Coffee Cup Album--Page 3

Page 3
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

These are two seriously busy pages!! =D

One the left, I cut up an American Express mailer which looked like a passport. I cut out some of the cancellation/visa type stamps and randomly stuck them on the page. The coin in the middle is from East Germany.

The right side of the page has a chipboard Journey piece, which I sanded a bit. The rest of the page is covered with old stamps from countries I've been to. I tried to keep the color scheme the same--which was probably the hardest part of the whole album!! LOL!!!

Across the top is a quote from William Least Heat-Moon: "...horizons are visual invitations to the curious, the restless, and the unsatisfied."


Here's the link to the album...or you can just search Two Peas in a Bucket for CoffeeCupAlbum: http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/wilna-furstenberg/96231-digikit-coffeecupalbum-cupcakes-coffee/?filters=_coffeecupalbum_%2Fdigital-kits

I see Wilna has other albums available too! SO CUTE.


~Cynthia

Coffee Cup Album--Page 2

Page 2
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I had a lot of fun making this layout. I went through all the little 'onesies' from other projects that were laying around and thought about how I could fit them together and what I wanted to say.

I used a few pieces that were punched out, a few embellishment pieces, and I also cut out some words from the Stampin Up paper I used on the cover. I sanded a few of them because I wanted the whole album to have a shabby, worn look. I adhered a ribbon bow on the left and a handprint sticker on the right. (When I visit a lighthouse that I can actually touch, I put one of the handprint stickers next to the photo of the lighthouse in my scrapbook.) Then I added a bit of torn map and a piece of torn Tim Holtz paper.

The quote on the left says, "My heart's in the highlands wherever I go," from a Robert Burns poem. The quote on the right is from an online Intellicast ad that said, "Rough seas ahead. Grab your gear and let's get going."


Thanks for stopping by today!

~Cynthia

Coffee Cup Album--Page 1

Page 1
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Yeah, it's a Coffee Cup Album!! I was so excited to try this art journal from Two Peas in a Pod. And the totally best thing is it's FREE!

This is a digikit called Coffee Cup Album: Cupcakes and Coffee, by Wilna Furstenberg. You get the pages already done (6 of them!) and easy to understand instructions.

So thus begins my first foray into art journaling!! I totally changed the whole theme of the album because I don't drink coffee....but I love to travel so my art journal is more like Cupcakes and Travel! LOL!!

I adhered some newspaper-type designer paper from Stampin Up to all the covers, distressed them with Walnut Stain Distress Ink, then sanded them to create an old, worn, used look.

On the left side, I adhered a clear One Way arrow and the Air Mail symbol from an Air Mail envelope.

On the right side, I have letters (MY) that I stole from another project, a clear airplane embellishment peaking through, and an Air Cargo sticker I ripped off a box at work. I also added a metal butterfly.

The one thing I would have done differently here is that the page kinda says "MY Air Cargo" because the word HEART is part of the page. It really says...well, in my mind anyway...MY HEART.

I handwrote the quote from a Love and Theft song called "Runaway": It's crazy, I know, to count on the road to give me what I need. But with every state line, somehow I find another part of me.

That pretty much sums up my life! ;-)


~Cynthia

Cover of ???

Cover
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Yeah, I'm gonna be like those other crazy bloggers out there and just say, here is your little snippet of a project I finished over Christmas.

Stay tuned to find out what I've been up to! ;-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--"The End" 2010

"The End" 2010
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Yep. This is the very very absolute last page of my Dec Daily. This is the back cover. The end. No more. Done. Gone. Finito.

A moment of silence, please.


So. Some of the things I've learned.

1. I totally should have started doing Dec Dailys years ago. They are a great idea!
2. Start earlier.
3. Be more cohesive throughout. I felt like what I wanted to do changed around Day 10 or so. The beginning is different from the ending.
4. Use the same papers throughout to achieve that cohesiveness.
5. Don't use chipboard for the inside pages.
6. Don't paint the chipboard then paint it with Distress Inks and glue paper over it because none of it will STICK.
7. Use more pockets.
8. Use more postcard type journaling tags.
9. Skip the baseball card type pages.
10. Writing the 'daily' stuff on the left page and the Advent devotional stuff on the right side works very well.
11. Using just three colors of cardstock works very well.
12. Leave some pages blank to allow for creativity.
13. Did I mention start earlier?
14. Some of my favorite pages are the simplest.
15. Use more little envelope pockets.
16. Definitely start earlier.


~Cynthia

December Daily--End Page

Dec Daily End Page
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Here's the very last page of my Dec Daily. Just a simple piece of Cocoa cardstock with a simple snowman stamped tone-on-tone style with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

He's very appropriate for the end of this project. Yesterday at 4:30 PM, the snow started here in SC. So far we've gotten at least 3 inches and it's still coming down. I'm a Yankee by birth so I really love it as it reminds me of where I'm from. :-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--End Page

Dec Daily End Page
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

And so we've come to the end of our journey.

I really can't believe how time has flown by. I once heard a lady say that time drags until you're about 30 and after that time just flies by. That is so true. When you're a child, you have to wait for everything, but after you turn 30 it's like stuff just zooms toward you at top speed.

But I guess that's what things like Advent, Christmas and New Year's Eve are for--time to slow down and contemplate the future and the past.

Just two more pages of contemplation in the Dec Daily for me. This one is the final piece of red cardstock, stamped with Merry Christmas in Fired Brick Distress Ink.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 25

Dec 25
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

The very last dated page of my December Daily!

Die cut letters on a dark green background. Can't get much more simple. I do think I might need more room to journal though. :-)

Tomorrow I'll post the last few pages.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!!!

~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 25

Dec 25
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Here is my very last layout for my December Daily project! (I still have the 'end pages' to go.)

Very simple. I cut out some letters from a piece of Tim Holtz paper then adhered them to a strip of red cardstock. It ended up looking like a banner, which I thought was rather cool. I also adhered a strip of white on the bottom, but I may change that.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 24

Dec 24
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

And here it is....Christmas Eve. How this season of Advent has flown! BUT if I forget what happened, I can always look back through my December Daily project and remember what I did!!! =D

I die cut the letters for Christmas (which are on the page for Christmas Day) and liked how the negative spaces looked. I simply added a die cut EVE and decided that simple was better.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 24

Dec 24
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

*sniff, sniff* Are we there already?? It feels like I just started this project and now the end is near. So here's Christmas Eve, December Daily style.

For the last two days of the project, I used the same color scheme. Dark green and Christmas red cardstock. I made a little pocket and stamped trees across the bottom, added the last of my old postage stamps, and tucked a distressed tag into the pocket. The tag has the same trees stamped at the top and bottom.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 23

Dec 23
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

The New and Improved December 23!

Red hounds tooth paper with some sweet candy cane striped paper for a pocket.

If you look closely, you can see lumps at the top of the page. That's where I got vicious and tore off the original layout. *snicker* I hope it will flatten out in a few weeks from the weight of the pages when the album is closed.

The sun is shining here today...which won't last for long. The weather dudes are still calling for a white Christmas of "epic proportions"! I think I'm going to get in as much outdoor time as possible before the snow shuts the city down. Should make for some great photos though! Maybe I'll need to add a few more pages to the Dec Daily...... =D

~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 23

Dec 23
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Another late post because of another quick change.

I seriously hated these pages. I had adhered white snowflake paper then painted them with blue watercolor paint. I mean, it would have looked cool in an art journal, but it in no way matched the red-green-cocoa scheme I had going on here.

So I totally ripped them out. =D

This morning I adhered more Reminisce paper and then made pockets for each page. I also tucked a piece of paper in for journaling.

And I punched bows! I love my new Martha Stewart bow punch! I got it at half off too!!! WOOT!

Only two more days left in the Dec Daily. Happy or sad? I don't know yet. ;-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 22

Dec 22
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Another sad page rescued.

Like the left side, I hated what I had going on here, so I changed it this morning. I'm more happy with the left than this side, but....it's better than it was.

The original problem was that I had used white paint and haphazardly painted a section to make a place to journal. That was fine except it came out looking like...well...bird poo. I kid you not.

Soooooo....it had to be fixed. I used the same border punch on both sides of the layout, this time I punched both edges of a skinny piece of paper to get a lace look. Then I used another punch (a corner heart punch) to make the hearts. I put another heart in the corner because I had ripped stuff off of that spot.

I would rather have cut the paper off instead of cutting that little square out for the number, but the bird poo...I mean the white paint extended itself almost to the edge.

It was a big bird.


~Cynthia ;-)

December Daily--Dec 22

Dec 22
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This poor layout.

I was SO unhappy with it that I decided to change it this morning. Hence the later than usual post. ;-)

I'm not 100% happy with the outcome (it's a little too 'country' for this project), but it's tons better than it was.

I border punched a piece of cream cardstock, then used the same punch on a piece of red Reminisce that's the same design as the green background paper.

The "Snow?" is because we are more than likely having a white Christmas this year--which will be the first time in something like 60 years. This could be a wonderful thing, or it could be very very bad. I live in South Carolina and we have NO SNOWPLOWS. I think they rig up stuff on city dump trucks and try their best to keep the roads clean. The National Weather Service is calling for either 3-5 inches or if the system moves more slowly, 6-10. One inch closes the city down. I'm serious. I'm from the midwest and think this is all pretty hilarious...when the power stays on! Heh.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 21

Dec 21
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I so love these two pages!! ;-)

The layout is the same for both sides. I used the same library card from Heather Nichols. The link is on the other page's blog entry.

I cut out some Tim Holtz letters to spell Christ, which I conveniently placed right on the "Title" line of the library card. Heh.



I have been having so much fun with this Dec Daily. I am definitely doing one again next year. I have so many ideas of things I want to do and things I wouldn't do the same way. I think using it as a daily journal and an Advent journal has really helped me focus on the true reason for this season: Emmanuel, God With Us.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 21

Dec 21
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

OK, this is probably my most favorite layout in the whole Dec Daily.

I love pretty much everything about it, probably because of the whole Tim Holtz thing going on!

I used the Cocoa Bazzill cardstock that's throughout the DD. So love that color! Then I printed out some seriously cute library cards from Heather Nichols' blog. The link is here if you need it...http://pinefeather.typepad.com/files/librarycardhn1209.pdf

Of course, I had to distress the heck out of that. (The library card, not Heather's blog.) I cut up some pieces of the same cardstock--I think it's called Sugar Cookie--for journaling lines. I can't wait to try that out!

Finally, I cut up some Tim Holtz paper to get the letters for JOY.

What fun! =D


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 20

Dec 20
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Here's more of the lovely, pearly Reminisce paper. To add a little something to the page, I colored two paper flowers with Fired Brick Distress Ink, then covered the edges of the petals in Rock Candy Distress Stickles.

And then I guess I decided I was done messing with it. Might need something else, no?


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 20

Dec 20
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Another simple page. Checking through the Dec Daily, I noticed that the closer to Christmas, the simpler the pages became. I think I got tired.

*NOTE TO SELF: Start the December Daily thing EARLIER.*

More of the red cardstock and more of the sweet Reminisce Christmas song titles paper. The end.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 19

Dec 19
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This side of the layout began as a boring piece of green polka dot paper. I realized quickly that it was (a) boring and (b) impossible to write on since the color is so dark.

So I added yet another free postcard from Designedly Kristi.com. I found one more old Christmas postage stamp and added Distress Inks all over the place.

I still might add something along the bottom, but seriously, I don't know about your Dec Daily, but mine is getting kinda large. ;-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 19

Dec 19
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This layout for the 19th began as my least favorite pages. Red on one side, green on the other. *yawn*

Then I had the bright idea of a pocket. I added the little poinsettia, which was left over from another project, and slipped in a little note card that I stamped with gingerbread men. The pocket is made from the same paper that covers the right side page.

This layout wins the Most Improved Pages Award! =D


~Cynthia

December Daily--Advent Week 4

Week 4
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I can't believe we're on Week 4 already!

And I can't believe Christmas is this week!! I'm pretty much ready. I've bought all the gifts, I just have to wrap them.

Here's the right side of the layout that I have used as a division for each week of Advent. I used (again) a smaller piece of chipboard since I (a) had them left over and (b) I won't be writing on them.

The letters and number are from a Cuttlebug alphabet set and the little tree is punched from some Reminisce paper.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Advent Week 4

Week 4
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This is the left side of the layout page for the beginning of Advent Week 4.

Just some pretty BoBunny polka dot paper. :-)

~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 18

Dec 18
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Wow. Shadows do funny things to photographs. This page is really not crooked. The hope stamp is really not leaning. The kraft label is really not mutated.

With THAT cleared up, this page is pretty serene and I LOVE the traditional colors, but as I discovered on another page, the writing will not show up well.

As I am writing this, the rain just started, the wind has picked up and it's 37 degrees. Since I won't be going out in that mess, I'll just have to spend quality time in the studio....fixing these two pages! ;-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 18

Dec 18
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I love the simplicity of this layout. The green strip of cardstock at the bottom is the same as the paper on the right side. This red paper is from Anna Griffin's Christmas pad. It wasn't wide enough to cover my whole page, so I added the little strip at the bottom.

I have, over this past year, purchased several dollar stamps at Michael's that have one-word sayings on them like peace, faith, gratitude and hope. They all have the same font, with different little swirls. I really like them and I've used different ones throughout the Dec Daily.

As much as I like the simplicity, I know I'm going to have to add something so my journaling can be seen on the paper. Ooo! Maybe I'll add a rectangle of that kraft paper! That might be cool!!

Off to the studio....

~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 17

Dec 17
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Here's the last of the Reminisce poinsettia paper. Originally, I die cut Tim Holtz's Tattered Flowers from it, intending to use them on another page. That didn't work out, but the left over image was cool enough to warrant its own page! I just adhered it to a piece of white, pearly paper. I THINK I can fit all my thoughts for the day inside the flowers!! ;-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 17

Dec 17
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I love this pearly snowflake paper! It's very easy to write on too, but I think it needs something. I made a bookmark for my niece yesterday (to put in one of her Christmas presents) and that might be the ticket for this page too!

ETA: Well, this day needed a pocket because of all the "things" I wanted to add to the page! I had lunch with a friend at Panera Bread, who also brought some cupcakes. I wanted to remember both so I put the lunch receipt and a silver cupcake paper in a pocket I made. The pocket runs the length of the page and almost two-thirds up the page, is made from the same paper seen here, and has 3 red snowflakes punched from the same paper as the right side of the layout. I also got an encouraging Christmas card from another friend, so I'll put that in there too.

I love how I can change the entire look of the page as I go!

~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 16

Dec 16
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Would you believe this picture was taken in broad daylight?? *sigh*

Anyway, this is a piece of a baseball card pocket page. I cut to size and used the rest of the page elsewhere in the Dec Daily.

I cut two pieces of Reminisce paper to journal on and in the smaller pockets at the top I added an old Christmas postage stamp, and a little greeting, cut from a different sheet of Reminisce.

The paper behind the pocket page is very sparkly green holly paper that is also on the left side of the layout. The paper is so pretty I didn't want to attach anything to it. That might change if exciting things happen. Ha ha. ;-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 16

Dec 16
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

On a visit in November to my local scrapbook store, I bought a pre-made package of paper, mostly Reminisce, all Christmas. I've used a lot of it for my Dec Daily and a lot of it for Christmas cards. This seriously cool sparkly holly paper was in that package.

Of course I had to use it here.

It's so sparkly that it can't be written on. So I added a baseball card protector sheet.

See "right side" blog entry. ;-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 15

Dec 15
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This is probably one of my favorite pages. Super simple design, but the shock of red running through the pearly white is really intense.

Another cool thing about this page is that I will somehow have to write between the white paper--should be interesting! :-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 15

Dec 15
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I like the look of these two pages. The contrast between the pearly white of the Reminisce paper and the intense red Bazzill cardstock is quite beautiful.

Originally, I had another idea, but it didn't quite work so I went with two simple strips of the patterned paper. The words are Christmas song titles.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 14

Dec 14
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This side of December 14 is a vast improvement over the left-hand side.

I used another of Designedly Kristi's post cards. This time I stamped a canceled postage stamp and used a bit of Distress Ink to add color. I cut it out and adhered it to the card. I also distressed the post card.

The reason I added the post card--as an afterthought--was the sheer boredom of these two pages. Originally, I had the stamped holly leaves along the bottom and top. Boring. So I added the postcard and I must say, it's an improvement. ;-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 14

Dec 14
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Wellllll....this is probably the goofiest of all my Dec Daily pages. :-)

I started out with an idea from another December Daily blog. Simple tone-on-tone stamps along the edges of a journaling tag in the center. I die cut the tag, then stamped the holly leaves with Antique Linen Distress Ink.

It was just a shade boring.

So I stamped more holly leaves on the sides. Except in my exuberance I stamped off kilter and then the whole thing looked weird.

Then....a local paper store was going out of business, so I totally scored a whole roll of admission tickets. For cheap.

And because I was so totally jacked up on the tickets thing, I flipped two of them over, distressed the heck out of them with Antique Linen and Walnut Stain, and stamped some snowflakes.

Thus....December 14 wins the award for Goofiest Page.

=D


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 13

Dec 13
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This page has the same Reminisce paper as the left side has. I cut out 'Tis The Season from a different sheet of Reminisce paper and then punched out a large scalloped oval, using the back side as a surface for writing.

I might add another circle or two for more space. I'm finding that's my only problem with the project--not enough space for all my thoughts!! =D


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 13

Dec 13
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I *love* this Reminisce paper! It's got a cool pearly sheen to it! The backside is white with the same pearl thing going on, so it's perfect for little things like this snowman.

Alas, we did not get our promised snow! The counties to the north and west and southwest of us did...but not us. In fact, the sun is shining right now!

No matter. I can pretend with this little snowman. He's a simple Winter Jelly embossing folder from Cuttlebug.

I cut up another piece of Reminisce paper to get the words Home and Believe.

As with several other pages in my album, I think I'm going to have problems seeing the writing on the paper, so I may have to do something today to fix that! :-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 12

Dec 12
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Ah, December 12.

How I hated you.

Originally I used dark green cardstock, with two of Tim Holtz's Tattered Flowers die cut from the red poinsettia paper, and a long journal card.

It didn't work.

It didn't match.

I hated it.

Least favorite page EVER.

So yesterday I ripped the whole darn page out.

TAKE THAT.

I replaced it with more of the poinsettia paper from Reminisce. From previous experience with this paper, I knew it was going to be hard to read any writing on it, so I added this cool postcard. I got it from DesignedlyKristi.com for freakin FREE! She has many other templates too--all for FREE. AWESOME. =D

I added another old old old Christmas postage stamp and then distressed the edges with my dynamic duo of Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks.

And I restamped the date too.

I feel SO much better about this layout now. I like how the cream cardstock brings a vintage feel to the poinsettia paper.

Ah, December 12.

How I love you.


~Cynthia

PS: Because I had already bound my album with my industrial strength zip ties, I punched the holes using a template I had made for the pages, then cut slits from the edge of the paper to the holes. I used a Glu Glider to add adhesive to the back of the paper. Then I just slipped the paper around the zip ties and pressed the glued paper down on the chipboard. I used a toothpick and little bit of Glossy Accents to glue down the 'flaps' around the punched holes.

December Daily--Dec 12

Dec 12
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I really like this page. I've used this Reminisce paper before--it's such a fun, graphic, bold image.

The little tag is from a packet of ephemera/journal tags from K&Co. The red on the edge matches almost exactly with the Reminisce paper! Love that.

This page is the back side of Week 3. I made all the right side pages for the different weeks shorter than the regular day pages because I could only get 3 day pages from each piece of chipboard--with one small piece left over, which became the week page.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Week 3

Week 3
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Here's the right side of the Week 3 division pages.

I used a border punch on the Reminisce snowflake paper edge, then adhered it over the red cardstock. I did the opposite on the left side of the layout.

The letters and number are from a Cuttlebug die cut alphabet. I used the same green cardstock for each week's letters and numbers to provide a little continuity.

~Cynthia

December Daily--Week 3

Week 3
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This is my Week 3 page break. My December Daily album is divided into the four weeks of Advent, with a division page for each new week.

I liked how this division layout looks. I love the Reminisce snowflake paper--it's got a pearly sheen to it. I used a border punch on the red cardstock and tucked the snowflake paper beneath it.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 11

Dec 11
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This is the mirror image of the left side of this day. I stamped Walnut Stain inked snowflakes on Cocoa cardstock.

I added a rectangle of cream cardstock, which was distressed with Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy.

What would I do without Tim Holtz inks?? ;-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 11

Dec 11
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I can't believe two whole weeks have gone by in the December Daily project! I've been having so much fun with it!! Yesterday I took some time to fix several pages I wasn't too excited about.

The pages for Dec 10 were very boring. (Scroll down to see what I mean.) I fixed them by adding some pieces from a postcard I received from Bath & Body Works. (Totally one of my favorite stores!)

The postcard had a silhouette of a snowy street with snowflakes falling. It was all in red and white. Very pretty. I cut off the line of houses on the street and adhered them to the bottoms of the pages. Then I punched out several tiny snowflakes and adhered them as well.

MUCH better!

Now...on to today's pages!

I used my (now) beloved Bazzill Cocoa cardstock. I stamped random snowflakes in Walnut Stain Distress Ink for a tone-on-tone look, with plenty of spaces for writing.

On this side, I adhered more of the music paper I've used on other pages. I distressed the edges with Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks.


Thanks for stopping by today!

~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 10

Dec 10
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Here's the right side of today's (ahem...BORING) layout. ;-)

I merely reversed the stripes of the Reminisce paper I used on the other side. I did mange to die cut a rectangle of white cardstock and stamp a tree on the top of it.

It needs some stuff.

What it REALLY needs is a touch of TIM HOLTZ...doncha think?? *wink wink*


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 10

Dec 10
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Today's layout is a little boring. So boring that I might have to add some stuff. ;-)

I used more Reminisce paper. I really like the stripes, but I'm not too sure I'll be able to see my writing.

I've been having a total BLAST doing this December Daily thang! In fact, I completely filled up yesterday's pages before I was even done with all my thoughts!!

Maybe I should do a 12x12 size next year....ha ha ha!! OK, no. =D

~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 9

Dec 9
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

My "Homage to Tim Holtz Page"--the right side of the layout.

I used one of Tim's grunge flourishes, covered with Fired Brick Distress Ink. I sanded it a bit to bring out the swirl design on the grunge board.

I could have snipped it and made more room to write, but I like the whole grungy/baroque thing going on.

And the red matches the forest fire happening on the left side of the layout. :-)


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 9

Dec 9
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Here is my "Homage to Tim Holtz" Dec Daily Page! ;-)

First, I made a tag. (Have you seen Tim's 12 Tags of Christmas?? WHOA.) Yeah, it looks nothing like his glorious creations.

I'm OK with that.

I blended red and brown Distress Inks on the tag, then stamped the trees and covered them with Distress Stickles.

It totally came out looking like a forest fire. Which...oddly...matches the Reminisce paper.

I love it in an odd sort of way. =D


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 8

Dec 8
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

This is just one huge piece of a beautiful sheet of Reminisce paper.

I love the paper and couldn't bring myself to adhere anything to it.

So.........I'm not sure if I can bring myself to actually WRITE on it.

Heh.



~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 8

Dec 8
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I got the idea for this page over at the Moxie Fab World blog.

Alas, as always, what I see and what I want to recreate doesn't always translate. :-)

It's supposed to look like cross stitching. After I stamped the first X, I realized I should have used a....you know...SMALLER X.

*sigh*

I sprayed Glimmer Mist all over the page. And yet it still looks like a pyramid of some sort.

The upside is I have plenty of room to journal!! =D


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 7

Dec 7
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

*wipes sweat from brow*

And I'm all caught up with my Dec Daily pages!!! Now I can get back to posting my Christmas cards too!

This page is a pretty simple layout. One Bigz Top Note die cut, one seriously cool Santa postage stamp, and one hand-drawn line.

I distressed both postcards with my go-to power duo of Antique Linen and Brushed Corduroy Distress Inks. I usually use Walnut Stain Distress Ink for antiquing, but I found that the Brushed Corduroy has a bit of a yellow tint and makes paper look very aged.

As with the other side of the page, I can journal on the postcard or around it.


~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 7

Dec 7
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

WOW. I can't believe I'm FINALLY caught up with my Dec Daily pages!!

Both sides of December 7 have the same Bazzill cardstock--it's called Cocoa. I love it!

I die cut two postcards using the Bigz Top Note die cut from Stampin Up. On this side of the layout, I stamped holly and PostCard, and also the postage cancellation wave. The stamp is an actual postage stamp from many years ago.

I drew a line down the center and then carefully placed my PostCard stamp right over the line so it would line up with the letter T.

I like how I can journal either on the postcard or around it.

~Cynthia

December Daily--Dec 6

Day 6
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I got a little fancy-scmancy on this page.

I saw on Ali Edwards' blog that she used baseball card-type refill pages and I just happened to have a few I wasn't using. I cut one page up and sewed along the cut sides to make two pages. I just put one in here.

The little bits of Santa paper are from Graphic 45. In the empty pockets I put (sadly) empty Reese's Peanut Butter Tree wrappers. Pretty much because I ate a bunch of them yesterday.

Man, I love Reese's.

The page beneath the pocket page is the same BoBunny paper as on the left side of the layout. Then there's a strip of green polkadot paper and a section of the usual red cardstock. I also had some artist's paper that had a ticket on it. I cut that out, distressed it a bit and tucked it under the green strip.

The red cardstock (Bazzill) has a slight waffle (like corrugated) texture. I sanded many of the pages to highlight the texture, which resulted in a cool tactile texture as well...it's powdery, smooth and corrugated all at the same time. :-)


~Cynthia