December Daily - Title cards 25-31

Oddly enough as I was working on these cards, I did 1-24 with the balsa wood numbers, and then I did 26 to 31 with the chipboard numbers...

... and then suddenly realised that I'd forgotten to do a title card for Christmas Day.  Oops!

Thankfully there were plenty of the chipboard numbers since they were supposed to cover 1-24 for the Advent Calender.

So - here are the final seven title cards.  They're now all safely in place in my album, along with the prompt cards for #30lists (minus a prompt for 31 December), which of course I can't show you (plus they're actually rather dull.  They may get stamps later on: we'll see.)

Previous sets of cards were blogged here (1-12) and here (13-24).

December Daily - Title Cards 13-24

Continuing with showing off my date cards, with cards for the 13th to the 24th of December...

(Cards 1 - 12 are on the blog here).

Oddly, the cards for days 23 and 24 are (really, really) boring.  But on the other hand, 23 at least has lots of room for journalling, which was the original intention...

The #Adventword challenge

I posted this to the Discernment blog a few days ago, but it also fits here.

I haven't decided yet whether I'm going to include the #Adventword challenge in December Daily or not - although if I try to I'll probably run completely out of room in my layouts.  It would probably be better to put those twenty-six photos into a couple of page protectors in my regular PL album.  Anyway, I'll work that out later, but for now, the challenge prompts via the Anglican Communion Online:

#Look (30 Nov)
#Remember (1 Dec)
#Imagine (2 Dec)
#Thrive (3 Dec)
#Abide (4 Dec)
#Notice (5 Dec)
#Watch (6 Dec)
#Show Up (7 Dec)
#Respond (8 Dec)
#Encourage (9 Dec)
#Wake Up (10 Dec)
#Breathe (11 Dec)
#Act (12 Dec)
#Risk (13 Dec)
#Expand (14 Dec)
# Focus (15 Dec)
#Experience (16 Dec)
#Become (17 Dec)
#Beautify (18 Dec)
#Heal (19 Dec)
#Thank (20 Dec)
#Ask (21 Dec)
#Relate (22 Dec)
#Delight (23 Dec)
#Love (24 Dec)
#Receive (25 Dec)

December Daily - Title cards 1-12

My title cards were actually fairly boring at first, and of all of them, I think cards 1-5 are still the most boring.  But after something of an epiphany while looking at the late-December cards, I added journalling space to most of the title cards that didn't already have that space.

So here's cards 1-12:

December Daily: my plan and my title page

So, the DD plan - and the way I got through my struggles with preparing the bases for December Daily - is this:

With the exception of busy or important days, each day will be a two layout spread, one 2x 4x6 layout, and one 4x 4x3.  Those busy and important days can get a 8x6 insert for extra photos or journaling: the day of my graduation, and Christmas Day will both get one of those made for them when I prepare my bases (and expect New Year's Eve, which is the wedding of a good friend, will almost certainly get a few extra inserts - although it will probably also get a regular PL spread.  It's a wedding.  I don't go to many of those.)

Each day will have a title card, a 4x6 space for the #30 lists prompt and response (in other words, either a 4x6 card or two 3x4 cards), and space for at least one 4x6 photo and one 3x4.  I'd also really like (although I'm thinking I might be running out of space at this point!) a 3x4 space for journaling the day.

Last year I found it difficult to fill every day with something: even in December, there are days that are just... days.  This year I think I will have a couple of pre-prepared ideas (things like Christmas Baking, card making and writing, and feature decorations) that I can slot in on 'slow' days.  With the card making, I'm sure hoping that will have happened by the end of November, and that on December 1 I'm taking a photo of all those cards going into the post!)

I hope that I can do the journaling and listing each day, and then sort out photos by the end of each week, as I do for regular PL.

And here is my cover page:

Kaisercraft Advent Calender - finished!

I first saw the Kaisercraft Advent calendar a few years ago, and I loved it at first sight.  I didn't buy it, though, until after I'd started back up with scrapbooking thanks to Project Life.  Early this year I bought the calender, and a couple of paper packs ('St Nick' is what I used most).

The last month or so I've been working on putting the calendar together, and today it's finally done.  I used Washi Tape for the boxes, and the gorgeous little balsa wood Christmas tree numbers that I love.

So: photos...

Starting the project with Kaisercraft "St Nick"

Making boxes with washi tape

Morgan & Finch Enchanted Forest balsa wood numbers

Gluing in the dividers

And.... the finished calendar!

We'll use the boxes for each day of the Lego Advent Calendar that we choose to use this year (we have City, Kingdoms and Star Wars... the idea is to rotate each year, although the last couple of years we've used two so that we each have one to put together.  :-)

December Daily - The Materials

Last year I used a Becky Higgins mini album and a mixed bag of cards and embellishments picked up here, there and everywhere (some from CraftHouse, some from Spotlight, some from my stash).  I decided that for this year I wanted more flexibility to add pages and so wanted to use a ring binder album.  

At some point in September I found the Heidi Swapp 6x8 chipboard landscape album.  Working (slowly) on my foundation pages I kept realising I needed more pocket pages - a total of either three or four refill packets in the end. 

I'm American-Australian, and a lot of my childhood Christmases were spent in Minnesota, where you almost always have a white Christmas.  So I don't so much mind snowmen and snowflakes and such appearing in my Chritsmas kits.  I may be in my mid-30s, but summertime Christmases still seem a little strange to me - even though the last Christmas I had in the US was in 1999.  

I also don't really mind if my album isn't all nicely coordinated.  I'm still in the process of putting my title cards and foundation pages together (there's still ten days until December) - there's that pesky problem of the cards not actually fitting easily in the pockets.  But I'm using cards from:

• Becky Higgins Hollyday mini kit
• Becky Higgins Christmas Theme pack
• Kaisercraft Captured Memories: Basecoat Christmas 
• Kaisercraft Captured Memories: Peppermint Swirl
• Becky Higgins/Stampin' Up Seasonal Snapshot, printed via the Project Life App.

Embellishments are from the Kaisercraft "Christmas Carol" line, plus some from the "St Nick" paper packs, which coordinate nicely with Christmas Carol.  I've still got some left from last year's "December 25th" line which work well with the colours in Peppermint Swirl.

Numbers for days 1-24 from a set of balsa wood numbered Christmas trees found at Bed Bath and Table, while numbers 26 to 31 will be chipboard numbers from the Kaisercraft Advent Calender that I'm working on that I bought the balsa wood numbers for originally (I hope to finish the Advent Calender this week and post about it.  I'm really please with how it's turning out.

I also got a 2013 December Mini kit from Polka Dot Creative, including shaker pockets and wood and cork veneers.

I have stamps from KellieStamps (the Joy set), Typo, the American Crafts Hollyday stamp set, among others.

Finally, I'm making my own prompt cards for each day's #30lists based on these by Paislee Press, which I love, but which are in the wrong orientation.  And I put in an order today for the #30lists stamp from RUKristen.

#30lists December 2014

So, #30lists December is a go.

I'd already decided to incorporate a #30 lists into my December Daily, and spent some time via Pinterest chasing down last year's prompts (and somewhere/somehow came up with a prompt for Dec 31, because for reasons, there's not actually a prompt per day in this project except for when it's run in September.)

I did #30lists September this year, and really enjoyed it.  But I didn't manage to blog any of it instead of my bases: see here.  I shared a bunch on my instagram (@chez_stutters), but in general the time difference to the USA was somewhat painful in terms of blogging: plus I got behind and did a bunch on the weekends.

But I loved having something right there every day - even though I changed a few of the prompts as I went.  If you read my post about my bases, I mentioned that I was pleased that I didn't pre-title the prompts for each day.  This is why - because I would get to the prompt and realise that it just didn't work for me.

For December, though, I'm still tempted to put in the prompts ahead of time: I want it to be as easy as possible to complete DD.  Well, that's the plan at least. But you'll see in the next couple days that I'm really not succeeding in that... But the other thing with putting in the prompts ahead of time is that if I'm going to share my foundation pages/bases - which I want to do - I'll need to do that before I put the prompts in; or else only share my title cards.

Currently Creative: Christmas Tree Skirt in progress

I've had the last two weeks and this week off work unexpectedly, with doctor's (and partner's) orders to relax and take it easy.

On the second day of this break, I started two projects: another baby blanket for a friend whose baby is due mid-next year, and a Christmas Tree Skirt because I don't have one and I want one.

I'm using SmoothFox's Christmas Tree skirt pattern, which is based on her Round Ripple pattern, and you can find my Ravelry project for it here.

The photo above is from my first day of working on the tree skirt.  The one below is from last week, with some sort of instagram filter on the photo - sorry I can't remember which filter.

If you compare this to the picture in the original pattern, you'll notice that I've changed the colour order, and I'm going to change the non-green stripes a little more before I'm done, because I love the look of the white/red/white with a final row of green because it just looks gorgeous.

And yes, I will post again when I'm finally done.  Which I'm not yet.  (Photo below is from last night.)

December Daily - what I did last year

Last year around this time, I was only just getting into Project Life.  I'd done a few layouts of events rather than weeks - and I heard about December Daily.

I didn't decide to do December Daily until around December 10, when I started sketching out what photos and themes I'd use for the days I'd already missed.  I ordered a Becky Higgins mini album and a packet of Christmas theme cards that arrived around December 20, just before we left for our Christmas up in Sydney.

I wanted to put some pictures of that album in this post, but I can't find it right now.  I used a Cinnamon mini album, and covered from December 1 to 31.  For reasons that I'm sure relate to the entirely different culture in the US vs Australia, the American "December Daily" concept doesn't seem to cover anything beyond December 25 - whereas for me it needs to cover through to December 31.  Even that misses the final day of the holiday season - January 1.

This year DD will cover - as well as two Carols services, multiple work Christmas parties, and Christmas itself - the retirement of my long-time choir conductor, my Masters graduation and the New Year's Eve wedding of a good friend.

I may be finding the prep work difficult at the moment, but I'm still really looking forward to it.  It's going to be a full month, but I want to keep a record of all the crazy.  Because I'm sure it will be awesome.

December Daily - struggling to begin

I'm starting to work on my December Daily bases...

... and I'm struggling.

I really want to have the bases done before December, but each time I sit down to work on them - in the midst of my completely chaotic craft room - I seem to end up just sitting, staring, and swearing at the bizarre-itude that is the fact that Kaisercraft Captured Moments cards do not fit inside the Heidi Swapp 3x4 pockets.  Thankfully the Becky Higgins cards fit, but I so very much love the Basecoat Christmas and Peppermint Swirl lines, but to use them I have to trim them which... takes work!

So:

I bought the Heidi Swapp 6x8 pockets, which are landscape instead of portrait, in three layouts: 1 6x8, 2 6x4s, and 4 3x4s.

I initially put the pocket pages in in the above sequence, one of each.  I'm now taking most of the 6x8s out (except for one at the first to be a front cover) to put in at intervals when I have appropriate photos.  I can't take out all of them, because doing that only gets me to the 27th of December, leaving me four days short!  I'm also thinking that I may need to bite the bullet and buy a fourth lot of pockets.

I also want to include a #30lists - well, 31 lists - in my DD, which means that every layout needs to include enough space for a daily list, and a least one photo.

I guess I'm also struggling to even write the December Daily posts I meant to write - which made sense and had awesome pictures of my album from last year (except that I can't find my album from last year, argh!)

I'll try again in the next couple days -  see you then...


"December Daily" graphic created on the Project Life App by Becky Higgins LLC, with the "Seasonal Snapshot" Project Life with Stamping Up kit.