December Daily® Day 11

I would be remiss not to give a nod to the house transformation that has been taking place in our "new-old" house this December. It's part of my husband's love language to demolish and restore.  He's getting better at it all the time. 

The page uses from paid items and some freebies.The a season of intention sentiment is from the Digital December Daily Christmas Phrases stamp.  No place like home for the holidays and embrace the mess are both "Ali freebies."  I created the yellow card to coincide with the kitchen color, and used the star washi from my "washi drawer" (no idea where I got it from...probably AE).  Each image is 2 x 2.

Journaling: December has been filled with home projects. Scott tackled the two most needy: the kitchen and the half bath. He seems to be in his element. He is becoming a much more meticulous painter, and that saves us lots!

December Daily® Day 10

Yes, I do.  And I shall sit here until I am dumped off.  My wonderful son is 11 and still fully believes.  I have no intention of changing that.  I did so with son #1, believing that when he asked, I would tell him.  And, to this day, my almost 20 year old is still ticked that I admitted my part in the Throne of Lies when he was 12.  His brother knows that Santa needs Mommy and Daddy's help.  That's my baby step.

Since Dec. 10 had no pictures with a story that moved me, I decided to use the layout I had ready for a day just like today.

I used the 2015 Ashley Goldberg December-Daily-Kit-That-Keeps-On-Giving for the flipside of Day 9.  I thought the "Ho Ho Ho" fit nicely.  Again, there's a sparkly gold/bronze to the letters that did not photograph well here.  On the other side, I had a Simple Stories base page that I added to.

I did not journal on this day because it was my kid's Santa list.  I think it speaks for itself.  So I created a tab with Simple Stories Mistletoe Kisses Bits and Pieces Ephemera candy chipboard pieces.  The "10" comes from some AE stickers I had in my stash.

The flipside has more from the Simple Stories Mistletoe Kisses collection, and the letter Santa left Max on Christmas morning.

December Daily® Day 9

Since I dedicated Day 8 to food, and Day 7 to Max's concert. I thought on Day 8 I would use some pics I had to pass by.  This is more of a Project Life type of spread today, but I like including that December, while it is filled with crazy goodness, is also a regular month with stuff that goes on.

As I was journaling, it dawned on me that what I was journaling about would have been so foreign to me when I was in college.  So, I went with it.  This page utilizes all sorts of resources.  The upper right hand card is a mixture of last year's December Daily Ashley Goldberg kit and a couple of Story Kits (Old & New...my first one! and Me) from Ali.  The "past/present" was actually one chipboard circle that I cut in half because it was part of the story but not THE story, and having it as one embellishment made it take precedence because of the size of the circle.  The tape was from a Story Kit...not sure which one.  I cut and repositioned it a couple times, as you can see from a little dog earing.  The photos were screenshots from two separate calls, one on speaker and one using Face Time.

The bottom left circle is actually bronze/gold with a hint of glitter.

Journaling: Times have definitely changed.  If you had told me in college in 1988 that college students of 2016 would be calling their parents and being able to see their faces, I would have thought that was something out of a science fiction movie.  We had a phone closet on the floors of our dorms where, if someone answered, you were lucky.  There you sat, having your private conversations in a very public place. I recall wishing for phones in our rooms, which we were told were on the horizon.  I am so happy when I get to hear from Ignatius, be it through a “regular” call or through Face Time, or even just texting. I am sure, for him, it makes the holiday (college definition: finals) time a little more comforting. 

December Daily® Day 8: All the Foods

On December 8, I took a table-view shot of our dinner that night after we had devoured most of it. Seeing this shot made me realize I had a LOT of food pics for December.  An idea began: a spread on food! Enter, another digital template of Ali's, one that I ended up modifying greatly, but it gave me a great start.  Hers had space for 4 pics on the left and a column on the right with word art ("holiday" in her script and "hello traditions" in type underneath it).  I knew I wanted to get my journaling in there, but I also really needed the 5 shots, as they each told different parts of the month of eating.  I tried to keep "holiday," but felt a change in the title was due, and a good one.  I sampled the color for "merry" from one of the strawberries in the bottom left.  I used the same color for my numbers through my journaling.

Here was the base page.  I used number stickers from this month's Story Kit (using the crap out of that, I tell ya) to connect the journaling to the pics.

I also decided that it was time for another divider to make its way into the book, but I needed one side to pretty much stand on its own.  Loved this little snowman dude.  Simple Stories Mistletoe Kisses Bits and Pieces Ephemera and a stamp from Ali's Cheer set (limited release), along with some sparkly dots, wrapped up this pre-made page.

Then, the backside of this page could stay fairly simple.  I like it so much better on a chipboard divider than just in a divider by its lonesome.

I used a stamp from one of Ali's Week in the Life stamp sets from a couple years back.  Worked like a charm.  In this pic, you can see the stamped divider, and a bit of the sticker dimension.

Journaling: Indeed, we enjoy eating during the holidays. Pretty sure between what is shown and the other delectables in our house that are not typically here, my scale is going to be screaming at me...big time. 

1 | Belgian waffles on Christmas morning.  There always must be a special breakfast.  2 | A loaf of delicious Great Harvest Bread brought to us by a new neighbor.  3 | Scott pan fried some delicious steaks.  Our bellies were happily full.  4 | French toast made with Egg Beaters (yum) with strawberries, Cool Whip, syrup, and bacon.  5 | Cookies for Santa.  I was at first ticked that Scott bought a Toll House mix rather than just chilled dough, but it turned out to be a delicious error in judgment.

December Daily® Day 7

For this spread, I used a page that was semi-pre-made on one side and blank on the other.  A percussionist parent is hard-pressed to get a good shot of their student performing, unless you are on bleachers and/or have a fabulous lens. Armed only with my iPhone 6 plus, I got what I got.  So, there was some doctoring to the photo to point out exactly where my son was.

This page was so much fun to make. Max and I were spontaneously (which is a big deal in the land of ASD) messing with selfies as we awaited dinner at Bob Evans (tradition for before/after concerts).  I had three shots I really wanted to use, and then I remembered this awesome template of Ali's.  I even found the background color code for kraft (as I felt white would be too much).  I thought putting it on a polka dotted page was a unifying idea.

Journaling: Tonight was Max’s Christmas concert at CCHS. Bob Evans for dinner has been our tradition for music events. We had some fun with selfies, particularly with Snapchat layers, as we waited for our order.  

One Little Word 2016: Real Wraps Up

It feels like I just chose this word, and yet, when I go through this album, I realize what a lot has happened in 2016.  Holy moly.  So here is December.

I used the bejeebies out of Ali's Story Kit for this month.  Pretty much every embellishment and stamp was from that kit.  It was perfect for the prompt this month.

"Reflecting & remembering" stamp is from the Review stamp kit, as is "Life in Progress" on the flipside of the tab.

I knew I had to use A Year in Review for this spread.  I mounted it on kraft and outlined it in white Gelly Roll pen.  The back of some of Ali's 4 x 6 cards have "Story Sparks" on them, so I needed a cover.

When I did this, it helped to have the scrapbook right in front of me, especially for the feelings part.  I just lifted the feelings straight from what I was writing each month.  It was a good reflection for sure.

I think I might be addicted to these phrase stickers.  If Ali ever stops producing them, I might need rehab.

The finality of that last page cannot be overemphasized.

A close up of phrases and images that wrapped up my year with Real.

December Daily® Day 6

This is what I did with the back of the large photo on Day 5.  I had already set the page up with a couple kisses.  I decided to relocate the rest of them and add word stickers that came from songs of the season.

Using a couple of Ali's 3 x 8 digital templates, I chose to tell an everyday story from December plus a list of things for which I am thankful.  I placed a few stickers from Ali's Review Story Kit in there as well.

This is what the pages look like together in the album.