December Daily 2012 Ideas and Thoughts

What is December Daily? It is a project started by Ali Edwards that is basically a way to document the Christmas/Holiday season.

Why do it? It's easy to forget the little details that from the holidays since they rush by so fast. Why not capture them and celebrate what makes them special to you?

What if I'm already doing Project Life? Isn't this the same thing?

Not a problem, Project Life is more of a simplified snapshot. December Daily is more of an in depth close up of your holidays.

How do I get started?

*Buy, find, or make an album (after deciding what size you want) then create base pages. 

This could be as simple as sticking cardstock on the page. 

*Buy/gather embellishments. You can go with a theme or coordinating color palette or have a different one everyday. 

*Create Date labels. This could be as elaborate or simple as you want. You need to decide what days you want to document, Ali does the 1st through the 25th. I think it's neat to do the whole month so you can include New Years Eve. Last year I used 2 different stamps. 

It's not necessary to do all this pre-planning but I promise you it is so much easier to keep up with when you do. I suggest to at least do the 1st week. I also suggest buying a notepad/notebook to write down details, ideas, photos you want to use to keep track of your days. Carry it around with you so when inspiration strikes you can jot it down. If you travel or get behind this is an excellent resource.

Find more info direct from Ali here: http://aliedwards.com/2009/12/december-daily-compilation.html

If you think your life is too boring it's NOT. I've been taking an online class all year that has really taught me that my life is filled with stories, even me a person with no children or spouse. Every life has value and interest. Find Ali's ideas here: http://aliedwards.com/2011/11/december-daily-2011-25-ideas-and-story-inspirations.html

Another spin on this daily December project is Shimelle Laine's (one of the garden girls at Two Peas in a bucket)  Journal Your Christmas project. It is similiar to DD because it helps you document the holidays day by day. However Shimelle's take is through an online class (including forums) that really guides you with daily prompts sent to your email. The prompts include journaling ideas, photo ideas/tips and even downloads. One of the neatest things is once you pay the first year ($35 last year) you are automatically enrolled each additional year for free. About $1 of each enrollment also goes to a charity fund she supports. Find more info here: http://www.shimelle.com/paper/1284/journal-your-christmas-2011-online-scrapbooking-class/ She should be updating it soon with the 2012 info. I highly recommend it because she's a fabulous teacher.

This year I'll be doing a combination of the 2. I love the guidance that Shimelle gives but this year I'd like to try to switch things up which is why I'm calling mine December Daily this time. I'll be doing my own ideas for much of the month but there will be certain days that I will refer to JYC emails. That's the lovely thing about this you can do whatever, however you want! Check  out a couple pages from mine last year!

My cover from last year

You don't need to have a photo on every page

An awesome printable from Shimelle
last year

Pictures don't have to be perfect

Don't be scared to document the "bad parts"

Final Tips

1. Don't be scared of this project, don't feel pressured to make it perfect or to "keep up"

2. Include memoribilia like your Christmas card, a napkin, a Starbucks cofee label or ripped out advertisement you like

3. Have other family members contribute

4. Don't forget to get in the pictures

5. Have fun

FYI: Jessica Sprague Birthday Celebration

Jessica Sprague is having an amazing celebration to celebrate her website's birthday. She is having a sale and a free class and even a coupon to a print shop. If you have never taken one of her classes you should! She is a fabulous teacher of digital scrapbooking and the community is very helpful.

Info: JS Bday Celebration

Creative Summit Event

If you know me you know I love online classes/events. However there is something I love more...FREE online classes/events. Just heard about this one through Heidi Swapp's blog (she's participating). Sounds great with tons of fabulous teachers and I've already signed up!
Creative Jump Start Summit


Big Picture Classes SALE!

Big Picture Classes is having a fantastic 50% off sale of all their self paced classes to celebrate their 6th birthday. For those who don't know they are a site that hosts online craft/scrapbooking classes where you have permanent access to the class. This is why I keep taking them, I never have to worry about getting busy and not finishing a class because I will have it forever. I have loved all the classes I've taken.

Not into scrapbooking? How dare you! Just kidding, they also have a number of photography, DIY and even a meditation class available in their self paced section. The self paced section basically means you will not have 1 on 1 communication with the teacher like the workshop section. The self paced classes are pre planned and recorded so when you buy it you have all the contents of the class instantly. In the workshop section classes feature live interaction with the teacher and other students and material is released week by week.
Click me to go to the website to get the code

Sale ends on the 20th of this month!!!

Charity Wings Live @ CHA event

So I did this last year and it was soo much fun plus it helps charity. You will be mailed a box full of goodies that you will use in online make n takes. My favorite part was interacting with everyone through a live chat, event the hosts! You will get to see live on air samples of the newest products like you were there, which we all know is not happening for the average shopper at CHA anymore. There are some amazing talented ladies that came on last time and this time there will be a progressive make n take that looks adorable. Check it out @ Charity Wings!

Signups for JS and H. Swap class ending soon!

Signups for Jessica Sprague and Heidi Swapp's hybrid scrapping class are ending as of February 2nd because they need time to send you the kit. I admit the class is not exactly cheap but it comes with a physical kit worth $30 so it is worth it. I also feel that what we'll learn will be such a timesaver and filled with techniques for hybrid creating. How many of us can say we had a class taught by these 2?Signups Here!  JS Class Mouse, Paper, Scissors
 image taken from Jessicasprague.com

Online Classes

So I've been taking alot of online classes recently and thought it was time to highlight a couple of things I have learned. I will post again about paid classes.

Where to take free classes?
Big Picture Classes has a variety of free classes in their Self Paced class section. These are classes that come with pdfs and sometimes audio but no live class interaction with teachers.
They are also going to be having a free workshop which features live interaction with a teacher and other students, basically you all follow the lesson plans together. This is the 1st one I've seen that is free so it would be a great oppurtunity to get a feel for a workshop. It is called Embrace Perfection and starts February 10th.

My Creative Classroom has 1 free class that changes monthly. It is called Everyday Moodlings. It's purpose is to get you aqquainted with how their classes work. They also feature a student gallery and forums. This class has rotating subjects and a wide variety of lesson plans. You will not have a specific live teacher but if you post a message on the forum they do get back to you, however the paid classes are more 1 on 1. http://www.mycreativeclassroom.com/course/category.php?id=27

Prima Marketing has a variety of classes available on their u-stream channel. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/primaflower You can learn alot of different techniques using their products by searching through their different videos. You do not get pdfs or forum ability with these though.

There are 2 quick intro lessons on Photoshop on Jessica Sprague's website. They are mini classes but feature free digital elements that she has designed. You just need Photoshop. Intro to Photoshop and Hybrid Scrapping

Two Peas in a Bucket's website is having free classes all year long. They will feature a different subjects with 4 different teachers every week. These classes feature pdfs and video. They will be focusing on 4 themes like stamping, using your supplies up, using 4x6 photos and using sketches. http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/classes_and_events/classes/

Have fun learning!

G45 clock

Here is my clock I made for my Christmas present to my mother. It was a big success! I used Die Cuts with a View paper mostly though because of the colors and the George, Printing Press, Lovely Floral carts to cut out title and numbers on my Cricut. The frame is from Kaisercraft, a company I am very excited about since they have so many quality alterable items.

G45 Christmas Frame

Here is my Christmas Plaque I made for my Graphic 45 class. I was really happy how it turned out and am planning on making more. We had the assignment to make a regular plaque with a name inside but I had extra Christmas paper and decided it would look cute to make a Christmas themed one.

It is all contained in a shadowbox I had left from a long time ago. I cut out the title with my Gypsy but handmade all my roses! I love this technique of making roses out of anything. I also added some stickles to frame out the title better. All papers except for cardstock and plaid lining is from the Christmas line of Graphic 45. I also glimmermisted the entire thing with Iridescent Gold and added on some green bling.

Prima Birdhouse album class

So yeah here is one adorable album. I have been taking alot of online classes at a couple of different places but just discovered that Prima marketing had online classes for FREE! This class just happened yesterday and was so adorable I had to share. It's a 2 hour long class but if that's too long for you I suggest just watching how the outside is done and a page or two on the inside. You can also fast forward.

Graphic 45 frame

Here is my frame I made for my Graphic 45 class. I love it, it's a little different from my usual tastes but I was excited when I saw how it came out. Sometimes it's good to step outside our comfort zone huh?

Christmas Giftcard Holder

Here is a giftcard holder that I made for 1 of my online classes. (I'm taking 4!) It was super simple and features Graphic 45 paper, a silk flower I cut up, stickles, baby's breath,  and some Christmas paper I had leftover from last year.

Recipe page from my Planner

For my BPC class "Cut the Crazy out of Christmas" we had an assignment to do a full page recipe with journaling hidden somewhere. I have not put the pic in as I will be making these in a couple more weeks.

My journaling is under the main part which is a lift up flap.

My Christmas class binder cover

For the Cut the Crazy Out of Christmas class I am taking from Big Picture Classes, we had to decorate our binder for our first assignment. We were asked to put a picture on it that reminded me of the holidays and hopefully featured ribbon.
Here is mine:

My cover features a digital paper pattern with the Christmas Planner written with a Lettering Delights font. I added my picture of my pretty kitty and a couple of stickers featuring stock pics from the season. I then added some ribbon to highlight the actual title of the class which I cut out and pasted onto strips. Lastly I added a couple of little flowers for added color. (The colors are a little washed out in the pic) So far I am really enjoying this class, even though I am behind this week!