Today we share four more Document December preparation takes with you today from Wendy, Patricia, Tracey and Meghann! With tomorrow being the first day of December, we encourage you to go about this project with the focus on the memories and holiday photos that you’re going to document, but having a few ideas prepared in advance will certainly help you stay on track. Let’s see how these four designers are doing just that in their own ways!
Wendy | I am so ready for Christmas this year! I’m not sure how I will get everything done, but the magic of Christmas is something I am really looking forward to. To really appreciate the magic of the season and not get bogged down with the hustle and bustle I have found a few tricks that worked really well, and I’d love to share them with you!
I have all my supplies corralled and out where I can easily grab them. They are in a plastic divider I found at IKEA with these handy little baskets from Target in my rolling cart from Michaels. This keeps everything accessible and since it is out in the open it encourages me to create a few minutes each day.
Next up, I am all into sparkles and love to add glittery items to my pages, but I don’t always give my items time to dry. So, I grabbed my Stickles and Nuvo Crystal Drops in red, green, white, and gold to decorate my wood veneers from the Document December Kit and the ‘Tis the Season Wood Veneers; this way my items are dry and ready to use when I want them!
Once I have everything arranged and prepped it is time to dig in and see what inspires me this year for my intro page. I always choose my favorite items to set the theme for the year’s album:
One last tip that I have found to be essential to my December Daily is that I document the fun events, pretty sights, and lovely smells but I don’t worry about having a picture for every day. This approach for me allows me to capture everything that is important to our family but it takes the stress off of the project and leaves me with such good feelings as I look back at my finished albums. Merry Christmas!
Supplies | Document December 2019 Kit, ‘Tis the Season Wood Veneers, December 2019 Wood Veneer, Acrylic Christmas Words, Wonder Puffy Stickers
Tracey | I have a confession to make. I almost never make holiday album pages during the holidays, finding it difficult to carve out time for crafting during the busiest season of the year, so I usually wait until many months later to start in on pages about the previous year’s festivities. But this year is a little different. I have fewer plans and less travel. I also decided not to hand-make my holiday cards like I have done for many years, and most importantly: I couldn’t resist the beautiful Document December 2019 Kit!
I always document the holiday season in an 8″ x 8″ format, and for this year, I chose a mint green album that goes perfectly with the touches of mint throughout the Document December products. The December 2019 Wood Veneer and a patterned paper from the kit perfectly filled the window in the cover of the album.
To keep all of my supplies handy and within reach. I set them up in an IKEA FJÄLLA desk organizer. The compartments help me keep everything sorted and visible, and the whole organizer can be moved if I need to work on something else on my desktop.
I don’t plan to scrap a page for every single day of the season, and I don’t prefer to make foundation pages in advance. Instead, I like to let inspiration from my photos and stories guide me through a completed album that documents the highlights of the holiday season. But since the Document December products coordinate so perfectly, I don’t have any doubts about my ability to quickly put together pretty pages.
Another secret to my success this year will be regularly printing photos on my home printer. Printing on demand at home will allow me to keep up with documenting current memories as I am making them during the holidays!
Thanks for checking out my album and supply setup. I can’t wait for us all to create together as we Document December!
Supplies | Document December 2019 Kit, December 2019 Wood Veneer
Patricia | Hello Elle’s Studio and Document December fans! Creating a December album helps me to slow down the month and enjoy it a bit more, but to really enjoy the creative part, I have to do some prep work so that when I sit down in the evenings right before bed, I can put a page or two together quickly! I am using a small 4″ x 4″ album this year. I have my cover prepped and ready using the Document December 2019 Kit and extras and it is setting the color theme I will “mostly” use throughout my inside pages. I say “mostly” because I will definitely incorporate the reds and pinks, but be more heavy with greens, grays, and blacks.
I am going to document the entire month and I was instantly inspired by the Good Cheer Acetate Die Cuts and the stamps to create a dated intro divider for each week. To do this I created ‘dividers’ using the 3″ x 4″ tags along with the Large Jane Candy Cane Number and Holly Jolly stamps. I will punch holes and insert these into my album to divide each week. I created a folded tab using the Everyday Tabs Metal Die by just folding a piece of black cardstock, leaving the top of the die to hang off the folded edge as I run it through the die cutting machine! I will emboss in white ink using the Holiday Words Stamp to go along with the overall theme for each week. I also created an opening page to the album using the Christmas Acetate Shapes, found in the Document December 2019 Kit, slipped inside 2″ x 2″ pockets. I used black thread to stitch the pockets closed to go with my color theme, and then stapled the “Hello December” wood veneer from the ‘Tis the Season Wood Veneers to the center.
This year I am using a holiday basket to keep my album and contents together. My desk can get pretty messy with other projects, so this is a great way to grab, create and then put away put away quickly! Keeping it all together also helps me have success at finishing the album!
Supplies | Document December 2019 Kit, Good Cheer Acetate Die Cuts, ‘Tis the Season Wood Veneers, December 2019 Gold Acrylic, Large Jane Number Stamp — Candy Cane, Holly Jolly Stamp, Holiday Words Stamp, Everyday Tabs Metal Die
Meghann | Hello, Document December fans! I can’t wait to kick off this project, but before we go LIVE on December 1st, there are just a few things that I am doing ahead of time:
The album | I kept it sweet and simple this year, only adding the Dec 2019 Gold Acrylic to the front.
The cover page | This is one of my favorite parts of creating my Document December album! Again, I’m setting the tone of simplicity here. I added the 25 Wood Veneer to the center of the beautiful red pattern from the Document December 2019 Kit and used white acrylic paint to color in the middle of the numbers. I topped that with the “a season to remember” sticker from the Document December 2019 Kit and a few of the sparkle Wonder Puffy Stickers.
A reminder page | I decided to add a “not to miss” list of our December traditions to capture during the month. I simply added the items to the November Print and Cut File labels that I recolored to match the kit, printed them and adhered them to the mint green grid paper.
The calendar | Opening this “reminder” flap reveals the calendar page, which I will add the highlights of the month to. I have already stamped “Merry Christmas” using a combination of the Holly Jolly Stamp with the Holiday Words Stamp.
The intention page | Sometimes I can get caught up in the “perfectionism” aspect of the holiday, which can let me down, and for the first time, I wanted to set an intention for my holiday: “Celebrating the JOY, leaving the rest behind.” It’s a motto I plan to adopt throughout the month, especially when the rush of the holiday can get overwhelming! Next to it, I added our family photo, topped with the phrase “It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” using the Good Cheer Acetate Die Cuts on top of the solid ‘Tis the Season 6 x 6 Paper Stack green.
All of my supplies are neatly stored on my desk in a wooden organizer, ready for this merry project to begin! I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing how our team has prepared over the last four weeks, and we can’t wait to Document December with you!
Supplies | Document December 2019 Kit, November Print and Cut File, Good Cheer Acetate Die Cuts, Holiday Puffy Stickers, Wonder Puffy Stickers, Christmas Shapes and Dots Puffy Stickers, ‘Tis the Season Wood Veneers, December 2019 Gold Acrylic, Holly Jolly Stamp, Holiday Words Stamp
Be sure to share how your Document December project is coming together as we begin this project tomorrow! Post on Instagram using the hashtag #EllesStudio, and in our Elle’s Studio Facebook Group!