Yay!!! December is here and in the world of memory keeping, many of us will be documenting this joyous season by creating a "December Daily" photo journal. December 2011 was the first year that I took on this month-long project and I loved every minute of it. I vowed to make December Daily a Christmas tradition, so bring on December 2012!
This year I paid close attention to when Studio Calico was offering Ali Edwards' December Daily Kit for purchase. I missed out on it last year and didn't want that to happen again. So I ordered the kit and received it just in time to create my foundation pages. You may be wondering why I haven't shared my foundation pages or the cover and opening page of my album yet. For starters, I followed the same format for my foundation pages as Ali did on her blog (it made no sense to basically repeat the same photos). To see how Ali created her pages, click here. I love the pages–simple, clean and uncluttered. I can't wait to fill them with photos. But as far as not sharing my cover and opening page of my album–well that is kind of a funny story...
Back in the summer of 2011, when I was sorting through my studio–deciding what I should take to Latvia with me and what I should leave behind–for some reason I did not pack my embossing gun. So a few weeks ago I asked my mom to pick one up for me send it out (she picked up embossing powder and other crafty items– gotta love mom). It should have been here by now. I think it is stuck in customs somewhere because on the customs form one of the items declared is an "embossing GUN." I think the word "gun" may have set off a few red flags as it goes through customs. Bummer. I really need the items that she sent in the box to get here so I can complete the album cover and title page. When it arrives and I get them done, I will post the pics! On to Day One...
Today was the day of the International Christmas Bazaar sponsored by the International Women's Club of Riga. It is a charity event where all proceeds raised are donated to various organizations in Latvia that the IWCR supports. I was the organizer for the American table this year. We sold items that you can't get here such as Kraft Mac & Cheese, Oreo Cookies, Hershey Kisses and more! I had a great group of volunteers that help work the table throughout the day. It was busy, but a great way to start the holiday season! The grey star paper above is from Ali's Happy Christmas Grey Paper Collection. I just printed it on and 8.5x11 sheet of double sided matte paper and cut a piece to fit one of the cardboard dividers that came with the album.
The next several photos below show how I made use of an Instagram layered template I created for my December Daily album. And guess what? I'm giving it to you as a free download! Yippee! It is a PSD file so you can turn off the layers with the journal lines if you don't need them, clip digital papers and photos to the rectangles, then print, cut and fold! Click the link at the bottom of this post to download the template! The font I used for the journaling is "ck maggies journal." It is set at a 16pt text size and 18pt leading. The red star paper is from Ali's Happy Christmas Red Paper Collection. I scaled the paper to a smaller when I added it to the template.
(this is what the template looks like)
When I folded the template, I only sealed the side and bottom shut. I wanted to use this as a pocket page to slip a tag inside. How cool is that? I used Ali's 3x4 December Daily Journal Cards (available from Designer Digital) as the tag.
I will be using this template for the photo I take each day that from either of the Photo of the Day Challenges by fatmumslim or acontenthousewife. I really like the lists both of these fab ladies came up with for December so each day I choose which challenge I would like to follow. I love having a choice!
On the back side of the tag I printed another of Ali's papers from the Happy Christmas Blue Paper Collection and added a photo of a yummy cheese appetizer I had at my friend Lisa's home last night. Her hubby was away and she had a few friends over for a girls' night in! That is her dog, Sammy, in the photo above. The POTD for December 1st was 8 o'clock, either am or pm and having Sammy in my lap at 8pm is what was going on at that moment!
Again, another of Ali's awsome digital goodies! I love her layered 4x6 templates. This one was perfect to show off photos I took at the Bazaar!
So that is December 1! I know it was a long post, but once I get in the groove, I'm sure they will shorten up a bit. I hope you enjoy the template!
Download SeptBlue_DDInstagramTemplate
