Day 10, 24 & 25.... completed.

Well, the project is finally done. OK, I still have a little journalling to do, but other than that I'm done. I'm happy with how it turned out (for the most part). I like all the different page sizes, that really helped me get outside my creative box, so that's always a good thing. I'm looking forward to this again next year. I will look throughout the year now for bits & pieces to stick aside for the project. I'll also maybe try using a small album (although I think I'd miss the assorted page sizes....) but I do like the idea of PROTECTIVE SHEETS... we'll see.Below is Day 10. That one I set aside as I wanted Megan to pick out the photos. In the end, she didn't really care so I picked them & just got it done. She is my Polka Dot girl so she specifically chose this background design paper! I hand doodled the "title" on this page as well. On the back I made a little pocket to hold the program for the night and I will also add my journalling & slip it into the pocket as well :)

day 24 (above) the kids did a little talent show. We typically go to the Christmas Eve service, but it didn't work out this year & so we created our own :) The kids each did a little something & even sang us a couple Christmas songs at the end. They always love putting on little talent shows!

Day25. I thought this picture was adorable. I went to the library and got an armload of magazines and they had Scrapbooks Etc. there. So I found this sketch (well, altered it a bit) in there and that was great inspiration to finish up! Check out your local library, it's amazing what they have in there or even what they're willing to bring in for you!

OK - hopefully now I'll have some card creations to show you.... Hope you've enjoyed the {long} process of this December journal.

Enjoy your Monday, and your fresh new week -

.j.

Day 9 -

Well the countdown is on here as we celebrate on the 23rd - making the 22nd our little Christmas eve -- honestly it'll be a full week of special moments & surprises so I'm looking forward next week and hope to savor it. I want to turn the clock back and have it go real slow so I can just enjoy it. It always seems to go by so quickly!! Day '9' was a nice easy page... just a vellum square (6x6) envelope (from Stampin' Up!) that I stamped with white stazon with some snowflakes. I love the look of stamped vellum!! I took a photo of the kids sledding (actually I think hubby took this one) and layered on the envelope. I am going to have the kids each write a little note about Christmas, and what they've enjoyed in getting ready.. that sort of thing. Maybe a little wish list... just whatever they want. Then I'll stick those little notes in there. Thought that would be neat to read year after year. :)

Blessings...

.j.

Day 8

What an exciting day! last day of school before Christmas break, Grandma & Grandpa arrive at the airport this afternoon & we are officially ready to start our family Christmas! Funny how the house can be decorated, the baking can be done, the snow falling... but it's the coming together of family for me, that makes it feel like Christmas. It was the best gift when my Mom's hubby said they'd come for Christmas -- being so far away from everyone I thought we'd be alone for Christmas, so this is for me, very special!!

Day 8 was a quiet day, but a I was slowly unpacking more boxes (I know, you're shaking your head at me thinking... SERIOUSLY... MORE BOXES!!!) we found a box of games that had yet to be unpacked. The kids were delighted to see some old favorites. Joshua & Sarah spent the afternoon playing games -- it was so sweet. For this page I used a few different 'letters' - chipboard "thickers" (red) some flat stickers by Karen Foster (white), some pewter mini circle letters by Memory Makers and rub-ons (unknown). I even added my own handwriting again... not doing it very often but now & then I am :)

I hope you're finding your own quiet moments in the busy time ....

Merry Christmas,

.j.

Day 7

This was a very busy day so I didn't have my camera out that much snapping photos, so instead I did a grouping of photos I had taken on other days. Some Christmasy things in our home & outside. I printed out my journalling on this day on the back of this page. I'm trying to remind myself that this is simply a documentation of events. It doesn't matter if a particular thing happened on THAT exact day. It's about remembering what happened during the season. No stresses :) I have taken some more shots of my other pages and will upload a few pages here in the next few days. Company arrives tomorrow for the holidays so... I'll try to get some posts done ahead of time here so I can keep up with showing you my album. For the tab on this page, I just used two circle punches to create the "tab" on the side and then stitched with DMC thread the red circle and the green '7'. It's been fun to play around with my stashes of supplies. Used a Stampin' up! snowflake rub-on for the 'o' in season. K -- busy day cleaning to get ready for my Mom & her hubby coming tomorrow -- very exciting!!

Merry Christmas!

.j.

The weekend + Family Time (Day Two)

David *finally* has a weekend off - yeaaaah. Kids are thrilled so we will be savoring family time this weekend. I hope to work with the kids on the journal over the weekend & share with you the pages on Monday and try to get 'caught' up so I'm not so behind showing you. I also have a wedding & an engagement card to do so I will have some cards to show you too. Next week is also my week to get some teacher gifts put together so... stay tuned for some projects!
Day Two:
I used a Stampin' Up! 6x6 scrapbook page here (just had to add an extra hole so it sat correctly in the book). Every year I hang up the advent quilt. I made this when Megan (the oldest) was two years old -- so it's been around for many years as she's now 11, nearly 12! It's a scene of a village of houses {25}, all in a snowy day.... each *roof* lifts up creating a pocket and the treat goes inside. Cute eh? It was so fun to make. When Megan was little I just put a little treat in there and then along came Joshua.... so two treats went in. When Sarah came along it was hard to fit 3 treats in some of the smaller houses, so I would put in a little clue on those days and they'd have to go and hunt for their little goodie. They LOVED that. Now every day is a clue for each of them. They are so excited to come home after school & get their little piece of paper that holds the clue for their little treat. My challenge is to come up with 25 clues for each child -- that's 75 hiding places!! LOL. It's so fun though -- when Daddy is home, I even include him on the hunt! I didn't want to crop this photo as it wouldn't fit as nicely on the page. So I added eyelets & snaps on the one side for a bit of visual appeal. Apparently a door-jam isn't that pretty... even in the soft creamy light I captured! *smiles*
What is a family Christmas tradition you have?
.j.

Day One.

Day one. For me, December first was baking day. The start of all the sweet treats to fill my freezer up & share with family and friends. Mmmmm. We have a few things that I *only* make at Christmas times, and some favorites I continue to make to enjoy over the holiday time. With family coming to OUR house for the VERY FIRST time, I'd like to have most of my prep. done before everyone arrives. So for this day I included a photo of chocolate marble scones. I put the recipe on the back & in the "pocket" put the recipe of chocolate almond biscotti. Yes... an error. Day one & an error! Not a good begin. I even wrote biscotti on the title below the photo! SHEESH! So I will be "fixing" that today. I will include the recipe for the scones (just on the other side)... aw well... this little album is for us & I'm sure I'll smile about my brainlessness for years to come :). I also put a photo of Megan's flute as she played Christmas Carols that afternoon while I baked -- lovely.
I think everyone has a hard time with their own printing (except if your Ali Edwards!). I really wanted to FORCE myself to at least have a page or two with my printing, so I thought I'd get it over with on day one :) It really is nice to have the pages done ahead of time and all I need to do is add the photos & a few embellishments.
Has anyone else taken the challenge to do a December journal?
.j.