December Daily

I feel weird just typing that.  It's almost March.  I started this project right before 'the move'.  I kept an Iris tote out while I packed my room.  It held my supplies for the album and a few tools, just what I would need to finish.

Somehow, the stress of the move, the holidays and work sucked the creativity right out of me.  I put that Iris tote in a dark corner and let it be.

I took pictures of our Elf's adventures because he was the one constant this year.  I have slowly started uploading photos of his antics off my phone and sending them off to Persnickety Prints for printing.

Here is what I've finished so far.

 I used a Simple Stories Sn@p album.  You can see the supply pictures in this post.

 Studio Calico star transparency tucked in a pocket with Studio Calico veneer stars, sequins and Chic Tags veneer.

 Chic Tags tags.

 I believe the map paper is October Afternoon.  Geo tag veneer is Studio Calico and I added the gold enamel dot.  The gold stars on the map paper are from Chic Tags rub on sheet.  Bottom half is Chic Tags Good Tidings paper, OA tag and Websters Pages bow clip.

 Mixture of Chic Tags and October Afternoon.

 Maya Road craft envelope.  I swapped out the red twine for the natural jute.  I punched holes so I could add it as a page in the album to store extra photos of the holiday house we visit every year.  Heidi Swapp glitter text sticker, OA sticker letters and Chic Tags veneer.

 I adhered a photo of us to the back.

 More gold rubons from Chic Tags, OA tags and a flair button.

More Chic Tags, October Afternoon (elf sticker) and the American Crafts gold Thickers.  The gold alphas are Chic Tags.  All Chic Tags products are from their Good Tidings collection.

I am busy finishing up the next group of pages for the book and I'll share them as soon as I'm done.

Waiting.....

I'm the instant gratification type of person.  I don't like to wait, I don't like surprises.  You know Christmas was hard for me as a kid right?  My mom used to have the best hiding places for my presents.  I wasn't allowed in our garage once and I swore I was getting a mini fridge for my bedroom.  I swore.  So when the really expensive white wicker bookshelf showed up, I was pretty bummed.  Don't get me wrong, I loved that bookshelf and it held all of my precious books, but man, I wanted that mini fridge.

I had to wait until I got to college for one of those suckers.  It was my prized possession for 4 years.

Anyway, the waiting part.  So right now, I'm waiting on my house.  We thought we'd be moved in and partially settled at this point in the month but we're still waiting.  Underwriting was a bear to deal with (if you're in underwriting, I'm sorry) and then escrow.  I will say that my husband and I have dropped some serious 4 letter words in the past few weeks.  Every time they ask us for something new or have a question on something so dang obvious, it make me so mad I could spit nails.

The day after.  I scheduled that week off a long time ago but it was to relax.  Now I'll be moving.  The sad part is, we were given the green light about 6 times by underwriting (grrrrr) and we started packing.  I figured the first and easiest place would by my craft room.  First packed, first unpacked, right?  Wink Wink.

No.  Its all still packed.  That washi tape I need for that last minute project for school?  Packed.  My mist?  Packed.  December Daily materials?  Packed.  Grrrrrr.

I actually unpacked two boxes last weekend because I couldn't stand it anymore.  I actually unpacked before the move.  With all the stress I haven't felt much like crafting but the bug hit and I had to do something.

I threw together this simple tag.  Our elf has been quite active this month and I've got the pictures ready to go.  Tonight he brought a tree.  A small tree.  I wasn't up to anything more and I really don't have the room since the house is full of boxes!  I contemplated building a box tree.  You know, stacked boxes in the shape of a tree.  Yeah.  I'm sad.  I was going to put a string of lights around it too.  

Features a stamp from the Kelly Purkey set from SSS and flair from a {flair} for buttons.  There are a ton of new sets in the shop to chose from.  I've got a few sets ready for the DD book when it goes together.

December Daily (aka the Gettin' Jiggy with Ziggy album)

I learned after 4 failed attempts at a DD that I wasn't cut out for it.  For the past 2 years I've completed a mini album with photographic evidence of the escapades our Elf on the Shelf gets into.  Our Elf is named Ziggy.

My son looks forward to Ziggy's visit and the album that follows.  It always goes to school on share day so his friends can see what his Elf was up too.

I also enjoy scouring the interwebz looking for fun, new 'activities' Ziggy can entertain himself with while he visits us.  We have some recurring favorites like the underwear hanging from the tree or mantle, marshmallow fights and other fun stuff.

Ziggy also brings back *small* gifts for N during the month.  *Small* meaning an advent calendar or a treat.  Its kind of a way to tide the kid over until Santa comes on Christmas Eve.  This year, I stole an idea I read about on someone's blog.  Ziggy will be bringing N the Lego Advent Calendar on his first night (Thanksgiving night).  He has that small thing to look forward too each day.  In addition, I purchased a larger Lego set and am breaking it down into pieces for N to complete.  It will take him a month to put it together.  Each night, Ziggy will bring one sheet of instructions and a few pieces of the set for him to build.  By Christmas, he will have a completed Lego set.

N loves the whole elf thing.  Mom loves documenting it for him.  Each year, I put together my own kit. Sometimes its a kit I purchase from a club with a bunch of my own things mixed in, or sometimes its stuff I've pulled together.  This year, I ordered 2 of everything from Veronica at Chic Tags.  LOVE love LOVE the holiday line.  Good Tidings.  LOVE.

 October Afternoon washi tape.

 Simple Stories SN@P album.

 An assortment of goodies from Crate Paper, Websters Pages, Studio Calico and October Afternoon.

 A closeup of the goodies from October Afternoon, Studio Calico and Chic Tags.

 Hello cutables!  Cute-ables is more like it.

 GOLD rubons.  I don't know why, but I'm hooked on gold this year.  I'm totally a silver girl.

 More gold.  These are from the Good Tidings line from Chic Tags.

 American Crafts Thickers.  GOLD Thickers.  Hello!

 Chic Tags, Studio Calico, October Afternoon, Pink Paislee, American Crafts.........

 Some of the awesome papers from Chic Tags.   Some of them have gold foil details.

 Transparencies.  Hambly transparencies.  Yes, I've been hoarding these but I've made a resolution to use them this year.  My new space will be smaller and that means use it or lose it!

 Even a little KI Memories vintage in there.

I cannot wait to see how this one turns out.  I've been making a list of things Ziggy will be doing from 11/28-12/24.  Its easier when you have a plan.  When you're exhausted from work and being a mom, you just look at your list and pick something.

This project is the *perfect* thing to keep out during the move.  I can keep a few supplies with me while I unpack and set up the new scrap space.  I never pressure myself to get this completed in December either.  This is totally a January project.  I start it in December and finish it after the holidays.

ETA:  Since I wrote this, I added a few more things to the kit.

First, the December Limited Edition kit from Chic Tags.

And some flair from a {flair} for buttons Etsy shop.