The First of Christmas

It's here at last! I can not tell you how excited I am about this project. Creating the journal has been great fun in it's self and it is by no means finished. Nor will it be so at the end of December. This type of journal is meant to grow with your family and the Christmases you have together. And by family I do not mean a huge brood of children. Your family is what you want it to be. It could be your Art Family, your family of pets, your family of stuffed rabbits. What I am saying is do not create boundaries for yourself, so that you can not make this journal. Make this journal anyway, the family of YOU, and you are gorgeous and talented and more than capable of doing this and much much more.

So lets begin this festive journey.

The front cover, will add yet more stuff, me thinks

The original journal is from Paper chase. It contains about fifty pages, some of which you will need to remove, but keep these will will be playing with them later. Decorative papers from My Minds Eye and Cosmo Cricket. The red glitter snowflakes are from a pound store. I think it was ten for a £1.00 and they have jewels on both sides and holes for hanging them up. So it was a case of popping the jewels off one side, (so they lay flat on the cover enabling them to glue down better) and keep for another page and cutting the loops off...easy! Notice the spine, attaching ribbon to the ring binder, so pretty.

Cute little tabs.

On the edge of the pages are cute little tabs. These where made with a Tim Holtz Alterations die, for the Sizzix big shoot die cutting machine. I think it is called Tiny Tags, but not sure. I cut them out of the spare pages of the book and added scraps of decorative paper into their little apertures, so sweet! You can see the red ribbon with green spots just to the right hand side there. That was stuck onto the original black ribbon which is the journals fastener. I used a doubled sided tape for that job.

Page number one.

The pages are missing their numbers, but fear not they are on their merry way. On the left hand side page is a list of twenty four hiding places for Advent gifts. Each morning when my babies, twenty one years, seventeen years and fourteen years, come down stair with large smiles and joyous festive spirit surging through their very souls, they head to their Advent Calendars. In the appropriately numbered pocket they find a ticket which tells them to go forth and search for a gift from the oh so generous Christmas Fairies. These treasures could be sweeties or festive socks, or even that perfect outfit for the party they are going to THAT night, which horrid Mummy wouldn't get them. My children love the Christmas Fairies!

Festive paper.

The right hand side opens to form a double page spread, for you to add photo or anything else you may be inspired to glue in and keep. This paper is gift wrap from Paper Chase, cut to size and glued in.
Well children that is it for Day One please come back and play tomorrow. And please, if you can leave comments, sent emails, ask questions, talk to me!