Monday, November 9, 2015

December Daily Journal



Hello friends! Did you have a good weekend? I hope you got some crafty time. It is Monday again, and a new Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge, this week our challenge is to make something that starts with the letter N.

Layers of ink - December Daily Journal by Anna-Karin
I thought of 'Noel' and 'notebook' and decided to make the cover and inside pages for this year's December Daily journal. I love Ali Edwards' concept of documenting the month of December and I have done it for three years now. You can find my previous albums here: 2012, 2013, and 2014. The past two years, I have used two different worn journals by Tim Holtz as my covers, and I really like the flexibility of these, so I decided to use a third cover this year, the Journaler Worn Cover

I didn't add too much to the cover since I wanted it to be relatively flat so that it can stand easily on a book shelf, together with my previous December albums. 

You might remember my Christmas Countdown Calendar Tutorial from October. The countdown tags on the calendar will go into this album as journaling cards. I used similar textures and shades of green on both projects, so that they will go together. I will add some small photos into the journal, but it is mainly about the words. I usually do a few scrapbooking layouts about our Christmas as a complement to it. 
 
 
I used a piece of burlap on the cover, so that it would coordinate with the burlap panel made for the Countdown Calendar. I also used my favourite image from the Festive Ephemera Pack, slightly sanded and inked. Antique Linen Distress Paint was rubbed into the Christmas Typed Tokens.

Layers of ink - December Daily Journal by Anna-Karin
I adhered a piece of gold Deco Sheet to grungeboard and die cut with Tim Holtz Handwritten Believe die. I love the large size of this word and it was perfect for the journal. The Deco Sheet gives wonderful glittery shine, without any mess.
 
The three stars were die cut with the Tiny Shapes set from leftover gold covered grungeboard. I also used an Occasions Small Talk sticker.

On the inside, there is a Large Ring Binder and I tied it with Linen Ribbon. Some fun metallic trinkets are hanging from the ribbon, giving a great detail to the spine of the book. Since I didn't want anything bulky on the front, I placed some bulky items here instead.

 There is a Swivel Clasp, a Trinket Pin, a key, snowflake, typed token and a Shield Charm.

Inside the book, you'll find a Tag Pocket for each of my countdown tags, as well as a bunch of other pages. I stamped the inside covers.
 
 
The stamping was done with the same inks as used on the Countdown Tags and I also added some ephemera pieces, Design Tape and more small talk stickers.

I love this new stamp of Santa playing the piano from the Christmas Magic set, and the 'joy' stamp. 'Joy' is one of my favourite words.

Layers of ink - December Daily Journal by Anna-Karin
On the back inside cover, I used the tree stamp from the same Christmas Magic set, Santa and his reindeer and a Christmas Flash card.

Apart from the journaling tags, I wanted some extra space in my journal, and also more decorative elements. I used papers from the Pocket Cards set, as well as quite a few pieces of Festive Ephemera. 
 
The Pocket Cards are not meant for Christmas, but you can easily turn them into Christmas backgrounds with some stamping and embellishments. I stamped them with the same stamps and inks as used on the Countdown Tags.

I used a pack of Assorted Page Pockets, which have three different types of pockets with different sized pockets. I like the variation this brought to the album. All the papers were sanded, inked and stamped. I used the same snowflake background stamp and Cracked Pistachio ink as on all the journaling tags. 

Even though these sentiments aren't really meant for Christmas, they work perfectly in a December Daily album.

The tree was stamped three times, without reinking, with Mowed Lawn ink. This little tree is a favourite of mine, it comes Tim Holtz Mini Holidays 2.

Some of the cards are ephemera pieces, but most are from the Pocket Cards pack. These cards are double sided and a few of them had flowery images on the back, but then I simply placed another card there. 

I like the combination of neutral journaling cards and more decorative vintage Christmas images.

Even with the stamping and ephemera pieces there is still plenty of room for journaling.

Layers of ink - December Daily Journal by Anna-Karin
Because of the clip binding mechanism, it is easy to move pages around, so I will use one of these patterned cards in between the Countdown Tags whenever I need one.

I hope you will join us in our Letter N challenge! As always you have a chance to win a $50 gift voucher from Simon Says Stamp. You have until Monday 8am Ohio time. 1pm UK time, 2 pm CET to join in.

If you want to, follow Simon Says Stamp on Instagram, they post great stuff daily. 



If you use instagram add #sssmchallenge to your challenge entry uploads, so that we can see them on there too.




Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope my post inspired you to document the month of December - or you could easily use the same concept to document any month or holiday of the year.

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:





21 comments:

  1. Oh WOW!! this is absolutely GORGEOUS Anna-Karin! I totally love this and I am going to get the products and make one for me ;-D

    luv
    Lols x x x

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  2. Brilliant and beautiful! I love how you created the journal pages.

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  3. How beautiful, Anna-Karin! I'm loving the sparkly elements :)

    *mwah*
    Steph
    Simon Says Stamp!

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  4. You always inspire me! Thank you!!!

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  5. Your album looks FANTASTIC! The advent calendar is wonderful, too. I love the trinkets you have hanging down.

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  6. Love the idea of turning the non-holiday pocket cards into holiday ones. I am working on my December journal now - I will have to scrap lift this idea - thank you! Wish Tim would create a holiday version of the pocket cards...

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  7. so freakin stinking amazing!!!!!

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  8. That is an excellent idea. Thank you for sharing with us.

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  9. This is one brilliant idea, very sentimental and really really lovely! The book is very beautiful, I wish you to fill it with sweet memories.

    Tenancy cleaning Bromley

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  10. Hopped over from Simon to say how much I enjoy this magnificent project! All the little details are so wonderful.

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  11. Awesome December Christmas countdown journal!

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  12. Anna-Karin, this is gorgeous! I can see this becoming a family heirloom for the holidays!

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  13. Love your beautiful journal! All the details are so fabulous! :)

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  14. What a lovely idea, Anna-Karin ... who wouldn't want to record December in such an amazing journal as this! Anita :)

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  15. What an amazing treasure and family heirloom! I always dream of making some sort of cool December Daily project like this, but haven't quite got there yet. I loved seeing this and adore the dangly charms you added.

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  16. What a lovely journal! I love this idea. Thanks for sharing.

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  17. Amazing ! You're so talented! And unstoppable!!!! This work is perfect for Christmas, love the different pages! Barbarayaya

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  18. Ohh wow, Anna-Karin. This is such a darling vintage looking Christmas book. What a fun place to put your Christmas pictures in. So much details, it's gorgeous! Hugs, Sandra

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  19. What a wonderful, detailed keepsake and each page is just beautiful and a miniature work of art ~ it's gorgeous, Anna-Karin!

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  20. Wonderful creation!
    Thank you for always encouraging me

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  21. What a beautiful album and I love the details.

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Thank you so much for leaving a comment! Happy Crafting!