Tagged: journal
December Daily 2023 Flip Through
This is my 11th or 12th year keeping a December Daily and finishing it before January 2nd! I just love how my journals turn out so chunky and blingy! And it’s so fun from year to year to reminisce about all the wonderful activities we did, sights we saw and, of course, foods we ate! So without any further ado, here is the video flip through of my completed 2023 December Daily. Enjoy!
Getting My 2018 December Daily Ready
This is my sixth year keeping a December Daily. I have written posts about some of my previous December Dailies in the past but this is a new Christmas to document and I’m as excited as ever. Here are just a few quick pictures of my set-up.
Decorating the cover
I usually use old book covers for my December Dailies. The cute snowman image is a piece of a Christmas napkin I decoupaged to the front cover. If you want to decoupage a light-colored napkin, tissue paper or thin paper on a dark background you may want to paint a layer of white underneath. If I hadn’t painted white underneath this napkin I would have ended up with a light green snowman. I just painted a section white and dabbed the edges to soften them and somehow it just looks like snow around the snowman. Of course I added chunky glitter to make my snowman glittery!
Select assorted papers
I selected about forty assorted pieces of paper for the pages. Not all are scrapbook paper however, some are vintage Christmas cards, envelopes, Christmas book pages, Christmas carol pages, old advertisements, etc.. I like to document my entire December and not just through Christmas day. I’ve made sure I have enough “pages” to have at least one a day. Sometimes I may use two pages for one day if a lot was going on and some days I may only use one side of a page. If I don’t have enough pages I can always add more and if I have too many I can take some out.
Arrange papers
After I’ve picked the papers I want to use, I spread them all out on the dining room table and then put them together in an order that is pleasing to me. When arranging the pages I consider color, size and type (such as book page or Christmas card) so I don’t have two of the same type near each other. I make sure my nativity pages are approximately around the 24th of December. I can always fine tune the location of pages as I go along.
Add a place to stash goodies
I like to attach a small decorative paper bag to the inside of the back cover. That gives me a place to stash embellishments I want to use in the journal. When my journal is completed the bag gives me a place to put items I want to keep that didn’t make it onto a page.
Add binding of some type
I use O rings to keep my journal together. They allow me to make my journals good and chunky and give me the freedom to add or take out pages as needed. Sometimes I will remove a page to work on it if I’m going to use wet mediums like paint or spray ink.
So now that I’ve shown you my “naked” December Daily, I hope to post throughout the month and give you ideas and hacks for ways to embellish your own journal. Just keep in mind the rules for keeping a December Daily:
- There are NO rules
- Don’t stress if you can’t do it everyday. Maybe just keep track of the highlights
- There is no right or wrong way to keep a December Daily
- Don’t compare your journal with anyone else’s journal
- HAVE FUN!!!
Easy D.I.Y. Shaker For Journals
If you read my last blog post, you would see that I am doing another December Daily this year. I love December Dailies because Christmas packaging, stickers and ephemera are just so darn cute. As I am just a big kid during the Christmas season, I also like to make shakers for my journals. There is something so fun about making the sequins and beads move around. Most of the time I just use the cellophane wrappers from things I buy but this year I had a different idea.
I found a bunch of these in my junk journal closet (yes, I really have a closet full of junk journal supplies!)
These are the plain white sleeves you use when you make your own CDs. There is cellophane covering the circle cut out. I stamped mine to make them extra festive.
This is the marked up cover of an old Rudolph kids book. I didn’t feel bad cutting up this particular book because it wasn’t in very good shape.
I glued on some sequins in different sizes to give the picture some dimension. Then I put the picture into the CD sleeve.
I got out a few of my packages of sequins and seed beads (and yes, I have many more than this!), and poured them into the CD envelope.
I sealed the sleeve with glue and viola, a cute Christmas shaker to add to my December Daily. I will probably just put it in with a paper clip so I can take it out and play with it when I want.
These can be made for any holiday and can also be used in junk journals. If you don’t have any CD sleeves, just take a look at your crafting stash and see what else you may have to turn into a shaker. Go ahead, your never too old to let your inner child out, especially at Christmas!
December Daily 2017
I just finished setting up the basic structure of my December Daily junk journal for this year and I thought I would share it with you. Please ignore the fact that one of my “O” rings is missing, I need to order more of that size.
So here are just some basic things I have done so far.
I used covers from a hard back book and glued a piece from a vintage ornament box to the front.
I used a variety of papers for the pages. I always like to do my December Daily journals for the entire month and usually put in about 40 sheets of papers in varying sizes.
A calendar for the month was added right inside the front cover.
I also added a December Daily prompt list I got off Pinterest in case I need some inspiration on those less than interesting days.
A little hand painted paper bag was glued to the inside of the back cover to put elements in that I don’t necessarily want to glue, tape or staple.
I added glitter glue to the candle flames and gold glittered letters that read, “Christmas 2017” on the front cover. I’m still debating if I will add any other graphics to the front. You can see how skinny the book is now, but I will keep you updated every once in a while during December to show you my progress.
If you are interested in purchasing a December Daily from me please leave me a message. I still have several to choose from and have time to mail them out before December 1st.
My DIY Traveler’s Notebook
Most people who are in the arts and crafts or planner worlds know what a traveler’s notebook is. There are tons of videos and blog posts about how to set up your TN (traveler’s notebook). And what you use them for is only limited by your imagination. I have watched many YouTube videos showing pretty TNs filled with TN inserts and paraphernalia all which add up to the cost of a new car! I’m not kidding, the bare bones TNs, without inserts, sell from $30.00-$70.00. Yeah, I’m so not cool with that.
So I decided to make my own TN. Basically all they are is a piece of leather or vinyl and some elastic cord. So how hard could it be to make my own? Not hard at all. I used two pieces of sample vinyl wallpapers from one of those huge sample books. First I glued them backsides together so I have a pretty cover and inside. Then I followed a video detailing how to attach the elastic pieces.
This is what my bare bones TN looks like.
Okay, I know it doesn’t look great yet, but that is because I haven’t worked on any of the pages inside.
I am using my TN as a prayer and Scripture book. But if that’s not your thing, you can use them as day planners, art journals, junk journals, glue books, etc…
Here are some of the pages I’ve made for my journal. As my prayers are private, I photographed these pages before I wrote my prayers on them.
Traveler’s notebooks, however you deem to use them, are a great way to use your creativity as well as use your stash!
If you don’t already have a TN, check out some videos about them. I bet you’ll get hooked just like I did!
Great Junk Journal Fodder Haul
I have already started making junk journals and such for the upcoming Christmas season. Although I really don’t need a lot of ephemera to make new journals, I did want to beef up my stash a little bit. So I picked up some really cool stuff in the last couple of weeks and wanted to share it with you. So without any further ado, here’s the stuff I hauled.
Cool old books and magazines. The pictures in these books are fantastic!
More vintage books with great graphics.
This book is not that old but…
the inside is chock full of vintage street signs. These will also be great to use in my mixed media projects or as embellishments in my journals!
Two more vintage cookbooks, but check out the insides of these…
great pages for journaling. The top one gets extra points because it’s a binder!
Vintage wrapping papers and tissue papers, because the one huge box I already have is apparently not enough! Again, these can be used in junk journals or in mixed media.
Vintage kitchen labels, a note pad and vintage sewing supplies. These are great additions to junk journals.
A box crammed full of vintage matchbooks. The matches have already been taken out so these will make great tags and embellishments for my journals. This photo doesn’t show the quantity too well but there are at least 250-300 old matchbooks here!
And lastly, a yummy box of old ephemera. There are all kinds of receipts in this lot. Also included were some cards of vintage rickrack and some old pens, some of which are fountain pens.
So all in all, I feel well stocked for a while and am ready to get on with making the journals. If I remember, I’ll show you some of the finished ones.
It gives me a great feeling to know I can reuse these old treasures to make journals and mixed media projects people will enjoy. Recycling is always a win-win situation!
Ready For The Vintage Home Market
Here’s a quickie post because I am busy with The Vintage Home Market this weekend. I just wanted to show you how great the booth turned out. A great big thank you goes out to my sweet hubby Martin for helping me get it all there and arranged. So just sit back and enjoy the photos.
If you are in the Central Virginia area, please come to the show and see us. The show information is at the bottom of this post. There are lots of dealers with really cute vintage items to see and buy!
I really hope I get to see some of my dear readers at the Market!
What’s Up?
I’ve been missing in action on my blog lately because I’ve been busy getting ready for two upcoming vintage shows. Here are some pictures to give you an idea of what I’ve been doing.
Five Cooking Themed Junk Journals. The Charms I Found Are Absolutely Adorable!
I have made several themed junk journals. There will be cooking, travel, garden and general themed junk journals.
Lots of Wood Pieces Getting A White Wash!
Both furniture and decorative items are getting gussied up with white paint. Funnily enough, some of the smaller pieces where then painted aqua instead!
The Beginnings Of My Show “Pile” Being Stored In The Sun Room.
This photo was taken a couple weeks ago. This pile has grown considerably since then!
The next two weeks are going to be my crunch time so I’ll be even busier. I’ll try to remember to pick up my camera and take some pictures along the way to show you.
Information about the Vintage Home Market and Foxwood Barn Sale can be found on my “Up Coming Events” page.
Cute Christmas Graphics
A lot of people ask me where I find such cute Christmas graphics for my December Dailies. I tell them, “Anywhere I can”. I don’t say that to be evasive or cryptic, I say it because it’s the truth. When you work on December Dailies and junk journals, you learn to look at the things that pass through your hands carefully. You want great graphics for your journals, however, most people don’t really even look at the papers that pass through their hands.
Here are a few cute Christmas graphics that may make it into my December Daily this year and the place where I found them. Hopefully this will give you some ideas for collecting great graphics for whatever project you are working on.
From and old Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer book from a Salvation Army thrift shop.
I got a whole box of these cards for $1.00 at a church thrift shop.
Snowmen plushie patterns from the Goodwill Outlet (by the pound store).
Cut from a children’s Christmas book from the library’s free book cart.
Vintage greetings cards purchased at a flea market.
Vintage sticker that was stuffed into a bag with old Christmas ornaments from a thrift shop.
These are just a few examples of what types of graphics are good to use for journals and where you can find them. But don’t forget to look at napkins, coasters, food bags, labels, newspapers, magazines, flyers, food boxes and shopping bags. Great graphics are all around, you just have to slow down and look for them.
I hope you take your time this Christmas to see all the wonderful images marketing professionals put out there for us to enjoy!
Sayonara Little Books
I have been working a lot lately on making junk journals and December Daily journals to sell at shows this fall. As a change of pace, however, I was given a commission to make eight decorated mini composition books by a young lady who is moving to Japan as an English teacher. She wanted the little books as small token gifts to give some of the people she will be working with.
She asked me to make them slightly grungy but with an American tone. I used some scrap-book papers from Momenta and Tim Holtz and embellishments from Tim Holtz. I also added some fun vintage graphics I had in my stash.
Here are the eight little books I came up with.
I think they turned out really cute and I hope her Japanese co-workers do too!
glitteronmyface 