December Daily – An Apology

It is now 9:00am on December 4th and I have completed 0 of 3 pages in my December Daily album.

Doh!

I blame this head cold which has left me feeling like I am experiencing life through a thick fog. Hopefully it will pass soon and I will get crafty!

As a recap:
Dec 2nd – Thursday. Marley had school, Paige had ballet, LC tagged along! The girls opened the advent calendar to find the prompt “let’s make beaded ornaments”. I had picked up several little packs from Michaels containing those beads that you iron to melt into your desired design. I didn’t really think LC would be able to do it – I was right, she ended up trying to eat the beads! Paige and Marley had some fun though. Marley especially got very creative. I think I may include one of the ornaments into the DD album.
…when I get there!

Dec 3rd – Friday. Definitely another sick day! In fact, Greg took a sick day he was feeling so bad. I braved Toys RUs after dropping Paige at preschool. The two things I went specifically for were sold out before I got there. And I think I was there an hour after opening! Sheesh!! But I did cross off several items from the old list! After school Marley had her usual Crazy Friday with ballet from 3:30 – 4:30 and then soccer practice from 5:00 – 6:00. She was SUPER tired by the time she got home. We had pizza for dinner then made popcorn and watched “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (the original version) and “Shrek the Halls”.

Today we are hopefully heading out to Abbotsford for some fun with Ammee and Poppa but head colds and a sister-in-law in labour may change things. At the very least, I made pancakes this morning and took pictures of the ones I made for Marley and Paige – they were in the shape of a snowman. That can go into the DD!

Be back soon. Hope you’re all enjoying December so far!!

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December Daily – Dec 1

Well, it’s December 1st. Time to start my December Daily posts.

But I’m sick!

Marley has been sick for a week and I guess it was inevitable.
*sigh*
Kids and germs go together like peanut butter and jelly! Too bad the Mama’s pick things up when cleaning the pb&j residue!

Today I dragged my sorry butt out of bed and put out  the advent calendar for the girls. LC got to open the first box and then proceeded to smear herself with the chocolate Kiss she found inside! Mmmm …. chocolate before breakfast! The other prize in the box was a note saying we’d decorate the house today. I wrote the notes up before I got sick and contemplated changing it but … that seemed too hard with my head all stuffed up.

Greg stayed home to look after the kids and allow me to rest. So I took the morning easy and then once Marley came home from school (and Wednesdays are short days so she’d off at 1:30) we got out the boxes of decorations and dug in. Greg also took the opportunity to put up the Christmas lights outside. The girls kept going in and out helping both of us.

I did manage to take some pictures today of our decorating efforts. As soon as I get them uploaded I’ll share some and get to work on my layout for Dec 1. My energy reserves ran out after a couple hours so all we managed to do today were the two fireplace mantels and the stair bannister. Since LC is such a curious little thing I am planning to keep the decorations to a minimum this year. Nothing sucks the joy out of the season faster than spending every other minute telling LC to “touche pas!” So the mantels will be decorated and we’ll have a tree in a week or so but the usual little vignettes will have to wait until next year.

Anyway, that’s our December so far. See you tomorrow!

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December Daily – Foundation Pages Take II

Instead of putting all (66) of the pictures into my blog I’ve decided to upload them to my Picasa account and post a link here. That way only the truly eager will be subjected to my crafty obsession!! 🙂
Just to give you a teaser though, here is what the album looks like now …
Here’s the link – gosh I hope it works!!
… you know you wanna!!!
🙂
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December Daily – Foundation Pages

Okay, here it is … sort of.
That sounds a bit cryptic so let me explain … I finished the foundation pages for my December Daily album today and took roughly a million pictures of it. However, most of the pictures sucked! Poor lighting and even poorer background! Sigh. It’s too late to redo them now but I will try again tomorrow. Until then, here is what I have so far.
Not all of them though … I just can’t do that to you!!
The front cover.
Funny story about the ribbon detail on the right … I punch the holes wrong the first time and rather than redoing the entire cover, I (quite ingeniously if I do say so myself) came up with the idea of covering the holes up with ribbon. Looks like it was always meant to be, no?
When I took these pictures I hadn’t adhered any patterned paper to the daily pages (I used the 6 x 8 digital templates from Ali Edwards) and some of the transparency papers still hadn’t been hole punched. That’s why you see quite a bit of “stuff” hanging out the right side of the book. Now that it’s all done, you don’t see that. I will attempt to post more pictures tomorrow to show that.
I used an ornament cut out from MME The Merry Days of Christmas line and then broke out my stamps. The December and the 20 and 10 are from a pack I found at Homesense, the D is from Martha Stewart’s Monogram set. Then I hand wrote the “aily” part – in real life it’s harder to tell the difference.

This is the inside of the front cover and the first of my … let’s call them Daily Cover Pages, shall we?
I’ve never made one of these albums before and really admired Ali’s so tried to follow her example as best I could. I checked out the cost of buying the transparancies that she used but it was going to cost me as much in shipping as the sheets themselves so I went to Plan B – scouring every LSS I know of for alternatives!! I am really happy with the results. I ended up finding a stash of glitter die cut papers in my own stash which saved me a bundle too! I bought some overhead projector transparencies and spray glued the die cuts to them. Some have adhered a bit more securely than others so we’ll have to see how those pages stand up to handling by the girls!!

Here’s another page – this is a transparency that I found in the wedding section at one of the scrapbook stores but I think the white looks wintery so … it works for me! The picture below shows the pattern on it a bit better. 
For most of the cover pages I added some sort of date embellishment but others, like this one, I went a different route. Here I used a Thickers foil shape to high light to number 5. 
Day 10 needs a couple of comments … first, I love the trees! This was one of the glitter sheets I found in my stash. Good score, eh? Also, as I was putting all this together, a package came in the mail. A little while back I won a RAK over at Apron Strings   and inside this little envelope was a package of fabric flowers from Jillibean Soup that were PERFECT! Thank you Lori!!

This cover page was another “wedding” find but again, it’s white, it works! I haven’t put the date on this page but it’s the cover page for the 18th which is the day we will be heading out to Abbotsford for a big Graham/Campbell/Day Christmas. Hence the Family tag.
This is another one of the white roses transparency and the cut out is from that MME sheet again. It’s super simple but I really like this one. 
Ah, my snowman. It won’t stay stuck to the glitter poisetta’s so I’ll have to find a different way of adhering it but I really like it. The number 21 is from Elle’s Studio Christmas Mix and Match Vintage Number Tags. I liked it’s simplicity but directly against the poinsetta’s it didn’t sing. Then I found the snowman on a page of Christmas stickers (Echo Park’s Wintertime) and everything fell into place. I stuck him to a piece of patterned paper (from the MME the Merry Days of Christmas line) then adhered the 21 to his belly and cut him out. Voila! Isn’t he cute? 
I found this piece of transparency and knew this was going to be my December 25th cover page! All the other papers I got two cover pages out of, but this one, I only wanted the one. (The transparencies and die cut papers are all 12″ x 12″ so I could get two 6″ x 8″ cover pages from each one.) I added a foil star for some added bling and dimension and I may go back and add a 25 somewhere, but for now, it’s done.
This is actually the only one like it because I made a mistake in my cutting. I accidentally cut a piece 6″ x 6″!!! Doh! 
I also haven’t added anything to this partly because I kind of ran out of steam, and partly because I’m waiting to see what happens that day (the 30th). It may just stay this way forever! We’ll see!! 
Here’s a quick peak at what the cover pages look like all laid out. Some are actually hockey card protector sheets (cut down to fit) and others are 4×6 photo protectors (also cut down to fit). I hope to find neat things to fill up the pockets of these! 
Thanks for sticking with me. I will take some pictures of the completed Daily Pages tomorrow and post them too. It’s exciting to see the book all put together. Now I just need December to get here so I can start filling it up!! Oh, but first I need to find all the goodies to fill up the advent calendar for the girls! That’s my plan for tomorrow.
If it doesn’t snow so much over night to prevent me from heading into Michael’s!
Yes, you heard me right! We have a snow fall warning tonight here in the Lower Mainland! 5 – 10cm apparantly. It was snowing big fluffy flakes when I picked Paige up from preschool today and the kids were tearing around trying to catch them on their tongues! So cute!!
But they don’t have to shovel it!!
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Project 12 – October 2010

It’s hard to believe that this is my 10th post for this project! Two more months/layouts to go and I will have one more completed project under my belt.

Yay!!

Okay, here goes … the sketch we were given was …

… and here’s what I came up with.

I got so motivated last month that I actually picked the base papers, the striped bit along the bottom and cut out the circle before putting away my supplies. It made it pretty easy this month to pick the pictures and then the embellishments. I think I may have to do that again … oops too late! I’ve already packed up my Project 12 bin! I have a very good reason for that which I will talk about at the end of this post. 🙂
A couple of comments about my process this month … if I may! It’s hard to tell from the picture above, but that black strip along the bottom is actually a sequined ribbon that I came across in my stash. I was looking for a blue ribbon to compliment the blue journalling strip but … somehow this one was a better fit. The striped paper and the leaf paper are Bella Blvd (FINALLY got to use some Bella!) and when I went looking for some blue embellishments to tie in the blue journalling strip, I came across the oak leaf and the “Fall Fun” title sticker. Once those were added the layout really seemed complete.
The sketch shows lots of stitching lines but while I have been known to sew in the past (fabric, not paper), currently my sewing machine is dead and buried (in the garage under about a ton of cobwebs!) so I got creative. I used my circle templates and drew on the “stitches” with pen. I was pretty nervous to start drawing all over the pictures but figured, if it didn’t work I could always reprint them. Once I’d finished though I really liked how it looks!
Here is a close up of the left hand side …

… and the right hand side.

Well, there you have it. Another month done! This has been such a fun project. During Marley’s stint as Star of the Week at school, she took the album in for sharing. I didn’t hear any comments about it but just the fact that I have created something that allows the girls to quickly and easily share what life is like in our family is so neat! I’m definitely signing up to do this again in 2011!!
So … I cryptically made mention to another project that I’m getting ready for. It’s entirely possible that with this one I will have bitten off more than I can chew but …
I’m going to do a December Daily a la Ali Edwards.
Yikes!!
In my quest to live more in every moment – especially with my kids –  and to document our lives, I am going to undertake this project this year. Last year I made the girls an Advent Calendar with the intention that each drawer would hold things besides chocolates. Things like “let’s make cookies today” or “let’s decorate the house” … you get the idea. I see this working really well in conjuction with the December Daily project.
The idea of the December Daily is to save emphemora throughout the month as well as document in photos what life is like in the run up to Christmas. Some people document all 31 days of December, Ali only does the first 25. I am undecided but will prep up to Dec 25th and if I decide to add on later, I will.
Currently I have spread out all the “fixin’s” of my album on the dining room table (gosh, I have a lot of Christmas supplies!!) and am waiting for a few (relatively uninterrupted) hours to start compiling. Today is a Stat, tomorrow Greg has taken a vacation day and Monday he has a Flex day so hopefully somewhere in those 5 days I will be able to find time to do this!! Once I have the shell together I will post pictures and come December I will attempt to blog more regularly and give you updates.
Okay, off to Costco. Thanks for checking in with me today!
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Project 12 – September 2010

Here it is … finally! I’ve been trying to set aside time to tackle my layout for September for weeks now and eventually had to complete it in 15 minute chunks. Lol! Life is far too busy to try to be creative!!

Here is the PageMaps sketch:

And here is my layout:
I’m still trying to use the same papers from Martha Stewart that I found in January but I’m finding it increasingly difficult for a few reasons. I’m getting a bit bored of them, I’m running out of them and the bits and pieces that ARE left are the ones I liked the least from the beginning! Hmmm …. may have to rethink my plan for next years’ album. I like the idea of keeping a consistent thread throughout the whole year but I think I limited myself too much with this particular choice. Live and learn, I guess!!
Here is a close up of the left-hand page. I made a few changes (natch!) to the sketch. The lined paper (which is my nod to back to school) seemed to cry out to be journalled on directly so I didn’t add the extra journalling section. I then decided that my title fit nicely in the middle of the row of pictures – although, I have now noticed that in order to cut the page in two I will have to move the large month letters as they are hanging over the middle. Oops! And of course I couldn’t actually stick with the sketched 3 pictures!! The two of Marley starting Grade One HAD to be there!!

Here is a close up of the right-hand page. I didn’t journal about Greg and LC mowing the lawn together. I’ve blogged about it and it just didn’t seem to need any additional comments here. September really was all about the girls heading back to school and us getting back into a routine. Even my birthday was sort of an after thought. And since I was my own photographer, the pictures from my birthday party don’t actually have ME in them. Sorry honey, I love you, but you are not pulling your weight in the documenting our family department!! 🙂
Well, there you have it. I can quickly enter it and then start planning next months’ layout!!
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Grade 1 Surprise!

This summer I signed up for the Big Picture Scrapbooking Big Idea Festival. I think this was the first project idea that they sent out – what does it say that I’m just getting to it now? LOL! When I read in the handout that the project was based on a German custom of giving new first-graders a “schultüte” (which is a paper cone filled with school supplies and little gifts to celebrate the first day of first grade) I knew I would not be making a summer themed one as suggested. With Marley going into first grade this year I decided then and there that I would do this for her (and then Paige in a couple years and LC after that …)
So here it is hanging on her door last night.
I had the goodies on the dining room table for weeks which Marley or Paige would every now and then pick up and ask what it was for. And then I made the cone on Sunday so Marley thought it was a giant party hat!! Not exactly stealthy of me but oh well!!
Here are some close ups.
Marley came into our bedroom this moring all excited about school and the fact that she’d found a surprise hanging on her door. It’s nice when a plan comes together!!
On Sunday we FINALLY got to meet our newest … cousin? Hmm … let’s see … James is Greg’s cousin so his kids are Greg’s cousins once removed and second cousins to our kids … Yup, she’s our cousin! Her name is Zoe and she is SO cute!! Don’t you think?
Marley and Paige were smitten and pretty much just wanted to hold her the whole visit!
And this is Zoe’s big brother Kieran – so proud!
One final note: Marley had her first day of Grade One today. It was very exciting – even if they spent most of it in the gym while they sort out where all the kids are going. Hopefully by the end of school tomorrow we’ll know which teacher Marley will have and who will be in her class but it might not be for another couple of days. I forgot to take a picture of her first thing this morning but did snap one of her at pickup time.
She’s looking so grown up these days!! Sigh!
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