Tutorial Tuesday! - December Daily Album

Design Team member Kim Arnold is helping kick off the Holiday Season with her take on the December Daily album. She used some basics and of course Jillibean Soup goodies to create an album that is ready to fill with memories during the month of December. 

Also, we've created a pdf download of this tutorial for you. Over on the left side bar of the blog you will see a category we've created called 'recipes'. This is where we will place downloadable pdf's of our tutorials. Let me tell you there will be some GREAT ones coming up over the next 2 months for you. ;)

Enjoy!

December Daily Tutorial by Kim Arnold

Hi!  I have just put together my December daily album using wonderful Jillibean Soup products and I am going to share with you how I did it.

I am working with a 9x9 inch album.  Mine is an old Heidi Swapp spiral bound album that I had in my stash, but any album this size would work.  If you choose to use a smaller album, you will need to adjust the sizes of these instructions to suit.

Each page in my album (except the front page) is based on a basic template and looks like this:

The best way to go about creating an album like this, where each page follows the same basic template is to make a production line!  Finish a step for every page before moving onto the next step.  It also makes it easier if you have all your patterned paper pieces cut out before you start putting pages together.

The base of all my pages is a plain heavy weight white cardstock which I trimmed down to 9x9 inches.  You will need 18 sheets if you are prepared to use both sides and you want your album to have all the same pages as mine.  I used both sides to principally to cut down on the bulk in the album.  With all of the leftovers, I created a little drawing pad for my son – he loves it as the cardstock is so nice to draw on and I feel good as I haven’t wasted all of the offcuts!

The first thing I did was lightly spray one side of each of my 9x9 pages with a mist and then set them aside to dry.  Try and get some splatters to add some interest to your spraying.  I used Apple Glimmermist by Tattered Angels.  The green is just perfect with the Chestnut Soup Christmas range.

While that side was drying, I prepared my patterned papers for each page of my album.  I used a selection of the Chestnut Soup patterned papers for the bottom part and a strip of Red Sugar Soup Staples, which will sit immediately below the photo.

The patterned paper pieces are all 3 x 6 inches.  You will need one for each page of your album.  I did the whole of December so I needed 31.  Round the bottom corners using a corner punch.

The red strips are 1 x 6 inches – you will need 31 of these as well.

I also included two memorabilia pocket pages made using Jillibean Kraft Envelopes that look like this …

So I needed an additional two pieces of patterned paper that were 3 x 5.75 inches.  The envelopes are slightly narrower than a 6 inch photo, so I cut down the patterned paper to match.  Round the bottom corners.  You will also need 2 red strips for these pages.  They will be 5/8^th of an inch x 5.75 inches.

I cut all of the papers out and create piles.

Once the first side of all your white backgrounds are dry, turn them over and lightly spray the other side.  Set them aside and go and sort out all of your embellishments while they dry.  I used a selection of Jillibean products for my embellishments:

• Chestnut Soup journaling sprouts
• Chestnut Soup cardstock stickers
• Red circle number journaling sprouts
• Red circle journaling sprouts
• Olive green journaling sprouts
• Red/brown Sugar Picks
• Green and Red Cool Beans
• Blue/Green Bean Stalks
• Glazed green and roasted red Alphbeans
• Red, green and white Corrugated Alphas; and
• Red script Printed Canvas stars.

Once your background pages are dry, you can start forming the foundations of your pages.  Set one of the aside for the front page (on the back of the front page there will be a memorabilia page).  Set another page aside – I left a blank page next to Christmas Day and Boxing Day to include photo collages from those days.  You can leave this out if you would like and that would reduce your page requirements to 17.

The second memorabilia page can go anywhere before Christmas Day (just to make sure your collage pages for Christmas Day and Boxing Day fall so that they use the same cardstock sheet).  I put mine between 9 and 10.

For each page, simply attach a piece of patterned paper 5/8^th of an inch from the bottom and right side of the page and then attach a strip of the red above.  Repeat 31 times.  I went for a random effect so there was no order to which I used the patterned papers.

On the back of the last sheet, stick the smaller patterned paper, top with the red strip and then attach the kraft envelope above.  Repeat the memorabilia pocket on the back of the sheet that you set aside to use for the front page.

Now we are going to put the hand drawn border on.  The easiest way to do this is cut a template from an offcut of patterned paper to the same size as your photo.  I used 6 inches by 3.5 inches (I am going to trim a ½ inch off my photos).  So I cut a template to this size and then rounded the corners.

Place the template on your page and draw around the group of patterned papers using a brown pen.

Repeat for each page and also draw a border around the two memorabilia pockets.

Now you are ready to embellish.  As each page is numbered, it is really important that you have all the pages in the order that you want them.  Check that the patterned papers are in the order that you want them (ie not two of the same pattern on what will be facing pages) and make sure you insert the page with the memorabilia pocket on one side in order where you want it (Mine was between 9 and 10).

I created a cluster of embellishments on each page.  Each cluster included a place for journaling and the number for the day.  Other than that, each page is individual.  You will use a lot of 1s and 2s doing the number so get creative!  As I knew the album was going to be quite thick, I tried to limit my dimension on each page.  I did use some foam tape and some buttons – but be conscious of how thick you make each page.

Don’t forget to embellish your memorabilia pockets too.

The only thing that is left is the front page.

I went for a similar feel to my inside pages for my front cover (remember that the front cover page has a memorabilia pocket on the other side).  I created a template a little smaller than the page and rounded the corners and this is what helped me draw on the border.

The strip below “daily” is a 1 x 6 inch strip I had extra, with the bottom right corner rounded.

Place all of your pages into your album, don’t forget to insert the plain misted page for your collages.  Once you have added the collages, you might like to draw a border around them too.

Here are photos of each of my completed pages …

Now all I have to do is remember to take a picture a day during the month of December. 

Thanks so much Kim! I am ready to make one myself. I love how you used a repetative design. That makes is so easy to create this daily album in a snap!

Have a good one!

Comments

[Carol (ScrapMomOf2)]

WOW!! You have me all excited to work on my December book now! I created one in 2008 and one in 2009, and I kept up with it and everything! They are such TREASURED books now! I already take daily photos for my Project Life, so taking an extra photo isn't really a problem for me! I highly recommend to EVERYONE . . . create a Word document on your computer, and journal in that document every night before you turn off your computer! It really helps to keep you organized with this December book! This book is CUTE!! It's just fantastic! I love it!! :) Great inspiration!

[Aly Dosdall]

so inspiring kim! i love how this turned out!!

[Zarah]

Gooorgeous! Great idea for a travel-album too! :D

[Sara Rossi]

This is jaw-dropping GORGEOUS!! I have been toying around with ideas on making one but now I think this is "the one"! LOVE THIS!!

[gscrapbooks]

This is fabulous! I just bought those kraft papers too... after I did my December Daily album. I am so tempted to start over! Gorgeous work!

[Erika M]

How fabulous - I need to get started on mine!

[cindy]

i LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE the idea of using the envelopes...i'm SO doing this. GREAT tutorial Kim :)

[Juliana]

Love your take on this with the Jillibean Soup!!!

[Erica Hettwer]

This is wonderful!

[dawn]

I love love all of this. The colors, the paper, jourlaning spots, everything. Love that it's easy and simple but looks amazing. This is my first year doing December Daily just finding an album though which hasn't been easy. Thank you for all the steps on how you made it.

[conniemelancon]

This is one December Daily I may be able to complete! Thanks for the tutorial.

[Linda Beeson]

This is wonderful! I just love the little simple touches to this.

[Beke Norris]

i love the idea of the december daily and this year is the first one for me!! Ive seen some really lovely albums, and this is another on my "i want to do this one now" book. Just love the odea and those papers are great!!

[Becky Williams]

You did an amazing job with this and you make it look so easy- now I just need to get busy and put one together.

[Beth Perry]

very awesome!