Nichol Spohr LLC

Big Picture Classes: Picture the Holidays + Info on the Sheet Protectors I'm Using

I just signed up for a class through Big Picture Classes.

I have not taken a class at BPC since Library of Memories which was, in case you were wondering, an epic fail. I took that class 3, maybe 4 years ago and while I loved, loved, loved Stacy's philosophy and listening to her process (and pretty much anything Stacy does), I suck at it.

There I said it.

I am sure I would benefit greatly from organizing my photos better, but, I must not be ready to tackle that monster yet.

Anyway, back to Picture the Holidays.

I decided that this holiday season I would like additional help and inspiration for getting meaningful and interesting holiday photos every day. 

That's where the Picture the Holidays class comes in.

I love this quote from the class description:

"Seasonal photo prompts delivered to your inbox each morning will not only inspire your inner photographer but will encourage you to take a few moments to yourself each day to get creatively centered, one photo at a time."

I am extremely excited to start this inspiring class on December 1st. I will be stalking my inbox for the prompts, I'm sure!

I think it will be the perfect companion to December Daily. 

If you are interested in the class and are a reader of Ali Edwards blog/December Daily Project you can get 10% off the price of the class by using the coupon code: decdaily. Please note that the coupon code is only good for Picture the Holidays class.

DECEMBER DAILY SHEET PROTECTORS

I have received a ton of questions regarding the sheet protectors I am using in my December Daily Album.

I wanted to address those questions here to help better explain what I am using.

These are the sheet protectors:

They are the Parisian Anthology Portfolio Album Refill Pages.

They come in four sizes:

• 2x3 sheet protector (9 pockets per page)
• 5x7 sheet protector
• 8.5x11 sheet protector
• 5x5 + 2x5 sheet protector (the 2x5 sections fold in and tie closed)

Here's a little video on how I will be using my sheet protectors:

   

Hope that helps clear up what the sheet protectors look like and how they can be used.

Off to finish up a few things this afternoon and get ready for Dexter tonight.

How are they going to wrap this season up?

Every year I wonder how the writers are able to out-do the previous season.

WOW is all I can say.

Fabulously written (and acted) show.

New Technique Tuesday project share tomorrow. See you then!

 

and the Journal Your Christmas Class GIVEAWAYS go to...

MariClaudi

My fav xmas tradition is putting the ornaments on the tree. I have saved all my kids handmade ornaments and it is so heartwarming to see them again every year; they enjoy it as well. Thia is my first year doing Dec Daily and winning a spot in the class would be very cool!

ReplyNovember 26, 2010 at 07:39 AM

 

TanyaS

WOW - thanks for the chance to win! Our favorite tradition - surprising someone with "12 days of Christmas" gifts. Nothing huge, just fun little things for someone that might need some extra love that year. ~TanyaS

ReplyNovember 25, 2010 at 11:56 AM

Congratulations ladies!

I have sent Shimelle your email addresses and she will be adding you to the class shortly.

Happy Holidays and enjoy the class!

 

Technique Tuesday December Daily Stamps by Ali Edwards #decdaily

If you have seen me using the December Daily stamps in my album (HERE & HERE) and were disappointed when you saw they were sold out, I have good news!

Technique Tuesday should have these fabulous stamps IN STOCK early next week!

If you want to be notified as soon as they are available, please click on the "notify me" link HERE.

And even if you don't choose to use them in a December Daily album there are so many uses for these stamps. 

I will be sharing layout examples next week that have nothing to do with December Daily.

I very much like to get the most from my stamps and I want to show how this versatile set can be used year round!

Hope you all have a fabulous Saturday!

December Daily (the cover) #decdaily

For the first time ever in the history of creating a Christmas Daily album, I did the cover last.

I usually start with the cover and then build from that. 

This year I started the whole December Daily process by choosing the album and sheet protectors I was going to use and then I "built" the inside pages and then moved onto the cover.

I kept the Parisian Anthology Portfolio album cover pretty simple...

First up, a gorgeous Making Memories tulle floret flower. I removed the ugly pearl from the center and replaced it with one of the gorgeous rhinestone flair buttons from the Pink Paislee Parisian Anthology Flair pack.

I used a needle and string to attach the rhinestone button.

I tied an assortment of ribbons to the metal piece on front of the album. Some tied in knots. Others in bows.

For the title of the album I used a combination of Silhouette flocked heat transfer and die cut felt.

I die cut two pieces from the Silhouette flocked heat transfer material and laid them out on the cover to get the placement right.

I used the "2010" from Kerri Bradford's Twenty Ten Digi Die Cut kit:

    

and the "December" from the Silhouette Online Store:

december_C00357_19547

Remember when working with heat transfer you need to mirror image the design before cutting.

I decided to use some MM Brun Baubles to hang from the silver plate on the album's cover just for added flair and fun. I used some additional jump rings from my stash to hang the baubles.

I used the Stampin' Up Exclusive Simple Alphabet Bigz Die and Papertrey Ink Felt to create the word "daily". I love how the steel rule dies cut through materials such as felt, like butter!

I used spray adhesive to hold the felt letters in place, then I used my sewing machine to stitch them in place.

****A word of caution: if you choose to sew directly on your canvas album, use a strong needle and go slow. All sewing machines are different. You could damage your machine. Sewing machines aren't really made for this kind of sewing. Please don't email me mad.****

I just love this tulle flower with the pretty bauble flair in the middle. I used a hot glue gun to adhere it in place.

I replaced the die cut "dot" for the letter "i" with a Doodlebug Button. I hot glued it in place.

Supplies:

Silhouette SD	Sizzix Big Shot	Ladybug Boutique Buttons
Tim Holtz Scissors	Sienne Florets	Brun Baubles
Parisian Anthology Portfolio Binder	Parisian Anthology Portfolio Album Refill Pack	Parisian Anthology Flair Variety

And that is this year's December Daily cover. Lots of fun bright color to match the mood and feel of the inside pages.

Thanks for stopping by today.

Happy Thanksgiving 2010 + Journal Your Christmas GIVEAWAYS

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends!

Today is a day to be grateful for all the blessings in our lives.

One of those things that I am so very grateful for all is my blog readers.

You guys are the reason I keep this thing updated. I believe that sharing our ideas with one another is what makes this wonderful paper crafting hobby so fun. And to be able to connect with so many people worldwide makes my heart burst with happiness.

GIVEAWAYS

I am very grateful to Shimelle to allow me to give away, not one, but TWO spots in her annual Journal Your Christmas class.

This is what started the yearly December albums for me. I have three albums (I have added them to the sidebar if you're interested in seeing my examples) that I did in 2006, 2007 & 2008. Shimelle's classes are amazing and the content, the message boards and pdf's she sends out daily through December + the 12 days of Christmas are so inspiring!

JOURNAL YOUR CHRISTMAS 2006

JOURNAL YOUR CHRISTMAS 2007

JOURNAL YOUR CHRISTMAS 2008

If you would like to win a spot in Shimelle's class, please leave a comment on this blog post by Sunday, November 28th at 11:59 a.m. CST telling me your favorite Christmas tradiiton. I'll post the randomly selected winners Sunday evening.

I'm off to put the cherry pie in the oven (the pumpkin pie is on the counter cooling and smells heavenly)!

Have a fabulous day!

December Daily (the inside pages) #decdaily

So I am doing something I have never done with a Christmas Journal/album... I am pre-planning the inside pages of my album. I was always so afraid that by pre-doing my pages that I would be limited to the design.

Um, duh!

That is the point!

The goal is to experience the holiday season and simply use this album as a tool to record those experiences.

So this year I have pre-planned.

I have stamped some coordinating pieces.

I have slipped paper into sheet protectors that await my photos, memorabilia and memories.

That doesn't mean I can't be flexible and move things around and add to pages. It just means a lot of the thinking has already been done.

Love that.

And I really, really love these divided sheet protectors.

Have I mentioned that?

The 2x3 sheet protector is my favorite.

I'll tell you why. I use a lot of 2x3 photos in my scrapbooking. A lot. And these sheet protectors take all the work out of it for me. All I have to do is print (or have a photo finisher print) my photos and I can slip them in the pockets. Easy. And for any pockets that I don't have a photo for, I can slip in patterned paper, journaling, etc. 

Here's my title page: 

For the title page I slipped a bunch of the 2x3 pieces of paper I cut yesterday into the sheet protectors pockets. 

Easy.

I embellished with an October Afternoon sticker, Jillibean Soup Journaling Sprouts die cuts (trimmed) and a stamped piece using Ali Edwards' December Daily TT Stamps (2010) and Ali's Studio AE August Stamps (remember the moments).

I may or may not add additional embellishment to the title page. I haven't decided yet. ;)

Creating the dates:

One of the biggest things for me when creating an album like this is figuring out a uniform way to include the dates. 

I took the circle from the December Daily set and stamped a bunch of them of a sheet of Basic Grey Ledger Paper using Stampin' Up Simply Suede ink.

Then, I took the smallest (December) from the set and stamped it in each circle using SU Riding Hood Red ink.

Using multiple colors of ink really livens up stamped designs giving them a more polished look.

For the individual dates I used SU Kiwi Kiss ink and stamped the December Daily numbers.

Then I punched out each circle with a 1 1/4" circle punch.

A little shout-out to the Basic Grey Manilla Ledger 6x6 paper pad.

It makes my stamping so happy. 

I used the same technique for additional stamped pieces that I did for the dates. 

***Tip*** After stamping the circle with Simply Suede ink I took the definition part of the stamp and lined it up in the cirlce. Then I used my acrylic block to pick them up and stamped them with SU Kiwi Kiss ink. Lastly, I stamped the large script word with SU Riding Hood Red ink.

The inside pages:

The yellow sticky notes are just to give a visual idea of where I plan to add photos and/or journaling throughout the album.

The Supplies:

Ali Edwards Peace Joy Love Words We Love Stamps	Studio AE August	Ali Edwards The Family Circle Words We Love
Christmas Chestnut Journaling Sprouts	Happy Holidays Boutique Buttons	Tim Holtz Scissors
Stamp Press	Sienne Baubles	Sienne Florets
Very Merry Label Stickers	Tiny Attacher	Very Merry Word Stickers
Everybody Loves Christmas Borders	Everybody Loves Christmas Candy Cane	Everybody Loves Christmas Wrapping Paper
Very Merry Label Stickers	Parisian Anthology Portfolio Binder	Parisian Anthology Portfolio Album Refill Pack
December Daily Stamps	6x6 Manilla Paper Pad	Joyride Chip Shapes
Joyride Journaling Cards	Joyride Cheery & Bright Paper	Joyride Around the World Paper
Joyride Little Flurries Paper	Parisian Anthology Flair Variety	Very Merry Collection Kit
Sing the Carols Very Merry Paper	Ornaments Everybody Loves Christmas	Garland Everybody Loves Christmas
Wrapping Paper Everybody Loves Christmas	Borders Everybody Loves Christmas	Ali Edwards Favorite Memories Stamps
Ladybug Boutique Buttons	Snowfall	Very Merry Wild Cards

On Friday I will be sharing the cover of my album. 

I am so looking forward to December 1st. :)

I also wanted to let you know about a sale at Two Peas:

"It's not just Black Friday or Cyber Monday at Two Peas in a Bucket, we are having a 7 Day Sale. Starting on Wednesday at 12am (CST) through Tuesday 11:59pm (CST)."

Thanks for stopping by!

December Daily (the supplies + preparing the inside pages)

I have spent the better part of the day preparing the inside pages and stamped elements for my December Daily album. 

After taking a year off from creating a daily album in December, I realized just how much I missed recording those moments that make the holiday season so special and I'm thoroughly enjoying preparing this year's album.

In the past I rarely did more beforehand than decorate the cover of my album and gather some supplies that I thought I might use. This year I wanted to make it easier on myself and I pre-cut a bunch of paper to fit in the divided page protectors that coordinate with THIS album and I stamped the dates and some coordinating pieces that I punched out or cut from paper to use in my album using Ali Edwards' new December Daily stamps from Technique Tuesday.

Here's a sneak peek of the supplies, pre-cut papers and stamped pieces I've prepared for my album:

I trimmed down my patterned papers to 5x5, 2x5, 2x3 and 5x7 (the sizes of the openings in the Parisian Anthology sheet protectors). I will be using several of the 8 1/2 x 11 sheet protectors as well, I am using kraft cardstock as my "base" for those pages (not shown). 

These circles were first stamped with the December Daily stamp set, then punched out with a circle punch. Easy and uniform way to add the date for each day.

Plus punches make my life easy. I like easy.

The florals here are some pieces I am planning to use on the front of my album.

More stamped and punched circle embellishments. These utilize one of my very favorite TT Ali Edwards stamp sets: The Family Circle Words We Love Set.

Different colors of ink for the individual stamped images really makes the design pop.

The main components of these stamped images are from the Studio AE August Stamp Set. I also used the "family" stamp from the Awesome Days of Summer Stamp Set by Ali Edwards and the snowflake form THIS stamp set.

SUPPLIES

Ali Edwards Peace Joy Love Words We Love Stamps	Studio AE August	Ali Edwards The Family Circle Words We Love
Christmas Chestnut Journaling Sprouts	Happy Holidays Boutique Buttons	Tim Holtz Scissors
Stamp Press	Sienne Baubles	Sienne Florets
Very Merry Label Stickers	Tiny Attacher	Very Merry Word Stickers
Everybody Loves Christmas Borders	Everybody Loves Christmas Candy Cane	Everybody Loves Christmas Wrapping Paper
Very Merry Label Stickers	Parisian Anthology Portfolio Binder	Parisian Anthology Portfolio Album Refill Pack
December Daily Stamps	6x6 Manilla Paper Pad	Joyride Chip Shapes
Joyride Journaling Cards	Joyride Cheery & Bright Paper	Joyride Around the World Paper
Joyride Little Flurries Paper	Parisian Anthology Flair Variety	Very Merry Collection Kit
Sing the Carols Very Merry Paper	Ornaments Everybody Loves Christmas	Garland Everybody Loves Christmas
Wrapping Paper Everybody Loves Christmas	Borders Everybody Loves Christmas

There are several products that I can't find available anymore but that I pulled together with these "newer" items.

I love doing that.

Mixing old with new.

Most of these products are "flat". I will be adding some buttons and more dimensional things here and there but for the most part I am concentrating on photos + journaling + memorabilia. The divided sheet protectors are amazing.

Seriously.

I want to use them intermixed in all my albums. 

As I add products to my album I'll update my supplies list. 

More studio purging will be added today. Stamps. :) 

Tomorrow I will be back with a look at the inside pages "put together". See you then!

and the GIVEAWAY goes to...

The Random Number Generator chose #10 for the Scrapbook Trends Stamping Idea Book. By my calculations that makes the winner....

Tasha!!!!

I usually start on November 1st, this year we are waiting till after Thanksgiving because my husband is taking some vacation time. Nice long days for him to get on the roof and put up lights.

ReplyNovember 18, 2010 at 05:48 PM

Congrats Tasha!

Be back later with more...

Holiday Cardmaking Weekends: Gift Cards

Two Peas is offering fun mini-classes all this month featuring, well, holiday cardmaking.

The name says it all, I suppose. ;)

This week's class featuring creating gift card holders for all those gift cards we give at Christmas-time. Why not dress up the gift with a handmade gift card?

I made two cards, each featuring gift card designs from the Silhouette Store but you could easily create gift card holders/pockets on your own.

The first card features a snowy background created with embossing and distress ink with a cute reindeer thrown in for good measure...

And the second card feature a pocket gift card with some shiney ornaments (thank you Glossy Accents)...

HOW TO

 

SUPPLIES USED

Large Plaid Pattern Wood Block Stamp	Enjoy the Seasons Cling Stamps	Joy To All Stamp Set
Scoring Board	Stamp-a-ma-jig	Silhouette SD
Tumbled Glass	Ink Blending Tool	Memento Tuxedo Black
Copic X-Press	Assorted Crystal Gems	Tim Holtz Scissors
Stamp Press	Tiny Attacher	Zing Opaque White Embossing Powder
Versamark	Red Metallic Decor	Glossy Accents
Fancy Reindeer	Merry & Bright	Magic of Christmas
Big & Bossy	Barn Door	Antique Linen Distress Ink
Circles Foam Tabs	Doily Lace Tri Deep Punch	Journal Plate Punch
White Pen

Thanks for stopping by!

Have a fabulous weekend. :)

Scrapbook Trends: Stamping 2010 + GIVEAWAY

I was thrilled to contribute a couple of designs to this year's Scrapbook Trends Stamping Issue. :)

The assignment: 

1 Stamp Set | 3 Designers

The stamp set:

Hero Arts Mi Casa 6x4 Clear Design Stamp Set

The Designers:

Jennifer Gallagher

Kandis Smith

and me. :)

Here is my layout:

I stamped a little scene on kraft cardstock using embossing ink and then embossed each piece with different fun colors of American Crafts embossing powders.

I am using these great monthly titles available in the Silhouette store designed by Loni Stevens.

I love them.

march_C00179_19547

and I love adding to the graphic feel of the monthly title with a scripty font style word. I used this one:

handwrittings_everyday_C00007_27205

This layout is part of a series of layouts I have been working on this year (and need to catch up on) that showcase an entire month in photos on one single page layout. 

If you want to see similar layout, here are the other ones I have completed:

APRIL 2010 in Review

FEBRUARY 2010 in Review

JANUARY 2010 in Review

SUPPLIES USED FOR LAYOUT

Mi Casa Stamp Set	Complete Set Thrift Shop Paper	One of a Kind Thrift Shop Paper
Still in the Box Thrift Shop Paper	Great Find Thrift Shop Paper	Thrift Shop Label Stickers
Silhouette SD	Stamp Press	Mini Paper Clips
Versamark	Stamp a Garden Stamp Set

Here is my card:

Copic coloring using the same stamp set. Easy peasy.

Lots of background stamping, too. Horizontal stripes on the card base and clouds on the die cut label. Background stamps are the bomb. Can't imagine stamping without them.

SUPPLIES USED FOR CARD

Stamp-a-ma-jig	Stamping Mark Paper	Peeled Paint
Sizzix Big Shot	Copic Markers	Soft Pool Shadow Ink
Memento Tuxedo Black	Copic X-Press	Tim Holtz Scissors
Stamp Press	Mi Casa Stamp Set	Stamp a Garden Stamp Set
Grass Notecards	Horizontal Lines Remountable Stamp	Clouds Wood Mounted Stamp

GIVEAWAY

If you would like to see more of the projects from the other designers plus tons more stamping inspiration, here is your chance! I have an extra copy of the Scrapbook Trends Stamping 2010 to give away!!!

Just leave me a comment by November 20th, 11:59 a.m. telling me when you will start decorating your home for the holiday season and I will randomly select from the comments and send this magazine to one lucky person!

Have a super evening!