cyber monday:

Anyone doing any shopping today?

I have been shopping all weekend long from my iPad! If bought a few things today while on i5 in route from Sacramento to LA. I love my iPad if anyone is worthy get them one for Xmas!

what to do with your christmas cards:

In December 2009 when it came time to take down the directions, I had 3 full shoeboxes of Christmas cards from present and past years including their envelope. 2009 was a really rainy winter here in So Cal; we had just had the station fire, & with fire comes rain and mudslides. I spent a lot of time in front of the computer and came across this post.

 

 

So every night for about a week, I punched, and cut up 3 boxes worth of cards. I punched anything that would fit in the 2” punch. Everything else I hand cut. I looked for things that symbolized, the person who gave me the card.

 

Here is what I kept in mind while cutting:

-If it was a picture card {the greatest and easiest Xmas card ever} I cut the picture as small as I could, some of these cars have multiple pictures, I cut them all/or punched what I could.

-I then labeled the back of the pictures so just in case I forgot I knew who it was.

-I liked to included the name off the card too, so that also got punched or cut

-For regular paper or “hallmark” cards I punched a piece of the card & punched the signature.

-The homemade cards I tried to use as much of them as I could, if they had a die cut on them I pulled it off carefully. These bits give your page depth.

-And for the envelopes, I cut the return address, or from a favorite aunt I cut a part with my address.

-If the envelope had a cute Christmas postage stamp I saved that, or anything special about the envelope was some how cut down to reuse.

 

 

2007 Left side Layout

 

2007 Right Side Layout

 

What it looks like in a 12x12 album

 

2007 center page

 

the back side of the 2 pages together

 

the center page backside

 

 

2008 Right Layout

 

2008 Left Layout

 

what it looks like in a 12x12 book

 

with the middle page

 

2008 the 2 back sides together

 

2009 Right Layout

 

2009 Left Layout

 

what it looks like in a 12x12 book

 

2009 the 2 back sides together

{this year did not have a middle page}

 

 

I then took my 2 12x12 pieces of card stock and started laying out all the little bits & pieces that I cut. {keep in mind when I did the cutting process I kept the years separate} Once everything fit I adhered it. I then flipped the page over and wrote the family name on each spot or used the cut up return address to mark each person or family.

 

Just this year when I pulled these pages out, I saw a picture and thought who is that, I flipped it over and the name was there!

 

What’s great about this process is you feel a lot of weight lift off your shoulders. You feel like you finally have done something with all these cards and did not throw away the time and money people spent to wish you a Merry Christmas.

It also serves as a make shift address book too.

 

{This was my first attempt at scanning 12x12 pages and stitcjing them together, the reason they arent super straight and good}

Do you do anything with your Christmas Cards?

journals: the one I made for today

I have to credit Amy Tangerine for the mini albums. Reading her any post on mini’s encouraged me to start mini books to document my adventures. I have not completely adapted to this process, I am enjoying the few I have made.

 

This summer I was asked to join a swap group {It has been so much fun}. At first to see how it would go, we just swapped supplies from our stash. When we all got the hang of it we each picked a theme, started a book and sent it on it’s merry way to gather pages from others.

 

September, we swaped a 6x6: something about us

made this mini to hold the ladies pages

 

 I was asked to make some handmade items for a holiday boutique this year. I thought to myself who would want anything I make? I don’t knit or make anything cool.

I decided to make each of my swappers a book.

They all were excited to join me with this new holiday tradition;

I decided this is what I would make for the boutique.

 

You can find this mini for sale in my etsy shop here

or visit me December 3rd at Image West in Sunland Ca.

for their annual holiday boutique

 

 

Next up I was invited to a special meet and greet at Disneyland. It’s a school night, but my bff said she would take her kids and let them miss school the next day {the event is from 8-12pm}. So I put together little mini books for us to get all the charters autographs! We will just go with the pages for the charters to sign. I have put together little kits for the kids. Once I get the photos back from the night, I will send the kits and photos to the kids and they can match the photos to the autographs and they will get to make their very own mini scrapbooks from the evening. Having this already prepared for the evening, makes it easy to focus on the evening, and gives them a project on a rainy day.

 

Isabella's autograph book

 

My autograph book

 

the foundation pages

 

Justin's autograph book

 

 

And guess what tonight is the night! See you there!

{hopefully we are still going I wrote this 2 weeks ago lol}

 

Have you been making journal/mini books?

 

It’s my new favorite thing

journals: december daily 2010

After all the time I spent putting together {not to mention the money} on my 2010 Dec. Daily album,

I saw this journal here and here knew that this was what I was gonna do for 2011.

photos of my foundation, and never used 2010 dec. daily

 

ok so I attempted it for a few days and then a big fat NOTHING!

 

here is a look at my journal this year

Yay this one was made for me! Keeping it simple and do able.

journals: thankful 2010

Just a bit for you to read today. I made this mini book last year for my “thankful” mini book process. I never got around to it last year. I was pretty sick with Kidney stones {not knowing that’s what it was} I pretty much just flaked on the holidays in 2010.

 

photos of the thakful mini

 

 

I still have supplies for this book if anyone is interested in making it.

Just email and I will get a kit to you

journals: a week in the life 2010

I tried to follow “a week in the life” 20I0. I did take pictures. I never put together an album.

I already did take random pictures.

But this album encouraged me to take MORE photos, daily.

I’m sad to say that I had computer failure and the end of 2010 and lost mot of pictures. Though these photos are not from “that particular” week they are just random photos of life in 2010.

What I can say from the attempts at this albim,

is I have taken more photos than ever before and I am loving that!

a sunflower in my back yard

Paul Frank slipper socks

Jager trying to join me for lunch

dinner in ventura

Salmon in Seattle at Nordstroms

 

Find my original post of a week in the life here from 2010

I just copied Ali Edwards post, but here is here original post from 2008

 

Maybe I will atempt this in 2012...

how bout you?

journals: thankful 2009

I made a "THANKFUL BOOK" in 2009.

A five-day count down what I was thankful for leading into Thanksgiving.

Though not completely finished. I LOVE the fact that I did this.

Here is where I found the idea for this book.

I found that just doing the week up to thanksgiving was good for me

 

I printed the prompt, and cliped it to the book

 

you don't always have a photo for each day, don't feel like you have to have one

 

 

 

I used a children's board book that I picked up at the dollar store for the foundation.

I covered it with paper and pre numbered the pages.

So each day was ready to go, just needed to add the journaling and/or photo.

 

This was so super simple.

And a lovely little book to remember the little things during this hectic time of year.

I’m not sure if I will make one for this year. I made one for 2010 but never used it;

maybe I will use it this year

Will you document what you are thankful for?

journals: december daily 2009

Can you believe its already November!?

WOW this year has seriously just flown by. With good days and of course bad, I have to say this year was better than others in the very near past. I really put some effort into some things I want to purse, and though I have not accomplished those goals fully,

I feel pretty damn good about myself!

Onto journals & mini books. What ever you want to call them is fine with me.

I have been calling them journals, but I don’t journal… lol  so really they are mini albums.

They are my newfound love. Putting a little photo story together,

I feel that I am documenting even without words.

 

Let’s start with December Daily. I tried this first in 2009.

You can read more about this journey here.

In 2009 I put my book together. Here is my original blog post. Hoping to find comfort in this book during the holiday. It was my first Christmas with a new boyfriend, and I needed new traditions. I didn’t journal everyday I didn’t take a photo everyday, but I did try.

I give myself a lot of points for just attempting this Journal process.

This is something I had never attempted before, I never had a diary as a kid,

and so to record daily things was a bit tough.

I look at my half completed book today, and love the fact that I did try to capture moments.

 

Some photos of my 2009 album:

 

Are you going to document December this year?