December Album using December Kits with Emma!

Hello CTK friends!  Emma on the blog today to share a little look through my December album!  It's been a long time since I've had the chance to sit down and actually put some pages together but with the Christmas season upon us, I knew I had to try to put another album together - not just to record all the Christmasy things, but just the everyday chaos that is December for my family :)

My motto for this year is "keep it simple and get it done!".  I've a terrible habit of overthinking when putting albums together (which means they take forever to do..) but I just don't have the time for it this year.  Cue the Life Crafted Album and page protectors!  Teamed with the December Life Crafted Kit and December Add-on and I'm happy to report that I am managing to stay up-to-date, yay!  And after a few months break from scrapbooking, I can't tell you how exciting it is ;)

I am using the Black Life Crafted Album this year and I painted the gold plate on the outside white.

On my spine I've added one of the Crate Paper Snowflakes chipboard pieces (from this store this month) along with a "December" sticker (from the Christmas Stories Kit - sadly it sold out in record time!) and added a white tag from my stash with the year stamped on it (stamp from the store too, Heidi Swapp Winter Wonderland).

I was worried painting the gold plate might not work out (and I'd ruin my album, ha) but it's actually finished up looking rather nice I think!  Just taped up the cloth area around the plate using washi tape then spray-painted it with white paint.  Fiddly but easy enough!

And rather than blabber on I thought I'd just take a heap of photos sharing my album - here's a look through of what I've done so far (lots of photos to follow!):

For my cover page I created a wreath using craft wire and white twine.  I created a circle shape with the craft wire then knotted short lengths of twine around it - once it was full I just trimmed the twine down and fixed it in place on a clear page using a couple stitches.

No album of mine is ever complete without at least one sequin pocket!  I'm sure another will appear before the end ;)

Lots of changes around here with Zack finishing up Grade 6 and getting ready to start High School.  Meant he had to get his first suit for Graduation!  He looks so grown up, cry!  That chipboard piece from the Life Crafted Kit was a perfect match for that days story!

All of the chipboard and thickers used throughout my album are fixed on top of the protector pages - stops them looking too bulky inside the pocket.

As you can see - there's not much to my December album.  Lots of random moments, not all of it Christmas-related, but I'm getting those moments recorded.  And keeping it simple means that I get it done!

Sticking with the 3x4 Page Protectors and 4x6 Page Protectors also keeps things consistent and it's so easy to just run the photos off on the printer, pop them into a pocket, add a few little stickers here and there to suit and add some journaling on top.  All of my journaling is typed up on the computer then printed out on plain white copy paper (then I fix it in place using machine stitching or staples) - it's something I can do every couple days without stressing!

Thanks so much for joining me on the blog today - I hope you're having as much fun with your December/Christmas Album!

Take care, Emma xo

Christmas Daily with Krystal

Hi everyone, this is Krystal, and I'm here today to share the first three days in my December Daily album. I'm using a Life Crafted album for my December Daily this year, along with the Christmas Stories kit, the December "Hustle and Heart" Life Crafted Kit, and a few extra bits and pieces from the Citrus Twist Kits shop.

Earlier this fall I created really simple foundation pages in my album. (You can see that post here.) That meant I had a good jumping off point for each day, which makes keeping up with a project like this so much easier. For day one I had a plaid journal card from the Christmas Stories kit and one of the Pink Paislee cut apart numbers that I used throughout the album to number my days.  

I added my photo, as well as a few embellishments from the kit and a couple lines of handwritten journaling, and that day's page was finished! I decided to use a punch to cut the number into a circle instead of a square. This helped break up all of the blocky, straight lines that I had on the page. I added a couple additional circles from the Pink Paislee cardstock stickers to add even more soft lines. 

To embellish my photo, I chose a vellum ticket from the Heidi Swapp ephemera pack and backed it with a scrap of paper from the kit. I added some gold staples and a gold chipboard star from the "Hustle and Heart" kit to finish off the page.

On day two I wanted to document my first red cup of the season. Since I had used the only photo I had for day one, I decided to use the cup itself instead. I used an older cut file from Citrus Twist to create a template for my cup, then traced it onto the Starbucks cup. I cut it out by hand, then backed it with one of the papers from the kit and a scrap of glitter paper from my stash.

I also punched a circle from the cup to add behind my number. I backed both with one of the journal cards from the "Hustle and Heart" kit and stapled everything in place to make sure that it was all secure. The number two was from the same Pink Paislee cut apart paper, and once again, I chose to use a punch to make the number a bit smaller so that it would fit on the page.

I added my journaling to the 3x4 paper I had as part of my foundation page, then used the Heidi Swapp Winter Wonderland stamp set (available in the Citrus Twist Kits shop) to add a title to the page.

I kept the cup itself very simple, and only added a single gold sticker to the front. To add it to the album, I created a tab from patterned paper and sandwiched it between the layers of the cup. I used my six-hole punch to punch the holes that line up with the album, then just added it to the rings. 

To number day three, I used a tag from the "Hustle and Heart" die cut pack and backed it with glitter paper. I attached it to the back of the cup I created and added a bit of twine from the Christmas Stories kit.

My photo for day three documented this year's wrapping paper, so I added a tag from the Pebbles cut apart paper that had a cute little stack of presents on it. I layered my photo with another scrap of paper left from my kit and added two phrase stickers from the Pink Paislee cardstock sticker sheet.

I typed my journaling directly on one of the 2x5 journal cards included in the "Hustle and Heart" digital cards before printing it out. I added a date stamp in red and a few paper hearts that were left over from a previous project.

You can watch all three days come together in the process video below.

I hope you found some inspiration for working on your holiday projects today. Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Daily with Krystal

Hi everyone! Krystal here with a few more foundation pages in my 2019 December Daily album. In case you missed the first post I did sharing my foundation pages, you can find it here. 

As I noted in my first DD post, I decided to create very simple foundation pages this year. Like most of us, I know I have a very busy month ahead of me, and if I want to get this album finished, it will need to be simple. And the best thing about starting with simple pages, is that you can always add a bit more flair if you have the time and desire to do so. And since I created my foundation pages early, I had a little extra time to play with some of the products from the kit and create a few extra, fun pages!

I started with my "Reason Why" page. I always like to include a page that helps me focus on the real meaning of the season and why I take the time to create this album every year. I used one of the 3"x8" bookmarks from the Christmas Stories kit to type out my journaling, then I added a title with one of the cutapart labels included in the kit and some gold puffy alphas from a previous kit.

I added the bookmark to the back of my title page, then embellished the bottom of the card with one of the adorable tiny doilies, a die cut from the Heidi Swapp ephemera, a tag from one of the papers in the kit and a bit of twine. Super simple, but such a cute addition to my album!

I also wanted to take advantage of the amazing cut files that were included with the Christmas Stories kit, so I pulled a couple papers from my stash to make two new pages using the Christmas screens.

For both of them, I decided to cut them twice, flipping the cut file for the second cut to create both a front and a back. I cut the buffalo plaid screen from black cardstock and the candy cane stripe screen from red glitter cardstock, then I sandwiched some thin white cardstock between the front and back to make two double-sided pages. I'll use these to add extra photos or journaling on days where I need some extra space. 

I also created a page using the wreath cut file from the kit. I cut the wreath twice, once from vellum and once from one of the green papers in the kit. I made sure to make the vellum wreath slightly larger than the green one so that I could layer them together with both wreaths showing. 

I then used one of the vintage book pages from the kit and added it to the pink and red polka dot paper, stitching around the edge with some gold thread. Finally, I glued my two cut files to the page, adding glue only to the center so that the leaves could stick up and give the page some dimension. I finished it off with the cute little bow that was included in the kit. I see myself using this page to hold the number for one of the days and maybe a little extra journaling as well. 

Finally, I used a few scraps of black cardstock to cut the three sentiment cut files from the kit. I cut each of them three times, then layered them together to give the phrases some added dimension. Then I added some Glossy Accents to the top of each word to give them an "enamel" look. I love the way these turned out! They'll be such a fun addition to one of the pages in my album!

And while I had my sewing machine out, I created a little pocket with some of the scraps from the kit, just the right size for tucking in a journal card. For more details about how I created these pages, check out the video below.

How are you documenting your December? Have you started creating foundation pages? I'd love to hear how you're using your kit!

Christmas Stories with Lorilei

Hello!  I am excited to share the start of my December album using the Christmas Stories 2019 Kit from Citrus Twist Kits!  It was like an early Christmas opening the gorgeous kit!  I was thrilled to see the Heidi Swapp Winter Wonderland collection mixed with Pebbles, Pink Paislee, Pinkfresh Studio and the beautiful pieces by Citrus Twist Kits!
This will be my third year making an album of December memories.  I have learned a few things along the way about what my needs are in the busy month of December and making the opportunity to start early will be helpful in the process of recording those stories once December hits!  I focused on preparation to start the process.  Some of the tips may sound simple, but they are not steps I have taken other years, and I think they will be a game-changer for being prepared!

I chose a quiet afternoon and went through the entire Christmas Stories kit to familiarize myself with everything included.  I downloaded all the extra digital goodies so that I would know what my options were as well.  Next, I picked out all the pieces that needed attention to be used.  I trimmed the papers with tags, banners and cards, printed a sheet of labels and trimmed them all.  I cut some snowflakes from white cardstock on my silhouette and die cut some stars from gold glitter paper from my stash.   I cut 3 Build a Poinsetta cut files from the Christmas Stories digital set and painted them with watercolours to match the colours in the Heidi Swapp Winter Wonderland die cuts.  I found a nice dish to hold all my bits and pieces so that they would be handy to add to my album!

Next up, I decided to add photo page protectors to my album.  I chose to include 25 "days" worth of the combination of one double 3x4 insert and a full-size insert.  My thinking is that I will add paper tag inserts and extra protectors as needed for the number of photos on any given day.  Having all the inserts ready gives me a jumping-off point!  I can also collage photos in photoshop to fit in the full-size protector and include more photos that way.  Once I had all the preparation finished, I began adding some of the cards, numbers and tags to my album.  The beauty of the Life Crafted album is that I can move items around easily to fit the photos and stories.  I made a tag using the pretty red paper and used a Heidi Swapp cut apart card, doily and one of my poinsettia's to decorate!  I love using tags to add more photos or journaling, and they make a nice textural page in the album!

I love the little banners from the Pebbles "Just for You" paper!

For even more preparation, I set up a full-size photo printing template in photoshop.  I can know just clip my photo to the template and print!  I did some test printing with a Christmas photo from 2009!  I am happy with how the album seems to flow with the page protector set up.  I can add a 3x4 photo, as well.  I love to have easy options!

In my opinion, the most fun in a December album is the embellishments!!  I haven't adhered any of my ideas so far so that I can change things up depending on colours in photos or particular stories, but I love being able to have a "play" and see how things look together!

Thanks so much for joining me today, I hope you get your gorgeous Christmas Stories 2019 kit out and get to know it!