Michele Holcomb

december daily:: finally finished 2010

I vowed that I would complete my 2010 december daily album before the 2011 holiday season was upon us and I'm so happy to say: YAY! It's done.

The last I left off was on day 16 and I wanted to share some of my favorite pages here. If you'd like, the entire album can be viewed in my flickr gallery.

[click images to enlarge]

DAY 18 - tree hunting

DAY 19 - this is a close up of a two page spread. the full image is here.

DAY 23 - the right side is a complete digital page. photos were converted to black and white because the lighting was so bad in the house.

DAY 24 - I used the wrapping paper from our presents to complete this page. Love the colors and design.

As I was completing the last few pages, I am reminded once again that it's the experiences and traditions that my girls hold in their heart. Oh yes...there is still a lot of "list making" and "i wants"; but mostly we hear a lot of "I can't wait until we do _____ again!" So, I need to remember this as the days become crazy and blurred. This is truly a magical season.

Looking forward to making new holiday memories worth documenting.

Happy December!

december daily: days 13 - 16

I'm still plugging away on my december daily. It's becoming bulky and full of life. I absolutely adore this project but I'm pretty much ready for it to be done. I will get there.

day 13

As I mentioned in this post, my previous pages were quite busy, and I needed to tone it down a bit. I think this spread does it for me. I can't get any simpler than this. A little bit of bling from Making Memories, stamping, text, digital postage images from Katie Pertiet, Anna Griffin tape and Bazzill cardstock is all I needed.

This year I really wanted to make sure that I captured the relationship that my girls' have with my nephew. We're really lucky that he not only lives 5 minutes away but they see each other at my parents' house on a regular basis.

day 14

 

A few weeks back I was going through photos, I found this gem that I took of my parents' front yard right after Thanksgiving. I really loved all of the Twinkle lights this season. I added the December Sentiment Strips from Designer Digitals.  

[supplies: ric rac, making memories artisan label, graphic 45 patterned paper, bazzill kraft cardstock, doodlebug brad, prestige elite std font]

day 15

A collection of my favorite images on flickr made my day 15. You can see a larger image of my flickr favs here. 

[supplies: bazzill red swiss dotted & kraft cardstock, anna griffin journaling tag, making memories stickers, white ink, prestige elite std font]

day 16

I sort of rushed through this spread and I'm finally okay with it. A simple 4x6 photo, graphic 45 patterned paper and my own handwriting. 

So that's it for now. I think this will be my last post on the book until I totally complete it.

december daily: day 11 & 12

Taking a quick moment to share a few more pages of my december daily. I just love how full it's getting too. It's been rainy here so I've been slowly working on pages when I get some free time. 

day 11

A two page spread with photos from my trip with my good friend Sonda to Berkeley's 4th Street. I used another hp transparency and printed the red circles from free online graph paper.

A mosaic of flowers with a scallop punched circle and bazzill brad. 

Here's a close up of the transparency with a tag from Office Max. Initial stamps are from October Afternoon and staple from Making Memories. 

This is me in Anthropologie. Love, love, love their entryway. I want to do this for my girls. Another digital image from Katie Pertiet's Defined Discs and a binder clip from Target. 

These pages are pretty busy so I'm working on toning it down a bit. 

day 12

The girls and I attended the Singing Christmas Tree with my mother-in-law at Capital Christian Center. It's something that we look forward to doing with her every year. Here you can see one of the pocket pages I created to hold our tickets. I took the program cover and cut it down to size for the left handside. I took some photos and will probably print a few of those out and place it in the pocket along with the tickets. 

Below are some close-ups.

I also inserted a note from Andre that he left for me on Saturday night cut down to size and glued to some October Afternoon patterned paper. The pocket page is made with Bazzill cardstock and Anna Griffin patterned paper. Mistletoe button is from the Making Memories line. In the future I probably would not adhere it as it makes the pages really bulky. 

I'd like to say Thank You so much for visiting and whether you leave comments or not, your visit is very much appreciated. 

Happy Sunday!

 

december daily: days 8 - 10

Finally getting a chance to post a few more days of the daily. It's usually right around this time that I start to fizzle out so I'm determined to see this through. I've been lacking time to really get into making each page a little different so I gave up on that idea along with the notion that I need to journal on every page. A sentence or two will do. 

day 8

I attended an Association Trade Show through work and the booths were impressive. This event is called Seasonal Spectacular. The envelope holds my raffle tickets, name badge, and the catering menu card which has my journaling.

[supplies: bazzill swiss dotted cardstock; kraft autumn leaves tag; kaiser scrapbook red pearl; reflections - kraft envelope; brown/white bakers twine; making memories word stickers, tag, eyelets, & masking tape; prestige elite std font]

day 9

Super simple spread with a full page photo & journaling. And can I share that skating has brought me back to my teen years. The exact same skating rink I use to hang out at on Friday nights and nothing has changed...besides me. Oh...and my legs...they hurt. Really bad. 

[supplies: anna griffin journal tag, october afternoon letter stamps, ranger distress ink, prestige elite std font]

day 10

Another super simple entry with a full page photo and Ali Edwards December Sentiment Strips from Designer Digitals. 

[supplies: bazzill kraft cardstock; october afternoon patterned paper; kaiser scrapbook pearl, making memories journaling sticker; Michael's ribbon]

december daily: day 7

I struggled on whether I wanted to include the story below in my december daily. I could've easily documented a photo of my girls and nephew goofing around, or my parents beautifully decorated holiday home, or the holiday cards that I'm in the middle of creating. But this story kept coming to the forefront. It's a reminder for me even though it doesn't paint a pretty picture. And that is my exact reason for including it. Because life is not always pretty and perfect. Far from it actually. 

For some of you that have been visiting this space for the past couple of years, you may know that I have a daughter with a special needs. She has this innocence that is like no other. She trusts with all her heart, accepts people for who they are and is hilarious even when she's not trying to be. She continues to teach me how to advocate for her on a daily basis. She is not one to show her emotions or ask for hugs, you just need to know when to give it to her. And when she does ask, we stop everything because those times can be rare. She is one of those kids that prefers being alone at times but loves her family time intensely. We need to make a constant effort to make sure that her emotional and social needs are met.  

My journaling documents a challenging evening but rather than retell the story and make it about us...what it really comes down to is about me. About parenting, making better choices, and listening.

If you read this far, thank you for letting me share a little more about our life. 

[supplies: basic gray patterned paper, bazzill vanilla cardstock, anna griffin tape, october afternoon journaling tag, ali edwards digital brush (Yesterday & Today class), queen & co. pearls]

december daily - day 5 & 6

As I've been perusing the december daily gallery over on flickr one of the things that has stood out to me is how much I love transparencies. So many people are using them and I just love the look that it gives to the album and the layouts. Since I didn't have any on hand I created my own using free online graph paper and hp inkjet transparency sheets. This website was a wonderful resource that I found through Molly when she created her amazing 2008 december daily.

I created a two day spread of day 5 & 6. I wanted these pages to have a cohesive look but also be able to stand on their own.

day 5 - Documenting the books that we are reading this time of year.

I'll continue to add books to this list as we read them. [supplies: patterned paper unknown, white cardstock, anna griffin journaling tags, 7gypsies metal tab]

Here is a close up of the transparency. I cut a piece of bazzill cardstock and adhered it to the top with an eyelet and gold ribbon. "I believe" stamp is from October Afternoon.

day 6 - There has been a lot of talk about Santa in our home the past couple of weeks. I knew it would be coming but I didn't think it would be this year. This documents the story. The digital image is a design by Katie Pertiet called Defined Discs: Holiday Brushes and Stamps from Designer Digitals. 

[supplies: bazzill kraft & dotted swiss cardstock, designer digitals brush, anna griffin journaling tags, k&company embossed sticker, 7gypsies metal tab]

december daily: day 3 & 4

I finally pulled out some of the holiday decorations for the season. The first rooms to be decorated were the girls'. I'll focus on the rest of the house in the next few days. 

day 3  - my journaling documents the girls' bedroom decor and their surprise to see the room transformation [click image to enlarge]

I used Everyday Twill from Designer Digitals right on top of the photo. Mixing in some digital elements is so very cool. It's an added embellishment with a little less bulk. 

[supplies: lily bee patterned paper, collage press journaling tags, 7 gypsies photo turn & brad, making memories glitter pebble stickers, designer digitals everyday twill, creative cafe "the story" stamp, danelle johnson "home for the holidays" stamp, ranger distress ink, prestige elite std font, sharpie pen]

day 4 - documenting our ordinary saturday [click image to enlarge]

Once again...i'm making these careless errors in my journaling. Telling myself to slow down. Moving on.

I'm loving the combination of type-written and hand-written entries in my daily. The type on kraft cardstock seems to bring a cohesive look to the entire book. This wasn't intentional but I think I will continue it throughout the rest of my pages. 

[supplies: bazzill red dotted and vanilla cardstock, designer digitals everyday twill, making memories glitter pebble stickers and vintage labels, anna griffin tape (red), prestige elite std and bickham script pro font]

december daily: day 1 & 2

I'm feeling really good about this year's december daily. Although it's only day 3, each night I ask myself What is one story that I want to tell today? Keeping this thought in the back of my head helps me gather my thoughts and makes it much more easier to complete my task. Much thanks to Ali and her simple thoughts post. 

day 1 - capturing a morning with Nyna before we left for school [click image to enlarge]

I realized that I missed a few spaces between the words after printing the journaling and adhering it the backside of my cover page. Normally I would print this page over but for the sake of my time, I just needed this page to be done. 

[supplies: bazzill kraft & swiss dot cardstock, october afternoon rub-on (on photo), anna griffin journal tag, ribbon, prestige elite std font]

day 2 - super simple page about my oldest Arianna and her love for this season [click image to enlarge]

It's a little hard to see in the photo but the metal tag says "Cherished Memories." It's nice to use product that has been sitting around for a while. 

[supplies: crate paper (red dotted), kraft bazzill, kraft autumn leaves tag, making memories metal sayings, bakers twine, october afternoon stamp (holly's), ranger distress ink, prestige elite std and bickham script pro font]

Off to enjoy the rest of my day.

Happy Weekend! 

 

december daily: the beginning

I've gathered all of my favorite items in one place to put together my third December Daily. I truly love this project and all the holiday memories that it brings. One of the things that I realize when it comes to this december documentation, is that smaller is better. For me anyway. The 8x8 album that I used last year was just too big and intimidating. So I decided to house this year's pages in a cream linen 6x6 ring album from Lasting Impressions. I'm not sure if they still make this album anymore, as I have had it for a few years now.

Here is a look at the cover page:

My cover page is a take on the fall Pottery Barn catalog. It's a great introduction to what is to come in the next twenty-five days. I resized a downloadable image from Macys.com which has some wonderful images from the upcoming T.V. special called Yes, Virginia. This is one of the holiday movies on our list. Found the link via Ali E. on Twitter. There are so many great resources that people are sharing. 

Below are some pages that I've started and i'll share more as the days go on.

I'm really looking to make this journey as simple as possible. I loved Ali's suggestion to break it down into small tasks and tackle one thing at a time. That is exactly my plan for this year.

Happy Documenting!