getting ready for december daily

I am so ready for December Daily this year! In the past I've done a modified version. In 2012 I used Studio Calico's kit to put together an album documenting our 2011 Christmas. You can see more of the album here and here.

Last year I made a minibook with Crate Paper's Bundled Up collection about our 2010 Christmas. You can see the entire book here.

Since Christmas 2013 hasn't been documented yet, and I have the Studio Calico kit just waiting to be used up, I've been working a little on that album this past week. This is my cover page - a tree made of little circles!

I still have a long way to go on my 2013 album. I'll try to work on it a little more, but I'll have to abandon it soon in favor of this year's album and pick it back up again after Christmas. I hope it won't be too hard to finish because my least favorite part is mostly done, which of course is printing the photos.

Now this year, I'm going all out and doing an actual daily album (rather than a recap of the month). I will probably skip a few ordinary days, and I'll add extra pages for days that have more photos (especially christmas eve and day). The great thing about this project is that you can make it whatever you want it to be! I'll be using Ali Edwards' December Daily kit, although I may add in a few things from my stash. I will be sharing this year's album on instagram (@debduty), and I may share some or all of it on my blog too. It just depends on how busy December gets! I'm happy that I will have the month off from Studio Calico for the first time in two years, and I'm hoping this extra time will mean I will be able to get it done and shared too!

I don't plan on creating my base pages in advance. While I realize that works great for some people, including Ali (you can see her base pages here), I want to make the album a little bit at a time as the month happens. I like to know what the photo looks like for each page before I decide which papers, cards and embellishments to use.

My first page of the album will be picking out our tree. It worked out perfectly last year. December 1 was the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the day we went to get our tree. But this year I think we'll go get it today (November 30). It may just be an extra day at the beginning or it may take the place of December 1, depending on what tomorrow brings. Here is last year's picking out the tree photo!

Just a few more tips for your December Daily:

1. Take lots of photos, and try to remember every day. Remember that things that seem ordinary now will be extra interesting to look back on in years to come. I'll be mostly using my iphone. The photos you take don't have to be Christmas related. This is a page about my son studying for the finals that always fall in December.

2. For days with nothing going on, use filler photos. I like to include my favorite ornaments and decorations, or anything Christmas related that is general to the whole season and not just one day. Or you can always skip a day. No one will notice or care when they look back at your album! I always include a page about our Snoopy snow globe because it's my most favorite decoration from when the boys were little and I'm always so excited to get it out each year!

3. Work on it a little at a time. I plan on trying to at least print my photos each day and I will work on my pages as I have time. I will hopefully catch up and finish between Christmas and January 1. My album will end on December 25, but I know some people like to document the entire month of December.

4. Find lots of inspiration on Pinterest (I have a board here) and Instagram with the hashtag #decemberdaily. Also check out the member gallery at Studio Calico. Search December Daily or click this link and you will find lots of beautiful pages. Here's a screenshot of the latest as of today.

5. Check out "25 Tips to Rock Your December Daily" by rukristin. It's from a couple years ago, but includes lots of great ideas for your album.

So that's all the advice I have for now. I hope you'll attempt to document your December in some way. These albums are my favorites to look back on. They're fun to create, although a lot of work too. But totally worth it!

studio calico reveal: park ave

I'm sharing cards and Project Life spreads today made with the Studio Calico Park Ave kits. This was my last kit to work with as a full creative team member. Studio Calico is switching things up a bit by having a team of contributors in addition to the main creative team. I was so happy when I learned of this option because I was having a hard time deciding if I wanted to continue or step down. Being on the team for two years has been an amazing experience, and I'll always be grateful for the opportunity to work with my favorite scrapbook company, but I'm ready to take a step back and focus a little more on projects that I want to make just for me. I still love scrapbooking and I have lots and lots that I still want to document!

Check out the creative team gallery for lots more inspiration with the Park Ave kits!

studio calico park ave sneaks

The December kits go on sale soon at Studio Calico! Actually, reveal falls on Thanksgiving this year. Subscribers can shop at noon Eastern, and everyone else can shop 12 hours later. The kits have such a lovely color palette this month with some pinks and purples thrown in! These two colors are not usually my favorites, but the kits are so perfectly put together with just the right combinations of colors that I really enjoyed working with them, and the colors complemented my October photos nicely. Here's a sneak of the spread I made with only the main Project Life kit.

I also made a handbook spread using the Grand Central Project Life add-on. The puppy stamp is the cutest!

The card kits has gorgeous papers and a really fun stamp set that includes buildings for creating a skyline. The stamps would be great for scrapbooking a trip to a big city besides all the cute cards you can make!

I made three more cards which I will share along with my full Project Life spreads on Thursday this week. Hope you are enjoying this Thanksgiving week!

scrapbooking podcasts

Do you listen to podcasts? I admit, I'm addicted. They make my walks much more enjoyable, and since I got my fitbit back in June, I've been motivated to make sure I get as many steps as possible every day. Here's a list of my favorite podcasts about scrapbooking - 

The ScrapGals Podcast (my favorite, especially their recent December Daily episode!)

The Paperclipping Roundtable

The Digi Show (no longer being updated, but lots of great past shows to listen to)

Daily Digi Digest

I also listen to a couple non-scrapbook related podcasts - Pop Culture Happy Hour, and of course I'm hooked on the new true crime mystery, Serial. If you have any other favorites, let me know. I'm always looking for more!

And because a post doesn't feel complete without a photo, here are some pretty fall leaves from this morning's walk. :)