Project Life 2012, Week 48 + Project December inserts...

Hello everyone.  Like you, my heart is heavy this morning as I think about the folks in Connecticut.  Please keep them in your prayers and use this as a reminder this holiday season that family is what matters most.....not stressing over shopping, baking, decorating and feeling overwhelmed.  Just stop what you're doing and be with your family.  

Long post today....lots to share.....be sure to check the bottom of the post for a fun guest spot I'm doing this month over at 2Peas.  

Today I'm sharing Week 48 of my Project + December....my combination of my Project Life + Daily December happenings.   It was pretty much just a regular week for us but I wanted to jump start my December pages with some festive looking inserts.  Below is my 2 page spread of what would be my regular Project Life pages for this week. I used lots of October Afternoon, Elle's Studio, Studio Calico, Gossamer Blue kit items, American Crafts chipboard letters, etc. 

The left page, with a fun December insert kicking off the holiday season.  I used the red chipboard letters to carry the festive color throughout my 2 page spread.  The Week in Review insert was one that was pre-made by me earlier.

This is the right page of the 2 page spread.

This week I have 5 inserts + my December monthly page divider.  Here's what all the inserts look like sandwiched in between the main 2 page, 12 x 12 layout.  

If you've followed my process then you know that I like to keep all of my inserts smaller than 12 x 12 if possible.  This way the 12 x 12 layout shows through and all of the inserts are like little bonus pages.  I'm so pleased that I've found an approach that works for me.  I'll be continuing this with my 2013 Project Life.  No extra albums, it all goes into my Project Life albums....which I've found is 2 per year, including all inserts.  I just have to be care to not bulk up the pages to much with lofty embellishments.

Here's another shot of my full spread with some of the insert pages, the pages are just turned.  Thumbing through my albums is somewhat an interactive process for the reader.  The different size pages are fun to turn and the short stories + the photos all make up a wonderful week of our lives.  

How do I decide what goes into the inserts vs. what goes into the weekly spread? I find that my day to day activities with a single photo go into the main 2 page spread inserts.  Any big event like a birthday, a fun road trip, a graduation, or just stellar photos that I want to highlight by enlarging them go into my inserts.  I'm loving selecting a few photos and enlarging them to 5 x7 or larger.  

On to the 4 x 6 inserts of the main, 2 page spread. This is the main weekly insert, marking that December is here.  You'll notice the dimensional badge here.  I've found that my inserts make the center of my album bulkier than the outside.  By using a badge like this every once in a while, it adds a little bulk to even out the pages when the album is closed. I like to place them on the outside of the page protector.  The tactile feel is fun for the viewer. 

Am loving adding some photos of meals into my albums.  It just rounds out our weekly events. 

Here I have a photo that is actually a flap that opens to reveal another photo + journaling.  

Josey crafted me this absolutely beautiful walnut cutting board.  It's one of those things that you will just treasure forever.  Handmade.  From the heart.  My favorite kind of gift.

Sports are always part of our weekly activities.  They sometimes don't fit into a holiday theme but I have to make them work.  It's just so much a part of our weekly lives. Here I used a 3 x 4 insert with star patterned paper + some Studio Calico wood veneer stars + a Studio Calico Mistables arrow that I stamped with stars. The stars are holiday-like but really allude to my little super star basketball players. 

The 3 x 4 inserts....here I have my Week in Review which uses a manila tag from my shop, a glittered snowflake that I made earlier + a photo of a favorite snack.  Don't get these, they're horrible, yucky, gross.

2 more inserts using a pre-made card from my stash with added sticker letters + an Elle's Studio journaling card with some gold striped Washi tape added.  

The weather always makes it into my pages.  I simply take a screen shot then print it.  Charlie is decked out in orange.  He got to go for a ride with the hunters so we dressed him in an orange t-shirt so he wouldn't be mistaken for a deer if he happened to jump out and go for a run. Hunters are required to wear this bright orange amongst their camo attire. 

Here, Josey is sporting her camo shirt and hat.  I called her Jose Ebere and she had no clue who I was talking about.  The hair dresser.  

Okay, now on to the inserts.  This is a Becky Higgins Project Life monthly plastic divider.  I covered it with gold polka dot vellum, added an embossed Ali Edwards stamp + a December sticker from October Afternoon then stitched it with my red thread I'm using this holiday season.

Before stitching I added a white paper doily from my shop + I sprinkled in some confetti glitter/snow mix that I mixed up earlier. I love how it shows through on the back side of the divider.  I think I might go back and do this to all my monthly dividers.  And I'll definitely be doing this to all of my dividers for 2013.  You could easily add a thin strip of typed journaling or perhaps save this for the end of the month and stitch on some month in review photos.  Lots of possibilities, I'll have to take some notes. :)

Here I have a 5 x7 photo that I enlarged of our fireplace mantel.  I chose to mainly decorate the mantel and put up the tree this year, keeping the other decorations in the house minimal.  I added the journaling  using the Phonto app for my iPhone.  I plan to scour my Chalkboard Board on Pinterest and actually add a holiday greeting soon.  

Turning the page, I have (2) 5 x7 inserts, the left is a photo of a holiday decorated fireplace mantel from the antique shop we road tripped to recently.  It inspired my fireplace mantel makeover which is shown on the right.  The photo on the right is actually a 4 x 6 photo adhered to one of the 5 x 7 inserts I made previously. 

A few simple embellishments makes for nice, simple pages.  

Turning the pages once again, I have close ups of my fireplace mantel + a little story about being home for the holidays.  I'll show you my vintage finds from the antique shop road trip soon.  

Journaling about my thoughts on being home for the holidays.  I used one of my pre-made 5 x7 page inserts along with a circle journaling tag from Elle's studio, chipboard letters + one of the painted, glittered snowflakes I created earlier. Just scroll down for lots of posts on how I pre-made a lot of my inserts & embellishments my December pages. 

The 4 x6 pre-made insert on the right page.  I added a doily, glittered snowflake, journaling, chibboard letters + lots of red stitching.

Turn the page and here's the backside of the previous insert.  It's a Becky Higgins 10 x 12 divided page protector.  I used lots of photos from a recent visit to Target + my thoughts all the "stuff" out there these days.  The 4 x 6 insert is filled with (2) pre-made journaling cards.  

On the left I added lots of stickers from October Afternoon + red lines of machine stitching.  On the right I added an October Afternoon "today" sticker + some fun silver sticker letters. 

Below is a simple 8.5 x 11 insert that holds a ripped sheet from a Pottery Barn catalog.  I tore out some favorite pages from catalogs to keep in case I needed some fillers.  And whaddya know, I needed something here.  I added a pre-made stamped piece using Ali Edwards stamps + a glittered wood snowflake.  And of course some red stitching.  I added some confetti glitter to kind of cover up some words on the bottom of the catalog page. 

Okay, still with me.  Whew, my fingers are getting sore from typing.  ;)  This is the back side of the above page.  It holds some hand written notes from the girls and me to Eric.  He was unable to make it to the first basketball game of the season and we all just hated it.  It's rare that Eric or I miss a game of the girls.  

My pre-made embellished vellum envelope was adhered to the outside of the page protector.  I used 2 long strips of Washi tape to hold it down.  This way the envelope is easily accessible and the note that will be tucked inside can be taken out easily. 

Okay, that's it for the first week of my Project + December.  Wowzers, that was a lot!  I'm very happy to report that aside from just a few inserts I am officially caught up with my Project Life.  2 full albums almost done for 2012.  That. is. awesome. in. my. book.  All the hard work paid off because I love my albums.  A total labor of love.  

Hey one more thing....I'm guesting this month over at 2Peas for Lisa Truesdell's Captured Project Life class.  Please join Lisa as she shares some of her Project Life pages + mine + another awesome Project Life friend.  And check this link out to shop for a lot of the fun products I've used for this week's pages.  Thanks for joining me today.  Have a blessed day everyone.  I'm off to make a big crock pot full of chili & spend time with my sick, little Jordy + the rest of the family by our tree.