December Daily Catch-Up: Days 3 - 6 with Holly

I'm sharing more of my progress today on December Daily 2016. Go back to this post to see how I set myself up, to do this project as a digi book this year. I am still deciding whether I will print this as a 6x8 book, or print the pages and put them in a binder.

Day 3 was actually a two-parter. We spent the afternoon at Auntie Deb's making dough ornaments, before heading out to the Morton Arboretum Illuminations. I felt both deserved a 2-page spread. The first page features "Holly" papers & elements by Amber LaBau Designs. I'm also using her Story Grid, Vol. 2 (modified) on the left side.

Day 3, Part 2. The Morton Arboretum Illuminations was beautiful!
Credits: Amber LaBau City Sidewalks Pocket Cards & Elements. Ali Edwards' 6x8 December Stories Layered Templates.

Day 4 was another awesome holiday tradition that we just started last year, our trip out to a tree farm to chop down our Christmas Tree! This place is so picturesque, especially with the snowfall we got while there! I loved the horse-drawn wagon ride in the snow with those majestic Clydesdales!
Credits: Sahin Design's Holiday Collection, Template: Story Grids, Vol. 2 (modified) by Amber LaBau Designs.

With so many great photos and memories from Day 4, it got another 2-page spread. I had some sweet pocket cards from The Crafty Pocket. I suggest checking out her shop for some coordinating flair!
Credits: Happy Christmas, Story Grids, Vol. 2 (modified) by Amber LaBau Designs, Holiday Hand-drawn Phrases and Holiday Word Art, Vol. 2 by Ali Edwards.

Day 5, this was our tree trimming, which actually occurred the day before (shhhh!). When there is an event on the day, I put it in that slot. If I don't have anything related to that date, I fill in. This project is about doing what works and not sweating the small stuff. Like Ali Edwards says, "It's about the stories". Credits: MPM, December Wonder  and Ali Edwards' 6x8 layered templates.

Day 6, Brunch with Santa. Again, this occurred on Saturday, but I'm putting it here and talking about the kids pictures with Santa, or non-pictures.... I'm using the December Wonder MPM (a subscription at the Lilypad).  Most of the cards shown are by Paislee Press. This monthly collection is a collaboration of designers at The Lilypad.

Thanks for catching up with me and December Daily!
Holly | www.paintedladiesjournal.com
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Setting Up My Digi "Document Your December"

Have you been enjoying the beginning of your December? Did you decide to do a scrapbook project just for this month? This is only my second year doing one. Last year I created a physical book. I decided to go digital this year. I think it will be very easy to keep up with, especially if I have my digi kit pulled together in one place. And if you haven't started yet, it's not too late! Start now, who says it has to start December 1. Or maybe you've already been taking photos.

I made one folder on my computer called "2016_DYD." I also have a folder under here called "2016_Photos" to dump the pictures into, on a daily (or even weekly) basis! Here's a screenshot of my folder structure:

You need a few basic things to have organized. 

• Calendar of Events
• December kit (elements, papers, cards)
• Template assortment (I'm going with 6x8)
• Numbering System           

Calendar of Events. I like to look ahead at local events and known commitments we have for the Holiday season and put them on a calendar. I use Google Calendar and make one called "Holiday Schedule". Then, I just google events going on and put them in when they work. You can see that I've got a lot of blank spots. "Elf Mischief" can fill in where needed. There are lots of stories about the holidays that can be told to fill in those days that don't have things going on. Stocking on the fireplace, story behind a specific ornament on the tree, favorite holiday food.

Your December Kit. First, pick your kit. Amber LaBau's new release last month, "City Sidewalks" was just a perfect fit for me. Here's the paper and element kit. Here are the coordinating cards.

You will also see me using this kit in this year's Document Your December. This is Holly Papers and Holly Elements.

Template Assortment. I purchased some of the Ali Edward 6x8 layered templates this year to use for this project. 

I wanted more variety, though. So, I took the Amber LaBau Story Grids and modified them to 6x8. The Story Grid v2 works best for this, but I recommend the whole collection of story grids for 12x12 pages. They are a nice change of pace! They are bundles into two collections. 

Story Grids Anthology | Vol 1 and Story Grids Anthology | Vol 2

I'm also mixing it up with a combination of photo overlays. Ali Edward's combo pack and Amber LaBau's 3x4 overlay set and 4x6 overlay set. These also come as pdf printables, if you are doing a hybrid project.

Numbering System. I wanted an alternative option for number my days (or events). I will also be mixing these Countdown Cards Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. I like that I can used these as cards with journaling, or as stamps over paper or photos. The other great thing about them is that they are not December specific.

Here are a few of my first pages! Our elf arrives on December 1st, so that is my typical first layout...I know the elf gets mixed reviews, but my kiddos are so excited and happy to see him! And that makes me happy.

Day Two was a holiday stroll in our neighborhood. I'm still waiting for the image of the photo with Santa to come from the photographer!
Stay tuned to social media for more layouts all month! @paintedladiesjournal

Holly: Week in the Life Day 7 - Photos and Words

Ok, this may be my favorite starting 6x8 photo of the week. I took the time to "move" the fork over to the side since it was smack dab in the middle and bring it on top of Ali Edward's stamp.

Christy woke at 7AM and headed over to her new place to get a few things and shower there. I slept a little more and then lay in bed editing WITL photos on my phone.

09:00 AM. GOT UP. Showered. Heavenly.

Bought the frappuccino at CVS last night in anticipation of needing coffee in the morning with little or no choices in her barren, almost moved-out-of apartment. Check out the caveman/woman salt & pepper shakers...

This is my new favorite sister picture. I can't believe it's the only one we took. Glad it's a good one. Okay, there is one more later on. Wait for it...

Saw this cool mural on our walk to the cafe.

It wasn't hard to talk my sister into going out for breakfast. Hee. Hee. My reasoning was that we'd work through lunch and have a good dinner later, so better have a filling breakfast. Did I mention that I would be helping her purge stuff and pack stuff this weekend?

I soon figured out why my sister chose this place. I think the bartenders that work here are required to have beards and tattoos. And maybe half sporting some man-bunnage. So, I had to be asked twice if I was rum added to my creamy cappuccino indulgence. My immediate response was NOOOOO. Then, my sister quickly answered YESSS for her's, so I felt like a smuck. It was our only chance to booze it up. So, when the bartender looked back to me with a raise eyebrow, I said, "Ah hell, ok".  Well....I couldn't stomach it. I think it had 4 fingers of rum in it. I stirred the hell out of it, hoping I just needed to mix it better. After getting a few inches down, somehow, I asked a different bartender to please add some more coffee on the sly (I didn't want to the one who made it to feel bad). My sister did the same. LOL!!!

We not only order the same drink, but also the same meal. Which came with this, AND that huge pancake at the beginning of this day's photos. I didn't eat the pancake, but brought it home...it never got eaten. I had 2 eggs over easy and Sis had scrambled. Yum.

We walked across the street to Koppa's just to read the funny labels. "Tedious Pistachios" LOL! We liked that one the best. I was imagining this guy in the back, cracking himself up, creating labels. On our way out, we each, inconspicuously grabbed a stack of free newspapers for packing dishes...

First thing we did when we got back, was start unloading the storage locker unit. I was impressed that stuff didn't fall out on us when the door was opened. hee. hee.

1:00PM Mom and Dad arrive. We were sorting through clothes, trying to purge stuff. (I was adding a few new items to my own collection - cute tops, capri's, yay).

Dad ran over to Whole Foods right away and brought back sandwiches, chips & guac, and lemonade soda. Yum. Good Job, Daddio. He didn't understand all the photo-taking.

Wow, we got through ALL the clothes in this closet and that were in storage. Lots to take to Salvation Army, which was next on our list.

I went with Christy to drop off FIVE bags of donations! That felt good. And then we went to take a few items to the new place.

This is the new place. In a very residential part of Milwaukee. She has a roomie from work now. 

 

I loved noticing all the remnants of my Great Aunt & Uncle's home at Christy's place. That is a coaster with a picture of them on it.

And this is a painting of Benji, their "dog son" from their home. Benji was a puppy when I was a puppy and passed away when I was in college. He was loyal to his family (including us) but don't mess with the family car. Don't come near it. Definitely don't go in it when he was in it. He was loyal... and very protective of their cars.

Ok, this is the part where my Type A Big Sister Personality stepped in. Packing dishes. Poor mom. She tried to just get it done. But I had to re-do the few boxes she had started and had about 5 boxes going at once, trying to fit different size items in the open spots in each box, until they were nicely and solidly packed. Well, that way, nothing slides and around. Everything fits in the box. And it closes. And then the boxes can be stacked. 

Lots of boxes packed. Time for dinner. Mom looked up a Gluten-Free option. Not because she is picky, but because she is a Celiac. She found a sandwich shop (I was surprised) but we all walked over there glad that she found something she could have. Unfortunately, when we walked in the stench was overwhelming. And then my Dad labeled it. A Butcher Shop. Wow. That made it even more disgusting. This place is GF?? And then I saw a little line at the bottom of the menu, 

Gluten-Free Bread......$1.99

Um, no, probably not very safe for a Celiac. Since we couldn't stand the smell a minute longer, we stepped back outside to discuss out options. And then, Christy's nose started bleeding. Again! Mom was bummed.....

AND I WANTED A FAMILY PHOTO.  lol. Sis wasn't very happy with me, but when I sent her to her later that week she said she had NO IDEA our parents were being goofballs and loved it. I had permission to use it however I saw fit. So, here's our awesome family photo from the weekend. I think this is the only time we have all been together without my kids since said kids have been in existence.

Plan B. Mom walked Christy back home to take care of her nose problem. Dad and I walked over to QDoba to get some naturally GF burrito bowls.... yum. All is good.

Ok, here's that other photo of my sister and I, as promised. It' odd. I don't quite understand what I'm looking at, except that it IS my sister and I with parts of our faces swapped. I have her nose and lips and eyes/eyebrows. But it's my teeth, glasses, forehead and hair. I was dying. She introduced me to SnapChat where you can faceswap...oh my. She didn't say I had permission to use this photo, but she didn't say I couldn't, either...

We all watched a movie while eating our QDoba from the limited collection. "Stolen." I shrieked when the motorcycle cop turned around it was my husband's BFF. lol. And we had to rewind and rewatch his whole sequence of lines before he was killed by the bad guy.

And this concludes and Photos and Words for Week in the Life 2016! My first WITL project and I'm really enjoying it so far. And now to get to the "making" of the album!!

Holly | www.paintedladiesjournal.com

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Holly: Week in the Life Day 6 - Photos and Words

 Yayday! Friday! Friday is here. So, we live like right next to an ice cream spot. It's always a part of our week....

 Still diapering the youngest. He's two. I love that I can change Drew's attitude about getting changed (um, he doesn't always want to sit still for this) by tickling him. I tickle him until he answers, "Yes, Mama!" He is laughing hard and saying it and then he cooperates. Some might consider it torture, but he really loves it.

Our corner to cross to go to school. K saw his best bud already on the other side and was impatiently waiting for the walk sign to get over there. Sometimes D walks, but many times I end up carrying him back, so I usually bring the stroller. A goes in the door on this side, but then we walk K over to his door on the other side.

Oh boy, we haven't seen you in about 16 hours! Always a happy reunion in the morning on the way to their preschool classroom.

I was eager to steal some morning time getting my little travelogue art journal finished for a guest blog post. If we aren't out running errands or visiting a playground in the morning, we come back here and D typically asks for "Ba and T", which means a sippy cup of milk and TV. This morning I was happy to oblige.

Have I mentioned D's current obsession? Dinosaurs (aka "Rawrs") are everywhere at our house. All shapes and sizes. And they are usually arranged with things in their mouths. Like toy cars.

D found some toys that had been hiding in our closet for awhile. It was like Christmas.

Everyday we walk this sidewalk and see big kids on the field. My daughter's first grade class is usually out at the other end of the field and on the playground right now, on our way to go pick up K from Pre-K.

Then, we walk around to the other playground that is empty and have some outdoor playtime with our other Pre-K friends. More friends are out now that the weather is finally getting nicer. K has started this dare devil trick where he climbs on top of the cage bridge. Eek!

These two have become inseparable this year. My heart is going to break for all of us when they move to another state in a few short months. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Besties.

We walk back home around the other side of school. It usually involves a race to see who can give me a heart attack. My kids are city saavy. They do know to wait for mom to cross any streets, alleys or curb cuts, but I still get nervous with them too far ahead.

D fell asleep at noon today! Packing. Tonight, I get on an Amtrak train to go to visit my sister in Milwaukee. Yay! Need to be packed before 3PM school pick-up.

K really likes these peanut butter balls, a new little treat we found.  After lunch, he's have a treat and getting some iPad mini time. His favorite is Stampee Minecraft videos on YouTube Kids. He searches for them with the microphone tool and I hear him say (just like Stampee), "Helloooooo and Welcome to another Minecraft video...." love this (but i don't love Stampee).  Also of note, in this picture, is the lovie he is hugging, which is a constant right now, "Foxie" whom happens to be the first gift I gave to his Dad on our first Valentine's Day NINETEEN YEARS AGO!!!

I pre-packed the car before having to run over and pick-up A from school at 3pm. I had promised a DQ ice cream treat today after school, so here we are!

      CURRENT DQ FAVES

• A - Twist Ice Cream Cone, double scoop (which is a small, and they aren't scoops) with sprinkles
• K - Kid Size Vanilla with sprinkles in a cup (and he like so finish whatever D doesn't eat, too) OR M&M mini-blizzard
• D - Kid Size chocolate with sprinkles in a cup (eats about 1/2)
• Me - Small Salted Caramel Truffle Blizzard
• Dave - vanilla cone

We got straight in the car from DQ to head downtown. We were picking up Daddy who would take me to Union Station to catch my 5:08 train to Milwaukee! I was nervous about Friday traffic and didn't want to chance missing my train because the next one wasn't until 8:00pm.  So, we got to Daddy's office and had to wait for him in the car a bit. We were parked under the "EL" tracks and this was D's look everytime a train went overhead.

Whew, I made it but I wasn't on the train yet. By the time I waited in line to use the restroom and waited on the very un-organized Corner Bakery to make a sandwich, I was running to my platform as they were calling "Last Call" for boarding! I had 2 hours of peaceful train ride to Milwaukee with my sandwich, water, chips and iPhone for working on my Week in the Life photos. But, I had a horrible headache, so I wasn't all that productive and just zoned out mainly.

My sister was waiting for me at the station. It was raining and I still had a headache and she had an open wound on her hand from falling on the steps outside of her work. She was also suffering from a reoccuring nosebleed. We were kind of a wreck, but happy to see each other. We stopped at CVS to get us both medical supplies and snacks. Almost to her place by the lakefront. She's pointing at the lake in front of us, telling me about how sparkly it looked the other day.

After taking care of ourselves, we put on a movie from her limited selection (she is moving and no more cable and most of her DVD collection among most everything else is at the new place). We chose to watch "Source Code" with Jake Gyllenhaal and indulge in our snacks. 

My bed for the night. The fold-out couch air mattress. All. To. Myself. No kids will be sleeping on top of my head, tonight! I slept like a tired mom (not like a baby, they don't sleep so well).

-Holly www.paintedladiesjournal.com

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