More December Daily - Dec. 11th - 14th

Happy New Year from Canada!  I hope you all have more exciting plans than I do - I will probably spend the evening either working on this December Daily, trying to finish it before mid-January, or reading a good book (I've got several on the go at the moment!) or maybe watching something on Netflix.  As you'll see from these December Daily pics, I've had enough excitement (re. STRESS!) this month to last a while, and I'm getting surgery on my thumb on the 3rd, so I'm quite content to relax tonight!

So here is the spread I made for the 11th and 12th: 

 I love the chevron misting I've done on this page.  I cut a chevron background out of some scrap paper with my silhouette, then sprayed Kraft paper with Dylusions spray.  I didn't have much to take pictures of on the 11th, so I asked my family members what their favorite Christmas song is, and wrote about that.  The funny thing is, I can't stand Mariah Carey normally, but I looooooove her song, "All I Want for Christmas is You" - I sing along and dance every time I hear it!  The "Christmas favorites" 4x6 journaling card from Simple Stories fit well with this, because there's 5 of us, each with our own line.  Flip it over and you see this:

 Again, I didn't have much to photograph or write about on the 12th, so I took a photo of some of our Christmas goodies and another of Brenna getting into the box of oranges.  She is so cute!  She reaches her little hands waaaaaay up to the counter, pulls the box down, then puts it on the floor so she can pick an orange.  Then she says, "Hmmm, this one looks good!" and brings it to the table.  She likes to peel them herself, too!

Here is the second worst day of December for me!:

The 13th was the day it snowed and snowed, and I got my car stuck in the driveway on the way to pick up the kids from school.  I was very upset that we couldn't get the car out on our own, thinking we would have to pay for a tow truck, and who wants to spend money on something like that, but especially with Christmas around the corner?  Jason luckily remembered something about a roadside assistance package, so we were able to get a free tow, so it seemed like I was in the clear.

Then we get to the 14th:

The tow truck pulled my car out all right, but left it blocking the driveway slightly.  Even though I could not see a thing out of my iced up windows, I felt that I had to try and back around the tow truck so the driver could get on with his day.  With 20/20 hindsight, I realize I should have waited for the car to thaw, or something, but I didn't.  I backed the car into the tow truck (don't worry, the tow truck was fine!) and proceeded to curse myself up and down for being the biggest moron ever to drive a car.  I spent most of the day in tears, but the kids were a bit concerned to see me bawling like a baby, so I tried my best to carry on with our plans to decorate the tree.  It was actually really great to see the kids working together, and unwrapping ornaments they haven't seen in a year.  They both said (without prompting, mind you) that decorating the tree is their favorite part of Christmas, other than the presents, of course!

Well, that's it from me for now!  Do you have any scrappy goals for 2013?  I would love to hear them!  For the immediate future, I want to get this DD done, and finish the card I'm making for Jason's 40th birthday (it was on the 6th - it will be a tad late, I know!)  After that, I think I want to finish my 2012 Project 12 album and play a bit with art journaling.  And then there's smashing, of course, and the painter's tray I wanted to do for my parents' 40th anniversary, and LOTS of birthday cards, and... well, you get the picture!  A crafter's job is never done!

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December Daily - 7th to the 10th

So now that I've managed to mail out some Christmas cards, I figured I can concentrate on my December Daily album for a bit.  Here's the latest four days I've done:

(I still haven't found the "7" I cut for this page, so picture a black "7" on top of the green doily with a star, button or wooden tree.)  On the 7th, I brought Nolan and Ailis to the Parade of Lights and Midnight Madness.  It was cold and crowded, but the kids loved getting free candy and hot chocolate.  (I tell ya, if it weren't for this album, I probably would've skipped it altogether, but it's not like I had any other stories to document that day!)  What I didn't have room to say on my page, and what was really cute, was when we were walking down the sidewalk looking for a spot to view the parade, Nolan grabbed Ailis's hand to keep track of her!  He can be pretty protective that way.  The "Winter Wonderland" card seemed to fit, especially when you flip it over to see the 8th:

It's a "Naughty or Nice" card!  I checked off, "Just plain naughty" for these dogs.  They look so beautiful and innocent, but Jason was practically frantic when they ran off on Saturday.  He searched for hours!  I also didn't have room to write about how I was sick with the flu or something that day, puking all morning, ugh!  What a day that was!

The 9th, being a Sunday, was do or die for the whole family-Christmas-tree-hunt thing.  This is the first time all five of us have gone out together, and it was an adventure, mainly because of Nolan's griping and complaining and little Brenna having the time of her life out in the snow:

 I added another 4x6 journaling card because the story was a little longer than planned, but when you flip it, it looks like this:

I thought the saying, "Being together is the best gift of all" was a good one for this two page spread.  Not much happened on the 10th, but I snapped a few pictures of Ailis and Brenna working together on a Christmas craft after school.  This time, I didn't have room to write how once the craft was finished, Brenna ripped it to pieces!  Oh, she's a feisty one!    

That's it for now, but I should be able to get a bit more caught up this weekend.  It's pretty cold out today, and windy, which makes it feel 50x worse.  With two weeks without school for the kids, I'm glad I still have a box of you-brew wine downstairs - I'm gonna need it!

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December Challenge at Seriously Creative Challenges!

This month's Seriously Creative Challenge is:

All right, this one should be an easy one!  If you've made anything even remotely merry this month, link it up to our blog, I dare ya!  Here's what I've made:

I used my Silhouette, a cut file from the Silhouette online store, and some ooooooold papers to make these sweet 4x4 cards.  Also added some little rhinestones from Close to My Heart to dress things up a bit.

Then there's these, using a different cut file and papers:

You might recognize this little snowman from last year:

He's just so darn cute, a set from Graphicat Designs.  I had to use him again with the BoBunny 6x6 pad from last year, too.  Here's a close-up:

Coloured with some copics, and a couple of spellbinders die cuts to finish the design.  Simple, but I love how they turned out!

And then probably my favourites:

The inspiration for this one came from this video at 2peas.  I designed a cut file in my Silhouette software, and used some of my favourite papers and embellishments.  It's hard to tell from the pictures, but the final product is very dimensional!

Well, now that I've actually got some of these in the mail, maybe I can focus again on my December Daily album - lots of action this past week, and not all good, but it's going in there just the same!  Oh, and thanks to everyone wishing me luck on my job interview.  For those who asked, it was for a part-time rehabilitation assistant, perfect fit for me I think.  I haven't heard yet either way, but I will keep you posted.  

Oh boy, I see some of the fluffy white stuff coming down, hopefully we don't have to get the drive plowed again!

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December Daily Catch Up

After a few glitches with photo printing and, well, just days not going at all as planned, here is my December Daily catch up.  

Day 3 is a work in progress!  It has the photos that will be going out in Christmas mail outs this year (note that Brenna is missing - I'll have to add her picture in once I figure out which one I'm sending!).  I also meant to include a card sample or a picture of my beautiful, completed cards, but seeing as I didn't get many actually completed, this will have to be added in later.  I explain a bit about this in my journaling on the 4x6 "Traditions" card.

When you flip the journaling card, you will see this: 

 Nothing much happened on Day 4, so I went with Nolan to hockey and took a couple pics of his practice.  It's very difficult to get good photos in the arena, so I was pretty pleased with these!

Here's Day 5:

 Nothing much happened on Wednesday, either, so I wrote about Brenna's and my day.  We went to the library to get some Christmas books, and then to Tim Horton's for a chocolate chip cookie (for her) and a large double/double (for me).  I decided to use the bag from her cookie as an insert of sorts - not sure if I will put anything in it, but I just like the print on the bag, and it made a great journaling spot!

Flip the bag over, and you'll see this:

The 6th was Jason's 40th birthday, and seeing as we don't have friends or family nearby, it was just the five of us.  We went out to a nice restaurant for dinner and ate ourselves to bloatedness.  The snowman is a piece of the napkin from the restaurant - I used ModPodge to glue it down to the backside of the paper bag, and it made a pretty decent journaling spot, too!  (That's gathered up washi tape on the side, in case you are wondering - felt I needed to break up the white a bit.)

So far, even though I'm behind, I am liking this album, although I may change my approach next year.  A couple of the ladies in our Facebook group are doing more of a seasonal journal, with current memories mixed in with older photos and memories, kind of SMASH-style.  This might be a good idea, especially if our traditions and pictures stay much the same, year to year.  We'll see, next year is still a long way off, and I need to finish this journal first, right?

In other news, I find myself heading to a very unexpected job interview on Wednesday!  I am so very nervous, I feel completely ramped up, scared, overwhelmed, etc. etc.  It's been years since I went to an interview, so...  aaaaaaaahhhhhh!  I'm freaking out!!!  Wish me luck - I can definitely use it!

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December Daily - 1 & 2

I find I've fallen a bit behind on this December Daily process.  Here it is the 5th of December and I've just finished the 1st and 2nd.  Ah well, it is what it is and I'm not going to stress or dwell on my printing and Silhouette problems.  So, without further ado, here are my first pages:

 I thought I could only print 4x6 prints at my local kiosk (found out after I can do minis!), so after positioning the pics on my page, I didn't have much room for journaling.  Luckily, the Simple Stories paper collection I'm using has these 4x6 journaling cards, so I just added one of these to the center of my spread and was able to journal on both sides.  I really like how this turned out, so I will probably add more of these throughout the album!

Thanks for looking, and I hope everyone's having a great first week of December!  Tomorrow is Jason's 40th birthday, so I better get going on a card and cake for him, eh?

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December Daily Foundation Pages - Part 1

Hey, everyone, just a quick post to show you the foundation pages of my December Daily.  I've been hard at work all month, and still not quite finished, but I'm very pleased with how it's coming together so far.  I've kept my supplies consistent throughout, and it's made the whole process simpler.  My Silhouette Cameo's had a good workout, cutting all the numbers, tags and stars.  The patterned paper is all from Simple Stories' 25 Days of Christmas collection (I won it last year from a challenge!), buttons and brads are all Stampin' Up (donated by my lovely friend Alison - thanks, sweetie!), Studio Calico wood veneer trees, Maya Road doilies, Dylusions ink in Postbox Red and Fresh Lime, twine, and washi tape from K&Co and WeRMemory Keepers.  

Some of the trees are sprayed with Dylusions Fresh Lime (works great on the wood veneer).

The 6th is Jason's 40th birthday - not sure what we'll do, but that's why I added the "celebration" word (cut with the Cameo).  I used a Dylusions mask to make the green star background here, too.

Here I cut a background piece with the Cameo and used it as a mask on the Kraft cardstock.  I lost my number 7 somewhere, so if I don't find it, I'll just cut another.

I used the cameo to cut another background to use as a mask, just a different type of stars.

And same thing to make a chevron mask for the backside.

The mask I used on day 7 I glued over some green sprayed Kraft cardstock to make day 17 - I'm not sure, but this page might be my favorite so far.

And there you have it so far.  I'm not sure how I'll bind this all when I'm finished.  I think I'll just hole punch it and put binder rings through.  It would be nice to have an album, but...maybe next year!  I do have a bit of catch up to play with pictures and journaling, but having the base pages done will make that so much easier.  Okay, off to put the girls to bed, I'll have another post tomorrow to show what we've been up to these past two days!

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December '11 P12

So you may recall that last year (this year, too, but I've gotten waaaaay behind!) I was doing a Project 12 album.  I did really well, all the way up to December, then didn't complete a December layout.  What?!  I think part of the reason was the sketch:

It's a gorgeous sketch, but come on - three photos????  I'd been taking pictures every day of the month for my December Daily album, so it was impossible to narrow it down like that.  Eventually, I printed off 12 mini prints, and then let them sit for several months longer.  Finally, in order to get myself in the Christmas/December Daily spirit, I created this layout, and I love it!

Here's what I used - Kraft and black cardstock, Simple Stories patterned paper (25 Days of Christmas collection), SMASH tape, Ranger/Dylusions spray (Postbox Red) and stencil, and stars cut with my Silhouette Cameo.  Man, I love that Dylusions spray with a passion!!!  Can't wait to get more colours!  

So, yes, now I'm feeling pretty Christmas-y, and when you see my December Daily foundation pages for this year's album, you'll notice some similarities between it and this layout - lots of stars and mist and the same paper collection.  Fun, fun!  Thanks for looking, and hope to see you making your own December Daily album!

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Seriously Creative November Challenge

Hey, everyone, hope you had a great weekend!  Me, I'm glad to finally get this page finished - seems like I've been working on it for weeks!!!  I needed to make a project for November's Seriously Creative Challenge:

I've been seeing wood veneer accents everywhere these days, but I didn't have any of my own.  Then I saw this video, and inspiration hit!  I was able to cut these word bubbles out of some Studio Calico Take Note wood grain paper on my Cameo using a free file found here.  

Then I made this paper doll using another free file found here:

The Cameo got a good workout on this page - I cut the title, glasses, and notebook border using cut files from the Silhouette store.  Oh, and the star panel was pre-cut earlier, if you recall from my post here.

And here's the sketch I used from Let's Get Sketchy:

I just love this picture of Ailis!  I took it the day she got her new glasses.  I was hoping that all the kids would inherit Jason's superior eyesight, but I guess with three kids, chances are at least one of them will get my lousy eyes!  That's the thing with genetics, it's a bit of a gamble!  Anyway, with her new haircut and specs, she could probably pass for 15, which is a little scary!!!  We'll just have to keep her locked up at home, eh? Shotguns at the ready, haha!  

Well, must get Brenna Bean out of her high chair.  We have places to go and things to see, but thanks for looking, and I'll have December Daily progress to report soon.  Oh, and if you've made anything using wood, or even trees (i.e. Christmas trees will work!), be sure to link it up to our Seriously Creative Challenge!

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I'm Back!

After a fantastic weekend of splurging, indulging, visiting, and rocking in Vancouver with some fabulous people, I'm back with a shorter post than I had intended because I erased some photos from my camera that I shouldn't have.  I guess my brain was elsewhere, which has been happening to me a lot lately!  Anyway, this is a card I made for someone in town here who dug through her stuff and found a pair of winter boots for Brenna.  Isn't that sweet?  I had mentioned at Strong Start one day that Brenna had been playing in the snow in gum boots because we hadn't been able to find winter boots for her yet, and she sent a pair home with Ailis the next day!  

The design of this card is inspired by one I saw in a Paper Crafts magazine, very simple to put together.  I used PB&J paper from Basic Grey, and some CTMH pearls.  The ribbon is from my stash, and I cut the sentiment with my Cameo (Pacifico is the name of the font, free at dafont.com) and sprayed it yellow with Dylusions spray - I love that stuff!!!  Here's a peek at the inside:  

I also had a birthday card I made for my girlfriend, but it's already in the mail.  Then there was a baby boy card I made for my friend in Surrey, but same thing, the photo evidence is gone!  Ah well, these things are bound to happen.

Here's something cool to tell ya:  when I was in the lower mainland, I was able to meet Alison, a friend I've met through blogging!  We've never met in person before, but I've always thought we led parallel lives - I can't tell you how many times I post something only to see that Alison's completed the same challenge, or I'm having a rough day with one of my kids and then I read Alison's post and see that the same thing has happened to her!  Anyway, it was pretty neat to actually meet up with her in person, and I have the photo as evidence:

She also gave me a whole schwack of goodies from her stash, some really awesome stuff!  Can't wait to play!!!

Which brings me to my next question:  Are you doing a December Daily album?  I am part of a facebook group started by my friend Carole - we actually "met" two years ago doing this very project!  We also have a pinterest board with some fantastic winter inspiration pinned, so if you are interested in joining us, let me know and I can set you up with our group.  And that is what I have planned today, some cutting with my cameo to get my base pages ready.  My goal is to have the album all set by the time December 1st comes around, not like last year...

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Some Quickie Cards, Thanks to the Cameo

Getting a new tool like a Silhouette Cameo can be a bit overwhelming, so one of the first things I did was visit the online store and browsed the "Happy Birthday" offerings.  For $0.99, you can get all the cut files to make these cute cards (designed by Lori Whitlock).  Wow, so easy, even I could figure it out!  I decided to use an older Close to My Heart paper pack (Unforgettable) to make these three cards.  To dress up the cardstock a bit, I just did some dry embossing with a new Spellbinders embossing folder - it's very nice, one side has the bricks, and the other has a wood grain design.  Here's a close-up:

Then last weekend, Ailis had a Hallowe'en birthday party to go to, so I whipped up this more girly/Hallowe'en version in a couple of minutes (yes, I said "minutes"):

But it gets even better!  I saw a video tutorial on how to make this card, and even though it was October 31st and a little late to be making cards, I decided I just had to try it out and made these:

The white one's for Ailis and the black is for Nolan.  Here's a peek at the inside:

(If you're wondering about the sentiments, I used an old CTMH stamp of the month called "Thriller".)

Now the bats are pretty neat, but I figured this design could be used to make any number of cards using different shapes.  Here's what I came up with using a free star cut file and some Studio Calico patterned paper from "Take Note":

At first I thought this would be a card front, but now I'm leaning toward using it on a page.  Wow, sky's the limit with this machine!  I can't wait to try butterflies, or maybe flowers, and even cars would be cute for a masculine design...  Hey, thanks for looking, and I hope you all have a great weekend!

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The Amazing Challenge

Here's a layout I completed using my October Counterfeit Kit, and it looks as if I'm going to be on time for a few challenges this time!  First up is this sketch from Creative Scrappers:

I'm also entering at Frosted Designs (this week's challenge is to use mist and/or paint - I misted the rosettes and "Amazing" title piece with Dylusions Lemon Zest and painted the page border with a toothpick dipped in white acrylic paint) and  Ella's Pink Scrapbook Challenge #31 at The Pink Elephant: 3 photos, buttons, and flowers (rosettes count as flowers, don't they?)

Here's a close-up of the journaling and some homemade washi tape:

 and another of the title block:

Oops, just realized I didn't put the date on this page, I believe it was June 2, 2012.  We had such a blast, driving all over the area and completing crazy challenges like memorizing poems, a wilderness walk, stacking wood and bowling bingo.  I plan to do a SMASH page spread with some of the clues and memorabilia I have put away, but just wanted to get these three photos featuring my friend Andrea scrapped before too late - I miss that girl sooooooo much, and I only knew her for a year, sniff!  Thank goodness for Facebook and phones!!!

Oh, before I sign off, have to tell you about the crazy weather her this past weekend.  First of all, it snowed like crazy, and I bet we have a foot of the white stuff out there right now.  Second, the mercury dipped to -21 degrees celsius this morning, and stayed there most of the day - BBRRRRR!  And third, and this was the craziest of all, I was sitting on the couch Saturday night, talking to Jason, when I felt the couch moving - I thought I was getting a mad case of vertigo, which I have had before, when Jason said, "You're wigging out right now, aren't you?"  I didn't say anything for a moment, then said, "I don't know, it felt like the couch was moving!"  I probably would have dismissed it altogether, when Jason said, "I felt it too!"  Then we looked up and saw the ceiling fan moving and heard the dog barking like mad, and realized it must have been an earthquake.  Sure enough, found out via Facebook that there was an earthquake off the coast.  So strange, I have never felt anything like that before!  Anyway, it was a very big earthquake, but no tsunami resulted, and I don't think there was any damage or injuries, phew!

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