Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to stop by and wish everyone С Рождеством Христовым! Can't believe that it's over, but I hope you had a good Christmas this year. We had a fabulous Christmas Eve and a great Christmas Day! So much to share! There were over four hundred pictures taken in two days. The problem will be narrowing them down for DD. Seems like I might have to do more than one page for Days 24 & 25. But those are the best memories, the ones I would really want to remember.

Last week was soooo busy that I couldn't even think about blogging. I hope I'll get a moment to post at least a page or two for DD this week, even though all the preparation for New Years celebration is still ahead. At least our kids are home from school and there's no homework.

You know that I don't like to post anything without pictures, so here's is just one more image from our Christmas Day:

Hope you have a great LAST week of 2011 and even better 2012 ahead of you!

Days 15, 11 & 9

Three more pages for today. Somehow I get all these random numbers.
Day 9.


Another fold with pictures:


Full page:


Day 11.

This day has two full pages. It was a Sunday, and sometimes our Sundays are full of different activities. Just couldn't combine these two.



I have full sized pages that go from day to day, but when I have more then one page to add for one day, I make sure one of these pages is skinnier, so that you could see that day is not finished. If that makes any sense at all.



The other half of Day 11:



Day 15.

That was yesterday. Picture was taken around 10 pm. Lighting was pretty bad, so I had to print it b/w. But it is still one of my favorite images of the month so far:


The envelope will include a story that was read that night. I just didn't have it ready yet.

Fifteen days of this December are already history. Today is the sixteenth. It's your choice to find something good in it. Enjoy today, because it leaves pretty quickly.

Nine more days to go!

Days 13 & 14

Hi. Another two days are done. Actually I made three, but when I was taking pictures of the third one, I realized it was missing a letter sticker. That needs to be fixed and shared later. Hopefully tomorrow.

Day 13.

I didn't have much to say for this day. The story is in the pictures.

And for the first time in my 2011 December Daily I used a piece of green paper. It was a cutout glued to the transparency.

Day 14.

I don't mind to repeat designs, papers and embellishments in mini books. It kind of unifies pages and gives a book continuity. Repeated snowflake here:

The back side of transparency is not the pretties one, but it's ok with me. I used grey color to print journaling, to make it a little softer:

(As you can see, my little helper was right beside me. I think she was trying to replace that other half of snowflake sticker.)

Today is December 15th, and that means we are more then half way through the month and there are only 10 more days left to document.

Some of you may not feel as excited anymore, or may not feel very good overall (the way I felt yesterday), but don't to give up no matter what. Years later you will be happy you didn't.

Have a great day and more DD is coming tomorrow!

December Daily - day 12

Hello! Back with more DD today. Instead of working on the pages I missed over the weekend, I decided to do the freshest one and play catch up later (maybe adding one missed page everyday with the new day).

Day 12.

Again, plain and simple. The more photos I have, the easier it is to complete the page spread:

Just a short description of what is happening on the front of the card:

With a little more details on the back - written by my daughter:

Another day is recorded. Another fun memory to go back to.

If you haven't stopped by Ali Edwards blog recently, you may want to. She has one of those encouraging type of posts today with a very nice page for day 12.

I hope to be back very soon!

And the winner is...

Just stopping by for a moment to announce the winner, and I hope to back tomorrow with another couple of pages for December Daily.

So the winner of a Scrapbook Trends Magazine happened to be commenter #1. Congratulations!

And I'll see you tomorrow!

Days 7 & 8

Four posts in a week - that's a record for me in a long time. But uploading pages from days 7 and 8 means I'm finally all caught up.

Day 7:

I used a strip of dry embossed paper on the side foldout panel with some snowflakes:

Since, my DD was getting thicker on the inner side and not as much on the outer, to add a little balance to it, I decided to use a folded page, which also gave me a little extra space for photos and journaling:

Day 8.

I kept it very simple again. Enlarged photo and a few strips of pattern papers:

And now is time for a little surprise!

Guess what I got today? A box from Northridge Publishing! I've been waiting for that box forever! It was so nice to see my layout in their magazine:

Northridge Publishing people were so nice to send me two copies of their awesome magazines, so that means I can give one away!

If you would like to get a chance to win one if these magazines just leave a comment on this post, telling why would you like a copy and I'll pick a winner on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

December Daily days 5 & 6

It's fun to see how your December Daily is getting a little thicker each time you add something to it:

Day 5.

It was a very fun day with really bad pictures. But that didn't stop me from recording a memory. I used only one black and white picture and decided to concentrate on journaling instead of photos for this day.

Another pocket with journaling cards. I love to have these mini albums interactive:

Day 6.

Here I had too many photos I wanted to include, so I added a memorabilia to separate journaling from photos, otherwise I would've not been able to fit all on one page spread.

Love these snowflake stickers by Recollections (Michael's). I cut one snowflake into two pieces and used them on the edge of the page:

Another card inside and I meant to add a receipt inside there to:

The back of that insert is covered with photo collage:

And here is the rest of day 6:

I was asked how I print on small already precut journaling cards. I thought it was a good question and decided to take a moment to show how easily it's done. First measure your card and set margins to fit into the space. Then print it on a regular letter size paper. Place your card over printed journaling (adding tiny spots of adhesive) and print again.

I've learned it from Nichole Magouirk. You can run a few times changing font size until it matches the lines on the card, but I don't worry much about it. It already looks neater then a hand written note.

Hopefully you enjoy your Holiday season and take a moment to record it too!

Until next time!

Days 3 & 4

I really meant to share these yesterday, but I wasn't home half a day and by the time I came back it was too dark to take pictures of the pages. So, for day 3 I used one enlarged photo and two small ones. Again, keeping it very simple:

Journaling card is from Becky Higgins Project Life kit:

(I just realized how dry my hands are... got to go put some lotion on) I glued only 3 sides of the large photo, leaving one side open, so it can serve as a pocket:

Day 4.

It was one of those moments when we were having too much fun to even remember take a picture. I quickly snapped one before heading out of the doors, so our faces don't necessary reflect too much joy here:

Happily using my daily number and I'm so glad I cut them in both white and red!


This is it for today, but I'll try my best to be back with more coverage on DD tomorrow.

Hope you enjoy your December!

December Daily - days 1 & 2

I'm not very good at posting on weekends, so finally today I'm sharing my first two days of December Daily. Just wanted to note a few things I really enjoy right now:

1. Working on DD as we go, instead of waiting and hoping to finish it later.

2. Enjoy the privilege of printing my pictures at home as needed in any size.

3. Keeping my DD very simple. "Dreaming of a white Christmas" - I enjoy our white Christmas Tree and my DD seems to reflect a lot of white too.

4. Having radio with Christmas station on during this season.

So, for my first day I have an envelope with a photo and a journaling on the back side:

and a page with pictures for the day.

Day 2 has a strip of four pictures and a journaling card that goes over one of them:

(Sorry, I didn't realize this image was out of focus) just wanted to show you how that card opens.

Hope your albums are getting some memories in them too! Will be back to share more!

Great day to all of you!

Hello December!

This morning we woke up to this note on the wall:

It's nice when kids like to be involved in family projects. This message definitely set the right mood for the day! Thank you girls!

Yesterday, I decided to make just another DD cover for my sister so she has a choice too, even though she said the other one would've worked just fine. I cut up a Christmas card in pieces and used these images as a little window into what December has to bring:

I guess I was into "Let's make something already" mood, so I also made a little Christmas card, using leftover pieces of paper and an extra flower that didn't get on the DD cover. Most of these papers are from Lost and Found collection by My Mind's Eye.

We did touch on Thanksgiving earlier, but never talked about Black Friday. I know that opinions are very different on this subject. What I have learned - department stores will have just as good sales next week and a week after that, so I don't go there. But where I do like to go is craft stores.

Year after year I'm just amazed at some of those great deals they have plus an extra % off entire purchase coupons. So, I got both of (pink and blue) 6x6 Lost and Found collections for $1.80 each that day. These 6x6 pads are one of the hottest products in the industry and now I know why...

... and I got this chocolate album by American Crafts for only $8.75 when it's original price is 20 dollars else where.

Well, I hope you have a great day and if you by any chance already stressed out about December Daily (my sister neighbor, I'm talking to you), go read Ali's latest post. She is so good at encouraging people.

Have fun and I'll see you around here pretty soon!