Creative Goals 2020

Happy New Year!

Yes I am just as shocked as you are to see me here, and blogging.  As we all do at the end of one year and at the beginning of another, we think about what we did or didn't do, whether our year was good or bad and we try and come up with a fail safe list of things that will make the new year a better one.  I am laughing even as I am writing this.

Being the list girl that I am, I have spent the last 24/48 hours thinking and writing about all the things that I want to do in 2020.  My list is long I can assure you but I decided that I would share my creative goals here, with you and hope that by putting it "out there" it just might make me more accountable.  Yep, I'm laughing again.

So what do I want to do creatively this year I here you ask?  Let me tell you:-

1.  Memory keeping - I am a little stuck here.  I do want to record our stories but I am just not sure what approach I want to take.  I know I definitely don't want to do an album of any size and although the travellers notebook was good it still wasn't the perfect solution for me.  Right now I am considering doing something digital, probably a photobook.  I do know that I am not going to rush this decision, rather just let it simmer and see where it goes.

2.  Photobooks - I have several that I am already doing and I am loving them so my challenge is to get them finished and printed.

3.  Embroidery - I have just started to have a go at embroidery and love it.  My plan is to keep this up throughout the year.  Nothing too much, just one every now and then.

4.  Grow more plants - In 2019 I started growing indoor plants and to my amazement I haven't killed them off yet.  I love how they make me feel so I definitely want more, especially in my craft room.

5.  Declutter - This is a big one.  My craft room needs a good going over.  However, my approach is going to be a slow one.  I am giving myself the year and in that time I want to have sold off/donated/trashed things that I no longer use (my collection of stamp sets is just way too much which is funny considering I hardly ever stamp anymore).  Make more room for space. Yes that's right, room for space not just making a space so that I can fill it again.  Then I want to add more plants.  Sounds like a plan right.  Yep I know, laughing again.

6.   OLW - I  love having a word however, I don't always spend the time on it that I should. I am doing Ali Edwards class this year and I am determined to work on it every month.  I am not sure how I am going to document it though, but I am not worried.  I am just going to let it come to me on it's own.

7.  Read more books - Over the last few months I have started to get back into reading and I am totally loving it.  So my plan is to keep reading.

8.  Thursday 3 -  I will be honest here,  I am still sitting on the fence about this one.  I like the idea but not sure if it is something that I will start and then not finish.  Again not stressing too much, just an idea and I will see how I go.

9.  Craft Get Togethers - This is a big one.  I used to do this all the time and then it stopped so I am determined to get it back up and running.

10.  Blogging - I will give you a moment to stop laughing...
For some reason I have the urge to blog but in saying that I usually do about this time of every year.  Lets see what happens.

11.  December Daily 2019 - I need to finish this.  And I will probably do a December Daily 2020.

12.  Cardmaking - This is another one of those "I think I want to do this" thing.  This year I actually bought cards to give to people and it just felt wrong so I think I need to get back into it.

Okay, there you have it.  It's a big list with lots of challenges but I must say I like the look of it.  I have also put my list, in a bit more detail, over on my side bar.

So here we  go.  Let's get more creative in 2020.
xox Tracey

Travelers notebook - the December edition

The buzz around town at the moment is all about December Daily.  Who is doing it! How they are doing it! etc. etc.  I was quite adamant this year that I was not going to do a December Daily, but it's hard not to get caught up in all the hype and with so many beautiful products on the market, it's just hard to say no.

I am still saying no to a December Daily.  Well in the original sense anyway.  Right now my latest obsession is travelers notebooks. I love the look, feel and the small space in which to document.  With all the amazing new Kellie Stamps that have been released for Christmas it was hard to say no, so I didn't LOL.

I am in the process of making a travelers notebook and it is here that I will document December.  I am not sure what I will be documenting.  I played with the idea of an art journal but the jury is still out on that one but  I still have a little time left to decide.  I am pre-making pages using digital papers from Sahin Designs and of course stamps from Kellie Stamps.

I have even had a go at creating my own pages/ pattern paper.  Those christmas trees are hand drawn by myself and then turned into a digital file (my other latest obsession).  Turning them into digital files means I can use them over and over again.  I created the page above and the page below using the same image.  

I love how simple pages like these, using my drawings plus stamps from Kellie Stamps makes such a huge impact in my travelers notebook.  I still have more pages to add and I will share these once the book is finished.

If you would like to know how to turn your drawings into digital files I recommend you check out  "Paint & Pixels" and "Doodled 2" over at Big Picture Classes. I highly recommend both classes.

Again, thanks for stopping by this week and checking out how I have used new the stamps from Kellie Stamps.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to leave them in the comments section.

Love me :-)

Day one - December Daily

When planning my December Daily I made sure that for Day one I had plenty of room to document this day.  As my title page was 12 x 12 it meant that Day One could be a 12x12 layout as well because it would sit behind the title page in a page protector.

December 1st was always going to be a big day because we daughter was going to Sydney for a week.  This was to celebrate graduating from High School but it was also her very first major holiday without her Mum & Dad.  

When I first joined the CT for Feed Your Craft I noticed that Elise does several sets that can be custom made and one set in particular would be perfect for what I needed for this layout.  I chose "Custom Explorer by Plain" and had the letters SYD added for Sydney.

When I was searching the Silhouette store I couldn't believe that there was a cut for the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Opera House.  Perfect element to add with my mini flair.

... and here is the completed layout.

This whole layout was inspired by these very cute and versatile mini flair buttons from Feed Your Craft.  Right now you can get 30% of your order from now until 10th December and that includes her custom sets as well.
 How is your December Daily documenting going?
Would love to know how you are going about it this year?

Love me :-)

December Daily - cover page

As soon as I received this stunning glitter acrylic, I knew exactly what I was going to use it for.  It would be the perfect way to start my December Daily album.

I have done December Daily before and with a lot of success, however, since doing Project Life my December Daily albums have been, well let's just say, neglected.  I start out all gung ho and then BAM, I stop.  And it's usually that quick too.

I like the idea of December Daily though, so this year I am doing it a little differently.  It will be part of my project life album.  I am going to tackle it just like I would project life but with more focus on one particular story a day.  This particular idea of how I would do my DD has been with me for some time but I wasn't really sure if that's how I wanted to go.  I have been doing Ali Edwards Story Telling with December Daily class and that certainly helped make my decision final.  I have even started getting my foundation pages together which I think will help me, but I have not stuck anything down as I want to leave it open to move and change things around if I need to.

I have kept my cover page for my December section of my Project Life album but I just love how it turned out.  These beautiful embellishments, "Silver glitter accents" from Color Cast Designs are simply stunning.  My cover page is 12x12 but the following pages are a mixture of project life pages protectors cut down to 6x12 and approx 7x12 with a few 6x8 thrown in.

I cut the wreath from my silhouette cameo and added red sequins from the main December Daily kit.

I am hoping to be able to share some of my foundation pages soon.

If you are doing December Daily I would love to know you are planning on completing this project.

Love me :-)