JYC Days 22 and 23

Its official! I've completely burnt myself out Christmas craft wise *laugh* I spend all year looking forward to Christmas card making and then I peak too early!! ;0) I had a whole stack of little crafting accessories I wanted to make before Saturday and now all of a sudden I am out of time and Christmas is upon us. So instead of making tags and the like, I've spent the evening making some last minute little pressies for people. Oh and catching up on JYC of course....

Day 22: The prompt was to journal about what I still have to do and last minute lists. I really didnt have any inspiration for that prompt as I really was too scarily organised this year. And I had a lovely day in Portsmouth yesterday which I wanted to journal about instead. So I used that as my focus. We started and ended the day in Starbucks (no Eggnog Latte for me- they'd sold out!!!) which is pretty much a given with me and Mum anyhow. But I adore their Christmas drinks and their seasonal cups too. I had picked up a few spare red cups when they were first launched in November as i wanted to make a mini album with one. But instead I cut one up today to form the journalling section of my LOs.

 I cut a cup up, folded in half and then punched holes to make an extra page section for the journal. I stuck an envelope in and used this to store our train tickets and a Starbucks voucher (due to the 6 drinks we purchased in there yesterday I got two packets of coffee for free *hooray for Christmas bargains*)

 Day 23: Prompt- Stockings

Stockings have always been a family tradition in our house. I cannot end this tradition as I just love buying all the little bits and pieces to put in a stocking. The photo is of Sam's stocking this year (I have NO idea why it printed so dark as the photo was super bright). I've filled it with lots of Sam related goodies (cherry liquor curd anyone? Good job he doesnt read this *tee hee*)

The little stockings that are hanging up on my LO are from the FANTASTIC Every Little Bit stamp set from Stampin' Up! I recently treated myself to this set (it is one of the more expensive sets- but worth every penny for all the gorgeous little pictures that come with it. So versatile!)

I'm feeling so contented and festive. Only half a day of work left and then its officially Christmas-time! ;0) Hoping to go along to a Christingle service tomorrow afternoon. I adore listening to the Christmas readings and singing the Christmas Carols.

Happy Festive Crafting and a Very Merry Christmas too.

-XXXXXX-

Journal Your Christmas Days 20 and 21

So little space and so many photos I wanted to include in these couple of days. The prompts for Days 20 and 21 were 'Surprise' and 'Right now'. However, I've had so much going on that I've journalled about those ideas but the photos dont really reflect the theme.

Day 20: Surprise (which I technically included on Day 21)

I met up with fellow JYC/JOY-ers Paige and Sam in Thorntons for a hot chocolate and a look at each others festive albums. Paige took the lovely photo below of our 3 albums lined up together (looks like we'll all be suffering with the bulging at the seams issue!).

 I also went along to St Marys Church in Cowes with Mum and Dad in the evening for a brass band Christmas concert. It was such a lovely festive night (complete with ginger punch and a warm mince pie ;0).

 Day 21: Right now (with a hint of Surprise)

I completed two prompts today as they both fitted with the photos I wanted to include. I based the first page around cards, receiving cards and the lovely Wallace & Gromit Christmas stamps. I wrote a journalling card within the envelope which also includes a photo of my In Love With Stamping Secret Santa pressie (it is so beautifully wrapped and stamped that I wanted to include a photo before I open the wrapping on Saturday). It fits with the idea of surprise as I dont know who my Secret Santa is and also I was happily surprised by the arrival of this card from the States ;0)

 The prompt of 'capturing today' also proved a fun one to photograph. I have been passing the shop window below every day and wanting to stop and take a picture. So when the prompt was to capture December 21st I decided today was the perfect opportunity to take a pic of Scrooge in his Victorian window on Union Street. I also took a photo of my DIY tools. I have been doing some DIY around the house as some of my Christmas lights fell down at the weekend taking a fair chunk of wall plaster too. I had to buy some filler and sandpaper to fill the holes and then repaint over the top. I did a very good job even if I do say so myself. So the photo captures my tools all ready to go. I might add a bit more decoration to this page tomorrow when I get my energy back (I never knew daily scrapping could be so darn tiring).

I am so pleased to be keeping up with this and while not every page is a masterpiece. It is a good reflection of my December and what is happening in my world. I love capturing the little details in photos ;0)

Happy Festive Crafting to all.

-XX-

Journal Your Christmas Days 16. 17, 18 & 19

Well its been a funny old couple of days. I've been sticking with my JYC but keeping the pages simple to match my slightly fuzzy brain at the mo. Plus I am struggling to keep my album closed now as the embellishments are making it SO thick (that'll teach me to use thickers on Day 1 wont it?). Here are my pages to date:

Day 16: Gratitude. I have a lot to be thankful for this year and I wanted to journal it all (but keep it tucked away). So I used a spare gift card holder I had made at my Christmas Craft Day and created a mini gift card which reads 'Gratitude' which i placed inside. I then did all my journalling within the card holder. I like this layout as it tells a story without the hidden journalling. But the writing tucked away tells another, more personal, story.

 Day 17: The Perfect Gift.
Now I struggled with this prompt as I had already done 'perfect gift' journalling a couple of days ago. So instead I printed out photos of my Mum and Dads house and created a Sights of Christmas Part 2 page. My family home is equally important in terms of the Christmas festivities and there are certain things that mark Christmas' arrival more than any other (my Dad's annual Christmas lights all through the house and outside, my Mums homemade wreath and Dad's German Market Smoking Santa!).

 I also created a page about the perfect little knitted cat toy my Mum made for my cousin's baby. I so love this toy and wanted to have a little reminder of him in my album.

 Day 18: Dear Santa.
I kept this page simple as I knew exactly what I wanted to ask Santa for. I created the tag so that when you pull it out there is a picture of Father Christmas (part of the challenge was to use an image of Santa). I then did some journalling about things I'd like to achieve in 2011 and things I'd taken for granted would happen in 2010 (and didnt).

 Day 19: Christmas Dinner.
As you can see I didn't journal about Christmas dinner. I will come back to that prompt on another day I think. So instead I used my lovely new 'Make a Wish' papers to journal about being snowed in this weekend!

JYC is proving to be such a great way to capture all the details and memories in the making. I hope everyone else that is completing their albums is enjoying it as much as me.

Happy Festive Crafting ;0)

-XXX-

Journal Your Christmas Days 14 and 15

I've gone a bit off prompt today as I try and catch up on the last few days. I've been feeling a bit low and a bit hormonal so I wanted to focus on things that make me happy and so have just used lovely photos more than journalling. I've also left the 'Thankful' prompt until tomorrow hoping i might be able to do it a bit more justice then (I have plenty to be thankful for this year ;0).

So here goes....

Day 14: Prompt: Gifts.

I wrapped all my pressies and laid them all out beautifully under the tree for the photo. I also tucked the journalling behind the pic to make the photo the focal point.

 Day 15's prompt was 'Visitors'. Well I have visitors and do plenty of visiting too over Christmas. But I couldnt decide how to capture this. So I decided to focus todays page on one of my favourite visitors instead (honestly, no favouritism in this house really). This is our gorgeous family boxer dog Kala. She is such a joy in my life. Whenever i am having a bad day or in need of a little boost, she is always a tonic ;0) I love this photo as it captures her in the snow a couple of weeks ago. Usually her dark features get lost in photos, but the snow brought out her softie face. 

 The last project i completed tonight is completely un-JYC-related. Mum asked me to help put together this frame for my Nanny & Pops for Christmas. We went through a whole load of photos of the family and printed them all out then raided my stash cupboard to find stampsets and punches to use to accessorise. Mum and I's favourite Owl Punch even made an appearance (soon to be appearing in a Stampin' Up! mini catalogue near you! Stay tuned for more info....). We used: Vintage Vogue, For Everything, the Two Step Bird Punch & the Owl Punch. Sorry the photo isnt so clear. The lighting in here is terrible!!

Happy festive crafting....
-XXX-

Journal Your Christmas Day 13

This is one of the cards I taught this past weekend at my card class. Its a classic shadow box card using Dasher (who I transformed into Rudolph with a bit of red glitter glue!!). For this I used Riding Hood Red C/S with gold embossing powder and my new Welcome Christmas stamp set. So simply yet very striking.

 And now on to tonights JYC entry. The prompt today was Christmas Music. I knew I'd find a good use for this musical note paper in the Newsprint DSP set. I titled the page 'Tis the season to be Jolly and Joyous' as sung by Kermit in The Muppet Christmas Carol ;0) And one of the most catchy of seasonal songs. I've kept todays entry quite simple (I'm getting the hang of this JYC thing now!). But i finally got to use one of my Tim Holtz journalling cards. I looked all over for them then never found the right LO to use them on! And now I've gone and used two on one page ;0)

Happy Festive Crafting ;0)

Journal Your Christmas Days 10, 11 and 12

Hello all, apologies for my blogging absence. Stupid flu cold thing laying me low this past few days. I've really not felt up to much at all. But I've kept on with my JYC. But I have scaled back a bit on the amount I am including (partly through necessity as my binder is already bursting at the seams- I have definitely been over zealous with my embellishments. Trying to keep it to one page a day now instead of two).

So here is Day 10. The prompt was Christmas wrapping. I covered the page with my favourite roll of Christmas paper. This was actually from last year but I wanted to include it as I still think its lovely. I have then used a couple of gift tags to embellish the page.

 I also created a second page for Friday as Mum and I went along to the Lights of Love service in Newport St Thomas' Church. It was in aid of the Earl Mountbatten Hospice and was a lovely joyful service. I haven't been to Church in over 4 years now but I still had the same joyous feeling at listening to the nativity readings and singing along to Hark the Herald Angels.

 Day 11's prompt was Christmas Trees. I'd already covered the paper in relevant tree C/S but then sat down and didn't feel like creating on the subject. So I just themed it on taking a trip to the cinema to see Voyage of the Dawn Treader (which I loved btw). I've wanted my journal to be part reflection and part diary. So this fitted in well with that.

 Day 12: Prompt- Christmas Past. Well as I'd already reflected on Christmases past on previous days I decided to do the Christmas Tree prompt on Day 12 instead. I used my own tree as the focal point of the page and journalled about my eclectic collection of decorations. Sam and I also visited his parents yesterday where we photographed his two year old nephew helping to decorate their tree. I thought it was such a lovely image i just had to include it too.

I hope the festive season is treating you all well. I am getting in the mood now having spent last night with an Irish Coffee, a tub of pick n mix and Elf on the TV. I felt very festive indeed.

Happy festive crafting ;0)

-XXX-

Journal Your Christmas Day 9

Still feeling poorly. Slept some of the afternoon which means I am now unable to fall asleep at the proper time. So I thought I'd have a go at todays prompt and upload. I've kept it relatively simple as I needed to give my creative brain a break today. I've been looking forward to this prompt since day 1. My family have a lot of Christmas traditions that make the season for me. But the one I really wanted to highlight was our love of The Muppet Christmas Carol. We usually wait and watch it all together once a year (and you know Christmas is really coming once we've all had a Poulton sing-along to all the songs!). I didnt need to say much more than give a page up to the movie poster. Its so lovely and festive that i didnt want to cover much of it up.

I've created a mini card behind the manatee decoration photo for my Traditions journalling. I also inserted a hidden journalling card between this page and tomorrows. I had a few things I wanted to note down about whats been going on through December and how I've been feeling about JYC. But I wanted it to be hidden away from the main pages. So I just stuck two pages together and inserted a tab and journalling card ;0) I have made a little deal with myself to be more honest with my journalling as that is part of the recording of memories. So I am making time to include more written word. Which wont always be part of my main pages.

Happy festive crafting ;0)

-XXX-

Journal Your Christmas Days 7 and 8

So my annual Christmas cold has hit! And its seemingly hit my creativity too. I've been feeling positively miserable and sorry for myself. But I've been keeping up with my JYC as the eclectic creative feel is part of the Journal's story in itself. And I have noted in my journalling that I've not been up to scratch health wise ;0)

Day 7's prompt was Christmas lists and what is left to do. I was a little over enthusiastic this year and somehow managed to get nearly everything done in November. So source material was a bit thin on the ground. I did, however, have a play with the settings on my camera to have a go at Shimelle's photography prompts. I wanted to have another go at blurring the background. Hence the photo of the wrapping paper rolls. I am really enjoying capturing the moments of Christmas that would otherwise by overlooked (but are no less important in the overall festive preparations!).

 Day 8's prompt was 'The sights of Christmas'. We were all challenged to take our cameras out and about and photograph our neck of the woods on December 8th. However, as I was home from work poorly I couldnt really get out to take pictures. But still wanted to complete my page for the day. So I went through my photos and used pictures from Decembers past and created pages based on images that capture Christmas for me. And things I have taken photos of deliberately for the feelings they evoked in me at the time. I've included photos from my various Christmas travels (Prague Christmas Markets and the city of Christmas, NYC).

 I then wanted a comparison page to compare traditional Christmas signs to the the more personal modern signs (things that mean a lot to me - hence the photo of this years festive Radio Times!).

 I've also not been leaving myself enough space for journalling so entered an extra smaller page to catch up with things on how I've been feeling and what I've been wanting to say.

These arent my favourite JYC pages so far. However, they do contribute to my overall feeling and experience of my first Christmas journal. So I'm glad they are there. And I am happy to be trying new styles and each page uses different papers and embellishments.

Happy Festive Crafting ;0)
-XXXX-

Journal Your Christmas Days 5 and 6

I got a day behind with my journalling as a result of spending Sunday evening with my family (I was very proud of my slow cooking effort- a lovely beef korma). Living Christmas was a little more important than journalling it ;0) So I spent hours last night catching up (who'd have thought 4 pages could take me all of Eclipse, Eastenders and Nigella's Christmas Bites!?).

The prompt for Day 5 was 'Counting Down' and how we mark each day to Christmas. This was an easy one for me as we've had the same Christmas Advent Calender since i was a child (and in recent years I have been refilling a lovely M&S tree with treat drawers for Sam and I). So with a little help from my sister I journalled a page of my own calender and our family calender too (Nat had to take the family pic for me).

I started with the title page for the day. I decided to incorporate this with a Wight Craft Circle challenge, Patchwork. I'd had this idea in mind for a while and was looking for the right time to use it. It was a great excuse to get out my stack of old alphas and use up all my odd numbers too. Sorry for the darkness of the photos. No natural light available before I come to work in the mornings.

 Here is my Advent Calender page. The photo is on hinges to reveal my second calender photo.

 I've tucked another photo and a decorative tree behind the first main photo. I wanted to go into more depth with the journalling. So I might go back and add some more tonight. The family advent calender was handmade by my Mum when I was younger and has seen us through every Christmas since (we've had all manner of treats and lovelies hanging from each day over the years).

 Day 6's prompt was 'A Tale of Two Christmases' and we were challenged to split our page/s in half somehow. Well I thought long and hard about Shimelle's prompt and about reflecting on stories from two Christmases past. However, I couldnt really think of a negative Christmas memory. And in reality, I wanted to focus on happy memories and make my journal joyous. So instead I have simply made todays journalling about stand out Christmas memories.

My title page was inspired by this LO I saw on Ali Edward's December Daily page. I think she used pre-printed acetate where as I chose to break out my Stamp-a-ma-Jig and circle stamp from the Something Sweet stamp set and hand stamp my circles in Cherry Cobler and Old Olive. The photos reflect on handmade Christmas treats. The upper right is a decorated Christmas Cake I made for my Mum and the lower photo is a handmade gingerbread house Sam and I created for his nieces and nephews a couple of years ago.

 My final page for Day 6 was inspired by Shimelle's idea of breaking up the page into two. I used a lovely piece of stripey ribbon to define the split. However, it got covered by the photos! I called the page' Ghost of Christmas Past' and my journalling reflects on two Christmas photos. One of my sisters when they were tiny and one of Sam and I visiting the German Christmas markets a couple of years back.

Still loving Journal Your Christmas. And hoping to catch up with some other people's blogs today to see how everyone else is getting on.

Happy Festive Crafting ;0)

-XXX-

Journal Your Christmas Day 4

Apologies in advance, this is quite a picture heavy post. I have been slightly over exuberant in my Christmas journaling this weekend and the results are below (so much for only two pages per day!)

I’ll start my post today however, with a Christmas card. I made this early this morning (Sunday). I have my monthly card class at my home next Saturday and as its nearly Christmas I wanted to make it a special one with some alternative style Christmas cards. So I have been designing some lovely card ideas. Here is one of the projects I have decided upon for next Saturday; a gorgeous glittery heat embossed snowflake waterfall card. I have a couple of spaces available for this class, so if you would like to come along and learn how to make this card (plus two other cards and a 3D project, and refreshments) please get in touch (01983 609249 or poulton_sarah@yahoo.co.uk). The cost for the afternoon is £8.

 Right, back to what is taking over my life at the moment- Christmas journalling!!! I was a bit hesitant about signing up to follow a daily prompt as I wasnt sure I would be able to find enough to talk about. However, receiving Shimelle's daily emails (plus photography tips) is proving incredibly inspirational. And as you can see from the photos below. I certainly havent run out of things to talk about yet.

On Friday I bought the Daily Telegraph just for the satellite image on the front cover. This picture shows the whole of the UK from above covered in snow. I thought this was such a great image that I had to include it in the journal even though it doesnt entirely fit the two pages a day rule I imposed on myself ;0) Oh, and I appear to have become a bit fixated on acetate inserts you'll notice. For this double page I created an acetate overlay using Serene Snowflakes, Heat & Stick Powder & Dazzling Diamonds (I am so loving heat resistant acetate!!!). You cannot really see the acetate layer in the photo but it is lovely and glittery and effective in real life.

Yesterdays prompt was daydreaming of a perfect Christmas. We were supposed to let our minds wander to construct an ideal Christmas. I got completely carried away thinking about family holidays we have had abroad over the festive season and how lovely it was to be warm and sunny on Christmas day. So, while not completely fitting the festive theme I have created a couple of Hawaiian inspired Christmas LOs. I suddenly found a purpose for all the beautiful Hawaiian themed papers i have been collecting (including the lovely tropical [now retired] Stampin' Up! papers from the US). 

You'll note the token inclusion of my sister wearing a Christmas hat as we purchased our shaved ice on Christmas Day 2006 (the gentleman in the shaved ice van made her wear it for the photo!). While being sunny over Christmas isnt everyones cup of tea, as a family we've been away for 4 Christmases in sunnier climes and I've loved every minute of breaking up the winter blues with a burst of warm sun. I guess the moral really is (and this is included in my whole page of journalling) that its family and loved ones that make Christmas, not the location. But all the same in an ideal world, Hawaii would win every time!!! (Plus we always agree that there are no pressies if we go abroad- the holiday is our gift- so no horrible crowds and Christmas shopping!! Hooray for that too!!!)

Until tomorrow, happy festive crafting to all ;0)

-XXXX-

Journal Your Christmas Day 3

Back again! I've been up since 6am making Christmas cards for all my lovely customers. For my inspiration this morning I used the Colour Coach. I knew I wanted to have a go at a Christmas card using Pear Pizzazz but wasnt sure what to match it with. And what a lovely colour combo the Colour Coach came up with- Pear Pizzazz and Rich Razzleberry! I wouldnt have thought it would work but it does ;0)

I used this with my new set purchased as part of the Christmas Bundle promo (please see this post) - Gifted. I love these stockings. They were what attracted me to the promotion in the first place. A very striking yet simple Christmas card.

 I also had a go at this card using the Christmas Tree from the Contempo Christmas set. I've had the set a while and used the ornament and sentiments a lot. But this is the first outing for the lovely little tree. I think I'll add a few sparkly rhinestones to the tree to bling it up a bit. This is a card for someone lovely. But I wont say who right now as I know she reads this blog from time to time.

 Now on to yesterdays Journal Your Christmas. The prompt said to think about Christmas Cards and who we sent greetings to and why (should've been today really with the amount of cards i've made today). Well this year I've been super organised and I sent all my cards on December 1st. So instead of planning or writing a list I used the pages in my journal to capture cards i have received so far and also use a card I had designed (one of the ones i used to send to friends and family) as a jounalling card (more hidden journalling too....). I've managed to 'collect' a great deal of dear friends through living in so many places and meeting so many fantastic people everywhere I go. Christmas is a perfect time for me to sit down and make sure I say a heart felt hello to each and every one of them. It is well worth the fact that i am incapable of making a card that I can fit into a normal envelope with a first class stamp on (Large Letter Stamps all the way for me this year.....).

For both these LOs I used the now retired Christmas DSP from last years Stampin' Up! catalogue. These are my first proper Stampin' Up!-y pages for the journal. Which is only right and proper considering the significant impact the company has had on my life this year and how much I am enjoying being a demonstrator (no doubt this will crop up again in my journalling!).

JYC is proving a real challenge for me as I am an absolute perfectionist when it comes to my crafting (especially scrapbooking). So for me to NOT spend hours and hours over every single detail goes against the grain. However, I was determined that it would not become a chore. So I am trying new things and new styles on each and every page and trying not to get hung up on the detailing and obsessing over the imperfections ;0)

Until tomorrow.... Happy Festive Crafting.....
-XXXX-

Journal Your Christmas Day 2

After recovering from the surprise Snow Day yesterday (Sam and I walked to Mums house along the old railway track. We were out enjoying the snow for 2 and a half hours before I gave up and got Dad to come and rescue us. Who knew walking in snow was so tiring?!) I sat down to do a bit more JYC-ing.

Here is my Christmas manifesto from Day 1. I finished mounting it and embellishing the page last night. I've basically promised to enjoy December and to record the fun of Christmas in my journal. After the somewhat challenging year my family has had I am looking forward to a festive month of photography and journalling.

 Yesterdays prompt was about the weather and how we feel about Christmas/December. I had these beautiful old snowflake papers I wanted to use for a double LO. They are so lovely and glittery that I again didnt want to cover the images with the photos and journalling. So I tucked my journalling away behind the photos on the 2nd page.

 Snow Day LO: Photo taken on the long walk to Sandown yesterday morning (so worthwhile for Mum's homemade soup and rolls).

 December 2nd with hidden journalling. Sam making a snow angel and our thermos in the snow.

Thanks for stopping by and happy festive crafting
-xxxx-

Journal Your Christmas Day 1

First things first. Look at what awoke me this morning upon getting out of bed....

And yes I know the mainland has it all a lot worse and has had it all week. But for my little old island this is a LOT of snow ;0) Sam and i got up super early on this surprise 'snow day' and went to take photos before everything got disturbed. I wanted to get some lovely shots for my JYC album.  I did try and get to work but the buses are all grounded and there is very little traffic getting in or out of Newport. So lets see what the day brings......

Here is a shot i took of Church Litten first thing:

Last night I spent a lovely evening in the company of Hayley, Sandy, Chris and Zoe at Hayley's monthly craft night. It was lovely to share some festive nibbles and do a bit of Christmas crafting. I decided that I would minimise the stash I carried with me and just take enough to make two of these gorgeous paper wreaths using the Stampin' Up! Jolly Holiday DSP. I decided to have a go at creating a matching wreath to go with my paper Christmas tree. Seeing it hanging up this morning made me feel very festive and the wreath has definitely grown on me overnight. Its not quite as tidy as I would probably have liked. But i think that adds to the festive charm ;0)

 
And lastly for todays post, Journal Your Christmas. Yesterdays prompt got us to think about our Christmas manifesto. I used Shimelle's prompt from the daily email and also wrote my own (I'll post again later with my words). I havent quite finished mounting my manifesto on to its intro page. So instead I am posting the inside front cover (with Shimelle's prompt) and the first journalling page I did (my cat Ella exploring our first day of light snowfall).

 (A simple LO but i let the photos tell the story and the beautiful glittery paper didnt need embellishment)

So far (and yes I know I am only one day in) I am really enjoying it. But then there has been a lot of source material in the short time since December 1st begain (sharing crafting with friends, snow, crazy cat behaviours in the snow).

Happy Snow Day to all

-xxx-