December Daily 2017

Hello all! I'm FINALLY sharing my December Daily album here today.

Honestly it took me through January to finish the layouts. Then I photographed it and it was so overcast that day that when I finally got around to editing the photos they were all horrible and out of focus. So then this past weekend I reshot it all...only to realize that part of them were still out of focus. I'm wondering if it was the glare catching on the page protectors?! Sooo I shot it a third time. And I'm still not happy with the quality of my photos :-( I'm not sure why I struggled so badly with these pics. Do you have any tips for photographing Project Life/December Daily albums?

Anyways. Lots and lots of photos to share today. I photographed it in spreads as it appears in the album and also took out each page and shot it individually. There are a few detail shots too.

I used an old December Daily kit and a couple 6x6 pads to go along with my photos. I wanted to keep it pretty minimal so I could quickly put it together. I really only used journaling/filler cards to keep the flow of where I wanted each page to start/end. Super simple journaling on most of the tops of the photos. I used an 8.5 x 11 album that I added some decorations to. Oh and I technically started on Thanksgiving since I had Holiday things going on before December. And I took my album all the way through the 31st. I'm soooo glad that I actually completed this album. I've wanted to make one of these for YEARS but never have got around to it.

Now...if only I could keep up a regular Project Life album! Ha. Hope you enjoy looking through my album today.

- Jessica

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

Hello all! I'm so thrilled that I was able to get this card created to join in on the Papertrey Ink blog hop. I LOVE their products, so it was easy to pick some out to feature in a card.

I was inspired by the colors and elements in the photo above that Papertrey Ink chose. While I think Spring Rain would of been a better match to the photo, I enjoy adding my own twist to a challenge photo and so I chose to use a card base of Aqua Mist. The sentiment was part of a euphemra pack from Pebbles that I cut down to fit the card. Next I stamped out some flowers and leaves as well as die cut them using the Peonies on Parade set, which is one of my favorites! I colored those in using the Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Inks in Fossilized Amber, Spiced Marmalade, Broken China and Cracked Pistachio. I simply smeared them on some plastic and picked up the color with a watercolor brush mixed with some water. I then added in another leaf from the Pebbles set, a few feathers from an old pack from Michaels and a trusty doily. I knew it was pretty full but I still wanted to add one more element. So I pulled out the Spring Woods stamp and die cut set to create the cute little bird. I stamped him in Saffron Spice, Harvest Gold and Olive Twist inks. Finally I used a gold metallic marker to add a few dash lines along the edges.

- Jessica