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December Daily – Days 8 and 9

Posted on December 10, 2011 by daydesigns

Still enjoying relatively quiet days here. I know that next week will be busier so I’m trying to pace myself!

Day Eight:

The plan was to make cookies after school. In their advent calendar I’d put a little note with the choices of cookies on it (Paige scribbled on it before I could snatch it away to put into this album – grr!) These are cookie mixes that a local mom makes and sells each year at a Christmas Craft Fair – gotta support local, right? Plus they are darn good mixes!

Marley and Christine chose the Gingerbread cookie mix (which came with a gingerbread man cookie cutter) and, to be contrary, Paige insisted on making the Coconut Oatmeal cookies. In previous years this probably would have led to fights, yelling, Mom in tears, girls in tears, … you get the picture. But this year, I just thought “okay, two types of cookies it is then!”

And then when I was approached on the playground by another mom asking if her daughter could come over for a play date, I thought “sure, why not? The more the merrier!” I’m getting so mature in my old age!! Ha!!!

I believe Christine ate only icing, sprinkles and gummy candies! What a turkey!

Day Nine:

Greg had a short work day and no soccer game that night so we took advantage of the rare free Friday evening and went into Vancouver to VanDusen’s Garden. Their annual Festival of Lights was starting that night. It’s a beautiful spectacle of millions of Christmas lights strung all throughout their gardens. Plus they put on a light show to music which is always lots of fun.

It’s been unseasonably cold and dry around here (but forecast to change tonight in time for Greg’s soccer game … sucker!) so the hot mini donuts were appreciated and the stop off to see Santa was a welcome break too. Christine ran up to sit on Santa’s lap as soon as he made the offer. I can’t remember what she said she wanted though. Oops!

The large star in the middle of the collage above were ones they were selling ($5 suggested donation, that is) to raise money for the Make a Wish Foundation. They are little LED lights that hang around your neck and glow blue. Each girl got one and then Christine managed to break hers on the way home. So it got included here!

The red glitter stars were cut out of some Stampin’ Up! glitter paper. I thought the stars were appropriate for this story.

Well, there we are. 9 days down, 16 more to go. Hope you’re enjoying your December so far and if you are doing a December Daily let me know. I’d love to check it out! Greg and the older girls are out buying our tree right now and then Marley has a birthday party to go to tonight while Greg goes to play soccer in the cold and wet. I told him it could be worse, we could be up north where he wouldn’t GET to play soccer so late in the year. But he just responded with “then I’d be playing indoors”. Hmm …

Anyway, have a great Saturday evening and I’ll see you soon!

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December Daily – Day 7

Posted on December 8, 2011 by daydesigns

So far so good. I’m not falling too far behind. Amazing!

Here’s a look at Day Seven:

This is the number overlay page. I chopped off the top flap, and added some fun items into the pockets. Below you see how the whole thing opens up. Since my story today is about my and Christine’s trip to Starbucks for a treat after shopping for Advent calendar items (and stocking stuffers .. shh, don’t tell!) it seemed appropriate to include several items from their packaging.

This bag was one I’d saved from last year but the logo above was from my coffee sleeve this year. I punched it out then added some red glitter. I also glittered the smaller snowflakes.

Here’s a look at the main page. The photos were pretty bad since all I had was my phone camera so I decided to create a collage with them. I added the words from my coffee sleeve (Let’s Merry. Huh?!) then journalled in the bottom section where I normally add patterned paper.

On the back I glued the bag that held Christine’s snack. Not sure what I’m going to put in the yet … maybe nothing … but it’s there if I need it. Christine did some cute art work today which I may add since today’s story is going to be about making cookies. Stay tuned for that layout!

Thanks for stopping by. Happy Scrapping!

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December Daily 2011 – Days 4 – 6

Posted on December 7, 2011 by daydesigns

Got ’em done! Phew!
These were basically quiet days with not too much in the way of Holiday Happenings so I found it quite challenging to pick a story to star. But … that is part of the fun for me this year. To take it one day at a time and not to stress out if there aren’t a lot of “Christmassy” things to talk about. In future years I think I will enjoy looking back and seeing our ordinary days just as much as our special days.

And here they are … Day Four:

I added a little pre-cut pocket from the Teresa Collins pack that I’ve been using for this album and then since I had printed off more journalling strips than I used on the page (see below) I added the extra ones to the pocket. The tag in the top left pocket is the reverse side of the Peace tag below – I just stamped on it to make it more interesting.

Here’s a close up of one of those journalling tags.

And the main page. I was despairing that since I had no photos from Sunday, and since not too much happened, that the page would be boring but I ended up LOVING this! I may have to repeat it sometime later. 🙂

Day Five:

Again, I kind of nothing day so I just wrote about it.

Then on the back I attached a CD pocket and inside are several cards that I found in Paige’s back pack. I had seen some of her Christmas art work and thought I might use it but when I saw these little cards with her attempts at writing out our names (she got ‘Dad’, “Mom” and her own name right then just put an ‘M’ and a ‘C’ for Marley and Christine – so cute!) I knew they had to find a place for them in this album.

Day Six:

Today I got the girls to write their letters to Santa. Marley says she has already written to him at school so he may be getting two from her this year. Oh well!

It was very easy for me to slip the letters into this pocket, behind the lace overlay bit. Then I added the card from their Advent Calendar with a cute little paper clip.

Last year I scanned their letters into the computer and printed them off onto photo paper. But this year, since they did cards, not letters, I decided to colour photocopy them so they look like the original cards.

Here’s a look at the inside of Marley’s. Hmmm … not sure Santa has the budget for an iPad2!!

Then I did something I’ve seen Ali Edwards do, I wrote a letter to Santa as the main page. Something fun and different!

Okay, that’s all for now. Thanks for stopping by.

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December Daily – Days 1 – 3

Posted on December 4, 2011 by daydesigns

I got to play with my December Daily today!
Yesterday we had our Annual Open House which meant busy days cleaning, prepping and getting those Christmas decorations up. So today I consciously took the morning “off”, stayed in my pj’s til noon and got some memories scrapped. This year I know my life is uber-hectic so I’m allowing myself to relax about the whole daily part of this project. I know there will be days when I can get several pages done at once to balance out those days when life is just too busy to allow any time in my scrap room. I’m also trying to focus on the story this year. Last year my book was picture and ephemera/embellishment heavy. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my 2010 DD but I am going to try something a bit different this time.

Enough talking, more showing …

Day One:

December really started with a bang (a freaking EARLY bang!!) as the PAC threw a pancake breakfast at the school complete with pictures with Santa. I had volunteered to help cook pancakes so had to be at the school by 6:15am (hence the pulled back hair and glasses!) As unflattering as this picture of me is, I want to remember this day. It was so much fun. We had Michael Buble’s Christmas CD blasting through the school while we cooked pancakes in the staff room, in class rooms (after blowing the fuses in the multi-purpose room!) and even in the principal’s office. All the mayhem and stress was worth it as families started arriving, getting their pre-ordered food and eating in the gorgeously decorated gymnasium. Greg went to work a bit late so he could help the girls get their pancakes while I cooked them. We even got a family picture with Santa (that I may add to this once I get a copy).

Day two:

There’s the prompt from the girls’ advent calendar (note to self: need to take a picture of the new and improved advent calendar for you!) We didn’t actually get to the decorating until after dinner because I was working on the calendar while the girls were at school and then had so much tidying and cleaning to do once they got home. But it got done and the house looks great.

The impetus for the early decorating was our 5th Annual Holiday Open House yesterday. I didn’t put up as much as I have in previous years. Not so much because I wasn’t “feeling it” but I just wanted simple. Trying to keep everything simple right now!

The story that I wanted to record was about how the girls pretty much deserted me as soon as we opened the box containing the Christmas books, hats and stuffies!

I also played with my Technique Tuesday Ali Edwards stamps on this layout. Love how Ali’s handwriting looks framing this picture collage! Then on the back of the page I added tons of journalling with some more pics of the decorations. I’ll have to take some better pictures of that wreath and share them with you (maybe over on my Stampin’ Up! blog.)

Day Three:

It was all about the party today! Two collages of some of the pictures I took which show the action. The little girl in the black and white picture is Greg’s cousin’s daughter, Zoe. She was hiding in her Mom’s legs but I thought this picture was too cute not to include! She’s almost 18 months old and just so darn adorable!!

On the back is the other photo collage and the tag from the girls’ advent calendar. Another thing I loved was catching Marley showing her two friends her baby scrapbook. In the picture (top right) all you see is her legs (good thing she had on tights or this pic could have been really bad!) as one of her friends is tackling her. So lady-like!!

Well, there you have it. Not sure what today’s layout will be about (although I have a tiny idea! Not telling!!!) Marley and Paige have soccer games today but other than that we are just laying low.

Hope you are having a fun filled December too!

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Project 12 – September (gulp!) and October 2011

Posted on November 22, 2011 by daydesigns

Amidst all the other things going on in my life last month (namely; kids, house, new PAC duties, kids activities, husband, figuring out Stampin’ Up! …. etc) I completely forgot about my September layout for my beloved (hear that Davinie!) Project 12. My bad. My total bad!

I have managed to carve out some “me” scrapping time this past week (see my December Daily post) and got not only September’s layout done but October’s too. Yay me!!!

Let’s start with September … sketch first …

The left hand page tells the stories of early September – our trip to Lynn Canyon’s suspension bridge and the girls returning to school. Paige started Kindergarten so it was an especially memorable September.

Close up of the embellishments.

The right hand page features a picture (that I love!) of me with my girls on my birthday. Tucked down in the corner is a picture of our van after Greg and the girls were hit by someone running a red light at a nearby highway intersection. SO blessed it was not more serious! I do want to remember the incident though as it really impacted us for several weeks so in the layout it goes!

And that brings us to October.

The left hand page features a large picture of me with Team Pinkalicious Pandora supporting my amazing friend Beth who is fighting Stage 4 Breast Cancer with every fibre of her being. This lady doesn’t know the meaning of the word “quit”! Go Beth!!!

Underneath are small snapshots of the first half of October. Marley and Paige playing soccer, LC riding a pony for the first time ever, and one of two Thanksgiving dinners. Yes, we scored two turkey dinners this year!

Some close ups.

I added the girls’ team names.

The right hand page talks about Hallowe’en. LC was old enough to get into the spirit this year – doesn’t she make a super cute kitty?!

As you can see I had lots of fun embellishing these layouts. I’ve added way more to my pages than I normally would and am super pleased with the look. Ever evolving, I am!!

Thanks for coming to see my work.

Posted in layout, Project 12, Scrapbook | 2 Comments

It’s done, now bring on December!

Posted on November 19, 2011 by daydesigns

For you non-scrappy types, that title may seem cryptic. But if you know what I’m talking about, then I’m sure you can share in my excitement that my December Daily foundation pages are complete and waiting for the stories of December that will fill their pages. Sooner than you think!!

To see all posts relating to my 2010 December Daily go here. To check out what Ali Edwards (the December Daily Goddess!) has come up with this year go here.

Okay, now for the good stuff. WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY!! I’m not going to comment too much about each page so you can scroll through them as fast or slow as you want! If something in particular needs to be said, I’ll say it. 🙂

Like how this is the front cover. 🙂

Day 1: I decided to embrace a few things this year. The first being the transparency overlays like last year, only this year I went for irregular shapes and sizes. Which ties into the second thing I embraced, irregularity. Oddly shaped pages. Pages and embellishments that stick up, or down, or both. And a variety of photo pocket sizes. The third thing I did is minimal embellishments. Beyond the day’s number, I added very few extras. I know from past experience that the stories I decide to tell in December will need their own embellishments so I’ll add them as I go along. Ditto the patterned paper strips in the lower rectangle next to the numbers on the card stock pages.

Day 4 shows the second example of a photo pocket. These are from Pink Paisley’s combo pack (I bought them for Ali’s One Little Word). For Day 2 I used a cut down CD pocket holder from Avery. So you see, odd sizes for different sizes of pictures/ephemera!

Day 7 uses another Pink Paisley pocket. This is one of the ones that folds over and attaches. You can see the string attacher above the 7. I’ll probably replace it with something prettier eventually.

A note also about the back side of the brown paper – I’m not crazy about the colours in this pattern (they don’t match my red, cream and brown scheme) but I will most likely cover it with a picture or collage of pictures later so I’m not sweating it now.

Day 19: Kind of really love how this turned out. I made a couple boo boos (taped it to the wrong side so had ripped paper to hide) but I love how the tags and the ribbon came together to complete this page.

Okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to comment much but this overlay needs some explanation. The paper was originally white and sparkly but the white was too stark with my cream scheme so I got out my trusty mists and sprayed the heck out of it. I used a couple of colours (a brown and a red) and the combination gives this nice antiquey red that perfectly matches my scheme.

Oh, and I gave the back a quick spritz too as it may be seen.

Day 24 has more spritz on the originally white snowflake paper. But I didn’t spray the back as I’m sure I will be covering it … maybe. I did staple it shut though … hmmmm … oh well.

And then we come to Day 25. I really love this page. At least, I did until I punched the holes in the wrong spots! Sigh. Oh well … embracing imperfection right along with irregularity!!

And while we’re on the topic of punching holes in the wrong spots … I did it to ALL the card stock pages originally. but I cleverly covered them up with strips of coordinating paper and repunched in the correct spots. Yup, pattin’ myself on the back a little bit there!

There, all done!

Here it is all ready for pictures and extras. Looks pretty thick already, doesn’t it?

Thanks for stopping by. Are you doing a December Daily? Leave me a comment so I can share in your fun too!

Posted in December Daily, Scrapbook | 5 Comments

Christmas Card Making Class

Posted on November 9, 2011 by daydesigns

Need a few ideas for fun and easy Christmas cards this year? Come on out to my class!
We will be making 3 different designs – normally I would add the previews for you right here but my computer has chosen to have a few death spasms this week so …. I’m using my hubby’s computer and having to transfer files back and forth and, well, it’s annoying! So, check out my Facebook album here for those previews.

I’ve added a button to my sidebar with a link to my Eventbrite site. Click on it and then register by Visa or Mastercard. If you’d prefer to send me a cheque my address is under Additional Ticket Info.

Thanks! Hope to see you there!

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