December Daily® 2016 │ Days 10 thru 13

Still cruising along with my album. My pace seems to be about every two days with making pages and that seems to be working for me. I have four days worth to share here so lets get too it.

Day 10

My daughters birthday is always a big deal and its an even bigger deal since its in December and gets to be included here every year.

Because the previous day was only one page I needed to separate the two spreads some way. I opted for using an old transparency that came in one of Ali's previous kits. It was either last year or the year prior I can't remember. I added in large silver numbers from Studio Calico and some old glitter foam thickers from American Crafts to decorate the front.

The blue thickers helped enhance the color of my daughters birthday balloon. I started leaving these balloons for her to find every morning since she was 6 and its become a fun tradition. I love that they now offer the blue since its her favorite color.

There are some more pictures and some journaling on the pages behind but I'm keeping that portion private.

Day 11

SANTA! I really wanted to find a more homey Santa experience this year and a friend suggested we hit up our local Historical Society. It ended up being lovely and the historical house they have decorated was really pretty. I'm so glad we did this and Simone's private visit with Santa was personal and special. He really spent a lot of time with her and with us visiting. I know she really appreciated it.

I added in some journaling cards from In A Creative Bubble to help tell the story. I love the red and green and how it works with my daughters coat.

This postcard is from Urbanic and I bought two at the beginning of the year. I added in some Ho Ho Ho washi that I bought from Michael's to help dress it up. The washi is a huge disappointment because it wasn't sticky at all. I had to apply adhesive to the back side so I hope it lasts, it may end up falling off which is too bad. I added in a tab at the top to help turn it.

My daughter wrote and left this letter for Santa but I snapped a pick before it hit the mailbox. It might be the only one she writes this year and I wanted to make sure to save it somehow. They even let me snap my own pictures with Santa for free which was really nice.

Days 12 and 13

I made simple half pages for these two days and love how the colors ended up tieing in nicely.

Ever since my daughter was small I started wrapping her gifts in special paper that is only for her. As she has gotten older she now picks the paper herself. We make a special trip for it and I always put a piece of the paper in the album. I love what she picked this year, its really pretty and it even has glitter on it! I made the photo into a Polaroid shape and added in a simple line of text and then stamped the date using Elle's Studio new date stamp. I really love this stamp set, its a must have for sure. I used Ali's new gold ink for the first time and love the color gold. It worked well stamped on photo paper but I did hit it with my heat gun for a bit to help it set down. I opted to put the backing with the wrapping paper inside the page protector and attach the photo outside of the page protector and used foam tape to lift it off. That added dimension really makes it pop and I love things outside of the protectors.

I knew I wanted to get a photo of the new wreath that hangs on our front door and wanted to make it something special instead of just a large photo or a square photo. I made the circular sheet with the attached tabs to add in to the album with my Silhouette Cameo. I also did a print and cut of my photo from my Cameo too. That way I knew it would be the perfect size and I can't be trusted to cut circles by hand.

I made a backing sheet to hold my journaling using a digital file from In A Creative Bubble. I then did another print and cut with my Cameo so it would line up perfectly.

I really love how this circle page looks in my album and if you are interested in making one yourself, you can download the cut file right here. Please make sure you share pictures with me and give credit if you use the file. Its for personal use only and should not be sold to or shared with anyone.

Today is wrapping day so I'll be back soon to share more.

Project Life® 2016 │ the beginning

Admittedly I did a horrible job sharing and completing my 2015 albums and I have a lot to catch up on for sure, especially the last part of the year. That being said there was never really a minute when I thought about not doing it this year. Working on my class for Big Picture this past November really got me super excited and it revved up all of the creative enthusiasm that I have for this project. I love it and I don't want to stop. Its as simple as that. There are a few things I plan to do differently this year though so I wanted to share them.

The first big change for me is to switch up the size. I just could not do another year of full 12 x 12 spreads. I think that's what burned me out last year. It was just too much and just too hard to fill week after week because I'm just not snapping as many day to day photos as I have in the past. I think that's due to a few things; 1. my daughter is at school for 6 hours each day, 2. I'm busier doing design team work and other creative projects so I'm working more and playing less and 3. I just needed a break from my camera/phone. I mean lets be honest it gets a bit old sometimes, for myself and for my family and friends. So that brings me to 9x12. I bought two of these albums from A Beautiful Mess last year on sale and I really loved them. That inside yellow give has me at all kinds the heart eye emoji's. I played around with a few spreads last year using the 3 x 3 page protectors and I really, really loved them. My plan this year is to use an all 3x4 protector and a 3x4 and 4x6 protector each week. I'll mix in full page 9x12 layouts and some 3x3 pages when I want, probably as inserts. I purchased some additional page protectors at Studio Calico because the protectors from A Beautiful Mess were sold out. Studio Calico just released new albums that have the same ring configuration so I'm glad of that, more options for supplies is always a plus.

That brings me to my title page shown above and below. I used the one I had created for my Big Picture Class project as a jumping off point. I pretty much left everything the same except I switched out the photos to more current ones and changed up one filler card. I loved the way colors worked with the inside cover of the album, I think it really pops. The family photos were the most current ones that we took this past November. They were shot by my friend DeAnna, if you are local and need a good photographer I totally recommend her. She's done our photos the past two years and I love them. I added in some vellum hearts and a rubber banner from Studio Calico and the filler card at the bottom will be released by Kelly Purkey at the end of this month.

My first spread of the album took a turn that I have never done before. For the past six years I have always started January 1st. This year though I decided to start on December 31st. I made this decision for two reasons; 1. the spread would have been super short, only three days which meant I wouldn't have had enough photos and 2. I wasn't sure if I would ever get around to adding these photos to my 2015 album and I really wanted to share them. So there you go, I now had enough photos to fill a spread and I'm sharing photos from a super fun party that I wanted documented.

I used a lot of cards from the December Lollipop Guiled Studio Calico kit, I especially loved the 2015 and 2016 cards and they worked great on this spread. Some of the accent pieces like the black chipboard came from the Tin Man Embellishment Kit. The rubber banner I used on my title card is also from this kit. The celebrate acrylic piece and stars are from Color Cast Designs.

One thing you might have noticed that I doing different this year is I am making the borders on my photos thicker. I love it and I'm pretty sure I will keep it up all year. Its a small change but one that keeps things fresh and different and fresh and different is always a good idea. If you are wondering the borders are now half inch so the photos are cropped to 2.5" x 3.5" this year.

My second week was kind of all over the place. I was super sick so I had hardly any photos so when I sat down to work on them I was pretty worried. When things like this happen and I feel like I don't have a good mix of photos or a good jumping of place to start with colors or things like that I tend to simply and unify the photos as much as possible. You can do that many ways but my two favorite ways are to edit the photos to black and white and add in pops of color or you can create a template and crop the photos all the same size so they are all cohesive. I opted to create a template for this spread and I think it definitely helps give it an interesting focus when the photos themselves might not seem super interesting. Adding in a few filler cards to help tell the story also helps fill the gaps you might have photo wise.

Here is what the photo template looks like and if you are interested in using it on a spread this year, you can download the template right here.

I added in quite a few embellishments from Color Cast Designs that will be released tomorrow during her shop update. You can find a link to Jessica's store right here. I love adding her pieces to my spreads and they always help bring in pops of color and help tell my story even more. She has such a wit about her and so many of the phrases she uses have me cracking up.

My plan is to continue on a weekly path as the year progresses and I'm so looking forward to documenting this year. Like I said above, I  might switch up the protectors from time to time and I might get loose with my date ranges based on the number of photos I have so don't expect rigid consistency as far as dates and spreads go. That being said, I look forward to sharing the year with you and I'll see you soon.

Featuring Clearly Kelly │ Planner Stamps

So things are crazy hectic around here lately but the good news is that means lots of fun projects are getting made. Including one super big giant one that I'll be sharing soon. Sometimes when life gets hectic taking a break to sit down to make something is just the thing I need to help focus my energy and take a mental break from all the busyness. Thankfully Kelly Purkey has released a whole new batch of amazing planner stamps for all the planner girls out there. The are up for presale in her shop and will ship the first week of October. You can see the whole range of products right here. They are so rad, she's really thought of everything you might need for your planner.

I love that you can punch holes in the cards and add them right into your planner. I also love that three of the sets come with metal dies. The Everyday Clip Set is super cute you can use the clips for so many different projects and the To Do List set that you can cut add right into your planner rings is super cute.  Here are two projects I made using the new stamp sets.

I used two colors of ink to keep the look of this monthly calendar a bit more cohesive. I love the TV Planner Set, you can use the stamps for so many things and I loved that it had an Awards Night stamp, perfect for Emmy Sunday. The School Planner Set was another favorites especially since I'm pretty busy with volunteering in class and doing work for the PTO.  I also loved cutting little banners from the Planner Banner Set that I made by layering washi tape over card stock and then running it thru my Cuttlebug to cut the banners. These are super fun to staple in to your planner to use as tabs or just as decorations. The planner inserts I am using this year are from Miss Tiina and can be found on Etsy here. My planner is from Kikki.K but it looks like the gold planner might be discontinued or out of stock right now.

My second project was a bit of an advance prep for the Holidays. When I saw the Gift List stamp in the Special Occasion Planner Set I knew just what to make with it. I thought it would be super fun to make a Field Notes sized notebook to keep track of all the gifts that I need to buy for the upcoming holidays. Its small, just 3.5" x 5.5" and its compact enough to toss in my purse while I'm out shopping. The cover is made from the most divine wood grain cardstock which I love because its nice and thick. To dress up the cover I used the Holiday stamp from the Special Occasions set and stamped it on a diagonal on a piece of plain white cardstock. I stamped the Deer from the All Decked Out stamp set and then scanned the image into my Silhouette Cameo program to create and offset cut shape that was just a bit larger than the outside edge of the stamp. I stamped it with Clear Embossing Powder and then added in some Gold Glitter Zing Embossing powder to sparkle it up a bit. I layered that onto a piece of red cardstock and just stamped the Gift List and stapled it down using some green tiny staples that will fit into my Tiny Attacher. I cut out several of the star clips from the Everyday Clips set in gold foil cardstock and a red glitter cardstock. I love that these little page markers are so festive.

I dressed up the inside with stamps from the To Do List Set and added in a sentiment from the Fa La La La La set which is quickly become my favorite holiday stamp set. I added it a bit of washi tape and called it done.

I made the insert sheets myself and printed them out, cut them down to size and rounded the corners. I used my long arm stapler to staple the whole thing together and it was super quick and easy. If you are interested in making one of these Gift List Notebooks yourself you can download a copy of my inserts right HERE. Please remember that this is for personal use only so please don't sell it or email the file to your friends, please just direct them here to download it.

I am now officially ready to get some shopping done and I'll have this little book to keep me on track. Not to mention a really pretty planner to keep my life on somewhat of a forward moving pathway.

Have a great weekend! See you soon.

Elf on the Shelf │operation be prepared

Last year was the first year an Elf came to visit us during Christmas and it didn't arrive until December 20th. It arrived late because she came with our visiting families Elf and the two of them had a lot of fun together. This year will be my first year doing it on my own and for longer than 5 days. I knew I wanted to be prepared and to have some ideas already mapped out as best as I could. I have been pinning lots and lots of Elf ideas on Pinterest but wanted a way to see them all in one place without having to open each pin and hunt down the ideas. I absolutely didn't want to be scrambling at 10:00pm each night! I want this to be fun, and to enhance the season, not make it more stressful.

The best way for me to make that happen was get the ideas I wanted in one easy place so I always knew what was next. I decided to make a simple sheet that I could slip into my planner where I could show a photo of the idea along with a place for notes of things I needed to do or buy to make that happen.

sources in planner top to bottom left to right one, two, three, four, five, six, seven

sources bottom cluster top to bottom left to right one, two, three, four, five, six, seven

Our Elf will not arrive until December 1st and my goals for our Elf is to make it fun but also pick things that didn't impede our lives too much. I've seen some super cute ideas where the Elf wraps your toilet it wrapping paper or goes fishing in the bathroom sink but since the Elf isn't supposed to be touched or moved the idea of keeping a bathroom out of service for a day didn't seem realistic to me. Maybe one day but this year, I'm aiming for easy and free if at all possible.

I went thru each of the items I had pinned as potential possibilities and just grabbed a quick screen shot of the idea. I cropped the images down to 2" x 2.5" and just printed them out on paper, nothing fancy here, but I knew an image would be more helpful than just words.  I used my date roller to label each day and just starting sticking them down. I kept some key events in mind so that the Elf could help out if needed or coordinate with what I knew we were doing some days. I did plan out the whole month but I can easily change it up if needed or even eliminate an idea all together if I'm feeling overwhelmed. I have some extra images tucked in a glassine envelope at the back of this section that I can pull from if I decide to make a change.

If you think this is something that could help you with your planning this season, you can download the sheet right here and the cover here. You can either print it out and fold it in half or print it out double sided and just cut it down the middle, it is sized to fit into a A5 sized planner 5.5" x 8.5".

My goal this year is to get as much stuff done before the season is in full swing so we can enjoy ourselves as much as possible. I definitely think this is a step in the right direction.

Project Life and Travel with Studio Calico

Today I'm talking about a few different ways to tackle lots and lots of vacation photos within your Project Life® spreads over on the Studio Calico Blog, and I hope you have had a chance to check it out. The spreads I make after we travel have become some of my most favorite ones over the past few years and I hope that some of the tips and tricks I shared there will get you inspired to document your summer travels in your albums as well.

In the post I shared a new spread that I haven't shared here yet and this is it.  It was from our most recent mini road trip just a few weeks ago.

As you will read in my post on the Studio Calico Blog fitting in lots of photos is one of my favorite things to do. I created these little banner cards that flip up to hold some journaling but also let some of the photos underneath peek thru.

I made a similar card for my title but this one is static, no flipping just some images peeking thru.

The collages were simple six slot tight collages with no internal boarders so they blended seamlessly when viewed thru the top piece.

If you would like to make something similar for your travel pages I'm sharing a download with you

download the .png files here

download the .studio files here

If you are curious about the cards I used to complete this spread or the others I posted on the Studio Calico Blog they are all from the Studio Calico Project Life kits. The most recent spread featured here uses cards from the Sandlot Project Life Kit.  The other things featured on the Studio Calico Blog can be seen here and here on my blog or in my gallery over at Studio Calico that you can find here.

I hope you enjoy the cut file and make sure you share if you use it by tagging me on Instagram or commenting here.

See you soon!

a little bit of Easter prep

I can't believe its almost time for Easter, now that St. Patrick's Day is over its on to the next holiday countdown as my daughter loves to do.  On Wednesday we got out our little Easter decorations and fancied up the place just a bit.  I don't go over the top just a few bits here and there to mark the season.

Earlier in the week my sweet Instagram friend Jen posted this cute shot of how she decorated here mantle with my little cut file I made a few years back.  You can see more of her super cute decor and her amazing Project Life® pages on her blog here.

It reminded me that while I posted the file on my blog ages ago I had never actually provided a download for it.  So if you are interested you can download the .png files here and the .sil cut files here.

You can see my original post about it here, where I showed how I just dotted on the eyes using a pencil eraser and some brown ink, super easy.

I hope those still under snow get some relief soon.  We have had some amazing weather lately but its raining now as I write this so Spring has not officially hit although its making a really good effort to stick around.

Sincerely yours,

March 24, 1984 a date I hadn't really noticed in the movie but was plastered all over my Facebook wall yesterday. Once I realized what it was I posted this image on my Instagram.

Several folks loved it and asked for a Project Life® card so I made one up for you all.  You can download the .pdf file here. Its sized to 3x4 ready to print, trim and slip right into a pocket.

I really loved this article on the subject, if you have some time I would take a look, a lot of great moments from the film are captured.  The last one is my favorite, obviously.

Sincerely yours,

Oscars Fashion Scorecard

Last year my daughter and I had fun watching the awards and saying what dresses were our favorites.  We had a really fun scorecard last year but I didn't see anything out there like it this year so I made this one today.  Its a mix of nominees and some of the presenters I saw listed.

If you like to print it out and play along, click here.

Enjoy the show!

For all the basketball moms....

About a week ago I received the nicest email from a lady named Staci who had seen my Soccer Journaling card on the blog but really needed a Basketball version.  After a few emails back and forth, I have one to share, completely inspired by Staci.

I'm providing two different downloads; a PDF sheet of 6 and a single .png file if you want to recolor in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

 

Full Sheet PDF download here

.png file download here

 

If you want to share this with other basketball loving friends that's great, I just ask that you redirect folks here for the downloads or hover over the image above and you'll see a Pinterest button to share it that way.  All I ask is that you please not post it anywhere else as a download or email the files around.

 

Thanks and I hope you enjoy it!