Preparing for my first year of doing a December project.

I was introduced to Pocket Scrapping last year and along with it I discovered December Daily, I was intrigued but the idea of daily photos was daunting.
This year I started to Pocket Scrap and I have not done daily photos but taken the usual important moments and I did a couple of weeks of daily life since things repeat themselves here a fair bit.  I really enjoyed it.
So I decided to try December Daily this year and as I was trying to work out how I wanted to create my album the new Catalogue came out and I saw the Holiday Happenings range and got really excited about this range for my December Project.
This year December will be different as I am introducing my children to some things I enjoyed as a child but most especially St Nick, I met my friend's Christine and Marianne when I was 6, there Dad was German and our Mum's became lifelong best friends.  So some aspects of a German Christmas entered my childhood at this point and it just made things that extra bit special.
I am also (if AusPost delivers him in time) doing my own take on the Elf On The Shelf/Kindness Elf.
Now to what this post is about, my preparations for my December Project.
I watched a couple of Youtube videos, checked out blog posts and have drawn inspiration from them.

I have prepared the base cardstock of a 7 flap Waterfall, Cards for pockets, Fold out pages and Cardstock Pockets.

Love Waterfalls for adding extra photos.















 

I chose this page to add my Waterfall to.

Cards slipped into pockets for extra space for photos and journalling.










I am going to use the 12 pocket page for my Elf photos, so I have made a pocket on the page to it's left to hold notes the Elf leaves.

I added a some bling, really excited about getting my daughter's graduation photos so I can finish decorating my book.

I have made a simple fold out on this page.

I put a pocket on the inside of the front cover, for now it is holding my assortment pack and badges but when my project is finished it will hold photos or journalling.
I haven't covered it in decorative paper yet.





The paper added to the Glacier pocket is the only paper I have added so far from Yuletide Carol as I chose this pack as it is not only perfect for Christmas but also my daughter's Graduation, she Graduated 2 days ago, so I am waiting on photos before I do my layouts.  I will upload my 12x12 layouts and my paper covered Holiday Happenings book once I have completed them later this week.


I have a few more fold outs & cards I want to do and to add a pocket to the back cover, I am hoping to finish my preparations this week and I will do a follow up blog post when my album is complete.

Products I have used
My Crush Holiday Happenings Book RRP $
My Crush Holiday Happenings  Assortment RRP $8
My Crush Holiday Happenings Badge Buttons RRP $8
Yuletide Carol Paper Pack RRP $15
Yuletide Carol Assortment RRP $9.50
Red Shimmer Trim RRP $6.50
Sparkles Clear Flourishes Small RRP $6.50
Pink Glitter Gems RRP $5.50, they have some cute red glitter gems in them and I have used them on the Joy page & North Pole spot on the map page.
Sparkles Clear Assortment RRP $4 I used these on the page that has the heading December and a Partridge with a calendar on it.
2 sheets Cranberry Cardstock RRP $22 also available in Adventure Cardsotck pack RRP $22
1 sheet Glacier Cardstock RRP $22 also available in Whimsy Carstock pack RRP $22
1 sheet Colonial White Cardstock RRP $

Here are the links to the YouTube videos and blog posts that I found inspiring for this project.
This video she creates pockets, a waterfall and flip cards.
This video is a flip through of her album.
This blog post is about a hinged page, I love how she fussy cut Santa on the Santa page.
This blog post I love the little To Do List and the use of the tab stickers and alphabet stickers.

Portable crafting within the house.

I got 2 of these carts at Aldi some time ago for $13 each, one is used for general scrapping supplies that my boys and I use and this one just has current range CTMH in.
My space only 1 person can fit in to craft so I often move some supplies out to the Dining room to craft with the kids or with friends visiting, carrying armful after armful got tiresome so I set these carts up, when not in use I tuck it away in a nook and when I need it I either wheel it over to my desk or out the dining table and have it next to the table.
This post I am sharing my Aldi cart for my CTMH supplies as the other one needs a bit of a tidy so I wasn't comfortable sharing pics of it.
I would really love to Upcycle a Change Table as that would be big enough and sturdy enough to hold my supplies the kids and I use and my CTMH Organisers.
I hope it is a helpful post for those needed a portable crafting station.

Here is my little Aldi cart all packed with CTMH supplies.
Bottom is ideas books, if I have a catalogue I put it here also.
Middle is current stamps, next 2 months of Stamp Of The Month, wet wipes and under them is my CM personal trimmer.

 Top has bucket full of paint brushes, scissors, pencils, etc (I use CTMH non stick scissors for cutting sticky things, grey handle scissors for cutting glitter tape, orange handle for cutting ribbon and white & blue handle for detailed cutting), stamp blocks, ink pad tower, versamark, stamp cleaner, piercing tool & mat, scallop border punch, adhesives, cardstock swatches, spare blades, eraser and business card.

 In this pic I have removed my ruler and 12 inch trimmer to show the paper.
I am currently working on layouts with Whimsy Fundamentals, Brushed & Yuletide Carol.

Behind the paper is my versamat and behind this is the 2 ideas books I am currently using to save me bending.






Everything I need to work on the layouts I am working on with CTMH ranges/