December Daily - Day 26

Hey there bloggers, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to you all from southeast PA where it's a blustery cold winter day.  All is as it should be.

Jenn here to share with you my Daily pages for Christmas day.  Yes, I said pages. 

Before I get into my pages I'd like to express my delight in seeing the various December Daily styles represented by my fellow design team members.  They are all amazing!  From the altered children's book to the countdown clipboard, to the hand bound books, each designer has showcased products beautifully, shared new and interesting techniques and let us into their world by sharing their days this month.  I love the range of styles and products.  You can't help but be inspired to try something new in your scrapbooks whether you're a traditional scrapper, Project Life-er, love to use mixed media, artsy-fartsy techniques--or all of the above.  :) 

Back to my pages.  As I mentioned in previous posts, I pre-designed my Daily.  I was concerned that if I didn't I'd start a Daily and by day 5 it would be tossed to the way-side for more fun, important scrappy/crafty tasks.  In the interests of full disclosure, I didn't finish my pre-design before the month started, and I still have photos to print and put in.  I have scheduled that into my calendar however, so it will be finished within the first couple days of the new year.  During my pre-design process I decided to devote several pages Christmas day.  I couldn't think of one single photo that depicts the day, rather numerous photos to show the progression of the day. 

 I started by creating a "chapter page," no photos, just a 3x4" card, old-school heat embossed and a die-cut page with a polka-dot background.

 Embellishment and paper layers.  I took a die-cut 4x6" card and cut it down--yes, you can do that!--so that I show that these photos continue to be from the 25th.  Additionally, I adhered that card to the outside of the protector.  You can do that too.

 Layers, rub-ons, stamps, and punches create these two pages.  Again, I used elements that include the date for a reference point.

 Punches, bits of an old border strip and sequins, lots of sequins.  I didn't plan to put a sequin in every die-cut opening but a few spilled out of the bag onto the layered card and I thought, "Perfect!". 

 Sorry for the glare here, it's hard when you have those divided pocket protectors to get the lighting just right.  The last of the pages.  I took tons of photos however and I'm thinking they'll go into the general scrapbook in divided pages.  There's just so many unforgettable pix I have to include them all.

 A future page--I need to add the date, but in my pre-design phase I included extra pages for days I knew there would be too much to include in one photo.  This page is for the weekend, for the Edwardson-Roberts Shindig when we celebrate Christmas with my husband's family. 

 I acutally stitched right through the protector and one layer of paper.  I used my We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy tool to pierce the protector (the foam mat slipped in so I'd only go through one side) and lightly poked the holes into the paper with my piercer.  Then I hand-sewed the border.  Cool, huh?

I added a backer so you wouldn't see the sewing and made good use of my tools--punches!--to add interest. Again, I layered these on top of the protector so I could go out of bounds.  I find the Beacon 3-in-1 glue adheres to the plastic nicely.















If you've made it this far, thanks!  I had a lot I wanted to say and show. 

So, this is it.  My last Memory Works blog post.  I am feeling bittersweet.  I have loved every minute of being on the design team these last two years. I am sad to see it all end.  I look forward to the blog shares and hops that other, former design team members are planning and participating in.  I hope you will follow my personal blog, which you can access from the sidebar here to stay on top of my scrappy adventures.  I hope Kevin and Amber and Simple Stories grow far beyond their dreams.  I thank all the great folks in the office who supported us throughout the years.  And to all my fellow Memory Works consultants, cheers to you!  Best wishes for a blessed New Year.  Thanks Memory Works, it's been wonderful.

                                                                 

                                                               

                                                                            Jenn

Inspiration Friday

Happy Friday!  Thanks for joining me throughout August for Inspiration Friday. I've had fun and hopefully you've been inspired by my creative shares this month.

For my last post this month I'm sharing both a technique and a tool!  I know you've all seen this out in the market before, and I'm here to say - nows the time to pick one up.... it's the Sew Easy by We R Memory Keepers.

If you have a love-hate relationship with your sewing machine 

(like me), but ♥ the look of stitching on your layouts and projects - this tool is a must have!  

Here's a glance at a couple layouts I created with the easy stitch effect of the zig zag head:

To start, you will need the stitch piercer tool which comes with a straight stitch head and the piercing mat.  I recommend going with the WRMK mat, it produces the best results.

From there, you can add the many interchangeable heads to your collection.  I love the zig zag (shown above), and will soon be adding others to my collection.

To use:

• First - practice on a scrap paper to get the feel and proper amount of pressure needed.
• Grip the handle with pointer finger extended to keep tool steady as you roll along the paper
• Apply firm, steady pressure with pointer finger
• Roll tool forward along the paper at slow-to medium pace, keeping level as you roll

Once your paper is pierced with the selected head design, simply thread using the WRMK floss.  (tip: depending on your desire for thick to thin thread effect, simply separate the strands of floss.  My top example uses 6 strands and my bottom uses 3).

Tips and photos courtesy of weronthenet.com

Get your tool today - it's SO Sew Easy!