Welcome 2012!

Happy New Year! (I wouldn't mind some snow at this point.) It's kind of sad that this magic season is over:( The magic season, that can also be described as season of no exercise and too much candy...

I know it's January 4th and I just decided to say "Happy New Year", but this post was initially planned to be posted on the 30th of December. Well, I don't really want to start a New Year with excuses... Instead, I want to share something I've been spending lots of time on.

The last week of December I got a package with this stuff in it:

Back in November when I was looking through folders and more folders of pictures from 2011, I realized it was a good year. I really wanted to have some of these photos printed and have them available to look at with family and friends. I also realized that I will never be able to make that many layouts to cover all the little moments and blessings we had that year.

So the solution was to go with a Project Life. That doesn't mean at all that I will stop doing traditional layouts (I actually can't wait to finally make one), it's just a desire to have a glimpse of the full year in one album.

You've probably seen me already use a few of these little journaling cards in my December Daily. They are my favorite part of the kit.

While waiting on the picture order, I placed a few of the pictures I had on hand in the pockets...

Can't wait to fill it up. I hope to have it done (not the journaling part though) by the time we meet for our party, to have something new for you to see, since you've seen most of my DD already.

Speaking of the party, девочки напишите ваши предложения когда мы могли бы встретиться. Я буду подстраиваться под вас. Жду с нетерпением ваших предложений и встречи!

See you later!
 

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to stop by and wish everyone С Рождеством Христовым! Can't believe that it's over, but I hope you had a good Christmas this year. We had a fabulous Christmas Eve and a great Christmas Day! So much to share! There were over four hundred pictures taken in two days. The problem will be narrowing them down for DD. Seems like I might have to do more than one page for Days 24 & 25. But those are the best memories, the ones I would really want to remember.

Last week was soooo busy that I couldn't even think about blogging. I hope I'll get a moment to post at least a page or two for DD this week, even though all the preparation for New Years celebration is still ahead. At least our kids are home from school and there's no homework.

You know that I don't like to post anything without pictures, so here's is just one more image from our Christmas Day:

Hope you have a great LAST week of 2011 and even better 2012 ahead of you!

Days 15, 11 & 9

Three more pages for today. Somehow I get all these random numbers.
Day 9.


Another fold with pictures:


Full page:


Day 11.

This day has two full pages. It was a Sunday, and sometimes our Sundays are full of different activities. Just couldn't combine these two.



I have full sized pages that go from day to day, but when I have more then one page to add for one day, I make sure one of these pages is skinnier, so that you could see that day is not finished. If that makes any sense at all.



The other half of Day 11:



Day 15.

That was yesterday. Picture was taken around 10 pm. Lighting was pretty bad, so I had to print it b/w. But it is still one of my favorite images of the month so far:


The envelope will include a story that was read that night. I just didn't have it ready yet.

Fifteen days of this December are already history. Today is the sixteenth. It's your choice to find something good in it. Enjoy today, because it leaves pretty quickly.

Nine more days to go!

Days 13 & 14

Hi. Another two days are done. Actually I made three, but when I was taking pictures of the third one, I realized it was missing a letter sticker. That needs to be fixed and shared later. Hopefully tomorrow.

Day 13.

I didn't have much to say for this day. The story is in the pictures.

And for the first time in my 2011 December Daily I used a piece of green paper. It was a cutout glued to the transparency.

Day 14.

I don't mind to repeat designs, papers and embellishments in mini books. It kind of unifies pages and gives a book continuity. Repeated snowflake here:

The back side of transparency is not the pretties one, but it's ok with me. I used grey color to print journaling, to make it a little softer:

(As you can see, my little helper was right beside me. I think she was trying to replace that other half of snowflake sticker.)

Today is December 15th, and that means we are more then half way through the month and there are only 10 more days left to document.

Some of you may not feel as excited anymore, or may not feel very good overall (the way I felt yesterday), but don't to give up no matter what. Years later you will be happy you didn't.

Have a great day and more DD is coming tomorrow!

December Daily - day 12

Hello! Back with more DD today. Instead of working on the pages I missed over the weekend, I decided to do the freshest one and play catch up later (maybe adding one missed page everyday with the new day).

Day 12.

Again, plain and simple. The more photos I have, the easier it is to complete the page spread:

Just a short description of what is happening on the front of the card:

With a little more details on the back - written by my daughter:

Another day is recorded. Another fun memory to go back to.

If you haven't stopped by Ali Edwards blog recently, you may want to. She has one of those encouraging type of posts today with a very nice page for day 12.

I hope to be back very soon!

And the winner is...

Just stopping by for a moment to announce the winner, and I hope to back tomorrow with another couple of pages for December Daily.

So the winner of a Scrapbook Trends Magazine happened to be commenter #1. Congratulations!

And I'll see you tomorrow!

Days 7 & 8

Four posts in a week - that's a record for me in a long time. But uploading pages from days 7 and 8 means I'm finally all caught up.

Day 7:

I used a strip of dry embossed paper on the side foldout panel with some snowflakes:

Since, my DD was getting thicker on the inner side and not as much on the outer, to add a little balance to it, I decided to use a folded page, which also gave me a little extra space for photos and journaling:

Day 8.

I kept it very simple again. Enlarged photo and a few strips of pattern papers:

And now is time for a little surprise!

Guess what I got today? A box from Northridge Publishing! I've been waiting for that box forever! It was so nice to see my layout in their magazine:

Northridge Publishing people were so nice to send me two copies of their awesome magazines, so that means I can give one away!

If you would like to get a chance to win one if these magazines just leave a comment on this post, telling why would you like a copy and I'll pick a winner on Monday.

Have a great weekend!

December Daily days 5 & 6

It's fun to see how your December Daily is getting a little thicker each time you add something to it:

Day 5.

It was a very fun day with really bad pictures. But that didn't stop me from recording a memory. I used only one black and white picture and decided to concentrate on journaling instead of photos for this day.

Another pocket with journaling cards. I love to have these mini albums interactive:

Day 6.

Here I had too many photos I wanted to include, so I added a memorabilia to separate journaling from photos, otherwise I would've not been able to fit all on one page spread.

Love these snowflake stickers by Recollections (Michael's). I cut one snowflake into two pieces and used them on the edge of the page:

Another card inside and I meant to add a receipt inside there to:

The back of that insert is covered with photo collage:

And here is the rest of day 6:

I was asked how I print on small already precut journaling cards. I thought it was a good question and decided to take a moment to show how easily it's done. First measure your card and set margins to fit into the space. Then print it on a regular letter size paper. Place your card over printed journaling (adding tiny spots of adhesive) and print again.

I've learned it from Nichole Magouirk. You can run a few times changing font size until it matches the lines on the card, but I don't worry much about it. It already looks neater then a hand written note.

Hopefully you enjoy your Holiday season and take a moment to record it too!

Until next time!

Days 3 & 4

I really meant to share these yesterday, but I wasn't home half a day and by the time I came back it was too dark to take pictures of the pages. So, for day 3 I used one enlarged photo and two small ones. Again, keeping it very simple:

Journaling card is from Becky Higgins Project Life kit:

(I just realized how dry my hands are... got to go put some lotion on) I glued only 3 sides of the large photo, leaving one side open, so it can serve as a pocket:

Day 4.

It was one of those moments when we were having too much fun to even remember take a picture. I quickly snapped one before heading out of the doors, so our faces don't necessary reflect too much joy here:

Happily using my daily number and I'm so glad I cut them in both white and red!


This is it for today, but I'll try my best to be back with more coverage on DD tomorrow.

Hope you enjoy your December!

December Daily - days 1 & 2

I'm not very good at posting on weekends, so finally today I'm sharing my first two days of December Daily. Just wanted to note a few things I really enjoy right now:

1. Working on DD as we go, instead of waiting and hoping to finish it later.

2. Enjoy the privilege of printing my pictures at home as needed in any size.

3. Keeping my DD very simple. "Dreaming of a white Christmas" - I enjoy our white Christmas Tree and my DD seems to reflect a lot of white too.

4. Having radio with Christmas station on during this season.

So, for my first day I have an envelope with a photo and a journaling on the back side:

and a page with pictures for the day.

Day 2 has a strip of four pictures and a journaling card that goes over one of them:

(Sorry, I didn't realize this image was out of focus) just wanted to show you how that card opens.

Hope your albums are getting some memories in them too! Will be back to share more!

Great day to all of you!