Part II of my Christmas 2013 Album

Happy Sunday lovely readers!  As I mentioned in my Just Two Midwest Girls scrap challenge post, I would post Part II of my Christmas album this weekend.  I have photos below of the Journal Your Christmas prompts #20-25 scrapped in my album.

Prompt #20

This prompt is all about a gift given to someone special.  My journaling will go on the tag(s) in the glassine envelope.  My pictures for the majority of my album do not correspond with my journaling.  I'm just including a photo for each prompt that I had taken throughout the month.  Darwin was my "trimming the tree" partner this year when I was decorating.  All he did was hang out in the tree box...great helper.

Prompt #21

 This page is about the reality of my December 21st; what my house looked like, what my day looked like.  That picture is not what my house looked like on the 21st!  I didn't even wrap any gifts until the 23rd!

Prompt #22

The journaling for this prompt will be about the things that make me smile, give me warm fuzzies during Christmas.  All the kindness, gratitude, and giving that comes with the holiday season.

Prompt #23

This prompt was assigned to December 23rd, or Christmas Eve Eve (that's what we call it).  I'll be journaling about some of our family traditions we do getting ready for the big day.

Prompt #24

Christmas Eve's prompt talks about why I love Christmas.  I made a vellum pocket to hold tags for my journaling.  That paper from Glitz Designs Hello December Line, the paper that says "what I love the most about Christmas," was perfect for this prompt.

Prompt #25

Christmas Day was definitely a two-page spread.  I had so much I wanted to include, that I'll have to include a smaller insert just for my journaling.

If you want to see more detailed photos of my Christmas Album:  Part II, check out my gallery at 2Peas.  Also, Kelly and I are hosting a challenge all about December/Christmas albums.  Details can be found here.  Those that play along could win a $5 gift certificate to Two Peas in a Bucket!

I hope to have my Christmas journal completely done by the end of January.  I have 14 more prompts/layouts to scrap and a few layouts to "touch up."  I'm getting to the point where I just want this album to be done!  If I didn't have a few other projects to complete for future blog posts and Valentine's cards to make, I'd work on this album until it was finished!  

Have a wonderful Sunday!  Stay warm and safe if you're in my area and the northeastern part of the country.  See you all again on Monday.

xoxo,
Heather

Just Two Midwest Girls Scrap Challenge: Christmas Albums!

Welcome back lovely readers!  Hope you all had a fabulous New Year's!

Kelly and I are beginning 2014 with a big project!  Our Christmas albums!  As I mentioned in previous posts, I'm doing Journal Your Christmas, which goes until January 6th.  So, my album is not done yet.  I have been good about keeping up on my journaling and deciding on pictures for each prompt (up until Christmas Day).  I just haven't been able to scrap each prompt yet.

I am proud to let you all know that I have scrapped each prompt up to and including Christmas Day (well, most of the prompts)!  That was my goal by the time we posted this challenge.  I will be taking a week off from working on my Christmas album to start my One Little Word album, work on a couple layouts, and get started on cards for my Etsy shop.  

Here are some pictures of my album so far.  I'm only showing you the completed pages.  I will upload my whole album to my 2Peas gallery when I have it finished (probably in parts because each project can only have 20 images).  I will also be posting my progress and finished pages on Instagram.  Make sure to follow me @hsweet12!

This is PHOTO HEAVY!  I'm not going to post every photo, but you can take a peek here for all the detailed photos.  **Prompt #18-25 I will post this weekend when I have better light.

Here are my title page (on the right because I couldn't get these pictures to post chronologically when next to one another) and my Christmas manifesto (left).  

The photo on the right is just an embellishment page.  Right now, that's my favorite part of scrapbooking: embellishing!  And I have tons of product, so I need to use it.  The photo on the left is all about our Christmas tree.  I have written this prompt in my journal, I just haven't transferred it to this page.

It's not Christmas without those special treats!  On the page of the small paper bag (seen in the photo below), I write about the infamous red coffee cup, which has become a holiday icon.

I couldn't resist cutting that red holiday cup with my cameo!

 This prompt is all about the types of lists I used to make when I was younger.

One of my favorite parts of Christmas are Christmas movies.  Elf is probably my favorite holiday movie.  I love Buddy the Elf.  He is definitely my "merry mentor."  That character always puts me in the Christmas mood.

 The top photo tells the story about that crocheted snowpeople couple.  The photo on the bottom talks about my ideal Christmas Day weather, which is, of course, a white Christmas (which we didn't get here in central IL).

The top photo contains my "still to do" list as of December 17th.  The bottom photo tells the story of the Christmas culture and entertainment I enjoy this time of year.

The top photo talks about when I "found out about Santa."  I wanted this to be hidden journaling just in case, years down the line, my kids decide to flip open the album.  And this bottom photo shows how thick my album is already!  At the time I took this photo, I only had scrapped prompts 1-17.  Yeah....

I cannot believe this album!  I am so, so proud of myself for staying on top of my daily journaling prompts AND for scrapping (almost) each prompt up to Christmas!  I only got to Day 5 in my December Daily 2012 album.  

So, come play along with us!  Show us your Christmas/December/holiday albums.  Link up your pictures in my comments section on this post or in Kelly's comments section on her blog.  It does not have to be a new project.  It can be a past album you already have uploaded elsewhere.  Those people that play along have a chance to win a $5 gift certificate to Two Peas in a Bucket!  Hurry, the challenge is open until Thursday, January 16th at 8pm CST!

Now, go check out Kelly's blog!

xoxo,

Heather

My Journal Your Christmas Album Supplies

Happy Monday morning readers!  As promised, here is a video showing all of my supplies for my Journal Your Christmas album.

Part I

Part II

**I had to split the video in half, so you lose a few seconds between the first one and second one.  Sorry abut the train you can hear; I cannot do voiceover at this time, so I have to talk on the video.  And, my camera stopped recording before I realized it, so you guys missed out on the stamps I'll be using throughout my album.  I may try to make another video of the stamps I'm using.
 
Just a little update on my album, I've been keeping up with the journaling prompts.  I've also been pretty good about capturing photos that coordinate with the daily In Focus prompts. When I do projects like this, I really, really wish I had a photo printer at home.  I don't necessarily want to send photos to a printing lab every week, let alone every day.  I like to print a month's photos at a time.

I've made my title page, pages for Prompt #1-#6.  These still aren't completely done because of the lack of photos, and that bothers me!  But I'm happy that I'm working on it.  

Are you making a December album?  How are you doing on yours?

xoxo,
Heather

List of Supplies

Patterned Paper:  Bundled Up by Crate Paper 6x6 Paper Pad; Hello December by Glitz Design 6x6 Paper Pad; Peppermint Stix-Believe by Heidi Swap; Peace Love Joy by Lawn Fawn Collection Kit; Peace Joy Love by Lawn Fawn Petite Paper Pack; Oh Tannembaum-Magical by Studio Calico; Merrymint Gold Star Kraft-Magical by Studio Calico; Making A List-Magical by Studio Calico; All Is Bright-It's Christmas! by Allison Kreft for Webster's Pages; Reindeer Flight-It's Christmas! by Allison Kreft for Webster's Pages; Nutcracker Court-25th and Pine by BasicGrey; Chevron-Santa's List by Teresa Collins; North Pole-Reflections Christmas by Lori Whitlock for Echo Park Paper Co.; Silent Night-It's Christmas! by Allison Kreft for Webster's Pages

Stickers:  Titles and Accents Sticker Sheet-Hello December by Glitz Design; Industrious Border Stickers by Tim Holtz; Good Tidings 6x12 Label Stickers by Chic Tags

Embellishments:  Good Tidings Clear Acetate Tags by Chic Tags; Good Tidings Photo Toppers by Chic Tags; Noel Bits & Pieces by Elle's Studio; Noel Frames by Elle's Studio; Noel Lil' Snippets Labels by Elle's Studio; Noel Cutouts by Elle's Studio; Citrus Twist Kits Exclusive Christmas Labels; Merry & Bright Flair Button by Two Peas; Star Ornaments Flair Button by Two Peas; Hello December Wood Veneer Tile Set by Two Peas; White Christmas Lyrics Wood Veneer Card by Two Peas; Natural Bark Stars by Prima Marketing; Citrus Twist Kits Exclusive Wood Veneer Letters, Stars, Peppermint Swirl Shapes; Peace Joy Love Flair by Lawn Fawn; Peace Joy Love Mixed Sequins by Lawn Fawn; rhinestone gems; Citrus Twist Kits Exclusive Flair; Hello December Giant Rhinestones by Glitz Design; Chalkboard Wonderland Silent Night Washi Tape by October Afternoon; Santa's List Chipboard Buttons by Teresa Collins; Bundled Up Photo Overlays by Crate Paper; "Dear Santa" Mini Bag from It's Christmas! Mini Bags Assortment Pack by Allison Kreft for Webster's Pages; Bundled Up Journaling Cards by Crate Paper; crocheted snowflakes; white doilies; gold doilies; 25th and Pine Jumbo Die Cut Numbers by BasicGrey; Home for the Holidays Sprinkles by Doodlebug Designs

Alphas:  Hello December Alphabets and Words Sticker Sheet; Tomato Red Alphabean Cardstock Stickers by Jillibean Soup; American Crafts Thickers-Reindeer Font in Red; Good Tidings Gold Letter Stickers

Just Two Midwest Girls Scrap Challenge: Holiday Cards!!

And....we are back with another fun challenge for you all!  We had three people play along with us for our Kill A Kit challenge.  All three readers had just awesome projects!  If you want to check out their projects, all three are linked in the comments section on Kelly's blog.  Drum roll please....the winner is...Heather Adams!  I used random.org to select the winner.  Heather (great name, by the way!), please email me at heather.sweet12@gmail.com so I can get you your $5 gift certificate to Two Peas.

This challenge round comes at the right time (funny how we planned that!):  holiday cards!  I love making cards!  I've definitely gotten back into my card-makin' roots in the past few months.  For those that do not know, I finally opened up an Etsy shop to sell my cards, which was a goal of mine for 2013.  You can browse my little shop, Sweetly Made Designs, anytime you want.  Bare with me on the storefront though, I'm completely behind in creating my holiday banner and getting more holiday cards up.  I'm a newbie, but I'm learning and will be ready for the next holiday seasons.

Anyways...back to the challenge.  As you know, from this post, I decided on the Christmas cards I would be making to send out to family and friends.  I do not even have those started yet, so I will not be showing you those today, but they are on my blog schedule for next week!

Enough of me talking, here are my cards!

Yes, these cards are in my Christmas tree!  I was experimenting a little with lighting and embracing the holiday season.  Forgive me if it's not your cup of tea, but I kind of like it.  This card is a gift card holder!  The card sits in the white fold inside.  This design comes from my Stampin' UP! club I belong to and it's super simple to make once you figure out the theme of your card.  I will post a tutorial on gift card holders this weekend or early next week.  So, if this is something that peaks your interest, do not worry, I will provide more details on another post.

This card would be excellent to send in the mail because of it's minimum layers.  I love the look of stamped white images on kraft cardstock.  It's just gorgeous!  This card could easily be made in mass production.  The only thing that would make the process a bit longer is having to heat emboss the "Merry Everything" sentiment.  So, I stamped various snowflakes all over my card front, cut a banner from vellum and heat embossed the sentiment in gold (LOVE LOVE LOVE GOLD), and then added a few gemstones to a few snowflakes.  Simple, but gorgeous.

I obviously did not do a good job with the lighting on this card.  Dang man dang!

This card is super simple to make!  I really like the look of Maile Belles' cards:  clean, simple, lots of white space.  This card was inspired by her style.  "dashing through the" is stamped in silver ink through the "SNOW" stamp.  It's so clever!  And the snowflake is punched from silver glitter paper using a Martha Stewart punch.  You could make a ton of these in 30 minutes.  I used this stamp set from Papertrey Ink.  There are some other words or phrases you can use along with the big "SNOW" sentiment.  

These are easily, my favorite holiday cards I've made this season.  I don't know what it is about them, but I am in love!  These can also be made in mass production, but it would take a just a bit longer to complete because of the white embossed wreath, the circle that is die cut from the middle, and the coordinating envelope (if that's something you're interested in doing).  I just sold a custom set of these (with various sayings in the middle of the wreath) on my Etsy shop.  People really love them!

And here is just a simple, mini holiday-themed "Thank You" card.  I have actually never written any thank yous for Christmas, but this year, I just may.  This cute, mini, square card is something I include in my holiday-themed orders from my shop.  

Okay, there you have it!  Lots of holiday card inspiration!  Don't forget, I will have a tutorial up soon on making gift card holders.  Gift cards are popular during this season and what better way to dress up one than with a handmade "home" just for that card!

Play along with us this time!  Link up your holiday-themed cards.  You have until Thursday evening, December 19th to link up your projects in my comments section or in Kelly's comments section.  Remember, those that play have a chance of winning a $5 gift certificate to Two Peas in a Bucket!

Now, go check out Kelly's holiday cards!  They are super cute and she has a little bonus project included in her post!

Happy card-making,
Heather

Hello December!

Happy December everyone!  Can you believe how quickly this year has flown by?!  I certainly cannot believe it.  I'm looking forward to using this time of year as a way to "take back" the Christmas season.  If you are familiar with that phrase, than you must be taking Shimelle Laine's Journal Your Christmas.  Let me tell you, I am so excited to be taking this class!  

Last year, I "participated" in December Daily.  I still haven't finished my 2012 album.  It was extremely difficult to take a Christmas/holiday-season picture a day.  I was doing Project Life at the same time and didn't want to combine my December Daily and that album.  There would be days I was struggling to find something holiday to photograph.  My husband and I do not have kids yet, so we don't do too many holiday-themed activities, certainly not enough to document daily.

When I read about Shimelle's class a couple months ago, I knew this was the type of Christmas documenting I wanted to do.  I wanted something that helped capture new traditions with my husband and our current family gatherings with our childhood memories and how the Christmas season has changed over the years.  Just typing this makes me so excited for my album this year!

Now, I promise I will blog about my kit I'm using for my album this weekend.  I may do a video because I bought a small tripod during my Black Friday shopping!  I did want to show you guys some pictures though of my start up process for my Christmas album.

Here is the actual journal I will be using to write about the prompts.  I will be putting together a mini album, but I know that I won't be able to scrapbook everyday.  I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment right off the bat, so I got realistic.  I didn't want the "not being able to scrap daily" aspect of the holiday season to get in the way of me doing the journaling and documenting the season.  Enter in my homemade Christmas Journal!

 I am so proud of myself with this journal!  I didn't buy it!  During my lunch break yesterday, I went out looking for a slim journal.  I wanted something I could take with me pretty easily and something slim enough to put into a page protector at the end of the project.  I couldn't find anything.  And I was so angry because I used my whole 30 minute lunch looking for one.  I was going to stop by Target on my way back into Springfield, but as I was driving I remembered I had some paper at home. I had an "aha" moment!  I'll make my own journal.  I have a graph paper pad, in the legal size, that was perfect for folding over.  I folded 15 sheets in half and tucked them inside one another to make a booklet.  Then, I took some paper from Lawn Fawn's Love, Peace, Joy collection and cut it 1/4" bigger than the pages.  I then sewed everything right down the middle fold.  Voila!  A simple, handmade journal!  I decorated a little bit with the tag and label on the front cover and a 4"x3" Crate Paper Bundled Up journaling card on the inside cover to hide my stitching from adhering the layers on the front.  The bark stars and sequins are not adhered, but added as a prop, just for you guys!

Here's a little peak at my work space last night.  This was the first time I actually dug out my kit supplies.  I was able to make my journal (shown above) and the title page for my album.  I was pleased with myself for getting that far.  I didn't think I'd be able to get anything done last night, but I did.  Tonight, hopefully I can get my Christmas Manifesto page done.  

As I go through this journey, documenting my Christmas, I'll post more on my blog.  Also, if you're interested in seeing other Journal Your Christmas-ers, check out #christmasjournal and #JYC2013 on instagram and Twitter.  If you want to see what I'm doing this Christmas, follow my instagram @hsweet12 with the hashtag #asweetchristmas.

Also, you guys have until tomorrow (Wednesday) night to link up how you "kill" a kit for the Just Two Midwest Girls scrap challenge. Details for the challenge can be found here.  Those that enter have a change of winning a $5 gift certificate to Two Peas in a Bucket!  Come play along!

Happy December,
Heather

Inspiration Wednesday

Good Morning my lovely readers!  Sorry that I have been MIA lately.  This past weekend I had a friend in town, unfortunately for something not too happy.  I have been pretty behind in my scrap projects, hence no Project Life post yesterday.  I'm hoping to "work" overtime in my scrap room in the next few weeks to get on top of stuff.  

So now, for some inspiration!  This post will be a bit shorter than last week's post, but it's still focused on Christmas.  I have serious Christmas fever!

Starting in the top left corner and moving clockwise:

This Christmas card from Kristina Werner is part of her Holiday Card Series 2013.  She has tutorials on these holiday cards up on her YouTube channel every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I love every card she creates, but this one is particularly inspiring as she uses Perfect Pearls to "color" the stamped image.  I have a set of Perfect Pearls I bought on clearance at Michael's at the beginning of 2013.  I've never used them.  I didn't really understand how to use them.  Kristina's tutorial showed me how!  Now I'm looking forward to getting in my scrap room tonight and busting out my Perfect Pearls, if only I can find them...

I love this floating shelf Christmas decor idea.  Michael and I got a set of these types of shelves for our wedding.  We finally got them up sometime this past summer.  Right now, I have some cute fall decorations on them.  For Christmas, I'm definitely going to do something like this on our longest shelf.  I think I'll do the word "Joy" or "Peace" depending on the space.  I really like the idea of using a wreath as the "O," so I may stick with "Joy."  I like the rustic look too.  Last Christmas season, I tried to incorporate more of that rustic look into our decor, so this idea will work well!

Chalkboard is so super trendy right now.  And I LOVE IT!  These chalkboard gift tags from Jess at The Examined Life are awesome!  For these, she painted inexpensive wood shapes with chalkboard paint.  You could find these at most craft stores.  You could also get some thin wood to die cut custom shapes.  You could do this with chipboard.  You could put them in your December albums, on scrapbook layouts, on cards.  You could make tree ornaments or decorations!  Love this idea!

Last but not least is this adorable felt quiet book.  I have been wanting to make something like this for my niece.  I don't have any sewing skills except for on paper.  I have done some embroidery, so hand stitching is a basic skill of mine.  But when it comes to using a sewing machine, I have no idea.  I found some patterns on Etsy for quiet books using hand stitching after I read this blog post from Stephanie Bryan on her older blog, Playing House.  I now have tons of ideas and want to start on a quiet book, like, right now!

Hopefully, you all have gotten some inspiration from my post today.  What's been inspiring you lately?  Let me know in the comments section!

xoxo,
Heather

On My Wishlist Wednesday: Christmas Cards

Happy Hump Day!  So, I'm approaching my wishlist a little bit differently this week.  I've been thinking about this season's Christmas cards for the past couple months.  I think I've finally figured out the cards I'll be making.  My major dilemma was wanting a photo card, but also wanting it to have the handmade look.  I finally found some products to make this happen.

Source:  Papertrey Ink

And I present the Papertrey Ink's Instant Photo Pull Out Die Collection!  I can include a picture of Michael and me AND I can still have a homemade Christmas card!

Source:  Papertrey Ink

The tag can even be pulled out of the sleeve!  How awesome is that?!  This is exactly what I've been looking for and I'm so happy that I found these products.

Instant Photo Pull Out Die Collection by Papertrey Ink

So here's the Instant Photo Pull Out Die from Papertrey Ink.  It can obviously be used for cards other than Christmas-themed, so it would be a well used die for my collection. 

Instant Photo:  Holiday Stamp Set by Papertrey Ink

I want this stamp set too. It coordinates with the die collection and would be a great addition to my holiday stamp collection.  Surprisingly, I don't have too many holiday-themed stamps.

I'm just going to have so much fun with these new products.  It's on my wishlist, but I WILL be getting these soon.  I need to start making my Christmas cards!  So, what are your Christmas card plans?  Do you do photo cards or handmade cards?

xoxo,
Heather