December Daily

I'm here to finally share my December Daily. It's really not a "December Daily" it's more of a holiday mini album...

I used the Simple Stories Teal Sn@p album & mostly Crate Paper Sleighride Collection :)

I started on Thanksgiving, so that I could include all of the holiday season.

my college graduation ceremony was a super important event this December, so I had to include it. So glad to be done, & not have a  20+ page research paper looming over me anymore!

this year, Ryan & I went simple with our Christmas Tree. I decorated it with gold ornaments & clear lights + our ornaments from each year we've been married, so far there aren't very many randoms on there, but eventually it will be PACKED with random ornaments that mean something to us. 

my mom & I spent the majority of our winter break with my dad in FL. A few days after my graduation, he had a stroke & had to be hospitalized. He was in FL when it happened, so we had a LONG drive & hard few days. But he's doing well & we are blessed that he recovered so quickly. 

Since I wasn't at home, Ryan and I didn't get to watch our favorite holiday movies together, but my dad & I did catch Home Alone on TV one night after he was released from the hospital. 

I was totally missing my kitties & Ryan the whole time I was in FL with my dad, so Ryan kept me updated with TONS of picture messages :)

my dad's doctors recommended him to start exercising more, so we started walking everyday after dinner, before the sun went down. 

these 2 pages are bittersweet for me. It is the last night before I had to come home to GA & the morning I left. After I pulled out of my dad's driveway I wanted to cry. I missed him immediately. There's no one like a dad, I love him SOOOO much. 

one thing I LOVE the most about winter break, is one of my BEST friends, Megan, has more free time, so we got to Skype. It's been such a long time since I've seen her, it was awesome to catch up & share some crafty projects.

at the end of the album I decided that I wanted to choose a few of my favorite photos from the year. It's a super random mix & in no particular order. 

I'm so excited about what is coming for Elle's Studio. I've been holding onto the secret for about a week & it was a pleasant surprise when I opened my first DT box. 

Elle's Studio is going be releasing 12x12 patterned papers that coordinate with their tags & stamps for the first time!! It's so exciting. Trust me. You'll want to be on the lookout for the new products. They are all so lovely & very much Elle's style. 

Another thing I'm excited about is the new Tabbed Tags!

I've already used a few of the new ones in my first 2013 PL spread, they are perfect for tucking behind a photo that you have alot of journaling about :) I'll be able to share once all of the fun products are revealed and available. 

I can't wait for y'all to see ALL of the new surprises in store from Elle's Studio, & I really can't wait for y'all to see my first designer gallery. 

I've got HUGE news!

I've been holding onto this little nugget of a secret for a few weeks now. I've wanted so bad to post it here & everywhere, it's been practically torturous not being able to tell anyone. So today's the day I can finally spill the beans. I'm so extremely excited to say...

I'm on the 2013 Elle's Studio Design Team!!!! Whew, it feels good to get that off my chest. I will be participating on the DT from January to July 2013, my first projects will go live on 1 February on the Elle's Studio Website!

If you don't know what Elle's Studio is, it is a small scrapbooking company that specializes in journal and embellishment tags, as well as stamps!Everything is of the best quality & made in the USA. I have been in LOVE with Elle's Studio products for quite some time, especially since starting Project Life, so this is a DREAM team for me.

I can't wait to post my first projects for you to see. I hear there is ALOT of BIG surprises coming this CHA for Elle's Studio I can't wait to see & share them with you.

Check out the rest of the talented team members over at the Elle's Studio Blog!

Another Layout Share

Today I wanted to share a layout I made the other night while Skyping with my good friend Erin from Sweet & Simple. Every once in a while we get the urge & free time to Skype with each other. Since she lives all the way in TX, this is the only way we can see each other, for now. 

I had a TON of Elle's Studio tags that I wanted to use & a layout idea that would work together perfectly. I made a kind of puzzle with the tags on the right side of the page & a large photo collage. So I put them together with the highlights from my year as 24. 

It took a while to figure out the exact placement of the tags, but I love the way it turned out.

To make my thickers glittery I put a layer of mod podge on top, then sprinkled on the glitter and let them dry. It's a great way to alter the thickers. Since they are more pricey than your average letter stickers, being able to change them to fit into any project really makes them worth the price!

I made my photo collage in Picasa, a free photo editing program from Google. I created a custom size, then printed it. I love making collages for layouts and Project Life. 

Layout Share

Okay, so like I promised, I'm here with a layout to share.

I've had a photo of my dad holding me on the day I was born for a long as I can remember. I've been wanting to get it scrapbooked, but I did't know how I wanted the story of it to go, especially since I only know stories of that day, & I don't actually remember it. Well, I finally figured out I would just let it live in perspective of today. So a few weeks ago, I turned 25. That's a big deal, a quarter of a century! So I got my dad to take another photo with me, & I made a page with the 2 photos together. I have to say, honestly this is my favorite page I have made to date. I didn't do any journaling or anything, I let the title tell the story. I'm a serious Dad's girl, so this page really means something to me.

I was getting kind of nervous about the page as I was starting. I didn't want to mess it up, so to speak. Then the 2 photo sizes and finishes kinda freaked me out. But my friend Erin set me straight. She was over at my house for a crop and she challenged me to use the photos as is. No editing. & I'm so glad she did. It gives me the perspective of not only the change in my dad and I but also in the era of photography. Polaroid vs. DSLR. I'm really glad I have these photos and memories to cherish. I know some aren't that fortunate. I love my Pop, with all of my heart & I can't wait to spend 25 more years with him!

It's that time. FINALLY.

This past week, (yesterday to be exact!) I turned in my final research paper. I have read 1000s of pages in both English & French, written 100s of notes, & 20 pages into a paper... I'm exhausted. I'm ready to take a break from school. I have literally 1 week & 9.5 hours before I will be graduating from university. It's been a long time coming. I've learned so much, not just about history, math, French, literature, but about myself, what I love, how I want to live my life, & where I want to be. I'm ready for next Saturday to come & pass. I'm sure it will be a whirlwind of an experience, but I want to absorb every moment.

I'll leave you with a photo of my giant stack of books that I literally turned back into the library yesterday evening, just before I turned in my final draft, after having them for a few months!

I will be back tomorrow with a new layout to share with you. 

MIA

I've been totally MIA from here for over a month! geez. I'm counting down the days until graduation... but more importantly I'm counting down the days until my HUGE research paper is due. I have just over a month to finish it. & that may sound like a lot but that means I need to be writing at least 1 page per day & editing it at the same time. I'm in a slight freak out mode.

Lately the only scrapping I've been doing is when I'm cropping with friends. So I haven't been making videos, sorry. I switched our guest room & my scrapbook room around, so my video set up is gone, I need to figure out a new way of doing it now. I may force myself to take photos of my scrapbook room & organization, it's nothing special though.

I do have a few layouts to share today. I went on a weekend cabin retreat with some of my friends and the weekend was memorable to say the least. I did get 2 layouts & a mini album finished... which was awesome for me. (I hardly accomplish anything around others haha, what can I say? I'm a talker)

Okay so here's the first layout:

I think this is my favorite photo of myself to date. It makes me want a haircut though. lol.

& the second layout:

 

I love this photo of Ryan. The title says it all. 

I don't have photos of the mini album to share yet, I'm working on figuring out the binding... it is TINY, so I have to find a way to bind it without ruining it, or the photos inside. 

Tomorrow, I'm going book hunting with my dad. We're trying to track down a book that is sure to help us in our genealogy quest. & Friday we're hoping to get over to the Archives in Atlanta before they close it... is the state still planning to do that? I hope not. But just in case, we're going there to copy anything that we can. Gotta get some advice from my genealogy pro friend... best to go in knowledgeable than to look like a schmuck. :) Saturday I'm having friends over, we're going to crop until the late hours of the night. I've still got to find out what foods to prepare... yikes. Better get on that!