December Daily 2010 + Peppermint Twist + a card

Hey there,

A few random (and not so random) things for you today. I've got so many things going back and forth at the moment that I'm just sharing everything in amongst everything else!

Okay, first.

Today is Dec 1st, which is the start of a lot of things around the internet - one being Ali Edwards' December Daily project. I'm doing one this year and I'm going for a different approach because of this article with Jessica Helfand. I was linked to the article by the folks at the Paperclipping Rountable.

It's a long article, but a couple of things jumped out at me (I'm paraphrasing too).

~ First, the lady herself collects scrapbooks - she has over 200.

~ She said the ones that have just cards or the same of something aren't as interesting to her. Immediately I thought of all our engagement and wedding cards. I put them in a scrapbook (ie, a book I bought at the newsagent) like that and it is pretty boring. But it wasn't meant to be anything else. Just a place to put them. 

~ She loves the eclectic scrapbooks. The ones that have bits and pieces of everything in them. Have a look at a particular paragraph of the article. It's about 3/4 of the way down and starts with "If you sit down at the kitchen table at the end of the day - with receipts from the grocery store, an envelope from a friend etc". That's what inspired me! Ah ha, that's what I've gotta do, I thought. The paragraph above it is a ripper as well. Have a read. 

~ Also, this project for me is about discovering rather than creating. I'm not creating a framework to work in, I'm just opening a book and writing stuff down. Kinda feels free and nice, really. And I'm writing in blue biro because it's what I like best. Now that, for me, is free and nice.

~ I finished by December Daily 2009 yesterday. 

~ I started that one in Dec last year and collected bits and journalled on the computer and just never got to put it together. The whole point of the project is to do it as you go along, but I just didn't get to, and then I got behind and then it was too much and then I didn't like the way I had set it up and then it got put on the back burner. Not being one who likes to leave unfinished things, unfinished, I sorted it out and pulled it together over the weekend. 

~ In 2008, I did the project as I went along. In 2009, I did not. In 2010, I will do it as I go along each day. 

~ What I've found is - I don't have a lot of extra creative energy for things by the time I hit December. After teaching and making up so much stuff all year, Dec is when I lose the creative drive. Any energy I had last year went into preparing the album itself, so when it came to actually putting it together in Dec, it was just too much and I had to let it go.

~ Cue this year's approach. No album to prepare!

~ I found a visual diary in my scrapbooking stash, ripped out the 20 or so pages I'd already used, glued two of the new pages to the cover to cover the ripped seam, pushed the cover into the black sleeve and neato, a new looking book. This took 5 mins.

~ Then on another day I decorated the cover with my favourite Santa character for this year. This took half an hour because I made two of the Santas. Okay, it might've taken and hour or so, but I wasn't rushing and I was enjoying myself and I didn't look at the clock.

The visual diary has a window in the front, so above I was choosing a paper to put in it.

Tinsel and Twig did the trick. You know, from The Girls Paperie.

Oh, I have BIG plans for this paper. BIG.

I haven't glued the Santa on because I don't want him to get wrecked throughout the season with all the man handling of the book, so I'm leaving him off and he'll get glued on at the end.

Here's the ripped seam.

And below I was just showing how I was going to turn the first couple of papes and glue them down to cover the seam.

Had to add the candy cane for a bit of colour!

So, that's my Dec Daily concept for this year - scrapbook vs photo album. It will have photos in it - that's the point, but the whole thing is a scrapbook over a photo album.

I'm planning to just write bits and pieces in whenever I think of them and leave spaces for the photos. I'll cut out a piece of card that's 4 x 6 and use it as a template to write around, so I leave the right amount of space for the photo I want to put in the spot. And then write what the photo is in that spot. They'll get developed later. Hope that makes sense.

Anyway, I'm feeling happy about doing the project. No pressure, just fun and bitsy and whatever.

Second - whoa, long post today!

Below are the photos I took of the Peppermint Twist paper pack.

50 sheets, people, 50 sheets. Four of each design.

Four of the designs have glitter or a shine to them. This is one of them.

Love, love - this is my favourite. It's glittered too.

Also love this one. It's on the back of the one above.

And yes, there are die-cuts in there too! Unfortunately, and I cannot explain why, I only took a picture of the first page of them. There's two pages total.

This first page has all the bits and the second one has all different sizes, shapes and types of tags. If you scroll back up to the front cover, you can see a bit of the tag page at the very top of the sampler.

Trust me, the tags are lovely. I just love this collection!

The die-cuts and tags aren't glittered, but we savvy crafters can glitter them ourselves if we want. We have the skills. We have the glitter. No probs.

Tone on tone patterns are a favourite of mine - they make good ornaments. Remember, I used this line to make all the ornaments for the craft tree and it worked beeautifullly.

So, there you go. That's the Peppermint Twist line. I didn't take a photo of every page, but you get the idea. The photos don't tell the full story, it's more fab in real life.

And third for today - a card, made with Peppermint Twist, of course!

Just to warn you, it's pretty full on colour-wise and pattern wise, but I love it anyway. Sometimes you've just gotta do what your heart tells you to do, not what your head does. Oh wait, that's what we're supposed to do in crafting all the time... :o)

And what? She used a busy pattern for the background too?

Yes! Yes, I did, people! Heart, not head, I tell ya.

Ooooh, so bright and colourful. Makes my heart sing.

I like this Santa.

I'd like to glitter his beard. Or the trim on his hat. Or both. And the pom pom too.

You can't tell, but the holly is glittered. Or glimmered. I used Garden Fairy Glimmer Mist on green cardstock and let it dry and then I punched out of it. Pity it doesn't show up. Subtle use of glitter, um, glimmer. Nice.

Hello? Baker's twine and Peppermint Twist - match made in heaven!! Got any baker's twine yet? Go get yourself some - seriously!

Unfortunately though, not all crafting from the heart is accurate. Look at the 'y' there. Ended up being right in the middle of Santa's face! Looks like his nose! Now, if I'd have noticed it, I would've moved it, but I didn't, so I didn't.

By the way, the word "Merry" is a Big Shot die. The die has "Merry & Bright" on it. I cut it out in the paper and about two or three times in plain cardstock and then glued them altogether to make it more substantial on the card. Covered the whole thing in Dimensional Magic to give it some oomph too.

And the edge punch is from Martha - what's it called? Scallop Dots, that's it. The day all the manufacturers label their punches with the actual punch names will be good day indeed! I write the name on the punch with permanent pen and put a piece of sticky tape over it to stop it from rubbing off because I need to know the names for situations such as these. Scallop Dots, it's called Scallop Dots.

And yes, I had to get up and go check. I've become quite fond of Scallop Dots more recently. It's ranking up there right now. Just like it.

And lastly, I added Stickles to the snowflakes on the background paper.

Stickles, what would we do without it? Staple in this crafting kitchen.


Okay, well you're probably dehydrated now from all the reading at the computer, so I'll let you go if you haven't left already.

Tomorrow? What am I talking about tomorrow? Um, something.

See you then,

:o)