Documenting December: Days 18-25

This is it! I'm FINALLY blogging the last of my December Daily album. I finished about a month ago but haven't managed to get around to putting it up on the blog... mainly due to that little thing called life! But today I.AM.DOING.IT! 

And I'm doing 8 days in one post so WARNING - it's going to be photo heavy - especially since we had 2 Christmas days in that time. 

A quick refresher - I was a part of the fabulous DT Documenting December for The Stamp Spot. Michelle created some gorgeous kits for this project and I used the main (gold, kraft & white) kit and also purchased the teal and red add on kits. 

And for those that have stumbled across this post and are wondering what the heck is December Daily - well, it's a concept created by Ali Edwards with the idea being to create a special, usually mini, album dedicated to capturing the spirit of your Christmas - including traditions, special events and other memories. Be sure to check out Ali's blog for more info.

Some of my favourite pages are:

Day 19: This page protector started as 2 4x4 pockets and 1 8x2 pocket. Out came my trusty sewing machine to alter the 8x2 pocket into 4 2x2 slots which I filled with sparkly goodness from the kits.  I also machine stitched on the number card to create a triangle shaker pocket - totally inspired by Michelle's kits.

It's Day 20 & Santa has been! What??!!! I hear you ask.  Well, my husband does FIFO and headed to work on the 22nd so a special request was sent to Santa and he very, very kindly agreed to visit us early. Yay!

The balsa wood in the top pocket is from the main kit. I used a tree die cut before gold embossing the outline, adding a star sticker & also drawing gold stars with the gel pen from the kit. 

Day 20 was really, really busy in my album and there was just no pocket space for journalling - even after I added a Heidi Swapp mini memory album for  more photos. So I solved that problem by writing on an acetate sheet with my trusty black sharpie. It took a couple of days for the ink to dry but was worth the wait.

Day 23 - our church held Christmas carols at the local winery. I know... how good is that? Right! I just love this picture of Hannah with her friend singing merrily. Hannah's job was to jingle the bells & Stephanie's was to turn the pages on the singing book - because she's at school already & can read, of course!

In the top left pocket, the foil came as part of the main kit. Again I used the tree die cut and then a star embossing folder. The 'joy' is from Heidi Swapp was cut on my Silhouette from gold foil paper. 

Day 25 - the standard day is here. No, Santa didn't visit twice, much to the kids disappointment. He did however swing past to collect our elf and also to leave a lovely letter for the kids. However, the day was not without presents. We celebrate lunch & dinner at my sister's and there were kids, gifts & food galore.

I used my trusty Silhouette again to cut the 25 from gold foil card. I created a flip card to record my journalling.

The finish... Being my first year of December Daily I wasn't quite sure just how to finish up my album. Day 25 is my last day and the last pocket is a reminder of everyone's favourite memory for December. They are all different and interestingly enough, neither of the kids actually listed presents.

This final card uses washi, stickers & a flair from the main & teal kits. I also added a gold foil heart die cut.

Now for the other pages:

  

  

Thanks so much for stopping by. If you did a DD album for 2014 I hope you too have been able to finish it.

Cheers,

Day 17 - Documenting December

We had an overnight visit from a gorgeous friend & her 2 kids as part of their Christmas break.  It was so great to catch up. The kids played mostly well and loved their giant sleepover in the lounge. The grown ups talked and laughed until the wee hours and drank more than a few wines. And it was genuinely great fun. However, today I'm a little less than enthused to achieve much at all. And today, more than ever, I'm grateful for those foundation pages I created in November.

I'm part of the fantabulous DT Documenting December for The Stamp Spot and am using the main, teal & red kits for my December Daily album. Partly due to my lack of motivation but also by my bursting at the seam album, Day 17 is a single page. And it just happens to match nicely in my album with Day 16.

Both of the cards are from the main kit - Teresa Collins Tinsel & Co range. The day card has numbers, sequins and wood veneer from the main kit. I gold embossed the star wood veneer. I also added washi from the Freckled Fawn very merry embellishments kit to the card background.

The journalling card has a Kellie Stamps on the bottom with watercolour over the top. The stamps at the top are from Heidi Swapp. I did some script writing with my Wink of Stella gold pen and added just a couple of random heart stamps.  It's pretty simple today.

In my album the pages look like:

Thanks so much for stopping by.  For more inspiration, check out Michelle from The Stamp Spot and also the other awesome DT members:

Stacey-Lee Collis

Beck Holder

Melinda Sweetman

Amanda Horne 

Bernii Miller 

Beth Patfull

Kirsteen Young

Amanda Miller

Have a fabulous day.

Day 13 & 14 - Documenting December

Woohoo!!! High 5 me!!! After a crazy, hectic week I'm back up to date with my December Daily. That alone has me super excited. A few very relaxing days away with the family only add to it.

I'm part of the fabulous Documenting December DT for The Stamp Spot and am using the main, red and teal kits for my DD.

I've combined days 13 & 14 on this post simply because together they are one double page spread in my album. There are 2 reasons for this. The first - we've spent the last few days fishing & generally relaxing so there are not as many photos fighting for a guernsey. Which brings me to my second reason - I'm trying to reign in my pages as my album is already bursting at the seams and it's still 10 days to Christmas.  There will need to be some creative displaying in the days to come.

Right, on to the pics. Day 13

The kids are hanging with i devices playing minecraft, as you do on holidays. I added a foil sticker from the Freckled Fawn very merry embellishments kit. 

The day pocket is white card with a repetitive pattern from Kellie Stamps and some water colour over the top. I added washi tape and wood veneer from TSS kits. The number is from the Freckled Fawn very merry embellishments kit.

Finally, the 4x6 is kraft card and I have hand drawn a border around the photo. I have added washi tape, sequin, brad, stickers and enamel dots from TSS kits. The stamp is from Elle Studio.

A pretty simple page, but the memories are captured and that's the important thing.

Day 14:

Finally the balsa wood christmas tree makes an appearance. You can check out my 'how to' here in my foundation pages blogpost. BTW I'm still loving this tree & have even bought more balsa wood for future projects. 

The day card is paper from Bo Bunny Candy Lane range - this paper just sings to me.  I added sequins, stickers and the glitter numbers from TSS main kit.

The pages look like this in my album:

Yep, super simple pages but they really capture the essence of our break away from life for a few days.

Thanks so much for stopping by. I hope you're managing to keep on track with your DD project.  If you want some more inspiration, check out Michelle from The Stamp Spot and also the other awesome DT members:

Stacey-Lee Collis

Beck Holder

Melinda Sweetman

Amanda Horne 

Bernii Miller 

Beth Patfull

Kirsteen Young

Amanda Miller

Have a fabulous day.

Day 7 - 9: Documenting December 2014

Right, so things have been crazy 'round here! Like it's any different for anyone else.  It's been the last week of school/kindy & I've been trying to fit in all manner of Christmas activities on top of everything else.  And in all of that, something's gotta give.  This week its been my blog posts & some of my December Daily. 

But that has all changed now.  Friday school finished & BAM we hit the highway for our farm/shack on the Yorke Peninsula.  And I gotta say, there's something pretty darn good about just stepping out of the rat race right at this minute. Can really recharge my batteries to power through the rest of the month.

Ok. So I've been mostly doing my album while I've been blog absent.  I'm using the super sparkly kits from The Stamp Spot - the main, red & teal kits are my go to.

There are 3 days in this blog post so I'll warn you right now, it's pretty photo heavy. Also, I'm out of my normal environment & don't have my white background. Ack! These pics have all been taken outside on the back of my brother-in-law's ute.

Day 7

The vellum card, wood veneer & number are from the main kit. The stickers are from the teal kit. The other 2 pockets are paper from Teresa Collins Tinsel & Co range.  One has with script writing and the other a hand made tag with sequins, rhinestones & washi from the kits.

On this day we visited Santa and it really was a magical experience.  He spent so long speaking with the kids about Christmas, their wishes, his reindeer, getting surprises.  The kids were just spellbound.  I loved just watching them interact.  We also got an official photo.  I've used a 6x8 page protector with the 6x4 photos back-to-back. Around the photos I have machine stitched pockets & added sequins and gold thread.

This is the back.

The last page for the day has the journalling cards.  The space down the bottom is waiting for a gold foil silhouette cut saying Magic.  I did cut this the other day but the m was distorted & time was not available before heading off to the farm *picture husband tapping his foot impatiently*.  It's the first thing on my list when we return. The glitter card is from the teal kit and the cork Christmas tree & stars are from the Freckled Fawn very merry embellishments kit. The final card is paper from Teresa Collins Tinsel & Co range with stickers from the main & teal kits.

Day 7 looks just like this in my album:

Day 8.

The glitter shaker card is from the main kit & I have just added the number.  The journalling card, paper clip and tag are also from the main kit.  I have used a Heidi Swapp stamp on the tag and added washi from the Freckled Fawn very merry embellishment kit. Finally I used a Kaisercraft stamp with the gold ink.

Lots happened today so I needed another journalling card.  This one is just white card with 2 layers of washi at the top and bottom. The bottom card is from the Teresa Collins Tinsel & Co range with a star die cut giving a peek-a-boo to the photo behind. The banner is purple foil from one of the pretend parcel decorations - the kids just couldn't resist opening one *about 5 actually* to see what the tiny little gift inside was.  Hmmm... the piece of foam was a little disappointing. I have added a sticker from the Freckled Fawn very merry embellishments kit.  

In my album day 8 looks like:

Day 9

Overall, this is a pretty simple page.  To the day card I have added glitter & wood veneer stars and the number - all of which is from the main kit.  I have also added a Kellie Stamps on top.

The bottom left pocket is white card with a piece of gold doily and a Heidi Swapp Christmas ephemera attached.  

The bottom right pocket is white card base with a white doily and a sticker from the Freckled Fawn very merry embellishments kit.  I really wanted a gold border on the card however don't have my embossing stuff with me at the farm *can only take so much* so I improvised with my Wink of Stella gold pen.  And it worked a charm.

The journalling card is from the main kit & I have used the gold gel pen for the writing. Next to it is an acetate piece with a flair from the red kit.

The 4x6 pocket is another piece of acetate stamped with white Stazon to create a pattern transparency.  I may add something else to this pocket - perhaps some typed strips of journalling.

In my album day 9 looks like:

Ok.  That's it from me for this one.  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you're enjoying your December Daily journey.

Day 5 - Documenting December

Right, so, it's the day after the day I promised day 5 but hey, that's how it goes. And as an extra sign it's busy, I'm getting this blog done while I'm relaxing at the hairdressers... as you do!!

Day 5 was a great day, as Friday's often are. Santa made a visit to playgroup and Hannah was excited. She normally takes a fairly wide berth around Santa but today she was quite happy to go right up to him. Perhaps it was the gift in his hand :-). And that gift - a battery operated chirping, talking bird - has been a real winner. 

Today I'm using the stunning teal & main kits from The Stamp Spot as part of their design team for Documenting December. 

The left side:

The date card is from the main kit. I added some washi & stickers, also from the kit. The number is from the Freckled Fawn very merry embellishment kit. I've also done a little water colour script writing. 

The journalling is on kraft card with Teal Zing embossed Christmas trees. 

The right side is a 1/2 size insert. The photo is on a journalling card from the main kit with stickers & washi added. I used my tiny attacher to staple a Heidi Swapp acrylic arrow. On the side I have attached a tag with a sticker and mini tinsel. 

I added some water colour to the journalling card. 

The back of the insert is also just a simple photo & journalling card. I used the Rhonna Designs app to add text to the photo. The journalling card is from the main kit and I have journalled with the gold gel pen. 

The next "page" is the front of my sneaky 4x4 insert. I created this page on my phone using Rhonna Designs app for the text and a collage app to put it together. 

And this is how it looks in my album:

Thanks so much for stopping by. I am loving my December Daily journal for so many reasons. Top of the list is being able to just stop & reflect on each day. It lessens the blur of life. One of the other reasons is I'm actually getting my photos printed, journalled and in an album. It is truly wonderful to have something to look at that's not on the computer. 

I hope you have a great day & are also enjoying your DD journey. 

Day 6 - Documenting December

No, you're not mis-reading, I haven't yet done my day 5 blogpost.  That will be tomorrow.  Things have been a little hectic, as December can be.  Adding in a family birthday and I've also just been diagnosed (yesterday) with shingles.  I'm less than enthused with this, as you can well imagine.  I'm grateful that so far I don't seem to be suffering to badly with it {itchy as all get out though}.  I'm also exceptionally grateful that my wonderful husband is currently home from work.  Small blessings.

I'm part of the DT group with The Stamp Spot and am using the main, teal and red kits from The Stamp Spot {which are truly stunning} to create my December Daily album. Today I've added in stamps and a few extras bits from my stash. 

Ok, so day 6 in my album starts with my sneaky 4x4 page protector. I created this as part of my foundation pages and I still love this page.

The base is vellum with gorgeous teal dots.  I've added a doily, stickers, star sequin, tag from the main kit. Twine and enamel dots are from the teal kit and the number is from the Freckled Fawn very merry embellishment kit.

The next page is a full 6x8 with a red glitter base and white card on top.  I have used washi & stickers from the kits for the title.  As well as my new Wink of Stella red & gold pens. I'm already a little bit partial to these, though I really need to work on my doodling. This page is all about my shingles - woohoo!

Turn it over and there are birthday celebrations for John's uncle.  I've used a white card base, added photos, stamps, watercolour script writing and sequins.  Pretty simple, but looks like a party.

The shaker pocket on this page is from the red kit, handmade by the lovely Michelle.  To this I added washi and stickers from the kits. The journalling pocket is white card stamped with red stars.  The kraft tag has washi and ribbon from the kit.  I have used my sewing machine to attach the tag to the card. There are also a couple of pearls which I have coloured with a gold marker. The fabulous Beth Patfull, one of the other awesome DT members, did a very similar pocket which I absolutely loved.

And this is how it looks in my album:

Thanks so much for stopping my.  Day 5 will come tomorrow, I promise.

If you are after more inspiration, please check out Michelle at The Stamp Spot and also the other awesome DT members:

Tanya Watson

Stacey-Lee Collis

Beck Holder

Melinda Sweetman

Amanda Horne 

Bernii Miller 

Beth Patfull

Kirsteen Young

Amanda Miller

You can find me on instagram as @gabby_ingo and I'll also be linking up with Ali Edwards December Daily posts on her blog.

Have a great day,

Day 3! Documenting December 2014

Day 3, Day 3,

Look below with glee

And feel all warm & fuzzy,

As we trim the Christmas tree

Ok, so I'm not much of a poet, but there's something about the tree going up & carols blaring that really brings out my Christmas spirit.  More ho, ho, ho and less bah humbug.  We did wait for my husband to be home from work but he's never overly thrilled by the whole idea and mostly will leave me to my own devices.

I'm not an especially particular person.  Mostly close enough is good enough.  I rarely push for perceived perfection.  But for some reason my Christmas tree is different.  I like a colour scheme, I like pretty, I like matching wrapping paper & I really, REALLY want it too look like I imagine.  The kids however are growing up and getting much more vocal.  Zac always wants a rainbow tree - my colour scheme stifles him!  This year Hannah was happy to go with it, as long as she could get decorations from EVERY tub! *sigh* Just not the gold & white I imagined.  I have, with great difficulty, just gone with it.  I've reluctantly {and with great strength of character} not touched the tree since.  Surprisingly, it's actually not driving me nuts. Though we shall see how that goes as the month progresses

Below is Day 3 from my December Daily.  I'm part of the Documenting December DT for The Stamp Spot and today I'm using the main & teal kits only. 

The paper for the number card was in the teal kit and it's Bo Bunny Candy Lane - Jolly collection.  I LOVE this paper so much.  I edged the doily with the gold stamp ink from the main kit and placed a teal flair on top.  I covered a wood veneer star with glitter washi tape from the teal kit and added sequins, rhinestones and the number.  

I edited my tree trimming photo on my phone and added text using the Rhonna Designs app.  Super easy way to add journalling when space is tight.  

The other side is pretty simple. I added a sequin pocket from the teal kit to the top of the picture as a flip pocket and a sticker from the main kit.

Lift the flap and there's my tree, in all its mis-matched resplendent glory. I also edited this picture on my phone and added a quote from the Rhonna Designs app. I'm really liking this picture.

For my December Daily I'm printing all my pictures at home and the tree picture is the first one that isn't on 6x4 paper.  I just couldn't (easily, right now even) work out how to get it to print 6x8 so instead it's 5x7 with a great white border.  And it printed crooked!  But again, it's about just getting it done. 

This is how the pages look in my album. It really is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you're enjoying your December Daily journey too.  If you want some more inspiration please check out what Michelle is up to at The Stamp Spot  and also the rest of the fabulous DT:

Tanya Watson

Stacey-Lee Collis

Beck Holder

Melinda Sweetman

Amanda Horne 

Bernii Miller 

Beth Patfull

Kirsteen Young

Amanda Miller

Have a great day,