Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Happy St. Nick's!

Growing up, both myself and my husband celebrated the coming of St. Nicholas on the eve of December 5th, so naturally the tradition has continued in our household.  On the morning of the 6th, we wake to discover what little treats he's left behind for us.  This will be our first year celebrating with AJ and we are excited to introduce the tradition to him.  He opened a small, plush gingerbread man...hey, he's not quite one so he was pretty excited.  Our lovely labrador got a great rope toy, which he never gets since he's so destructive with his toys, so all and all, a great day here.
I wanted to do something special for my husband so I made for him (and my parents) these adorable little snow globes that I picked up at Michael's.  It really was a very simple craft to do and will make a great item to adore his desk at work during the holiday season.
To complete this project, you just need to do a few simple things:
1. Open Photoshop (or whatever program you use) and create a new file that is 4 in. by 6 in.  This is because you will be printing it out on photo paper.
2. I used my guides to create a rectangle for the dimensions which were listed right on the snowglobe.  It measured 2.1 inches across and 2.7 inches on each side.  I doubled the length (to fit both sides on one print)  and included a guide to denote the middle where I would cut my design.
3. Then I selected my rounded rectangle tool using a radius of about 400px.  You can experiment here to see what you like.  I used my guides to draw out the rectangle.
4. Just in case things weren't too exact, I added a stroke of about 16 px to the outside of the rectangle in a color that would match the papers I choose to use.
5. Then using the square marquee tool I selected one side of the design from the middle to the bottom, Ctrl-J to post in on a new layer. I did this so it would be easier to work with the front and back sides but you could just follow the guide you put in the middle.
6. Next select some digital papers and elements to complete your design.  I did the top portion as my front, then rotated my image to work on the back so I didn't have to work upside down.  I used Echo Park's "Sleigh Ride", a frame from Carina Gardner's "Essentials", and backer's twine by LivE Designs.
7. Print, Cut, and slide into the snowglobe! 

Monday, December 5, 2011

Saturday, December 3, 2011

December Daily

So far so good!  I've got the first two days of December documented.  I'm sure this will only be a greater challenge going forward.  Thanks to Finn, the second of December has a lot of action...

Although I have not pre-planned my album, I have decided to go forth using only one kit and two or three fonts in order to provide cohesion to my December Daily pages.  I feel in love with the kit 12 Days of Christmas just released by Jessica Sprague and Heidi Swapp.  It has a great vintage feel, yet still modern.  In these first two pages I also grabbed some items from Carina Gardner's Essentials collection. 
I am looking forward to seeing where this takes me!  It's already be fun documenting the every day things we do.


Friday, December 2, 2011

Smart Phone Wallpaper Freebie

Tis the season!  I've got a freebie for you today - wallpaper for your smartphone!  Now you can incorporate the holiday cheer just about everywhere you look.
While some phones may differ, you can simply right click on this image and save it.  Then email it to yourself and open it up on your phone.  Next "Save Image" and then add it to your wallpaper.  On my iPhone this is done under settings - Wallpaper.  Find the image in your photos and then hit "set".  Just a simple and easy way to spread some holiday cheer!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Hello December!

First, I cannot believe it is December already!  Second, welcome December!  Yes, there is so much packed into this crazy last month of the year but it's also full of wonderful.  I'm going to try hard to stick with a December Daily album this year but I must admit I have no idea just how I'm going to prepare it...so many ideas.  I think this year I'll just go with the flow and then maybe next year I'll have a better plan!  If I can stay on task, I hope to share my album with you as I go along.

And thanks to the wonderful Heidi Swapp, I won a seat in Maggie Holmes December Daily Photography Workshop and I hope that will help me stay on task! 
So whatever your plans for December, it's here already!  And have fun!