Erin Taylor Designs : december daily

Showing posts with label december daily. Show all posts

Friday, December 19, 2014

Gossamer Blue | December Memories

Hello crafty friends! I have been working on my December Memories album religiously this year, and I wanted to share a few of my completed pages. I am using the Gossamer Blue December Memories kit and album.

I tried taking pictures of each page in the album, but the glare from the page protectors was horrible, so I took each page out and photographed it on a white background.

About half of my pages are single page spreads, and half are double page spreads. I evaluated that based on the photos and story for each day. On December 8th, I made hot cocoa for the kids. The photos weren't great, because it was indoors at night, so I used a photoshop action to change them to black and white, then cropped them to 3x4 inches.

My next page is another single page spread, without a photo. The boys and I went to a high school soccer game and I took photos, but my phone crashed and I had to do a factory reset, so I lost those photos. Fortunately the rest of my photos were found, but not Wednesday night's photos. I told the story, create the page, and called it a day.

This next page is probably my favorite. The kids created Christmas ornaments for my mom's tree using kits I picked up at Michael's, and the look on Jack's face was priceless. He adores Christmas and had so much fun making something special for Grandma. Evan is usually reluctant to try new art projects, but he even got into it.

I purchased the Merry Christmas gold washi from Target a couple of weeks ago. It is more like clear tape, but it looks so cool on photos.

My last page is the traditional picture with Santa. We went to Bass Pro Shop for the photo rather than fight the crowds at the mall. The green banner is from the ephemera pack (included in the December Memories kit), along with the green vellum tag, number 12, and "Friday" sticker.

I haven't completed a December Memories project since 2007, and I can't believe we only have a week left! Of course I ran out of printer ink tonight so I need to make a run to Target in the morning, but I am on track to get this album finished this year.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week!

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Gossamer Blue | December Memories Inspiration Blog Hop

Good morning! I am thrilled to be participating in the Gossamer Blue December Memories Inspiration Blog Hop. This year's December Memories kit is packed with so many fun embellishments, pocket journaling cards, 6x8 papers, washi tape, wood veneer and cork pieces, and so much more.

First up I want to talk about organization. This kit has a ton of tiny embellishments, packaged stickers, papers, etc., and keeping track of everything can be tricky. I pulled out a divided clear plastic bin that I purchased from Ikea as my main method of organization.

I dumped the wood veneer and cork right into one of the smaller bins, while the 800+ sequins were poured into a previously purchased glass jar. The jar had a sticker on it that was hard to remove, and left quite a bit of residue, so I covered it in fun red chevron washi tape.

Here's another look at my supplies, happy in their new crafty home. You can see that I've already used a few of the enamel dots... they are SO CUTE! Definitely one of my favorite embellishments in this kit.

I want to show you a few of the products in this kit that I will be pulling out for my album. Of course I love everything, but some products are more "me".

These 4x6 cards fit perfectly in the divided page protectors that are included in the album, and they make me happy. The "december" card is one that I'm going to use right away. I love the tiny diagonal stripes and the font.

There are four separate products here: the fabulous stamp set, vellum shapes (LOVE these!), puffy stickers, and badges/flair. The circle star vellum shapes will absolutely be used up first... they are the perfect sizes and colors. I'm using my Xyron sticker maker to apply adhesive to the vellum shapes.

Die cuts, chipboard numbers, wood pieces, and cork pieces. The chipboard numbers are a great weight, and they can be stapled or sewn right onto your pages. The wood and cork pieces are great additions to this kit and I'm super excited to use the wood wreath on one of the 3x4 journaling cards.

My original goal was to finish all of the foundation pages before December 1st, but we've had company at the house for the past 10 days and that didn't happen. I got a good start on it today, and I'm hoping to make more progress tomorrow. Hopefully by Tuesday or Wednesday of next week I'll have all the foundation pages finished.

I'm keeping it simple with my cover. I used one of the 6x8 papers and called it good.

Here are the first few pages in my album:

I can't believe how quickly this album is coming together! All the colors coordinate beautifully and each element is unique. I hope my post has inspired you to pull out your Gossamer Blue December Memories kit and get your foundation pages completed!

Make sure to check out the rest of the Gossamer Blue design team for more December Memories inspiration:

Anabelle O'Malley
Beshka Kueser
Brenda Weaver
Cindy Liebel
Diane Payne
Ewa Kujawska
Eyoung Lee
Heather Leopard
Jessica Lohof
Jill Cornell
Jill Keller
Jina Jean
Kasia Przbyt
Katie Ehmann
Keisha Campbell
Laura Rahel Crosby
Magda Mizera
Maria Lacuesta
Melanie Blackburn
Naomi Atkins
Michelle Wooderson
Pam Garrison
Rebecca Luminarias
Tara Anderson
Vanessa Perry
Gossamer Blue Blog

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

December Daily | Days 2 & 3

Apparently December is the month for printer problems. My big printer ran out of ink (no big deal), but the replacement ink I purchased isn't working in my printer! I'm getting an error message that says the printer doesn't recognize the ink cartridge. And the Cyan ink exploded all over my hand when I opened it, dying my right hand blue. Awesome.

I am using my little Selphy printer for all my 4x6 photos (and smaller), but I'm sending larger prints to Walgreens until a new ink cartridge arrives.

For Day 2, I documented some early December decorating. I created a few rosettes and a garland banner to hang around the living room window, and pulled out my button tree from a few years ago. Two milk glass jars have metallic red stars-on-a-stick with gold enamel dots (Basic Gray) on them. The red striped frame is from my Studio Calico December Daily kit.

A close up of the rosette picture. The Hello December overlay is from Ali Edwards.

This is the left side of Day 3. I have a 6x8 inch print ready for pickup at Walgreens for the right side.

Jack created this adorable stocking to hang on our tree, and I wanted to include his excitement in my album.

Oh, how I love this album already. Despite some printer issues, the SC DD kit has made this project a breeze.

Have a good night!

Monday, December 2, 2013

December Daily | Day 1

I can't remember the last time I was this excited for Christmas. Our first year in our new house, our first Christmas with my parents in 4 years, and a whole list of new traditions, projects, and festivities planned. Like last year, I am creating a December Daily. Unlike last year, however, I have a new(ish) printer, plenty of ink, and a new version of Photoshop CS6 that will (hopefully) cooperate! I created up to day 6 last year when my printer stopped working, and I quickly fell behind (and never caught up). I am not going to let that happen this year!

My photos today aren't great. I love our house, but it doesn't get a lot of natural light due to few windows (a Florida thing... fewer windows we will need to cover if we get hit by a hurricane!). I am trying to find a good spot to take photos, and I think the kitchen table is out. Today's pictures are darker than I would like, and our table is a glass top, which reflects the kitchen lights + my flash like crazy. But I am not going to stress about it now... I will just try a new spot tomorrow.

Here's my Day 1. I had a hard time starting last night... I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach my album and I was a little flustered. Luckily Ali posted a sneak peek of her day 1 on instagram, and I was inspired, so my pages look similar to hers.

It's a little hard to see, but I used the transparent "Peace, Love, and Joy" album insert from Studio Calico's December Daily kit in the top right pocket. Top left is a journaling card from a Project Life core kit... Midnight, I think?

The left two pockets hold the back of a December calendar, which I covered with gold shimmer paper, a punched star, and a gold enamel dot. The top label was stamped with red StazOn ink, and the sentiment is from last year's SC December Daily kit. Underneath is the backside of the Ho Ho Ho wood die cut.

Journaling card from Project Life and date label is from October afternoon. I used my type writer for the journaling.

The bottom pocket holds a picture of our new elf, Franklin, and his book. Franklin arrived yesterday morning and the kids love, love, love him. Today they found Franklin playing Hi Ho Cherry-O with Buzz and Woody (from Toy Story), and tomorrow, they will wake up to a kidnapping! Franklin has been taken by a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and his gang of army men and strung up from our pendant lamp in the kitchen. I'm sure Ev and Jack will get a kick out of it. And if Franklin gets into enough trouble this holiday season, I might create a mini book (after the holidays!) of elf pictures.

On to Day 2! I will finish up today's page and post it tomorrow after I get back from the mall... I need a new dress for Mark's upcoming holiday party. And possibly new sparkle shoes. :)

Monday, December 3, 2012

December Daily - Day Two

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. I can't believe how little time I've had to post the past two weeks... we have had company for the past 15 days, plus I came down with a cold/flu that hung around for way too long. I spent all day last Tuesday in bed while my parents took care of Jack. I am so thankful they were in town to take over the household duties... I don't know how else we would have survived!

I am working diligently on my December Daily album, but nothing is going as planned! My photo printer is out of ink, so I am uploading to Walgreens until I can get to Wal-Mart and buy replacement ink. I tried to print my journaling card with my other printer and the colors are coming out funny... maybe that one is out of ink, too? Mark is going to look at it when he gets home. I also pulled out my red StazOn ink pad to stamp on the cream album, but the ink pad has turned gloppy and chunky... definitely not what I was expecting! So I guess I need to make a trip to Michaels in the morning for a new red ink pad.

Despite a few setbacks, the project has been a lot of fun to work on. I am using Studio Calico's December Daily kit & album, 4x6 overlays by Ali Edwards, silver super fine embossing powder by Ranger, snowflake dies (which match the stamp set Snowflake Medley), natural wafer board (awesome product!), and last month's Studio AE stamp set.

I don't have full spreads ready yet (due to printer issues), but I can share my photo page from yesterday:

The "Merry & Bright" brush was added in Photoshop using an exclusive Ali Edwards brush from Studio Calico's 25 Days of Christmas class. The journaling font is Georgia (my go-to font for just about all my journaling). And the beautiful lazy susan the flowers are sitting on was hand made by a dear friend (hi Ray!) for Mark's college graduation.

And a big thank you to all of you who participated in the Great Impressions + Ribbon Carousel Blog hop. Please visit the Ribbon Carousel Blog and the Great Impressions Blog to see if you are a winner!

(Hopefully) I will be back tomorrow with completed pages and a card or two. Goodnight!

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Wednesday.

I wish I could say we were doing a lot of really exciting things & that is my excuse for not posting, but it's really just the opposite.

We are in a good Monday/Wednesday/Friday pre-school routine with Evan.

Jack is taking two naps per day and sleeping through the night (most of the time).

Mark is working or at school until 5pm every day (and often heads back to the office at 8pm after we put the boys to bed).

I am doing endless amounts of laundry, paying bills, Christmas shopping, working on some online classes, taking tons of photos, & organizing the apartment to make our move easier.

See? Nothing too exciting.

Mark took Evan out for a bike ride tonight before dinner. He loves his Cars bike.

I love this photo of Jack. He usually wakes up from his naps with a big smile on his face & he loves to coo at his mama :-)

Tomorrow is a non pre-school day, so we'll be doing some grocery shopping, running to the post office, and hopefully getting outside for a bit if the weather cooperates. Fall is most definitely here to stay, which means less time outside and more time inside, playing the Wii & rediscovering toys that haven't been played with since last fall/winter.

Maybe tomorrow or Friday I will have some more exciting to post! Until then, have a great Thursday!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

december daily album: day 17 + 18 + 19 + 20 + 21

...I've been busy! Check it out:

Page 17:

Day 18:

Day 19:

Day 20:

Day 21:

Two more days until Christmas!!!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

december daily album: day 15 + 16

Day 15:

Another Jenni Bowlin tag.

Back of day 15, front of day 16:

Back of day 16:

And because I know my dad is dying for a new background on his computer:

Only 7 days until Christmas!

Monday, December 17, 2007

december daily album: day 11 + 13 + 14

I was super busy putting pages together last night for my December Daily album. It is really starting to fill up:

Day 11:

Thicker stickers by American Crafts, swirl stamp from Lisa Bearnson's "Best of QVC" volume 4 kit, and snowflake gems from Oriental Trading company.

Day 13:

Rub-on flower by Daisy D's, journaling spot by Jenni Bowlin, pattern tape by Heidi Swapp, and chipboard numbers by American Crafts.

Day 14:

Transparent clock by Heidi Swapp, decorative journaling spot by Jenni Bowlin (I have been using a lot of these in this album).

Pages 15, 16, and 17 should be up tonight! Happy Monday!

Friday, December 14, 2007

december daily album: day 12

The pages I created yesterday were some of my favs in a long time, so they became my december daily page as well:

And a little of Evan:

P.S. Fall semester is over! Mark finished his last exam at 5pm this evening, and he is off for over three weeks... we couldn't be more excited to have daddy home for a bit.

december daily album: day 11

...well, I had some problems with this one. I picked up my photo from wal-mart today (specifically for this page), and it was awful. The color was terrible, Mark and Evan were blotchy, and the snow in the pic was actually pink. To top it off, I forgot to get ink today. Hopefully I will be getting ink and a new photo for this page tomorrow!