Project Week-Fall Memory Journal

This next project has been over a year? in the making.  The memory binder was was originally designed by Janet Hopkins.  I wasn’t able to find it on Scrapbook.com where I originally ordered it, but Janet has instruction for making your own (which I have also done) as well as the binder mechanisms available in her Etsy shop here. 

When I say that the idea started quite a while ago, I mean really a while ago.  The date on the tag says 2009-which is when I originally decorated the outside of the binder.  I had to change it to 2010.  And since it’s October, I barely made that!  I used a Jenni Bowlin butterfly and JB paper on the front cover and sheet music on the back cover (not shown). 

The journal itself documents our weekend back to Illinois to visit my parents and visit our favorite pumpkin patch for cider donuts and apples. 

I used things that I found around my studio for decorations on the cover.  The metal plate is from Making Memories and the blue felt letters are from American Crafts.  The wallpaper heart is from a Jenni Bowlin junque box.  I found the orangeade cap at my local antique store.  

Some Tim Holtz trinkets hang from the spine.

I had to use these Elle’s Studio flashcards on the inside cover.

This paper is double sided, so I cut the page a little wide and then folded it back over. 

I love Fall.

I also love seeing so many Mums in so many colors all at one time. 

The 10th of October. 

 

 

My Mom and I…and Ralph.

Family photo!  I love capturing our family as we are right at this moment.

I had a flattened penny from several years ago that Elizabeth made-it just happened to turn up in my studio right around the time that I was creating the album, so I used it. 

Family tradition.  Seeing how tall everyone is every year.

Snowies. 

 

 

 

Pointing at the beautiful sunset.  That I can never seem to capture with the camera what I see with my eye. 

Hope you enjoyed day 2 of Project Week!  More coming tomorrow!

Happy Thursday!

Project Week-December Daily {Days 1-15}

 

Yay!  It’s here!  Project Week is here!  I decided to start with my favorite project of the year! 

 

December Daily! 

If you haven’t heard of the December Daily, you HAVE to visit Ali Edwards’ website here.  She has ALL of the amazing details.  The basic idea behind the Dec Daily is that you create the base of the album in Oct or Nov, so that you are free to document and enjoy the awesomeness of your everyday holiday celebrations throughout the month of December.  I create my December Daily from Dec 1 through Dec 25.  On the 25th, I add our family Christmas photo, some journaling, and I put it away.  Because really-25 days is enough :)   

This year, I decided to use an old photo album that I bought at a garage sale this summer for 50 cents! I can’t believe that I almost turned down this awesome album, but I figured that if I didn’t buy it, I would regret it later.  Boy was I right about that!  The size is awesome.  The pages are a little larger than 8.5 x 11.  For now the pages are all in the album, but I might take them back out when I start actually working on them.  Most of them are about the same size too, but I might cut them down as I go.  I was originally going to use the black pages in the album, but then I saw all of the beautiful papers in the Dear Lizzy Christmas line from American Crafts and decided they would be way more Christmas-y than just using black paper.

 

I added Ali’s freebie to my front cover.  I even stole her idea to use red stickles on the “25”

I decided to go with pink, red, green, and light blue/teal for my December Daily color pallet this year. 

 

Most of the numbers that I’m using are from the Cottage Christmas Collection by Imaginisce

I love using Ali’s Designer Digitals Hybrid brushes on some of my December Daily pages.  This one is from her Christmas Boxes, Brushes, and Stamps available here.  

Pretty stars on bright red paper.

The “Merry Christmas” is from a set that I found on clearance last year. 

I had to buy some of the cute little Elle’s Studio flashcards too.

Another one of Ali’s “stamps.”

My favorite idea ever from Ali’s December Daily albums over the years is using a baseball card protector and cutting it to size.  I also love these Tim Holtz metal numbers.  And some of Elle’s tags too.

The “6’s” were so cute that I had to use 2 of them.

 

 

Jenni Bowlin’s red vintage button.

One of Ali’s 2010 December Daily 6x8 Overlays.

I had to throw in one of the “Dear Lizzy” numbers as well.

Another baseball card protector for day 11.

Love the pink stripes for day 12.

I am starting to get excited about real snowflakes too.  As long as it doesn’t snow while I’m travelling. 

Day 15:  A plain 8x8 sheet protector. 

Edit:  You can find Days 16-25 of my December Daily here.

Happy Wednesday!

Teenagers are Lame and other stories from our Weekend-Edit

 

Why is this an edit?  Well-because I realized that actually I am the one who is lame and that I left out some of the best stories from the weekend.  So I am adding interesting content.  Does it make my weekend sound more exciting?  Well…no, not really, but there were some interesting stories…

 

What IS that?

Why, it’s pumpkin Pi!  Who would do such a thing? 

 

Well-probably they guy with the PI tattoo.  To 57 decimal places…um…engineers…yes, we have a sense of humor-all our own…Actually, the story behind the tattoo is that he wanted 57 decimal places, but underestimated the diameter of his arm and had to have someone look up like another 2 numbers.  I think.  I might be off by a couple of decimal places, but I think that is allowed when you are that far out, right?

 

Paul and Deborah!  Thanks for the party! 

 

Oh, sorry.  Farmer Paul and Deborah!

(Sitting on the STRAW.)

 

Our local firefighter looks on, making sure that we don’t burn the garage down. 

Bill, Bryan, and I actually chose not to carve our pumpkins this weekend.  We will do ours this coming weekend.  Which is to say that I will help everyone else carve there pumpkins when they get tired of them…

Bryan played some pool…

 

with Daddy.

Then we checked out the Martha Stewart approved eggsacs. 

and the giant spider (Shelob?)

and looked for mice.  There were 50 some all over the house.  We didn’t even get close to that, but we did enjoy finding them all over!

Elizabeth took a photo of the dogs begging from me for a change.  And since I am a Mom, I have forgotten how to eat sitting down, so I mostly just stand up…

 

So-on to the lameness.  Elizabeth had been planning to go the the party with us.  So William took a shower and got all dressed up and ready to go.

Then Elizabeth said that she wasn’t going.  Something about how she hasn’t seen her friend for like 2 weeks…blah blah…  Lame!  Since she wouldn’t go…William refused to go too…Lame!

 

And Ralph was just disappointed because the Bears played like crap. 

Poor Ralph.

but Project week starts tomorrow! 

so Happy Tuesday!!!  see you tomorrow!