December Daily 2020 | My Reason Why Plus Days 1 Thru 3

Hey everyone and a Very Merry December to you! Today I will be sharing my Reason Why page, plus Days 1 thru 3. This week is always so exciting, I have been so anxious to begin this project! And then a few things started getting in the way, and I have had to readjust my game plan. Sometimes life is like that, but hopefully I am back on track, if there really is such a thing. I do hope to continue sharing my process videos on Wednesdays and Saturdays. If you’d like to see more from this project, check out this link: Theresa Moxley December Daily 2020. Take a look at my process for my beginning pages in my album!

 

Reason Why Page:

If you remember, my opening page was the red splattered transparency with the circle chipboard and the spelled out 2020. I love how it allows something to show behind it and invites the reader to turn the page and see what this little album holds. This also represents some challenges because you have to figure out what looks best behind the transparency! I created a flip up for this page, with a photo of our four children on the front cover.

 

 

Originally I printed the photo at a full 6×8 but then realized the circle chipboard would be right in the middle of Natalie’s face! So I cropped it down a little further and adhered the photo to the Paislee Press December calendar. I also added a tiny chipboard piece that says All of us together. When you flip the photo up, you will find a full December calendar, from Elle’s Studio. I have embellished this calendar with a couple of fun elements: felt sparkle from Ali Edwards, chipboard circle, hearts, stars, and tiny sparkles also Ali Edwards, and the flair is from Pretty Little Studio.

 

 

I wrote out my Reason Why page in Word and then brought it into an Ali Edwards digital template. You can learn more about how I am using these templates, plus the links for them, on my post here: December Daily 2020 Ways To Use Ali Edwards Templates. I added a strip of digital patterned paper across the bottom and left a part of the top open. These provide opportunities to add physical embellishments once the page is printed. I stamped the word Stillness across the top, using wood block alphabet stamps from Hero Arts. These are an awesome set to have! My word only filled a bit across the top, so I added a bit of washi tape (Crate Paper), a label (Pretty Little Studio), a stamped sentiment (older December Daily stamp set), and a bit of stitching. At the bottom I added a word strip and the number 25, all from Ali Edwards.

 

 

December Daily Day 01:

Once my Reason Why page was completed, it was time to move on to the days! Hooray! My story for Day 01 is our annual tradition of riding to see the Lights of Tanglewood, which is a nearby golf course that has been showcasing Christmas lights for years. This is one activity we knew would be unaffected by COVID, and so this was the first thing on my list! I used another template from Ali Edwards, this time clipping a photo and adding words on top. This template had word art which I had and printed leaving space for the number 01. The wooden 01 is from Colorcast Designs, and the chipboard 01 from Ali Edwards. I also added a digital overlay to the second photo, which is also from Ali Edwards. When I created this as a foundation page I envisioned placing the black 01 on the journal card, but in the end I chose to adhere it to the transparency. I thought the Bring on the season of joy chipboard piece needed to be on this page as well!

 

 

December Daily Day 02:

Day 02 is also page protectors, I had already created the patterned paper Find Joy page so I left that as is, but made some changes to the rest of the layout to suit my story. I came into the kitchen and found that Nick had discovered his Advent calendar, so I grabbed a few photos of him and journaled a bit onto a few of the digital 3×8 cards from Ali Edwards. I printed those two cards, along with the 3×8 photo, directly onto 8.5×11 photo paper, and then cut them out. Originally I was going to use the 3×8 page protector, but I decided to do like Ali did and use the kraft pocket instead. I adhered the felt 2 and added the little branches + Christmas tree. In the pocket pages, I added a 4×6 photo with a chipboard circle at the top. I am IN LOVE with those circles! The bottom two pockets are very simple filler pockets. I loved having a chance to use the red pleather sticker!

 

 

Day 02 Detail:

Here you can see a detail of the photo + journaling. I added a little snowflake clip (Crate Paper Snowflake) to the photo. For the journal cards, I added some transparent tabs from Post-It. I found those at Office Depot and they are such an easy way to add a tab to your page! They are streamlined, you can stamp on them, you can add stickers to them. I added word strips plus chipboard numbers (both Ali Edwards) so that the order of the cards would be more clear.

 

 

December Daily Day 03:

Lastly, for today, Day 03. My story that day was a bit of self care as I did a medical procedure (nothing serious, not virus related). I chose a blurred out photo of me in my studio wearing pajamas, and then I journaled a bit about how I am caring for myself even though this was hard on me. I added the photo + story to an Ali Edwards template, and printed it out again, leaving space for stamping and embellishments. The number stamp is Elle’s Studio Jane numbers, the believe is from Ali Edwards, and the alphabet is the same one from Hero Arts. I also used some of my older Ali Edwards and Paislee Press stamp sets to stamp on the red and white triangle tree. And that day is complete.

 

 

Thank you so much for joining me today! I will see you again soon!

~Theresa