Well, I'm sliding in my December Daily just in time! I did a bit more prep work this year than I've done in the past, where I've added more to my pages, did all my die cutting and such so that I'm ready to go. I have found as I've worked on this project (and also Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas) in the past that some days during the holiday season there just isn't time to sit down and try to die cut and gather up what I want to use for that day's memory(s). So this year I decided to do as much as possible prior to December 1st so that I can (hopefully) enjoy the process even more than before!
Before I begin, I will let you know that this is a long post. Lots of photos. I usually try not to make my posts so terribly long but I wanted all of my content relating to December Daily in one place. I'll be back to my regular shorter blog posts tomorrow!
The cover:
For me the entire project alwasys, always begins with the cover. If the cover isn't right, I just can't proceed. No matter how hard I try! My original plan was to use spray Studio Calico mists and stamp directly on the cover and keep the oversized die cut number and "december" as seen here. But it was simply too plain for me. I am a "stuff" kind of girl and I was trying to hard to make it too simple, I think. I stewed on it for days and almost threw my hands in the air and said, "NO December Daily this year!" but Saturday morning I woke up with the idea to cover the entire album to fix where I had gone wrong and I have to say, I'm glad I made the effort. Really really pleased with how it turned out. Plus, I was alble to salvage my super cool album which is a bonus all in itself!
Here's how I created my album cover:
You can see that I didn't really vear much off my original plan other than I added a lot more color/texture with the addition of vintage MME papers and ribbons. I tore everything off the first attempt and applied a generous amount of mod podge glue (I smoothed it out before applying my papers).
Then I set about adding my patterned papers. I was sure to watch the design of the paper closely so that I could include as much of the glittered/decorative parts as possible.
Once, I covered the front and back with the text paper I added a contrasting polka dot over the spine.
I used THIS glue to tack my ribbon in place. I originally tried double sided tape and it did not work. This glue is awesome and doesn't bleed through the ribbon. This is also the glue I used on THIS project from yesterday to add the lace and pleated ribbon on top of the others.
Before doing any actual stamping, I like to lay out my clear stamps and make sure I like how it looks before committing to the design.
I'm using stamps from Ali's November Studio AE Stamp Set, 25 Moments and Celebrate the Season set for my cover art.
I used Stampin' Up Real Red and Soft Suede Inks. These are two of my staple ink colors, holiday or not. ;)
After laying out my oversized large die cut number I realized I needed just a bit more stamping so I added my favorite phrase from the November Studio AE stamp set. Perfect.
For the spince of my album I added more stamping using the Nov. Studio AE Stamp Set and also Ali's A Date With Ali (for the "20Eleven" stamp). Then I glued a MME chipboard accent above the stamping.
And then I realized I needed more ribbon. The burgundy ribbon felt lonely so I added some stunning May Arts pleated brown ribbon and some May Arts gold string and it wasn't lonely anymore.
I die cut my KBS number big, 7.5" tall from a MME Lost & Found Christmas paper. Then I cut the same number from dark brown cardstock for a shadow.
I machine stitched around the edges and then I decided it needed some distressing using Studio Calico Mists. I think everything needs a good dosing of Studio Calico mists.
I die cut the word "december" and glued it and the oversized number to the cover. I cut the excess number away with a craft knife.
Finally I added a chipboard snowflake (Echo Park) and a brad to finish my cover.
*Not shown* I used some SU Text Print paper to cover the inside of my album too. Just mod podged it in place.
The Inside Pages:
When it came time to design the inside pages, I started sketching out what I wanted them to look like and compiling a list of the die cut designs I was going to use. Then I thought, hey, maybe I could make a little sketch pdf in case it helps anyone else out. This really organized me and made it super easy to create the "guts" or inside pages for my album.
Here's an example of one of the sketches:
Download 25 sketch PDF HERE.
I broke down the page design into steps for easy mass-producing:
I first cut down enough paper to fill my album. I used a combination of papers from MME Lost & Found Christmas and the Studio Calico December Daily kit.
I die cut all the components for my pages. The easiest way I found to do this was to simply make a list and cross items off as I die cut them. I did a variety of papers, not necessarily concerning myslef with making everything match perfectly. I used what I had, cutting multiple designs from one sheet of paper.
I added some Studio Calico mists to some of the designs for variety and texture.
Then I printed out all the designs I wanted to use from Kerri Bradford's kit(s). I got them all to fit on a single sheet of paper!
And here are my 25 layouts:
I did vary from some of the sketches but not much. And I did more work on some of the pages than others. On some, I just just everything in the sheet protector and I'll put it together when I create the page.
SUPPLIES (click on photos for links):
Additional Supplies:
- Album, 6x8.5 sheet protectors (American Crafts exclusive to Studio Calico)
