December Memories 2013...Pages 20-24

Sharing the last of my December Memories 2013 album this week.  I'm so, so happy to have this album 100% completed.  What a treasure this will be in years to come.  As you recall, I used the Gossamer Blue 2013 December Memories Kit for this project.  It was awesome...can't wait to see what next year brings. 

Starting today where I left off with page 20.  

Still loving all the gold accents and thread I used for this album.

This day was a fun road trip through the snowy countryside to visit my favorite barn.

Page 21 was all about getting presents wrapped.

I used lots of my Grid Paper Labels for typed journaling.

Page 22, starting Winter Break.

Lots of fun inserts to fill up the pages.

Gold stitching to enhance some chipboard lettering.

Page 23 was about keeping calm amongst the hustle and bustle.

I used a photo from my last shopping day in town before Christmas and one of my dad putting out a fire in our oven on Christmas Eve.

Day 24 was Christmas Eve.

We had my folks over for soup night then we opened a traditional Christmas Eve gift.  It was playing cards so we broke them in with a good game of Nertz.

I used a Medium Manila Parcel Tag for typed journaling and some stickers then added gold stitching.

Loved the vellum embellishments from the kit when paired with gold stitching.  Here I also used the stamp set that came with the kit.

Hope you enjoy!  I'll have one last post sharing the remaining pages of my December Memories album later this week.

2013 December Memories Pages 17, 18, 19,

Today I'm sharing some more pages of my 2013 December Memories album.  This project seems to be one that is started with such great enthusiasm and then fizzles out about midway throughout the holiday season.  I am so very happy that I have the entire album completed.  The extra photos + stories all tucked into this one special album will be a family treasure for years to come.  My hope is that by sharing my completed pages, you'll be inspired to dig into your supplies, print those photos and finish your album.  You'll be so happy you did.

This is page 17 which is all about Charlie.  

I included some photos of that were taken over the holiday season + I added in a photo of the ornament that his big wagging tail broke, the day we took a country drive + I added some journaling onto Grid Paper Labels.  

In the photo, below right, Charlie got a new duck for Christmas.  Oh how he loves a new toy.  It reminded me of the very first toy we bought Charlie on the first day we had him....a duck none the less.  

Page 18 is a favorite of this year's December Memories album.  I Loved that speech bubble with "coal" on it so I designed this page around that single embellishment.  I have a cute photo of the girls being "good" and then some photos of them being silly.  

These are typical photos for me.  Jordan making a goofy face and someone always photo bombing the person having their photo taken.  Jordan had received an exemplary award for academics at the ballgame and she didn't want to pose for yet another photo.  

The week I took these photos I found 2 notebook pages that the girls had written about 9 years ago.  They must have gotten in trouble and had to write some sentences for me.  I was good at dishing that out for bad behavior.  I scanned the pages and printed them out at 4" x 6" sized photos.  I just tucked them into my page protector.  I just think their little hand writing is adorable.  

Moving on to page 19 which has a collage page of some of our holiday ornaments.  Very simple but I love to see how different the tree looks each year even though we use all the same ornaments. 

Hope you enjoy!  Time for some basketball tonight.....but first I think I might have just enough time to finish Week 51 of my 2013 Project Life.  Have a good weekend everyone. 

2013 December Memories....pages 5, 9, 10, 14-16

Sharing more of my 2013 December Memories album, made with the 2013 Gossamer Blue December Memories Kit.

This is page 4 which shows photos from several deer hunting days.  A big family tradition so it's important for us to document this. 

Page 9 shows some typed pieces of paper that I stitched with gold thread.  I created some lists of our holiday family traditions and showed a few photos of those traditions. 

 To create the lists, I typed the traditions on different lines, trimmed and stitched down the middle to adhere.

Page 20 with an insert for my hot cocoa station. Probably the most fun I had decorating this holiday season. 

 Here the insert which is two simple 4 x 6 photos back to back in a trimmed page protector.

Page 14 shows our wish lists.  I used Large White Tags from my shop and had each of us write down a few items.  I really wanted to show each family member's handwriting here. 

Gold tags have the names stamped on them.  

Day 15 shows the live wreath that we hung on the front door this year.  I've wanted a live wreath forever and finally found a beautiful one at a very good price.  

 I snapped a few photos and even captured the cats while they were watching me fiddle with the wreath.

 I placed a second wreath on our chalkboard this season and loved it as well.  I drew some sprigs around the wreath, wrote the phrase inside the wreath....and the banner caption was done with an app on a photo.  Then I printed it.  I might just use that photo for a holiday card next year.  I kept some tags from the wreaths and clipped them into place.

 Here's the 2 page spread without the insert.

 A 5 x 7 insert showing an enlarged photo of our front door with the wreath.

The back side of that insert, showing how pretty the foliage was on this wreath. 

Page 16 was all about holiday cards...ones I created and the ones we received. 

 I used a Becky Higgins pocket page to hold the photos and cards we received.  I trimmed off the flap and inserted a journaling card with a typed tag inside.

 Here's the 2 page spread without the insert.

 So colorful and cheery.  I placed stickers on one insert and stitched down the middle with gold thread.

 On this page I used an old page from a card list book and stitched on some postage stamps I saved from Christmas card envelopes we received.

I'll be back to share some more pages of my album soon. 

 Stay tuned for tomorrow....I'll be starting a Workspace Wednesday blog series and will tell you all about it, starting with a Project Life helper in my work space. 

December Memories Days 2, 5, 11-13

Today I'm back to share more of my December Memories 2013 album, created with the 2013 Gossamer Blue December Memories Kit.  I'm skipping around on the days because I didn't plan for this to be an event a day type of album.  I worked on each insert as a specific memory/tradition so you'll see my pages here on the blog as I completed them.  

Going back to my first intro page, I added this vintage flash card which I offered in a kit in my shop.  I added "us" to the mix and a sticker.  

 Planting Paper White bulbs was a new tradition I started this year and my plan was to take a weekly progress photo as the bulbs grew.  That was really fun to watch.  Here's the front side of that insert which has a page protector trimmed down to 3 x 8.  You can see week 1 and week 2 progress of the bulbs.

 Here you can see week 3 progress and week 4 shows the bulbs in full bloom in an additional insert.

 One of my favorite photos of this album, I think, because I love the idea of fresh flowers in the middle of Winter. Papers and stickers from the Gossamer Blue kits.

 Page 5 which shows various crafts I created throughout December. Cards, holiday planners, candy bar wrappers, gift packaging, etc.

 Here I created a collage of some of the Christmas cards I made.

 Day 11 shows my homemade marshmallows.

 I saved the gelatin package and stitched it on a 3 x 4 card.

 I love this photo because I arranged a blank spot when taking the photo, knowing I could add some fun text in there using the Phonto app on my iPhone.  I added a sticker too.

These gold, glittery stickers got a workout in this album.  Here I paired them with typewriter journaling. 

 Page 12 shows some of my holiday lists, with a fun polka dot sack insert.

 Lots of lists so why not lots of "lists" words on this insert?  I used various stickers from the kits and my stash.

 I used two Large White Parcel Tags as inserts for the fun sacks from the Gossamer Blue kit.

 Here I folded some grocery/meal planning lists and stitched and stapled a piece of vintage ribbon to one of the lists to use as a pull tab.

 I didn't have photos to fill this page protector so I trimmed a list into 4 pieces.  It's used more as a decorative element here.

 Page 13 is all about my holiday baking.  Here I took photos from all my baking sessions and added them in one spot. This photo shows a 5 x 7 insert page too.

 Here's the 2 page spread without the insert.

 New cookies this year for cookie trays.  I love photographing food.

 I kept a candy kiss to add to one insert.  Cute.

 Peanut butter balls with a chipboard button and twine.

 Here's the insert.  I used two 4 x 6 photos and adhered them back to back on a 5 x 7 piece of star acetate from the kits.

 Here's the back side.  I added a strip of star paper to the edge so that this insert would stand out from the 2 page spread.

 I ended up coloring in the white stars with watercolors and a glittery watercolor medium to add some shine.

 Here's a photo of that little painting session, using my new travel watercolor palette and a refillable watercolor brush. That was so fun just to fiddle a little with paints.

I'm happy to announce that my album is 100% complete.  I'll be sharing the rest of the pages here on the blog soon.  I'm hoping that I'll be able to compile some thoughts on what I loved and what I might change up for next year on the last installment.  Thanks for joining me today.  If you tackled a DD this year, how did it go?  Are you finished?  Have you set a deadline? It's so worth it so keep on truckin' and work on your album while the memories are fresh in your mind.  This is kind of like Christmas itself....so fun while the season is here but when it's over, it's done and you're ready to move on.  I'm so happy to have my fat little album completed.  A real treasure.