getting ready & celebrating

Preparing to take part in Ali's December Daily album making over the holiday season. This is the third year I've played along with this fantastic idea. I love feeling a part of a big, big community while completing this during the holiday season each year. I'll share more about my thoughts about the time between Thanksgiving and New Year's as the season progresses. Right now, I'm getting ready. A few more photos of my book in progress are here. More will be added along the way.

Today at work I was thinking about this project while eating lunch and decided to write out 10 intentions about it to keep on my craft table at home. My hope is these will guide me and keep my focused as I complete 30 days of documenting from November 25-December 25. I make a holiday daily instead of a December daily. For a few reasons. One, my birthday is November 25. Two, as a result I love the number 25. Three, Thanksgiving usually falls in this span of time and Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday of the year, hands down.

On to other crafting projects. Elise posted a tutorial on a A Beautiful Mess a few weeks ago for making fabric wreaths. I loved her example so much that I dug through my fabric box (I don't sew fabric - I don't know why I even have a fabric box, other than I love patterns and I always think I'll sew fabric someday, so I collect fabric from time to time). I used only what I had on hand to make this wreath. Here's a photo in better light. This is the first time I've hung something in this cut-out spot between my kitchen and living room. I sorta like it. I think another winter wreath is in order - this one is for autumn.

And here is my current favorite minibook (favorite changes each time I make a new one). I mostly completed this while traveling in Savannah - just added a few finishing touches when I returned home. I had prepped about 95% of the base before leaving, packed a few tools with me, and basically added in journaling and some found paper each night while cooling off in my super fabulous hotel. Ali and Elise have shared great ideas over the years for books like these. I used some of their wisdom when I put this one together - like use a mostly neutral color scheme for your base pages, and rely on repitition of designs and patterns to create a cohesive look. Given their graphic design acumen, it's not surprising this is great advice. I love how this one turned out. All the pages here in a flickr set.

One more thing: how awesome is Jennifer Grey on Dancing With The Stars? I'll admit that I'm only watching DWTS because Jennifer is Baby Houseman in my most favorite movie of all time, but man, she can still move. I love seeing a woman who is over 50 bust back out into the scene even brighter and more confident than when she was 27 (not to mention that she'd been pretty much shunned by Hollywood after altering her signature nose). Way to go Jennifer!