And So I Don't Forget...

December Daily 2017: Day 27

When I saw the sketch templates from Simple Scrapper's February collection, I had an idea immediately come to mind. A cut file purchased from the Silhouette Design Store (and some wrangling to get the file to download) later, I had the basis for a simple and striking layout. 

To fit the corner of the 6x8 layout I sized the photo to be pretty tiny - 1.5 x 2 inches - but that seems perfect from a blokeh photo of my Christmas tree. To not overwhelm the small photo I cut the wreath from the same dark colour as in the photo. A few gold sparkles are the only embellishment needed. 

I'm really pleased with how this layout turned out. Neither photo or story dominate the shape on the layout, which I think tends to be my norm, but sometimes it's fun to play with products. :) 

 

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December Daily 2017: Days 4 and 5

December 4: A family gathering to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday. The journaling talks about how much I love the relationships Milly is developing, especially with her cousins. I used a 6x4 photo that I cut in half to fit into the two 3x4 pockets. The journaling card is from the Paislee Press Mini Kit. I trying adding the number on the left side of the photo, where there is blank space, but it felt unbalanced. A little vellum flag created a calm spot on top of the tree, where the number seemed to fit more naturally.  

December 5: I used a full sized photo of Milly with her advent calendar, talking about the ways she is discovering the magic of the season. To add some glitz to the page, I decided to use a full-size transparency on top where I added the number and cut the word 'magic' out of gold foil with my Silhouette. For the back side of the transparency I cut the word in reverse from a photo of my sister's wedding dress.   

And here's the spread in the album. 

December Daily 2017: Day 3

December 3: Our 5th annual friend's Christmas lunch, held at our house this year. 

Left side: I didn't think to take a photo of the kids till the end of the afternoon. Definitely not my best idea! Wriggly, squirmy 1 year olds. ;)  

Right side: The wreath with number of transparency is an Ali Edwards idea, and the cards and most embellishments on this spread are from the main kit or Paislee Press mini kit. 

December Daily 2017: Day 2

It may be the 19th of December as I write this, and I'm sharing for the first time this month, but December Daily is happening! I considered creating a 5x7 mini album like I did in 2015 (it's one of my favourite December Daily albums) but ended up choosing a 6x8 album again. 

My title page is done, although my idea didn't turn out as good on paper as in my head so I might redo it at some stage. Day 1 has photos printed and is embellished, but I haven't written the journaling yet. The page features a flap, two photos back to back that flip up to reveal journaling underneath, as inspired by Brandi Kincaid. 

Day 2 was my nephew's third birthday party, Milly's first real kid party and she loved it. 

Left side: a 6x8 page that I created digitally, then stamped a title.

Right side: the invitation was very conveniently sized 6x4 so that slipped right into the pocket and the wood veneer birthday cake (love it!) is from Kaisercraft. 

How cute is Milly's face paint?! She sat so still for it, just scrunching up her nose for the tickly bit. 

Simple Scrapper // December 22

I have become the worst blogger. I didn't mean to, and I don't want to be, but neither change the fact that I have posted a grand total of 18 photos so far this year. 18!  In 2015, pre-daughter and photography business, it was more like 400. There are so many stories I'm not telling, on paper or blog, and I really want to.   

So, I'm going to start by sharing the few layouts I have made this year, as prompted by my Simple Scrapper Team Member obligations. At least SOMETHING has kept me creating! 

I used a sketch template from Simple Scrapper's November membership collection as the basis for this December Daily page layout. I have a painting that accompanies this story and photo, so I created the layout on a clear transparency. The patterned paper and photos are placed on top of the transparency but still allows peeks through to the painting beneath. 

And for the record, nowadays Milly loves to 'dwaw'. ;)    

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Simple Scrapper: Fourteen

In all honesty progress on my December Daily album is somewhat stalled, however I did use a Sketch Template from Simple Scrapper's June membership collection to create this 6x8 layout for Day 14. 

The patterned paper is all out of a 6x6 set from Elle's Studio.

 

The Premium Membership at Simple Scrapper provides skills and shortcuts to help you simplify and find more meaning in your memory keeping.

December Daily 2016: Days 2 - 4

Wow, it has been a busy month! Mid December I decided to put working on my December Daily album on hold to prevent myself from feeling completely bonkers, and blogging was even further down my to do list. I did get the first week of my December Daily pretty much finished, with photos taken and stories recorded for the rest of the month. It's a big project at the busiest time of the year, but gosh I love it!

December 2 - I knew I didn't want to get too far into the month without a photo of Milly so we had a little impromptu photo shoot with a Santa hat and Christmas t-shirt. 

December 3 - Milly and I went to a market with our friend Esther. I didn't actually take any photos so I cut up business cards and brochure that I picked up. 

December 4 - An afternoon tea for my brother-in-law's birthday, with Milly's first real look at a Christmas tree. I love the reflection of my niece and I in the ornaments, a surprisingly good photo for a 4 year old. :)  

December Daily 2016: Day 1

Although I've been slow to share (never enough time in the day for everything I need/want to do) I have been happily December Daily-ing. After the title page, which doesn't yet exist, I began with a 3x8 inch letter to Santa listing things I want for Christmas this year. The patterned paper and diecuts are from Elle's Studio. 

On the back is a full-size photo, finished with a little printed journaling and a chipboard glitter star from an Ali Edwards story kit. 

To finish off December 1, I printed a 6x8 photo on vellum and added it directly to the album. As it's a photo of my sister trying on a wedding dress, I'll share only this glimpse. :) Journaling added to the photo before printing and a small enamel heart completes the page. With a 6x8 page protector following, I did try just slipping the vellum in there but I missed the texure it added. Some patterned paper went in the page protector instead. 

December Daily 2015: Days 24 - 25

Somehow, with some crazy fast forward of the calendar, it's almost time to start thinking December Daily again! Of course I am planning to document my sweet little Milly's first Christmas, but I have no thoughts so far on what form my December Daily will take this year. I've been keeping on eye on the new Christmas collections being released, although nothing has really caught my attention yet, and I'm eager to see the new December Daily kits Ali is releasing this month.   

But before I become too focused on this year, how about I finish sharing last year's mini album. 

December 24 - It wasn't a technically great photo of me snuggling with my friends' little baby so I turned the photo black and white. The photo of my cranberry sauce cooking on the stove wasn't particularly inspiring either, so I printed the recipe on vellum and sewed it on top of the photo. Using the same border punch helped unite the two pages and add some interest. 

December 25 - With my December Daily being the only Christmas scrapbooking I do, as per usual (2014, 2013, 2012) Christmas Day is never documented in just one spread. I began with a favourite selfie of Mike and I from Christmas morning. I was conscious that this was the last Christmas with the two of us, and Christmas morning will never be the same again. :)

On the right I included a card my Mum had made for Chip, aka Amelia. ;) I attached the back of the card to a strip of transparency so it's sturdy in the album, can be opened and the back still seen. 

Inspired by Ali Edwards' Storytelling with December Daily class, I created a foldout page of photos of Christmas morning and lunch. You can use the tab to fold the page to the right, then it all pulls over to the left.  

I used a full spread photo, about 10 by 7 inches, as the basis for the next page. Who can resist little cutie niece's face there? She wanted to sit next to her Auntie Lanie. :) Again, not a technically perfect photo by any stretch, but there is my family and Mike's mixed together, Santa hats and crackers and paper crowns and food and mess and colour. I love it.   

I included a page of printed journaling in the middle of the spread, with a few simple red embellishments.

On the other side I included a collage of photos from the afternoon, and struck two fabric-covered chipboard stars back to back on the edge of the page to form a tab. It does split the full spread photo but I figure holding the page on it's edge will allow the photos be seen easy enough.   

To finish the album I created a vellum pocket which I sewed onto a piece of glitter paper. Mementos like gift tags, wrapping paper, a joke from a cracker are tucked inside. I used a piece of patterned paper to line the cardboard back cover, with the sentiment cut down from a 3x4 card on the bottom.

Normally I continue the album through to December 31st; I think it's the first year I ended here on Christmas Day. I'm off work over Christmas through to New Year so the time feels like a holiday to me. For this Christmas I was only two weeks work off beginning maternity leave so the time didn't feel as precious. With nothing I particularly wanted to document happening, I simply decided not to.

This is the end of my December Daily album, but I think I've got another page of two still to share. 

 

You can find links to all my December Daily albums and pages here.

December Daily 2015: Days 20 - 23

Although I did declare that my December Daily was complete, I didn't get a chance to post photos of my final pages before the arrival of our little miss. These events were only a few months ago, but wow, is life different now! Continuing on from Day 19 where I left off... 

Day 20 - Our annual Christmas celebration with Dad's side of the family. For the last few years I've aimed to herd everyone into position to take a group photo, and I decided to print the photo big to cover the spread. I did play with the cropping in Photoshop Elements but unfortunately Mum still ended up with a hole punch to the side of the head. ;)  

Day 20 continues with a second spread. I collaged six photos before printing and added some old textured white cardstock with sewing for texture. On the right side I printed directly onto a large tag before adding a rub on for embellishment. 

Day 21 - I backed the tag with a photo and added a wood veneer star that I had embossed in gold. Another of the wood veneer stars was cut in half for the right side of the spread and I've also embossed the 'december gratitude' stamp from Ali Edwards.

Nothing particular happened on the 21st, so I printed out an email exchange I had with my sister. This sort of 'real life communication' is one of my favourite things to include in my December Daily. (Eg. here, here and here.)  

Day 22 - For the left side I printed my journaling on a little label which I added to a full page photo. The right side includes a background of wrapping paper, a favourite from my selections this year, and a calendar journaling card from the December Daily mini kit by One Little Bird. A couple of enamel shapes and acetate stars are simple embellishment carried across both sides. 

Journaling reads: My Christmas mugs aren't unpacked but these baubles still give me a dose of merry each morning. I haven't paused much this December - seriously, how is it 3 sleeps til Christmas! - but seeing the wreath and lights twinkling always makes me happy. 

Day 23 - My last day of work for the year! And to celebrate we went post-dinner grocery shopping, stocking up for Christmas day feasting at our house. ;)

I used my shopping list as the background for the page, adding a pocket on top but attaching it in such a way that it can be flipped up to read more underneath. I slipped a gift tag and receipt for our Christmas Day ham into the pocket. The photo wasn't anything special, just quickly snapped on my phone, so I placed the date and a sentiment right on top. 

You can find all my previous December Daily pages here - this was my 6th year! - and I'll aim to share the final few pages soon. :)