December Daily Review

Well, I did it. I managed to take a photo every day (sometimes more than one) from Thanksgiving to Christmas. Here's a look at the whole "month." There are a few more pics for some of the days that will be included in my album, but I picked one for each day to go for the calendar look here. More pics of the spruced up album to come later.

December Daily 2014

If you happen to follow me on Instagram (chopstix09), you may have noticed an increase in posts in the last week or so. This is because of how I've decided to do my December Daily this year. I think this will be my 4th attempt at doing December Daily, and hopefully the 2nd time I'll actually finish the whole album. December Daily is a concept developed by Ali Edwards. You can check out her website and awesome work here. Here's how she describes December Daily:

"December Daily® is a December mini-album project that documents the 25 days leading up to Christmas. The simple goal is to capture the spirit of December via one story per day."

For me, December Daily is about capturing all things Christmas-related as well as daily happenings for the month. I actually start mine a few days early because I like to include Thanksgiving and Black Friday.

So what's with all the Instagram posts? In an attempt to streamline the process into something I can actually manage while attending school, being an RA, and working, I've decided to utilize one of W R Memory Keepers Instagram albums.(I've been looking for a way to scrap in one of these cute little albums since they came out anyway!) They hold 4"x4" photos. I purchased the light blue one and embellished it with some ribbon, a metal piece and a snowflake sticker.

Here's a look at my cover page:










Wish me luck! Hopefully I'll actually finish this year. Follow me on Instagram if you want to see how I do!
http://instagram.com/chopstix09/

Crafting in Secret

Crafting in secret is exciting, fun, and mildly aggravating. I'm the type of person who likes to show things off when I complete them, especially if they turn out well. However, if you are making things that will later become gifts, you can't exactly do that! I've been making gifts and decorations for my best friend Amanda's baby shower, and now that the shower is over, I can finally share what I've been working on! If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have seen a few of the cryptic pics I posted as a tease. (I had to post something!)

Well, here's what some of those things became:

I found all of the ideas on Pinterest (of course!). Stroller butterflies Click here for the tutorial. 

plush blocks Click here for the tutorial.  A decorated bag for books Click here. a sign for the dog, and a shadow box. 

My favorite thing I made was this adorable plush bunny! It was my first time making a plushie from an actual pattern. It came from the book Storybook Toys by Jill Hamor. Which is an awesome book btw.

So cute!! And here's the one 'making of' pic I couldn't post to social media. 

Let's face it, those are clearly bunny ears!

My mom & I were also in charge of the decorations. 

The streamer 'rain wall' idea I stole from my fabulous friend Kayla Schuler who did a rainbow version at another friends shower. The block centerpieces were my own doing - I folded them using WeRMemory Keeper's Gift Box Punch Board and then cut the letters/borders on my Cricut. The name banner was also cut on the Cricut. The other ideas came from Pinterest. The chandelier is made of a metal ring, clear thread, ribbon, and lots and LOTS of punched butterflies. The alphabet book was a joint effort - mom & I created the blank pages and then the guests at the shower picked a letter to draw a picture for. We will eventually bind them all into a book. It all came together in the end and looked great! It was a labor of love for my best friend Amanda. I can't wait to meet baby Ellie!

Late Night Cards

I took tonight off from work so I could go to my BF Erin's bridal shower this afternoon. The shower was from 2-4pm, which left the rest of the day/night to do whatever I pleased. I decided to make some agape cards (to hopefully sell eventually). Here's the first set:

Stamps At A Glance

       This week I decided to try something I saw on Pinterest. I have a LOT of stamps. The problem is they don't all fit in one drawer. Most my wooden ones are shoved in one drawer, but then I have a 2" binder full of clear stamps (another Pinterest idea), and some other wood stamps stuck in a few other drawers with other stuff.  My wheel stamps just get shoved wherever they won't get stuck, and I have one more pile that's not in this picture for the jumbo stamps (over 4" wide). They're everywhere! 

        The bad thing is when I'm crafting I'm terrible about not using any of my stamps - because I can't remember what I have. I'm not about to take 30 minutes to dig through the drawers just to see if I have a stamp I might be able to use for a project. 

        So, la Pinterest, I went through and either stamped or photocopied each stamp/set that I have onto white card stock. Those pages went into a tiny 1/2" binder. It doesn't help with actually storing them, but now I can quickly see what stamps I have just by flipping through a binder. Yes, this did take a while to do - but I have a feeling I might actually use my stamps more now! 

Some pics of the finished binder.

BELIEVE Vision Board

      The February prompt for OLW was to create a 'vision board.' Ali described is as "a visual intention—a collection of images and words of what you’d like to invite into your life." So I busted out some canvas, paint, mod podge, glimmer mist, and stickles and went to work. I collected images from a couple different magazines as well as some I printed out from Pinterest, and I cut two images on my Cricut to use. On went the paint, then the mod podge, a medium I have never used before. Can't say that I love it; I don't like how it makes the paper crinkle. Since I knew it would turn out that way from looking at Ali's example I was okay with it. Once I got everything glued down, I sprayed some glimmer mist and make some stickle shooting stars. 
      I also wrote a verse my friend Caleb has been talking about lately - 2 Timothy 1:7 "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline." It seemed to go right along with my word and my intentions for it. Some of the images relate directly to my word: cross - believe in God's promises, mirrors - believe in myself, fantasy/mediaeval dress - make believe. Other's are just one's I found that I like. All of it combined makes an interesting visual for my word.
     Here's the finished board:

Goodbye 'GO,' Hello 'BELIEVE'

This will be my third year participating in something called "One Little Word." I first learned about it on Ali Edward's blog, and now I'm taking her "One Little Word" class via Big Picture Classes for the second year in a row. So what is OLW? Here's some thoughts from Ali herself:

"A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow. From my own personal experience, it can be a catalyst for enriching your life. In 2006, I began a tradition of choosing one word for myself each January—a word that I can focus on, meditate on, and reflect upon as I go about my daily life. . . These words have each become a part of my life in one way or another. They've been embedded into who I am, and into who I'm becoming. They've been what I've needed (and didn't know I needed). They've helped me to breathe deeper, to see clearer and to grow. It can be something tangible or intangible. It can be a thought, a feeling, or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not your mother's word or your spouse's word or your child's word—this is YOUR word. One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities." - Ali Edwards, taken from the OLW 2013 Workshop Page

Each year I make a necklace
with my word to be a
constant reminder.

It's a really interesting and often revealing process, this OLW. Last year, my word was 'GO.' When I started the year, I thought for sure that meant physically going (namely, to move out of my mom's house). Well, here I still sit, so that certainly wasn't what happened! It mostly ended up being about two phrases: 'Let Go' and 'Go Back.' Let Go - of all the hurts of the past and of everyone else's expectations for me. The only expectation that matters is God's. Be willing to trust God's control and plan for my life. Go Back - remembering what made me, 'me' in the first place. Especially the creative me. I had a nervous breakdown several years ago and have been struggling to regain both my self-confidence in me as a person and me as an artist since then. Also, remembering why I believe what I do and relying on the promises of God. Are either of these phrases complete in me yet? Certainly not! But I think they are stepping stones that God is helping me to work through - so that I can physically go and move on to the next stage of my life. So 2012 ended not quite how I planned, but with more self-awareness than I've ever had before. 

So, so long, 'GO' - and Hello 'BELIEVE.'

My word for this year is 'BELIEVE.' Right now, it mostly means believing in myself, and 'make believe' - awakening my creative spirit. Who knows where this word will take me by the end of the year. I look forward to the journey!