Totally inspired

So I was a little freaked out about Ali Edwards already having a post up about the December Daily last week.  I was like, "Dang Ali, it's only the end of October.  Just what are you thinking Woman!" 

Next day, a Christmas commercial on TV.

The weekend Wal-Mart trip:  Christmas stuff is out.

So Ali, I owe you an apology for second guessing your timing.  I should know that Ali would know when to begin this awesome project.  I mean she's done it for three years. 

Then this week, she posted (over two different days) the foundation pages for her daily book and can I just say "WOW!?"  (Why yes, yes I can say "WOW!")

Her philosophy is to get the book done prior to December so you can focus on the holiday and simply print out a photo and enter your journaling or memory for each day.   Kind of takes the stress out.  

If looking through the pages doesn't totally inspire you to want to do this project, well, nothing will!

So I am posting the links to shoot you over to Ali's blog so you can glare at the inspiration too.

Days 1-12 and cover

Days 13-25

I truly think I am going to get started on my own book so I don't fret so much over it when it's time. 

Wanna join me?

Wheeeeee! December Daily time.

Ali Edwards has already started posting about the December Daily 2009!
I'm so excited to do this project again!

I hope you will join me.
Here is her post to help get you started:
Ali: December Daily

Need more inspiration?

credits here:

1. december eight, 2. Day3 copy, 3. December Daily {25 inside}, 4. December Daily - Day 3 - Page 2, 5. December Daily {3}, 6. xmas diary, 7. December Daily – Finished!, 8. December daily, cover, 9. christmas diary1, 10. December Daily - door decor, 11. day 29 back, 12. December Daily Album: Day 24, 13. December Daily Album: Day 24, 14. Christmas tree, 15. dec-20, 16. 11, 17. December Daily - Day 20 - Page 2, 18. Day 9 Page 1, 19. December Daily Album: Day 21, 20. December Daily Album: Day 18, 21. album , 22. my book, so far..., 23. December 10, 24. Day 15, 25. Day 10 - page 1

Here is mine from last year: Dec Daily 2008

Merry Christmas!!!! (don't be a hater....the stores are already putting the stuff out ya know!)

OMGosh - it's a sneak

LOVE the sneak of Crazy Daisy Kit Co July kit! Cannot wait to get my hands on it!
It has a vintage worn out feel to it (right up my alley) and it hints to the upcoming holiday of Independence Day with the stars and red.

More sneaks tomorrow. Check out the Crazy Daisy blog for a really cool folded & twist fabric flower tutorial.
Ima try some of these bad boys!!

I still intend to put together a Daily July mini book along the lines of my December Daily book inspired by Ali Edwards. Anyone else want to do this along with me?

I hope to have a chance to put together my pages this weekend. I will probably use the same type of format with random page sizes and materials.

okay, I must go clean up the kitchen and get my tired self in bed.

December Daily 2008

As promised I am going to post my December Daily mini album a la Ali Edwards.

WARNING though: This will be a long and photo heavy post.
I will not repost the first few pages that I did posted earlier, you can find them here

Also, please note that this book has lots of transparencies and odd sized pages so it may look weird or confusing in places. If you are interested in seeing each spread you can refer to my flickr

Another sidenote: if you read my blog regularly you will recognize a lot of this. I have posted many of the photos throughout the month, and quite a bit of the journaling is straight from my blog. I found if I got behind a day or two with my book, I could refer back to my blog for the stories & details I wanted to tell.
Whew!
I'm worn out just posting all of these.
And if you have made it this far...congratulations!

This back cover (under the thick x-ray film transarency given to me by my sweet DIL Amy) is a piece of vintage wrapping paper...isn't it awessome?

There are tidbits throughout my book from magazines, junk mail, vintage goodies, and lots of new stuff - some given to me as birthday and/or Christmas gifts.

This book is a true treasure for me and I will definitely be doing one again next year for the holidays.

Heck I might do one for July!

I would encourage anyone to try this....use a blog, do a digital scrapbook, a notebook, journal, or scrappy products.

First Three Days

Yes, I realize it is December 5, but I have not completed today or yesterday.
I will be working on that tonight...promise!
I did want to go ahead and share what I've completed so far.
I'm really enjoying putting this together & I know it will be so cool to look back on, say like, next year!
So without further adieu:

This is the front again. This time you can see through the transparency to the first page.
[I will also attempt to list what I've used for each page, a la Ali].

Transparency with a chipboard snowflake with white acrylic paint and date stamp in lt. blue, red and black.

Here is the first page: December 1, 2008 (aka my 29th I mean, 39th birthday)

kraft paper with deco scissor edge, sharpie, my very favorite alpha stickers of all time: Scenic Route Black Berkely stickers. (I need to find more somewhere)

back of Page 1 and page 2:
photos and some journaling to document my day. I also added a little clear sticker "Celebrate" that I got from my Prend, Judy in my birthday goodies. page two is a small one: I used a piece of a Christmas card sample that I had gotten in the mail @ work. I usually get tons of these and throw them away...for some reason I kept this one with the pretty silver snowflakes. A piece of chipboard and silver glitter sticker. Self-Photo: Me. :)

Back side of Dec 2, just a bulleted list of the day's events with a sharpie.

Page 3 - Dec 3
used a paint chip swiped from a paint dept. sssshhhhh, don't tell. And sharpie on a piece of Christmas paper leftover from last year.

back of Dec. 3

One of my stamps on a piece of sticky backed paper. Also another clear word sticker - I hope to use those throughout this book.

I'll share more as I complete this little baby.

Now I leave you with a funny photo from today's lovely Friday Steering committee meeting at work. I am always snapping pictures so I can keep the blog/site documented with who is there, presenting, etc. While snapping a photo of one of my co-workers, I noticed another familiar face & camera on the compressed video TV.

Thought it was too funny not to share. :)

Tomorrow is our annual Christmas parade.
Prayers for pretty weather as I'll be taking lots of pictures.

...notice I switched up the font?
I decided it was an Arial kind of day.

December Daily

I have finally completed all of the Thanksgiving festivities and will post more on that subject tomorrow.

I did want to share a little project that will begin taking shape tomorrow - the first day of December.

The first day of December not only marks the day of my birth, it also marks the first official day of the Christmas season. The birthday of the most important figure to ever be born - EVER! Christ. Thus the name Christmas! If you know me, you know one of my pet peeves is how some establishments and people have a hang-up with using the name Christmas for this season. I mean, come on, let's call it what it is: CHRISTMAS! Another peeve is when people use xmas. I know most don't mean anything by it, and use it only as an abbreviation of some kind, but it is just one of those fingernail on the chalkboard things for me.

Okay, I'll jump off my soapbox and get back to my project.

The uber talented Ali Edwards inspired me (along with a bazillion other scrapbookers) to do this project. I'm excited to begin tomorrow documenting a snapshot of each day leading up until Christmas. My hope is to have at least one photo of the day and a little remembrance of some kind for each day.

Here is a picture of my little book. It is comprised of kraft paper, transparencies (actually unused x-ray film - thanks Amy!), Anthropologie catalog, envelopes, Hambly, Christmas scrapbook paper, and will have other goodies before it's complete.

I'll try to keep the blog updated with photos of the book throughout the month.

Something new in my Etsy shop, a little different too.
Check out my little JOY notecard set.
I can also customize these to include your name, initial, another sentiment, etc.
If you are interested, let me know!
And thanks to Deltha for this great idea!

Finally, I want to introduce the newest member of our family: Nutmeg (Meg for short!)

She is my Aunt Joyce's new dachshund and how dang cute is she???? I love dogs, and she is precious. She is supposedly 7 months old. I'm thinking she is one lucky pup to have Joyce as her new Mommy. She has been there about 24 hours and is already spoiled! I love it!

More Thanksgiving #3 tomorrow along with a Birthday breakdown!