Happy December FJ Friends!
I’m so excited to be starting my December documenting now that the festive season has begun. It’s my favourite time of the year! Today I have my first pages to share with you in my December album featuring the calendar pages that were included in the Bella Kit Cardstock Dividers pack.
I plan on using these calendar pages throughout the month to briefly record little snippets from our days that may not make it to my daily pages.
I started off by adding the numbers to the calendar for each day. For this I used the stamp from the Bella Stamp Set that has the numbers 1 through to 31 all in one stamp. I worked out that I could punch out each number from the bottom row of the stamp using a ¼ inch circle punch and then they would fit perfectly into the little square in the top corner of each day on the calendar.
I stamped the numbers a second time so that I could punch out some of the numbers from the top row. I found that I could only punch a few of them separately as they were positioned a little closer together. For the numbers that I still needed, I worked out a way to stamp each number individually onto white cardstock using a scrap of white cardstock with a ¼ inch hole punched out of it. I simply positioned the hole over the number I wanted to stamp and used the edge of my ink pad to then ink only that number. I then removed the scrap paper and stamped the number onto white cardstock and punched the number out.
Once all my numbers were stamped and punched, I adhered them to the calendar with a little liquid glue.
I used the die cut “December” word from the Bella Cardstock Dividers pack down the side of the page, then tucked a die cut label under the end of the word so I could add the gold foil numbers for 2021. I also added a puffy holly sticker to beginning of the title.
I used more cute puffy stickers to decorate some of the days on the calendar and then printed out some text for days where I knew something was happening. I will continue adding printed text to the calendar throughout the month as things happen.
To finish the calendar I stamped “falala” to the tab on the second page, added three gold stars across the pages and some washi across the bottom for a touch more red.
I really wanted to add a summary of our year to my album too which would briefly cover the highlights of our year up to the beginning of December. I decided to create a vellum pocket on the other side of the first calendar page, so that you can read the summary right at the beginning of the album before delving into our December memories.
I printed two pages of journaling onto white cardstock, cut the pages out to 5” x 6” and adhered them back-to-back before stitching around the edge with white thread. I then used the Mari Stamp Set to stamp the words “The Story” onto white cardstock and added it to the green die cut tab at the top. I added stitching onto the tab.
I made a vellum pocket for the journaling using two pieces of vellum from my stash. The back piece was cut to 6” x 7” and the pocket front piece was approximately 5 9/16” x 5 3/8” with a half circle punched in the top edge. I held both pieces together using washi tape so I could stitch them together with red thread. I also stitched a red border. The pocket was adhered to the striped side of the calendar page using thin double sided tape behind the stitched red border.
On the front of the pocket I decided to add the woodgrain Bella Cardstock Pocket. I plan on slipping a family photo inside. I created a cluster on the front of the pocket using die cuts and a gold foil star. The words “Our Year” were added using the Bella Gold Foil Puffy Alphabet Stickers.
You can see my process in the video below...
I love how these pages came together and they’re the perfect start to my December documenting! Are you adding a calendar to the beginning of your album this month too?
Thanks so much for joining me on the blog today. I look forward to sharing more December projects with you soon!
Sheree x
SUPPLIES: Bella Kit | Bella Cardstock Dividers | Bella Cardstock Pockets | Bella Die Cut Shapes | Bella Puffy Stickers | Bella Gold Foil Puffy Alphabet Stickers | Bella Stamp Set | Bella Album 6 x 8 - 2 " spine | Mari Stamp Set | Noel Gold Foil Chipboard Stars | 6 x 6 Essentials White Cardstock