Daily December 2011.....album cover

Hi everyone, I love all the blog buzz that is filled with December Daily postings. Such a fun time of year to be a crafty person. I couldn't let my December Daily get kicked off without having a cover for my album. I knew I wanted something chipboard-y but couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then it came to me to try something with the chipboard calendars from the Studio Calico December Daily kit(looking for the link but can't seem to locate it at SC).

I trimmed two of the calendars down to 6.5" to fit my 6" x 6" album. I splattered, inked and stitched....then embellished.
Both of the alphabets and the date stickers are from the Studio Calico kit. *Notes from Christmas* circle piece is from Elle's Studio. Pom pom trim is from Crate Paper's Peppermint holiday collection. Bells, ornament red/white twine and sparkly sprig are from my stash of goodies.
I love the white splatters from Mister Huey White from Studio Calico. This chipboard piece is from Echo Park, I believe.
My little album is turning out to be quite thick already. I can't wait to fill it up with holiday memories.
I've got my Day 1 and Day 2 in the works + a special page about Charlie, our new dog. I'll be posting updates soon. Plus, I've got lots of Project Life updates in the works. Happy December everyone!

Daily December 2011....supply storage

Hey there, it's December 1st and we all know what that means. We go into panic mode because the house isn't decorated, the tree's not up and we don't have gifts purchased, right? Um, well that too but it also means that it's time to start working on those December Daily albums! I've got my album ready to go except for the front cover. You can see my basic pages from Days 1-14 in this post and Days 15-31 in this post. You can also see the December Notebook that I created to keep little notes in here.

I'll be working on my December Daily album on a work table down in the Craft Department. I always try to keep this spare table cleaned off for special projects like mini albums, Etsy kit assembly, sewing projects, etc.
The photo below reminds me of my Holiday Inspiration Stations that I assembled for each and every little occasion. I love making assembling those and I've used that same method to assemble my supply basket that I'll be using for my DD. All of the extras from the Holiday Journal Kit from my Etsy shop, the DD kit from Studio Calico, stamps, journaling cards and more are all tucked into a wicker tray.
You know I love my little tins so I gathered up a bunch to keep things sorted. Here I've used a bread tin to hold Elle's Studio journaling cards and tags, Echo Park notions, Crate Paper embellishments from the Peppermint collection, tags from my shop and more. Can you tell I love the Small Clothespins? I use them all the time to clip together little goodies.
Here I've got a tin full of chipboard accents from Crate Paper + a jello tin filled with Washi tape. If you purchased one of my Holiday Journal kits, you got a sampling of Washi tape to use on your album. Behind I've got all my chipboard alphabets, sticker alphabets and stamps all lined up.
In these cute Christmas tree tins I've got all kinds of small goodies that I didn't want to get lost in the shuffle. There's brads, buttons, punched shapes, tags and more. I'll be using a few items from my regular stash too that I'll just grab when needed.
I'll be keeping my Daily December album in this vintage letter tray near my stash of supplies. Here, I'll drop in photos and little collected items that I want to add to the album.
I'm so excited to start the holiday season now. We'll be decorating the tree and house this weekend. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. :)

Holiday Journal/December Daily 2011 (Days 15-31)

Back today with the second half of my Holiday Journal pages. You can view days 1-14 in this post.

Day 15...I'll be using a Russel & Hazel sticky note that has 15 numbered lines for some sort of list. I've also added a large coin envelope with a Papertrey holiday sentiment. The scalloped piece of stationery is from the office supply store.
Day 16....misted envelope with chipboard letter + the #16 number from Elle's Studio. Candy cane striped paper is from Ali Edward's Studio Calico December Daily kit.
Day 17....graph paper, index card, large tag from my Etsy shop and index card divider.
Day 18....one of my favorite embellishments from my Holiday Journal kit, the snowflake garland. Made from snowflake punches then stitched with my sewing machine.
Day 19...back side of a misted envelope with 2 pieces from Elle's Studio.
Day 20.....a stitched pocket made from a large notebook sack from my shop.
Day 21....Elle's Studio journaling card + number.
Day 22......big space for journaling + a wooden button.
Day 23....Jenni Bowlin plastic flowers + patterned paper. I had a hard finding any adhesive that would hold down the cute flowers so I ended up stitching right over them.
Day 24...I ended up leaving two full sections for Christmas Eve as there will likely be a few extra photos for this day. More candy cane striped paper + a stamped ticket.
Day 24, cont......chicken wire overlay from the Studio Calico kit + the cute Crate paper with the night before Christmas poem. Chipboard Santa is temporarily clipped to paper.

Day 25...again, I'm using 2 full spreads for Christmas Day. Hambly overlay, Elle's Studio tag, velvet ric rac.
Day 25, cont....Jenni Bowlin image, Kraft pinked sticker on index card.
Day 26....another plastic Jenni Bowlin flower, ledger paper with patterned paper scrap.
Day 27....an extra snowflake garland, stationery piece + chipboard numbers.
Day 28....index card divider + name badge stickers from my kit. I'll probably run those through my vintage typewriter for journaling. Perhaps an Instax mini photo on one or the back side of the index divider card.
Day 29....layered Elle's Studio pieces with a glittered, wooden snowflake from my shop. Stamped index card with calendar and Hambly chicken wire overlay. For the clear pieces, I'll most likely adhere two of the same size pieces back to back....like (2) 4 x 4 photos.
Day 30....journaling piece from Elle's Studio with number tag.
Day 31...embellished index card from my kit, another stationery piece with tickets and strip of candy cane striped paper stitched on.
And that's it. 31 days just waiting to be filled with our holiday happenings. You can read more about how I plan to approach my Holiday Journal in my previous Holiday Journal post. I'm thinking I'll put sticky notes of what photos I want to use and will print them in batches if I decide to use the PostalPix app on my iPhone. I'm hoping to get the journaling done day by day using my vintage typewriter or my handwriting.

Note: Don't worry if you complete your base pages of your journal and you think it looks rather plain. The pages will come to life when you add your photos, journaling and final embellishments.

Holiday Journal updates:

I'm planning on doing a few more posts...one that shows my assembled basket of embellishments that I will have handy to finish up the Holiday Journal pages....and another that will show what I end up doing with my covers (most likely, it will be patterned paper over chipboard). I'll be keeping my journal very simple because I don't want this to be overly time consuming during the holiday season. I've done the bulk of the work, now it's just about filling in the photos + the stories. For now I'm going to put my Holiday Journal aside and focus on the Thanksgiving holiday.

Journal Inspiration:

Looking for even more inspiration for your journals? I've spent quite a bit of time pinning some great journals on my Just Journals Pinterest board. Be prepared to get sucked in. :) I'm going to borrow Jordan's iPad sometime and spend an afternoon by the fire just browsing those wonderful ideas.

My printers:

My new printer is an Epson Artisan 730. I purchased it right from the Epson shop online because at the time of ordering there was an instant rebate that made it cheaper than Amazon. I haven't actually tried printing photos yet but I will give a review when I start my printing. I also use my Canon Selphy printer to print 4 x 6 photos. I will continue to use this little printer to print off a few photos here and there. The quality is great, however it prints a little dark. So if you think about it while taking photos you know you want to print with the Selphy, lighten up the exposure a bit on your camera. For my iPhone photos, I am using the PostalPix app to print photos. Decent quality and about 5 days for delivery.

On the Homefront:

Getting my kitchen ready for some jelly making. My mom wants to make some jalapeno jelly for Christmas gifts. Plus we sat and visited the other night about activities she can do to occupy her time. She has lots of friends that have illnesses...the unfortunate part about growing older....so we've decided to do some meal planning and Mom will deliver the meals to friends. I'm going to surprise her with a basket of get well/thinking of you type cards to go along with the meals. And.....does anyone have a puppy that needs a playmate? Charlie LOVES to play with other dogs, he needs some friends. Right now, he's pretty much using the cats as chew toys but they don't seem to mind too much.

Coming soon:

I've been working hard on catching up on my Project Life pages so look for more of those updates soon. Thank you so much for all your nice comments about making the Project Life team. I'm very excited so many of you taking the plunge for 2012!