Coffee and Cross Stitch

What a whirlwind. | Scrapbooking

And just like that, it's December 30th.  Christmas is over, and we're gearing up for the new year.

2014 is gonna go out with a bang, and 2015 is gonna be wicked awesome.  You heard it here first.

But, before we get that clean slate on 1 January, here's a peek at my full December Daily album.  I had a lot of fun making this album, mainly because I decided to stop hoarding all my Christmas paper and embellishments.  They're not doing any good laying around in my bins, so I did the best I could to use most of what I had for this project.  I'm actually really, really proud of myself - I didn't buy any new Christmas paper before OR after Christmas.  THAT takes an insane amount self control, my friends.  Hooooo boy.

I'll start where I left off in my last post about DD --

Day 9:  kiiiiinda lame, since I have no pic for that day, but I like the tree printable on the facing page...

Days 10 & 11:  Day 10 is from the Anthropolgie store in Rittenhouse Square.  It's one of my absolute favorite buildings of all time - they kept most of the original architecture intact from this house when they converted it to a store.  It's absolutely stunning inside.  I took this from the ground level floor, looking down to what used to be the kitchen in the basement, where they have their  home goods section.  Day 11 is the gigantic tree in the Liberty II building in Center City, one of my favorite trees to see each year.

Days 12 & 13:  I'm eh about Day 12, but what can ya do.  I may switch this up, I may not.  The pic I chose is the light show from the old Wanamaker's building - now Macy's.  Day 13 is the wreaths in the arches at Macy's, which are in the area of the light show.

 Days 14 & 15: Day 14 is of the tree and the tops of some of the shops in the Christmas Village in Love Park, right outside City Hall.  Day 15 is a snap of the handmade gift tags I made for all the gifts this year.  Just a simple stamp on a kraft tag (that I cut out using my Cricut, but you can use pre-made tags) that says "I'm dreaming of a white christmas" with red glitter embossing power, and red baker's twine.  Boom.

Days 16 & 17: Day 16 is all about the Santa display at Pottery Barn.  I wanted everything on that table.  Day 17 is a little stitching I've been doing when I should be doing 47 thousand other things.  (yes, i stamped directly on that photo of my stitching - Staz-on ink works on any surface!)

Day 18:  Day 18 gets a two-page spread.  It's the day my nephew was born! I'm an honorary aunt to many of my friends' kids, but this time I'm an aunt to my sister's first baby!  Welcome to the world, Carrick James!

Days 19 & 20:  Day 19 is when I was able to see the baby - the day he was born, I didn't get the chance to see him, but when I went back the next day, I was able to see him and hold him for a while.  Day 20 is the ornament I made for him for his first Christmas.  It's a Prairie Schooler design, from the Christmas Tree Farm chart.

 

Days 21 & 22: Day 21 is a snap of a house in my neighborhood whose lights are the rosary, and they have a manger scene below.  I've never seen anyone do anything like this, so I had to get a snap.  Day 22 is a snap of the cards I made this year.

Days 23 & 24: Day 23 is hot chocolate and White Christmas.  The best Christmas movie ever.  I have to watch it at least 46 times during the Christmas season, including on Christmas Eve.  Day 24 (Christmas Eve) is a pic of the altar at my parish church before the vigil mass. 

 Day 25: My mom and I went to my sister's house this year for Christmas, since it was only a week after the baby was born, and that way she didn't have to go anywhere, especially since she's not supposed to take the baby out in the cold.  I took a quick pic of the tree and mantle and of the table, and she sent me the one of my bro-in-law with the baby in his Christmas bib. The facing page is a quote from one of my favorite Christmas movies - Christmas Vacation - and I thought it needed a place in this album, so I used it as the final page.  Clark's freak out is so great.  My other favorite line?  "Why is the floor wet, TODD?"  "I don't know, MARGO."

That wraps up my December Daily for 2014!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate)!!!  What are some of the traditions you have?  Did you do anything new this year for Christmas?  Did you do any Christmas crafting?  

 

This month is already flying... | Scrapbooking

It's hard to believe we're already at 8 December already.

I mean, really.  There are only 17 days left till Christmas!!  I need to start binge watching my Christmas specials.  I still have some saved on my DVR from last year - 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (anyone else remember that one??  The one where the clock stops and the mouse and the clockmaker have to fix it so Santa knows it's Christmas????), The Grinch (the original cartoon, not the Jim Carey version), It's a Wonderful Life....I need to watch them ALL.

I also need to watch White Christmas as many times as humanly possible in the next 17 days.

Each day has kinda flown by, but I have managed to keep track in my December Daily album.  Much of it routine, but that's ok. 

Day 3 was just a day where I didn't feel particularly like I needed a photo, so I journaled what I was feeling.  There are some pretty awesome things happening this Christmas season, so I took this time just to jot it down in my album.  I also got my first Christmas card last week - I decided this year that, instead of saving my cards in a separate album, I'd incorporate them into my DD album as I get them.  Much easier that way.  Day is kinda hidden...because I forgot to slide the card over and take another shot...(sigh)...but it was the day I sat in Starbucks and wrote out all my Christmas cards.  (yes!  they're out! they're mailed! i can barely believe it myself!! check your mailboxes!!)

 

Days 5 and 6 are just foundations pages at the moment.  Day 5 has journaling for that day, but I didn't print out the picture I wanted for that slot up top.  Same goes for Day 6 - I have the pic, just didn't print it yet.

Day 7 was all about this PHENOMENAL gingerbread cake I made.  I was busy cleaning and purging and gathering clothes to donate to Purple Heart, and took a break for a smidge to bake.  I'd been craving gingerbread for days, and I decided to just give in and bake.  I much prefer darker gingerbread, and was skeptical of this recipe when the batter turned out pretty light.  However, it baked up super dark and moist, and OH.MY.GOD is it good.  I made it gluten-free, saved a couple pieces for myself, and took the rest to work.  There is no way I can allow this to stay in the house.  It would've been completely gone by now had I not cut it up and put it on a plate to bring into work.  Also, it's iced with a cream cheese frosting.  Next time, I'm making a chocolate frosting for it.  The thought of that....I can't even. (if you want to try your hand at this beyond delicious gingerbread, the original recipe can be found here on Joy The Baker's website)

Gingerbread is seriously one of my favorite things....ever.....

That's all I have for now!  This week should fly by as well...one of our work Christmas parties is this Thursday, which is always a good time, so we'll all be anticipating the celebration!

How is your Christmas season so far??  Have you done any baking?  Have you put up your tree?  Do tell!! :-)

 

December Daily: Day 2

Well, I'm already a little behind, but that's ok.  I have photos mapped out for yesterday and today, so at least I'm on track to being somewhat up-to-date.

Here's Day 2:  I spent the bulk of the night sewing a nursing cover for my sister.  I promised her one as part of her baby shower gift, and was so busy getting other things ready for the shower, this project was a victim of me running out of time.

 

While I sewed, I had "Charlie Brown Christmas" on tv in my bedroom.  Somehow, I always miss the airing of this special every year, but my mom reminded me, so I put it on while I worked, AND set my DVR.  I refused to miss it this year!  I found this printable of Linus's speech, which I resized to 5x7, and put in a 5x7 Project Life protector.  Perfect addition to the day, and a reminder of one of my all-time favorite Christmas specials.

So, that's Day 2.  

I also changed my cover page - I didn't like the 4x6 I originally had in there.  

There's a moose now.  Much better.  

December Daily: Day 1 | Scrapbooking

I am seriously determined to keep up with this album this year.  Seriously determined.  Having a photo printer this go-around will hopefully help with that.

Yesterday was your regular run-of-the-mill Monday.  Nothing crazy to report.  I did continue working on a few projects, including making envelopes for my Christmas cards.

I haven't gotten to fill in the squares on the facing page yet, so I just put squares from the scraps after I made the envelopes for my Christmas cards.  Making envelopes might be my new favorite thing to do.  Ever.  I got the templates from Paper Source (same place I got the envelope liner templates which are also super fun to use), and the Cavallini paper I used I got after Christmas last year when it was super cheap.  Since I didn't make each card different this year, I decided to make a few fun envelopes instead.  Totally worth it.

The 3x4 cards up top are from Project Life (left) and Stitch In Time (right).  The stamp set I used for the #1 on the card on the left is from Cavallini.

Tea was close at hand last night...it was a dreary night as we wait for some cold air to come our way.

Hope you all had a great start to your week!  Are any of you doing a December Daily album this year??

23 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The Christmas season is officially here! | December Daily

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

This year, I ventured to NYC for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Why, you ask?  Simple.  My friend, Matt, was marching in the parade as a member of the Madison Scouts. He was one of 426 participants, made up of current and alumni members, to march in this event.

The Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps was one of the groups that marched down 7th Avenue, around Columbus Circle, and down Broadway to Herald Square.  And guess what else?!  They were the group RIGHT IN FRONT of Santa, so they essentially escorted him to Macy's!!  

HOW COOL IS THAT!!!

This video doesn't do justice to how absolutely incredible the brass players are in this corps, but this is what was broadcast on tv (they played Christmas songs as they marched down to Macy's, but this is all that was captured for the broadcast....)

 

I mean, COME ON.  Those screaming trumpets!!!  I can't.  

Here's them at rehearsal, standing still, playing the cadence and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town":

 

Seriously.  So. Much. Fun.

This event, naturally, had to mark the beginning of my December Daily album.  This year, I am determined to keep up with it better than in the past.  Determined.

The December Daily is intended to be just the days leading up to Christmas and then Christmas day (1-25 December), but I like to include the entire Christmas season, which starts (in this case) with Thanksgiving Day.

Here are is my album so far ---

 

I'm not sure how I like the 4x6 title, so I may end up changing that, but I do like to keep things simple.  The top left is from a Heidi Swapp value pack with embellies from My Mind's Eye, and the right is a pic I took when I was in Chestnut Hill on Wednesday morning, before I headed up to NYC.  It was too awesome with the holly boughs and the pup sitting outside Starbucks, waiting for his owner.

For this spread, I used the Merry Christmas letterpress plate from Studio Calico, a quick pic on the train, and 2x2 instas from the parade (i printed all these pics on my Canon Selphy 910, which is a great lil' printer for projects like this, so you can instantly add photos to the album.).  Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough to the parade itself to snap pics of the Scouts as they went by, but since the balloons are enormous, I was able to get snaps of some of them.  I still have to do simple embelishments for the red squares, but I left it as-is for the moment, and hopefully tomorrow I'll be more inspired to get my stamps and embellies out to finish this page.

That's it, folks!  December Daily is officially started!!

How was your Thanksgiving?!  Have you started any of your Christmas season festivities yet?!!?

December Daily - Day One. Sorta. | Scrapbooking

This is the part of my December Daily album that gets tricky.  Well, at this point anyway.  

I don't have a photo printer...in fact, I don't have a printer at all (it's a long story), but have been eyeing up a Canon all-in-one on Amazon that I might just have to get for myself....so I can't just run downstairs to my office from my craft room to print pics and then run back up and put them right into my album.  So, I'll have to wait till I have about a week's worth of pics, then order them (my fav place to get exceptional quality prints is Persnickety Prints - they are AMAYYYYZING).

BUT, in the meantime, I can at least space out my pages until the pics arrive.

I decided to start the section of the album for this year with my friend Lucie's wedding from 30 November.  She and I used to work together about 8-9 years ago, and I used to tutor her daughter in Spanish when she was in high school.  Feels like a lifetime ago.

I saved the "Save the Date" card, and a few other things from the wedding day, and made them the first pages in the album.

Then, I added the pamphlet from the ceremony, 

and the menu from dinner...which was TO DIE....

The opposing page to the one with the pamphlet from the ceremony will have pics (which need to be printed....hang tight....), one of which will be this one of me and Sam (Lucie's daughter) from the reception -

 I posted this on Saturday to Instagram, and later realized something - I'm not one to post pics of myself (I feel ridic taking selfies) so people probably have NO IDEA which one is me!!!

I'm on the left, wearing my favorite color, purple.  :-)  Sam was one of the bridesmaids, and she looked gorgeous, as always.  Love that girl.

December Daily - The Beginning | Scrapbooking

I don't know how many of you stitchers also scrap, but there's this fun concept called a December Daily album, of which the intent is to document the holiday season each day.  This way, you can capture all the fun Christmas moments like baking Christmas cookies, decorating the tree, watching your favorite Christmas movie, and also documenting the ordinary things you do during the holidays.   

My first impression of this concept was that it wasn't for me.  Every album I saw on blogs was of people with their kids.

I might act like a 10-year-old sometimes, like this entire month because I'm obsessed with Christmas, and when I watch Disney movies (whatever. don't judge.  you know you love Aladdin just as much as i do. and The Lion King.  annnnnd Sleeping Beauty.  yeah that's right.), but since I don't have kids to take pics of every 30 seconds, I wasn't sold on the whole December Daily idea.

But I do fun stuff during Christmas, like go to NYC.  And downtown Philly.  And hang out with friends.  And I make stuff like, every day, but have hardly any proof of the stuff I make, because it all flies out the door almost as quick as I make it (read: my Christmas cards).  Oh, and I BAKE.  A LOT.

Bingo.  I will document ALL THAT STUFF.

So, I started gathering pics from last year, and since there weren't that many, I decided to have them in the front of my album for this year.  No harm, right?  Especially since I took some pretty cool pics last year when I was up in NYC two days in a row about two weeks before Christmas.

There really is nothing like Christmas in NYC.  The lights and decorations are outrageous.  If you ever have the opportunity to visit NYC during December, DO IT.

December Daily albums are meant to be small, so this is a SN@P album from Simple Stories (which you can find at your local Michaels with your 40% off coup), which I got in red (duh) and just got to it.

The building on the left?  Cartier.  Wrapped like a gift.  Those glowing blobs on the side & roof??  Jaguars.  I died when I saw this.  The pic on the right is Macy's.  

For this page, since my pics are all Instagram snaps cut to 3x3, and the instapockets in the page protectors are 4x4, I just took a piece of glitter paper, cut it to 6x8 (the size of this album), and stuck the pics on like a collage.   Then, I added the snowflakes.  Just 'cuz.  From top to bottom, that's Fendi, Radio City Music Hall, inside a mall in Columbus Circle, and the tree in Bryant Park.  I put those little thingies (yes, that's the technical name) on the edges to have them be on the rings like the rest of the protectors, and viola.

On this page, I took paper, cut it to 4x6 to fit the protector, then attached these lil' pics on front.  I plan on adding embellies later, but wanted to at least get these into the album.  One of the days I was in NYC last year, I went to brunch with one of my friends, and Maison is the restaurant where we ate.  The bottom pic is a restaurant in Bryant Park, which looked very cozy and warm, since it was a disgusting, drizzly, dreary day when we were there.

So, that's all I got for December from last year.  At least at the moment.  I may have some more pics hidden on my computer I can order and add later, but I'm happy I was able to start my album with these fun NYC pics!!

Do you document December?  Do you just document Christmas Eve or Christmas Day??  I'd love to hear how you do your memory keeping for the holidays!!  If you want to know more about the December Daily album concept, visit Ali Edwards' site - she's amazing.

Much love ~~~