Please Slow Down

Lorelei has grown so much over the past year, of course that is what babies do, but it seems just like yesterday we were bringing her home from the hospital. I know all mothers can relate to how fast they grow up. Lolo's hair is finally growing. Mostly just her bangs are growing but she does have a little curl in the back. Finally. At 20 months old. I'll take it.

My December Daily 6-9

Did I mention I was slowly getting around to working on this? Slowly. Very Slowly. I just looked at the calendar and realized December 1st is just over a week away. I better get a move on it. My photos are not that great today. My girls were all over me and there is not alot of sunlight this morning.

Since I only want to do one day per page (there is room for adding an extra page if I feel the need to add more photos or journaling for a day) I wanted my spreads to be used with coordinating papers and colors. I like the unity it brings.

For days 6 and 7 I used a sheet of Basic Grey Figgy Pudding paper and green Bazzil cardstock and the red is from Stampin' Up. I pulled out my trusty Fiskars Threading Water border punch. I just love that punch and use it all the time. I have noticed that my page layouts are looking similar and I am ok with that. It makes it easy to get my layouts done and leaves room for adding journaling and photos.

For days 8 & 9 I used patterned paper from Cosmo Crickets Jolly by Golly line and I just love it. The cardstock is from Stampin' Up. The 8 and brackets are vinyl Thickers. I used another stamp from Hampton Arts. I used Versa Mark (my most favorite ink to use) and embossed with a clear but glittery powder. The ribbon is from my stash. For day 9 I used a pattern I lifted from Heidi Sonboul in the November issue of Creating Keepsakes. I was excited to try this and I am very pleased with the results. I used my Slice to cut the 9 for this day and added some pearls from Kaiser Craft to finish it off.

My December Daily 1-5

I have been slowly assembling my December Daily album. I have been using Making Memories Mistletoe collection so far but will be adding other papers into the mix as I progress through the album. Most of the embellisments will be from my stash. I really need to use up some of the stuff I have. I am working with an 8x8 album and decided to try a few different things this year. The album came with a couple of cute felt pages, transparency pages and some page protectors which was part of my decision to order this particular one.

For Day 1 and 2 I used a circle die cut paper. After I cut Day 1 to size I trimmed away what was left of the polka dots and then cut a piece of the argyle paper to fit behind the green scalloped circle.

Day 3 is a felt page with a photo mat and some buttons that are serving as pseudo photo corners.

Day 4 is the back of the felt page. I used a tag that I made at Creating Keepsakes Seattle a few years ago. I added some more cardstock for matting wallet sized prints.

Day 5 I stamped the snowman from Hampton Art onto a piece of cardstock that I cut using my Slice. I took a piece of twine that I had saved off a hang tag from a pair of jeans I purchased for the girls and glued it down in a couple of spots, then I added some staples on each end. I used what was left of the piece of twine and put it on the top of my snowman tag. I attached the tag with foam squares. I think I will print the date directly on my photo. If not I will add a "5" later on.

Lone Survivor

I found this little flower growing in my pot of dead pansies. Here it is early November and this flower's "internal clock" is all messed up! I just had to grab my camera and take a picture because it brightened my day. And I love playing with Photoshop.

Happy Birthday James!

Today my wonderful husband is turning 38. I wish we could celebrate together but know that we are thinking of you and we love you!

Catching Up

It has been a while since I have posted a picture of the girls. This is from Halloween and is a true reflection of how mini photo shoots work out for me. I did not get one good picture on Halloween of these two. Either one girl is crawling away or crying. This happens without fail. My hopes for getting a cute photo to send off in our Christmas cards have pretty much disappeared.

I have ordered the papers I wanted to make Christmas cards this year but have yet to start them. I need to get a move on it though. Time is just flying by! I also have the album I will be using for my December Daily album this year. This is an idea that Ali Edwards has started on her blog. The whole idea of the album is that you assemble it before December rolls around so that way you only have to add in your daily photo and journaling as you progress through the month. Take a look at Ali's blog for lots of inspiration! She has set up a Flicker gallery where other talented ladies can post their pages too. I am looking forward to getting my album assembled and adding in our photos each day. I hope this becomes a long standing tradition for my family.

It has been pretty gloomy here lately. A lot of fog and clouds that just linger all day long. I don't mind so much as it reminds of Olympia, WA. I really loved living in the Pacific Northwest. Hands down my most favorite part of the entire United States.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Weekend Project

Since Halloween is come and gone I thought I should get to work on some of my holiday decorations and gifts. I instantly fell for this great little Christmas Wishes project that I saw in Paper Crafts Holiday Cards & More Volume 4 (you can purchase it here).

I know the girls are too young to know what a Christmas wish list is but before long they will know all to well about it and I think this is a great way to store their lists when the time comes. The entire project came together in about 90 minutes and that includes the time it took for the paint to dry on the frame. The papers are from My Minds Eye. Please forgive the poor lighting in the picture. I tried waiting for some good morning sunshine but we haven't had any in about a week now.

Thanks for looking!

Free Class!!!

I can't wait to sign up for this class on Monday! This will be my 3rd free class that Jessica has offered and I always learn something new. I hope you check it out. She doesn't list the specific details but I imagine you will need a version of Photoshop. If you don't have Photoshop you can grab a free 30 day trial of the program from here.