Folio style December journal (video)

This is my completed December journal! It's full of pockets, pages & photo mounts, ready for documenting next month's festivities 

If you're not familiar with December journals, they're a lovely way to capture memories of a fun & busy time of the year, especially if you have a growing family. Here's a great introduction to them http://aliedwards.com/projects/december-daily although there are many different approaches you can adopt for your journal.

I've made it in a photo folio style, so that I'm not tied to making an entry a day during December or having any kind of coherent narrative running through it. At its simplest it will be a folder for keeping this year's Christmas photos, cards and memorabilia (receipts, present lists etc) together, although I will includee journalling for some days, should my children remove themselves from their computers & we, oh, I don't know, ACTUALLY GO SOMEWHERE AND DO SOMETHING!! Ahem. 

I used 2 ranges from Stampin' Up!'s current Autumn/Winter catalogue; the Home For Christmas DSP (& the cute matching Cozy Christmas stamp set); and the Project Life Hello December 2015 journal cards, accessories & stamps. 

I have taken many, many photos of it - you can wade through them all here - https://flickr.com/photos/123525749@N02/sets/72157660991604470

And here's a video walk though! Do leave a comment or a "like", it would make my day :)

I used a pre-made folio folder by Ranger, and these lovely Stampin' Up! products. You can buy them by clicking on the pictures:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Stampin' Up! Autumn/Winter catalogue 2015

If it's late August it must be... 

Stampin' Up! Autumn/Winter catalogue time! Yayyy!!!

Face it, you were sick of summer anyway. It's done, move on. The new catalogue launches on 1 September & has lots of lovely new stamps, papers and punches to see you through until January, plus beautifully photographed ideas of how to use them.

If you've spent £30 with me in the last three months I'll be sending you one for free. Otherwise they cost £2 to cover postage (redeemable with your first order) :)

I'm really looking forward to working with this year's new items - there are some lovely papers that put me in mind of 1960's kitschy bambi type imagery, so I'll have fun with them.

My classes start up again on 24 September so look out for details of them on my Facebook page.   October & November will both be Christmas based classes & I'm hoping to squeeze a Thank You card class in in early December.  Lots going on so do like my facebook page to keep in touch!

Sam x :)

 

Christmas table

We had a kitchen/diner extension last year & have only just got round to decorating it. I usually do dinner for 10 on Christmas Day so I thought it would be nice to make an effort with the dinner table this year. It's usually a bit of a mix & match "eclectic" look, with mismatched pottery, 4 different tablecloths & chairs at various heights. 

I love the opulence of M&S' vintage metallics dinner table, but sadly I have more of an Aldi budget!  So I've scoured all the local bargain shops & picked up the odd bauble here & a votive there. I found some gold chargers for £1 each I'm Morrisons. In B&M's Fine Dining section (ahem) I found a couple of surprisingly nice tablecloths & runners for under £5 each in muted  champagne & cream. Sure, you wouldn't want to let them near a naked flame, but they actually do look jolly nice. 

I bought the sparkly crowns in January in a supermarket sale - 30p each down from £3. And happily the crackers I bought at the same time are silver & white. 

I'll add a few vintage light holders  (holding battery tea lights, lest the whole table go up!) & some gift boxes using the Curvy Keepsake Box die.(135853) I've been experimenting with it & I'm going to stamp dictionary text on crumb cake card, overstamp with some snowflakes & then dust with glitter.

I'm thinking about using this dress form as a centre piece. I might punch tags & collage them with metallics & hang them from it. Or I might not. We'll see :)

Project Life Hello December journal - cover (video)

If you're planning on keeping a December journal you need to prepare well in advance. The first couple of weekends in November are ideal - Christmas ads are all over the telly & it feels kind of festive but you really can't dive headlong into Christmas JUST yet, so treat yourself to a little taster, complete with glitter & sequins & snowflakes.

I decorated the covers of my album this week. I used the December Wonder stamp set for the snowflakes (heat embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder). The wood Joy plaque & "remember this" are from the Hello December accessories pack, as are the number stickers. Use Crystal Effects to glue the wood plaque & sequins on & they should stay put. 

I've also made a start on my opening page. 

If you watched the video I posted last week you'll recognise the reindeer from the Boden catalogue.  I popped my Project Llife 3x4 Framelit over him & it cut out to the perfect size for the pocket.

I might add to it as I go along or leave it as it is. My usual style is to embellish each page like I do the front cover, but that's so time consuming that I'm going to make an effort to leave it clean & simple this year. 

Here's what I used:

Project Life December Wonder Photopolymer Stamp Set

£13.95

Hello December Project Life Card Collection

£8.50

Hello December Project Life Accessory Pack

£12.95

Cherry 6" X 8" Project Life Album

£8.95

Variety Pack 6" X 8" Project Life Photo Pocket Pages

£4.95

Frosted Sequins

£4.50

Trim The Tree Designer Series Paper Stack

£6.25

Iridescent Ice Stampin' Emboss Powder

£4.50

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

£5.50

Crystal Effects

£5.25

Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad

£6.95

Cards & Labels Project Life Framelits Dies

£20.95

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December journal time!

**FREE CLASS**

If  you're interested in keeping a December journal & you live local to me (Stockport, UK), order the elements listed at the bottom, from my Stampin' Up! shop, & I'll give you a free 1-2-1 class on how to approach Project Life and keeping a December journal, plus some handmade journaling cards that will co-ordinate with the Hello December kit. Email me at bracegirdlesam@gmail.com when you place your order.

I've kept a scrapbook type journal of my family's life each December since 2008. It's a daily record of us as a family each December & it's fascinating to see the changes, year on year.

My kids are a bit older now, but I value doing it even more. As they start to grow away from me, and having a photo taken seems more of a chore than the lark it was when they were little, Christmas festivities give me a legitimate reason for taking pics and capturing their last precious moments of childhood...

Goodness. How very mawkish! But if you've got teenagers I'm sure you know what I mean.

Last year I made a very elaborate December album. So elaborate, in fact, that I  used up all my mojo making it & by day 17 I got fed up & stopped filling it in. 

I learned a valuable lesson, and this year I've pared things right down. I'm going to use the Project Life method to keep my Christmas journal. I'm using the Hello December cards, accessory pack and PL album from Stampin' Up! and I'll complete it with photos and other bits and pieces from my stash.  I'm confident it will let me to balance creativity with the inevitable demands on my time that December brings!

Here's a video overview of the kit, plus you can have a look at some of the Christmas journals I've done  before.

To qualify for my free class, please purchase the following (4 items)

Cherry 6" X 8" Project Life Album

£8.95

Variety Pack 6" X 8" Project Life Photo Pocket Pages

£4.95

Hello December Project Life Card Collection

£8.50

Hello December Project Life Accessory Pack

£12.95

You might also like (optional extras)

6" X 8" Project Life Envelopes Pages

£4.50

Project Life December Wonder Photopolymer Stamp Set

£13.95

Clear Block C

£5.95

Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad

£5.50

Project Life 4" X 3" Grid Cards

£3.25

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Christmas card class

Would you like to make these 2 gorgeous glittery Christmas cards & some gift tags? Come to my friendly, informal card class & I'll show you how. No experience necessary, just enthusiasm & a festive spirit! 

Cost £10 (inc refreshments)

Thurs 9 October 2014 7-9pm

Heald Green, Stockport.

This is a small class so booking is essential - email me at bracegirdlesam@gmail.com or call 07407 510151 for more information & to book your place. 

This class can be run for larger craft groups at your venue, or as a 1-2-1 session for personal tuition. I just love any excuse to get together with people & craft  :)

Techniques used include stamping, die cutting & heat embossing. Project uses Stampin' Up!'s Wondrous Wreath stamp set & coordinating Framelits & other Stampin' Up! products.

Gorgeously glittery Wondrous Wreath flip card

Here's another flip card & video showcasing the Wondrous Wreath stamp set & Wonderful Wreath Framelits.

I drone one for about 20 minutes in this video. There's a shorter video available here if you just want to see how to create the flip element with the Framelits dies.

The stamps & Framelits are available to buy separately or together as a bundle, saving 15%.

Wonderous Wreath Photopolymer Bundle

£37.25

Wondrous Wreath Photopolymer Stamp Set

£22.95

Wonderful Wreath Framelits Dies

£20.95

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Wondrous Wreath flip card tutorial

I've had a look online & can't find any other examples of Wondrous Wreath flip cards. ZOMG, have I just innovated???  I think I need to lie down.

Here's a quick tutorial which gives you the basics of how to use your Wondrous Wreath stamp set & Wonderful Wreath Framelits to make a flip card. I'll post a stepped up version later.

Please do email me if you're interested in purchasing anything and would like a free catalogue to browse through.

Summary

Cut a piece of card measuring 6 6/8" x 5". Score lines are 2 1/2" & 3 1/2". 

Decide which side of the card you want showing (in this case, the wood grain side) & place the Framelit face down on the reverse side, lining the tab up with the 2.5" score line. Partially cover with cutting plate & run it through the big shot from both sides.

Cut out your wreath & before removing it from the big shot mark the back where the tab was. Put wet glue on the back of the wreath & use the mark on the back to line it up with the top of the flip die cut. Folding the card flat to let the existing cuts act as a template helps with placement.

If you've not made one before you'll need to practice a couple of times. I promise though, once you get it right you'll feel smarter than Stephen Hawking! 

Trim The Tree Designer Series Paper Stack

£6.25

Wonderous Wreath Photopolymer Bundle

£37.25

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.