Best of 2010

I gave my parents a Shutterfly album for Christmas. It was a compilation of photos from 2010. I had so much fun making it because I could look back through all the photos I took and be reminded of so many good times this past year. Here's just a sampling of some of my favorites, either because I think it's a really nice photo or more so because the photo reminds me of a really awesome time. Here's to another year full of great pictures.

D and I on her "Day of Fun," for her birthday.

M and I on her "Day of Fun," for her birthday.

Making Grandma's cinnamon rolls.

A and Dad heading to lunch. 

S and I on his "Day of Fun," for his birthday.

Pedicures on Mother's Day.

Enjoying a long summer day. 

The best jumping picture ever.

D in an Iowa corn field.

Making my first pillow.

Sprinkler fun. 

First time playing on a clay court.

Pretty lily pads.

The best water fight ever.

The North Shore.

5k race. 

Jimmy Carter Habitat for Humanity Work Project

Being turkeys on Thanksgiving.

Retiring Room, House of Representatives.

December Daily: Days 20-25

My December Daily is finished. Whew! It went by in a flash. I'm pleased with how it turned out, but I'm ready to move onto other projects. Really looking forward to Ali's Yesterday and Today class, which starts this week.

Here are the final pages.

The only downside of this album was the lack of space for journaling. Something to remember for next year.

The new year is fast approaching. I am thinking about goals I'd like to make. I'll be back later this week with those and some of my favorite photos from the year. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

December Daily: Days 16-19

We had another snowstorm yesterday. The third this season and today is the first day of winter. Please, oh, please let the rest of winter be easier. Good grief. I'm already coveting a trip to warmer climates. I don't usually do that until the middle of January. But through it all, I create.

Here are days 16-19 of my December Daily.

Day 16: Today, we attended my niece's orchestra concert. She is incredibly talented and I'm so proud of her. I'm so glad I was able to see her perform. I used my new UniBall Signo white pen to write the journaling and it works splendidly.

Day 17: Today was full of shopping. Why is it so tiring? In the evening, I went to 39 Steps. What an excellent play. So ridiculous, but hilarious. I can't wait to see the original movie by Hitchcock. Has anyone seen any Hitchcock films? I've been told to stay away from The Birds.

Day 18: Today was a busy day, so I added an envelope, which holds the journaling. We made and decorated sugar cookies, attended my other niece's dance recital and enjoyed dinner at Punch. I bought Christmas tape from 7 Gypsies and have been using it on everything! Love it!

Day 19: Today I documented a conversation my brother and my niece had. He emailed it to me and it totally made my day, so I wanted to be sure to include it in the book.

Journaling:
Dad: "Audrey, tonight Sara the babysitter is going to come and play with you."
Audrey: "Aunt Sara?"
Dad: "No, babysitter Sara. You like her."
Audrey: (smiling) "Oh, I really like Aunt Sara. Aunt Sara is fun."

December Daily: Days 13-15

I've been having such a good time with this album. I feel like I have hit a groove. I love that's it's getting thicker and is full of goodness. It's already really fun to flip through. I can't believe there's only 10 more days left. Many more stories to tell. So, onto days 13-15.

Day 13: Today is all about some cookies I made. I'm not much of a baker, but I've been craving these cookies for awhile and so I finally decided to got for it. If I completely screwed them up, then so be it. But, they actually turned out pretty well. A super simple page for today. I just added a few journaling spots and some Thickers. I also added a snowflake transparency sheet between the pages. I like the look and feel of these sheets.

Here's a shot of the other page with a picture of my not too shabby cookies.

Day 14: Today I scrapped about a farewell happy hour with a couple friends. We met up at a neat, cozy place with great food. It was relaxing and fun and just what I needed. I used up a bunch of red buttons I've been hoarding. I love the dimension it adds to the page and to the entire book. I'm loving the number stickers too. They're from Cosmo Cricket.

Day 15: I wrote a letter to Santa for today's page. So fun. Everyone should do this, even if you don't share it with anyone. It's kind of hard to see in the above photo, but I took a white tag, punched a bunch of snowflakes, and placed them all over the tag. Then I misted it. After taking off the punched snowflakes, it left a nice snowflake pattern. Here's a shot before I wrote over the top.

Journaling: Dear Santa: It's been awhile since I've written to you. I know you get a lot of requests, so I'll keep mine simple. You've already brought me Ali's class. Thank you. Also on my wish list: a little bit of Christmas magic, no more snow please!, cozy, good times with family and my favorite Christmas treat, peanut brittle. Merry Christmas to you and Mrs. Claus. Love, Sara

Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone making an album is enjoying the process.

December Daily: Days 10-12

Day 10: So far, my December hasn't been full of many holiday/winter type activities, so I'm having to think of other things to scrap about. For this day, I decided to write about a couple of the traditions that I remember from growing up. I'm enjoying the mix of pages with photos and without. I'm loving the big brackets. I found these in an old SEI collection.

Day 11: Deciding on today's topic was pretty easy. We had a whopping snowstorm. 15 inches in 24 hours. I headed outside the next day to snap a few photos. Getting around was not easy. I know some might think as Minnesotans we would be used to snow totals like this, but we're not. We don't get this much, this fast, very often. I hope since it happened on a weekend that they've had time to clear the roads before I head out to work.

Day 12: I got out my holiday decorations today. I love pulling out each piece and remembering who gave it to me or where I got it. I'm not getting a tree this year, so many of the ornaments stayed in the box, but I brought out two of my favorite ones. I decided to journal about these two pieces. I added a sheet of vellum in between the two pages, where I could add my journaling. I'm loving the word fetti on the first page.

So far, these are three of my favorite pages. Probably because I had a lot of time this weekend to scrap. It helps when you can't go anywhere. I made a special effort to use some older supplies, which always feels good. I've been trying to use up more product before buying new. It's hard!

I'm looking forward to this week. I have some fun things planned. I can't believe we're less than two weeks away from Christmas. Still have all my shopping to do. Eek.

December Daily: Day 7 & 8

Day 7: My parents have most of the photos from my childhood, but I found these few from Christmas past in my stash. I thought they would be great in my December Daily. Elise had a great tip on her blog to use contact sheet in iPhoto to print smaller photos. What an excellent tip! I've been printing these mini pictures like crazy for all types of projects. Love. I added a bit more embellishments to these pages, like the cluster of buttons. When I scrap 12x12, I tend to use a lot more embellishments, so I'm glad to fit more of that in this album. I'm thinking about adding an envelope where I can include some additional journaling. I have more to say about these photos and about Christmas as a child. Or I may just dedicate more pages to this theme.

Journaling: These are a few photos I found in my stash from when I was little. The top one is from 1978. The middle ones are from 1979. These are my favorite, especially the one where I'm handing my Mom an ornament. The bottom one is from 1980. I love looking at all the details. So cool. I'm grateful for these few glimpses from my childhood.

Day 8: Really simple page for day 8. A bit of washi tape, several number 8 stickers and a journaling card. While I'm enjoying this new size, there have been times when I wished I had more space to work with. I don't want to completely cover up all the cute paper. Sometimes it's hard to find that balance.

Journaling: I asked Emily to take some pictures of me on the House floor before my last day. (I realized I hardly had any photos from this experience). It's such a beautiful chamber. So much history here and I was a part of it for a time. I always took my responsibility seriously; doing my best, my part to make people's lives better.

Is anyone else trying out a new sized album? Any pros/cons to share? Or any tips to share in using this smaller size?

December Daily: Day 6

Super simple page for Day 6. I'm not a fan of Mondays. They are usually pretty quiet and mundane. Yesterday was no different. I didn't take any pictures, so I decided to list 10 things that I'm thankful for during the day. Turns out it was an okay day after all.

Journaling: Thankful for: | A car that starts in the cold. | Freshly laundered sheets. |  A quick commute home. | Good music to jam to in the car. | Twinkling holiday lights. | Apples and peanut butter. | Paper, stickers and glue. | My good health (knock on wood.) | Compliments that brighten the day. | Dark, dark chocolate. |

December Daily 1-5

It's that time of year again. Time for December Daily. Yay! This is one of my favorite projects and I recommend it to everyone. This project (however you decide to put it together) documents the month of December, leading up to Christmas. The idea is to create the album prior to December and then all you have to do once December arrives is to fill in each page as you go. I love this project because it makes  me focus on the season, to remember its purpose, to take notice of all the good and beauty of the season. You can read more about the idea on Ali's blog.

This year, however, I wasn't sure I wanted to create an album. It's been a bit of a rough time these days and I didn't know if I could be merry and bright. If I'd have anything cheery to document. But after thinking about it for a few days, I decided I definitely needed to do it. Needed. I knew it would help me to keep perspective and to see all the good in my life. The exact purpose of the project. Hello. It took me a bit, but I got it. I will let the holiday spirit work in me.

This year I chose to make a 4x6 book full of patterned paper held together by a couple of rings. Each double page spread will hold the journaling on one side and the other side will hold the photos.  Simple, simple. The cover is white cardstock misted with Tattered Angels Candy Apple Red. I love how it turned out. I'm using the Echo Park Everybody Love Christmas line. And bits of Jillibean Soup and American Crafts. It's going well so far. I've used pre-made albums in the past, so I'm enjoying the flexibility of this handmade album.

Here is the title page and days 1-5 before and after.

Title page:

Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Day 4:

Day 5:

You can see a few of the pages from my 2009 daily here and a few of the pages from 2008 can be seen here. I will post more pages as I get them done.

Enjoy the season!