Scrappy Hearts

December Daily: Day 15

A problem with the printer caused a delay in getting my spread for December 15th completed. Honestly though, that was the only issue with Sunday. Otherwise it was a perfectly delightful day. Both the Eagles and Cowboys lost, just two weeks to go in the season. What will I do on my Sundays without football?

Sewing, football, laundry and a bit of decorating. It was all good. I love spending a day at home after a little time away. I just love our home, especially when it is nicely decorated for the holiday!

I finally decided to give Harry and David a phone call, the suspense of not knowing who sent me the gift was just driving me crazy. A special thank-you to our friend Robin who is currently spending sometime in the sun! Sewing holiday gifts, with holiday fabric, in my studio decorated for the holiday! It doesn't get much better than this!

December Daily: Day 14

We woke up in Bethlehem on Saturday morning. Our schedule for the day, Christkindlmarkt and gingerbread houses, both at SteelStacks. Grateful for the day, the snow and the experience!

The restored buildings at Steelstacks, decorated for the holiday were beautiful! I love that picture of my mom in the snow - she is beautiful! The photo in the uper right hand corner is the line of break lights on the Schuylkill. Poor Mark was really challenged by the weather on out trip home!

A wonderful holiday get-away. I just love the opportunity to experience the holiday in different places. We had such a great time!

Another day complete - considering how I will move forward and what stories I would like to include so that I remember the magic that is our holiday this year!

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My word for this year is magical. So, on a bit of a whim, we took a magical journey out to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I had had this idea that I would have our Christmas cards postmarked in "Christmas City." We packed up the car, with cards and Mema, then traveled up the northeast extension. So glad we did!

Bethlehem really goes over the top for the holiday; even Bethlehem Brew Works gets in the spirit. Delicious lunch, fun time walking around the city and a trip to the post office for hand cancellation featuring the Three Kings Postmark. We especially loved our visit to the Moravian Book Shop, the oldest bookstore in the world. There is nothing like a good book, or in our case, a few good books!

The evening brought us back downtown to take in all the twinkle. It was truly magical! Dinner at the Apollo Grill was a real treat especially considering that we didn't have reservations. That just seemed to be the way the day went, luck was on our side! One of my favorite parts was our self-guided tour of the Hotel Bethlehem. The interior was dressed to the nines! We may need to travel back to Christmas City every year!

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Color Me Happy!

I just love it when I am able to buy a gift for someone that will make their day. So happy my mom loved her birthday gift, it is perfect for her!

December Daily: Day 12

Another day of conferences here at home. I started writing out Christmas cards while I was home in the afternoon and then continued once I was home for the evening. Not wanting to send just cards, I felt compelled to write a few short notes. Now it is midnight and I am still not done! Oh well, they will get finished all in good time.

The left page of today's spread includes a shot of the Christmas cards on my work table and a cute bottle cap that I picked up years ago! The one pocket is the pocket with sequins that I worked on last evening. I like the look. 

The right page of the spread includes the envelope from the first "real" Christmas card we received. I included both sides of the envelope and I just love the way it looks in the pockets. Over the weekend we will be visiting Bethlehem, PA, or Christmas City. This year our cards will be postmarked their with the special Christmas City postmark. I am so excited that I even wrote myself out a card. Silly me! When that card arrives in the mail I will punch holes in it and place it in the binder. Real memory keeping at its best!

Some nights it is harder than others to pull this together. But I must say, wholeheartedly, I am so pleased to have these albums to look back on and remember the moments that felt important to record. It brings such joy, always.

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Today a relatively easy day. Once home we shared a couple of gingerbread men before a pasta dinner. No swimming tonight - it is really cold out - and we just took a break!

After dinner I set my mind to sewing. Making holiday gifts is one of my favorite activities. This year it is especially important with money being as tight as it is. So terrific that I had a great deal of holiday fabric and lots of ideas! I am using Anna Griffin's Twinkle Bright Collection and a holiday toile, the gifts are gorgeous!

For the left side of the spread I decided to play with stickers and sequins. I love the look!

 The fabric sewed to the red cardstock is a piece of the Anna Griffin in green. Sweet! I have never done a page like this and it was good fun pulling it together.

Keeping up with the album so that it is complete once the month is over is a challenge on some days, but it is well worth the effort. I love looking back from year to year. While so many things change, so much remains the same. I love our holiday traditions! You can check out more about December Daily by clicking over to Ali Edwards' blog. I have also started a board on Pinterest for December Daily.

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As I was snoozing my alarm this morning I received a text from a grade level partner, "no school." Really? It wasn't yet snowing and I didn't receive a call from the district. But it was true.

As a rule, I am not fond of snow days. We usually make up the day by going to school on Presidents' Day and at that time I can really use a day off! 

But, what could I do. I slept late and then puttered around working on some holiday gifts. My pages today represent the view I see from different spots in my house. 

First is the view from my studio window on the second floor. Pretty snow covered trees. On my journaling card I added a few tectured snowflakes from K & Company.

Then there's the view from my loft. I love looking down on the living room when it's decorated for the holidays. Finally, the view of our snow-covered yard from the front door. On this picture I used a Jenni Bowlin sticker from an old kit I had. I just love the photos of the yard, fresh snow is just beautiful!

Today's spread came together rather quickly, and that's a good thing. I must get back to sewing so that I have a chance to finish my gifts in time to ship them out!

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December Daily: Day 9

Tonight I finally finished the cover of my December Daily Album. I will post more about that at another time, I am just happy to have it done and not hanging over my head. I hate that feeling!

But I digress, I had a great evening at home creating. Today I left work just about on time, just 15 minutes past, and I had the house to myself for most of the evening. So I puttered with my album, watched Christmas in Handcuffs and had a delicious salad for dinner. I have been missing the veggies!

Today I woke up and there was still snow on the ground! There was also a present at the front door! Since I leave by 7:30 in the morning, that package must have gotten here really, really early.

This evening I set a small table up in front of the tv so that I could eat, work, and play with paper all in the same place. The left side of the spread features a photo from the morning and one from this evening!

The right hand page is my journaling card, designed by Ali Edwards and the shipping ticket that I found on Pinterest last season. On the shipping tag I wrote about the surprise gift we received from Mark's brother and sister-in-law. Inside, the gift was wrapped, so it belongs under the tree until Christmas morning!

I added sparkles to the journaling tag and I just love the way it looks. The paper and die cuts are from Melissa Frances, her Countdown to Christmas collection, that I found online at Joann, on sale, before Thanksgiving! I think the papers work well with the sparkles and the shipping tag! Things seem to be falling into place! I love the twinkling lights and the snow!

December Daily: Day 8

Awesome to be able to start putting my pages together in my album. This project was off to a slow start this year but it is coming together beautifully!

The story of today, snow, snow and more snow. To nearly 10.5 inches. It was beautiful to watch. Thanks to a couple of neighborhood guys, we did not have to shovel which made it even better! The top shot I took with a flash so that I could see the snowflakes! The bottom shot is always my favorite when the snow is falling!

The snow looks so pretty on top of the greens as you walk up our front path. I just love snow!

The journaling card is one of Ali Edwards from Designer Digitals for this year. I printed it using the three color scheme because I wanted options for pairing with papers and embellishments. I added three snowflakes to keep the snow theme going! A perfect Sunday is winding down as I wait for the Sunday night game to start!

Tonight, this is how the spread looks in my album.

December Daily: Day 7

A day of preparation for our party which was really a sort of non-event this year. Happy for the company that was here. So happy to see Naya, who never decorates! Thank goodness Tiffany added at least one ornament to the tree. Still leaves a great deal of tree-trimming to accomplish.

December 7th, 7 trees up, 2 trees completely decorated. Lots more to do in terms of the trees, but the rest of the decorating is done. We have 7 fresh wreaths decking our halls. Pine roping cascading the railings lots of holiday touches throughout the house. I love this time of year.

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