Sunday, November 17, 2013

December Daily 2013

Christmas is my most absolute favourite time of the year. One of the reasons I picked December for my wedding and was also blessed with having a Christmas baby (22nd) so we have a lot happening! A few years ago I fell in love with December Daily scrapbook notion. This will be my third attempt. LOL
First year: Digital 12x12 pages. I got quite a few done. But needed to be done after Christmas so is added to my pile of projects started. Planning to finish...
Second year: Simple Stories and pocket pages are starting to get super popular. Thought I would attempt pocket page scrapbooking with starting a December Daily project. 12x12. Started great but I got overwhelmed with trying to work on each day, we introduced Elf on the Shelf to our kids - & its crazy daily antics, add in 3 kids, and a busy holiday retail store and well - it required too much thought to be a first of many things all at once in December. So I'm planning to finish it with my current December Daily project (now that I have mastered pocket pages in other ways) LOL.
This now leads into my third attempt. Goal of course is to finish it - but we will see. No pressure on myself. However, as I begin today I am off to a much better start then previous projects.
#1 It's NOVEMBER! YAY (This is HUGE - I'm a procrastinator!!)
#2 It's not 12x12. I'm getting out of my box in numerous ways but first I've chosen a Sn@p Album. 6x8 - much more feasible for quick and easy. I love 12x12 but when doing a December daily last year - I found some days I took way took many photos and other days I was lucky to snap one.
The point of my December Daily is to capture our family traditions and magic of Christmas.
#3 I've laid out the foundation. The topics I want featured and anything extra I can include can get put in as bonus pages. At least 1 - 4 photos allowed per topic - and I know what photos I always take of.
#4 So I got creating today and have a good chunk done or planned out.
#5 Primarily using Simple Stories 25 Days of Christmas & Handmade Holiday lines & BOBUNNY Elf Magic - but also trying to use up a ton of old stuff I have been hoarding.... so this one will be quite hodge podgy. :)

I still have some work to still do over the next few weeks on it. But so excited and the creative momentum is flowing. If I get the design part done all I have to do is print my key photos to fit and voila!!

Here is my start with a few work in progress pages. Tonight I already went back and added a few more details to each page. But quite thrilled with my start...
At least my children might have a finished project to view. 6x8 is also much more easier for my kids to handle. Normally my 12x12 albums weigh more then my 6 year old. :-)
Keep checking in for more photos to come soon! I hope! ;-)
XO Kel
 Changing old metal charms with Tim Holtz Alcohol Inks.

 Getting started...
 First page. :-) Love these elves and will be a perfect compliment to our Elf on the Shelf, Jolly.
 Trying out some "see-through" page elements.


 Cover - not finished. Still a work in progress.
 This is a hidden pocket on the inside cover. The plan is to put a bunch of fun instagram photos of our elf, Jolly's antics this season.

 Showing the hidden pocket on inside cover.





Friday, October 11, 2013

Creative Chemistry 102

I have had an amazing week enrolled in the online class Creative Chemistry 102 with Tim Holtz. I have loved following his creations for years, love his products, but usually stumped what to do with them! This was such a perfect opportunity to have fun and learn about his products - by the man himself. This week was learning all about his distress products and SO MANY techniques that he makes look so easy and fast! It had me dusting off my supplies and finally using - to make pretty things. I whizzed through 101 last week to get caught up and follow him live with 102. He is such an amazing talented man. This week has truly inspired me to get back into creating "out of my box", get back to getting dirty and having fun. Immersed in glitter, inks, paints and more. Each day he would post new lessons and videos. I was missing some key items (impatiently waiting for my shipment to arrive) but was able to follow along. Of course I watched videos on the couch, in my office, in the car ride home from Winnipeg (my husband wasn't completely impressed with me - but would chime in with an "I can do that!"?! LOL. Of course on the way home from Winnipeg, my kids also had to listen in. My 6 year old was hooked. She's my budding artist. We would have lunch or supper with videos playing and the girls watching over my shoulder, asking all kinds of questions. H about art, products and colours. N with questions about his rings, his work room, and such (she's 4 yrs old). Today is the last day of lessons and ended up with just H and I home tonight. As we started watching the first video, she asked "is he going to create a tag again?" - of course all the techniques are on tags so its a given. :-) I missed a part (had to grab her something from the kitchen) and she was the one to quickly inform me "he's using paint this time, cause the ink won't work for this part." Very astute and helpful my little one! I'm quite amazed how much product info actually seemed make sense to her this class. Kids are definitely more aware of certain things then we give them credit for. The lesson was on embossing and as the videos played she asked if I had all the supplies. I did for a couple of the techniques so she asked if we could go emboss... the two of us headed to my craft room, pulled out everything we needed and re-played the lesson! Below are our first attempts of two tags techniques we created. I love the first one. The 2nd one needs some fine tuning. Mostly because I just worked with the colours I had. So will be making a new one of that. H just loves the sparkle though!! We had so much fun! Glitter and embossing powder EVERYWHERE! When I started this class it was to inspire and spark a creative spirit in me that had been on the dormant side. I didn't expect to have my little girl inspired and caught up in my Tim Holtz craze - to join me on this creative journey. I can tell I will be learning from her in just a few years!



Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Have you seen our latest newsbud for this month?

Gone Scrappin' In Bloom October NewsBud
Autumn is my favorite time of year. The vibrant and beautiful colours leads to fun costumes and little kids looking for candy! The store is all decorated to welcome you in to warm up on those crisp days. Try a cinnamon bun latte while you shop, take in a Home Routes Concert this month or bring your child in for our Annual Halloween Costume Portraits and Fall Open House! See you soon!