Swapp.
Page 8.
Couldn’t help myself. A page made out of acetate, stamped with reindeer using stazon, and cut into a circle by tracing around a CD. The number 8 is a Making Memories shimmerz alpha sticker.
Page 9.
Also couldn’t help myself with this one. This is made using a 12 x 6 piece of lace paper, folded in half. The number is from that green lace paper again. I think the circles look like little baubles. FUN.
Page 10.
Last one for today. This is a piece of Teresa Collins paper – the page from the Documented line that has 6 sections of 6×4 patterns. I loved this black and white, spotty, distressed paper so I wanted to include it. I also found this cute diecut snowflake circle in the stash that Leslie Ashe sent to me, so I have no idea where is it from, but I think it looks cracking on here. And the number 10 is from a pack of Making Memories Mini Shimmer alphas.
Woah! We got there in the end. Lots of photos for you to take in, and a lot more tomorrow too.
Don’t forget that you can also join in the fun over at The PaperLife community boards where there is a December Daily group which you can join, or visit to seek inspiration or ask questions. I’m on my way over there now to add my photos of pages one to ten.
Another little note before i leave – in case you aren’t aware, Tim Holtz is currently doing his traditional posts of the ‘Twelve Tags Of Christmas’. This of course means awesome inspiration and A LOT of prizes. All you have to do is leave a comment and you could be in for the chance to win. Be warned though, prizes must be claimed within 24 hours, and there are prizes to be given away every day. So hop on over there now and see what Tim has in store for you.
See you tomorrow with more December Daily pages.