Christmas Daily Tutorial

Hi and welcome!! It is time for another Tim Holtz Media Team tutorial, and now I am moving into Christmas projects. Today's tutorial is my December Daily journal for this year and I wanted to share it early so that you have plenty of time if you want to make your own. I really like Ali Edwards idea of a December Daily journal, and this will be the third year when I do this.

 

Like last year, I decided to use a worn cover for the base of my journal. This gives me plenty of space and it is easy to add or move around pages, which I like. The cover was embellished relatively simply and I didn't want too much dimension, since this book is going to be used quite a bit. You can find my previous December Daily tutorials here and here.

 

This is a long post, so let's start. I wanted fabric covered embellishments for that cosy homemade feeling and used Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements fabrics. Cover a piece of grungeboard with fabric using a Collage Glue Stick.

When the glue is dry, die cut the Prancing Deer. I love this new die and will be using it again in a post later this week.

Fray the edges slightly with your finger nail and ink with Gathered Twigs, using an ink blending tool.

I decided I wanted more shapes and die cut a sleigh, angel, stars, hearts and holly leaves, using two different fabrics.

 

Since I wanted each of my pages to have a date, I decided to use the new Countdown Coins which are perfect for this purpose. Paint them with Picket Fence paint, leave to dry for a short while and wipe most, but not all, of it off. This gives a snowy frosty look to the numbers. Give a Word Band and Tidings Token the same treatment.

Since I was making a lot of pages, I wanted a quick way of adding colour and texture to them. Press Distress Stains on your craft sheet. I used Picket Fence and Tumbled Glass. The Picket Fence stain gives the blue ink a chalky and less transparent look. Remember to always shake the white ink first. Mist slightly with water.

Press a 12 x 12 sheet of manila cardstock into the ink and move it around slightly. Repeat on the second side, applying new ink to the craft sheet. Colour enough paper for your pages and leave to dry.

Die cut thirteen tags with the Tag & Bookplates die.

Stamp them on both sides with the ledger stamp from the School Desk set. This is one of my favourite stamps. I used Tree Branch Archival ink.

Sand the edges of Christmas Ephemera papers, revealing the white core. I inked some of them with Gathered Twigs and left others as is.

I like to add pockets and interactive features into mini books and die cut three Pocket Envelopes from Merriment Paper Stash. The die both cuts and scores the material, making it easy to assemble the envelopes. Sand the edges.

I decided to use a mix of papers for my journal this year and used both the Tags Page Pockets and Assorted Page Pockets. The latter have three different types of divided pockets: a larger and smaller rectangle, three smaller rectangles and two squares. It makes for a fun and varied look to a mini-album. Cut the left over manila cardstock to fit into the pockets. Also cut some backgrounds from patterned paper for variety.

You can add even more interactive features to your album by cutting some of the paper double the necessary length and folding them in half. Tuck one half into the pocket and let the other hang down on the front of the pocket (see the paper to the left).

To embellish the pages I used stamps, since stamping doesn't add any bulk and since you can stamp an almost indefinite number of designs. I took out my Christmas stamps and simply stamped along, using the same inks on all the pages.

Stamp on both sides of most of the pages, except the ones that will be covered with ephemera. You can also add stamping to the patterned paper and ephemera pieces.

 

Time to assemble everything. Tie a Tidings Token with a piece of twine around the neck of the deer and glue the deer to the cover with matte multi medium. Add some white rub-on words here and there.

 

Apply a rub-on to an Enameled Tag and paint white paint into the 24 on a Number Brad. Glue two fabric stars to the cover.

 

Stamp the label from Simple Sayings with Red Geranium Archival ink on a piece of inky left over paper. Place the Word Band on top. Also add metallic corners to the covers, for a finished look. Pinch them with a pair of pliers to make them stick.

 

I used a large binder clip for my journal to have space for all the pages. Tie it as tight as you can with a piece of Linen Ribbon. Hang some ornaments from a Swivel Clasp. I used a Heart Charm, Letterpress Letter, Christmas Token and Tidings Token.

 

I also decorated the inside covers, using fabric covered shapes, ephemera pieces, Flash Cards and tissue tape. Make a title page, you might also want to add the year, I forgot doing that before I took these photos.

Plan where everything will go and alternate the assorted and tag pages. Adhere the date circles with a brad to the papers in the assorted pages, making sure to hide the prongs of the brads with something on the back.

You can add any Christmas embellishments that you want to, such as Chit Chat stickers.

Each day has a spread in the journal, consisting of one side of the assorted page pocket and one side of a tag. The tags will be the main place where you write the journaling. The pockets have place for more journaling, photos, and ephemera. I didn't add a lot of photos to my previous December Daily journals, wanting to focus mainly on the story, and using my photos on scrapbooking pages instead. If you want more space for photos, you can easily just remove some of the ephemera pieces. 

The pocket envelopes are also great places for extra photos, ephemera such as Santa wish lists, receipts, tickets and so on. You can also tuck more pages into the pockets.

 

To the left you can see one of the interactive pages, also giving more space to words and photos.

You lift the flap up and find hidden space underneath.

 

I liked the different sized pages in this journal. Last year, I only used tags, and some pockets.

 

The flash cards can be sanded and inked. They are double sided, with different words on each side, so you have a lot of words to choose from.

 

The combination of inked and stamped, patterned and ephemera pieces makes for an interesting looking album.

You can create little scenes with stamps and ephemera such as to the top left here.

I am not going to share all the pages with you, then this post will be too long.

I love that snowman, looking out into the distance.

I can't wait to fill this book with memories, especially since our December is going to be unusual this year.

My grandmother used to write a few sentences about each Christmas on the packaging of her Christmas tree lights and those few words say so much today. I enjoy reading them at Christmas time and I hope my Christmas journals will have the same meaning.

I hope this post inspired you to create your own December Daily journal. You can make it as simple or intricate as you want, and the important thing is to document those Christmas memories, both the big and the small memories.

 

Happy Christmas Crafting!

 

Anna-Karin

 

Supplies:

Surfaces: Ranger: Manila Cardstock; Tim Holtz idea-ology: Christmas Wishes Worn Cover, Merriment Paper Stash, Grungeboard, Tags Page Pockets, Assorted Page Pockets
Dies: Sizzix: Angelic, Sleigh Ride, Prancing Deer, Mini Hearts, Tag & Bookplates, Pocket Envelope, Mini Pine Tree & Holly, Mini Cardinal & Poinsettia, Crescent Moon & Stars,
Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz: Christmas Nostalgia, Old Fashioned Christmas, Mini Holidays, Mini Holidays 2, Mini Holidays 3, Mini Holidays 4, Simple Sayings, School Desk
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink: Red Geranium, Potting Soil, Branch Tree, Jet Black; Distress Ink: Gathered Twigs, Evergreen Bough
Stain: Distress Stain: Tumbled Glass, Picket Fence
Paint: Distress Paint: Picket Fence
Fabric: Tim Holtz Eclectic Elements: Game Pieces in Neutral, Music
Embellishments: Tim Holtz idea-ology: Merriment Tissue Tape, Christmas Word Bands, Christmas Ephemera Pack, Countdown Coins, Holiday Flashcards, Tidings Tokens, Seasonal Chit Chat Stickers, Number Brads, Letterpress Letters, Heart Charms, Enameled Tags, Linen Ribbon, Large Binder Rings, Swivel Clasps, Christmas Tokens, Christmas Time Remnant Rubs, Long Fasteners, Mini Corners, Paper Strings Stripes