December Daily Days 9-11

Three more days to share with you today.  The more I look at this album, the more I am so happy that I did it.  Working on this mini really got me back in the swing of things as far as scrapbooking, which is wonderful because I have been in such a creative funk lately.  Can't wait to start Project Life 2012 and complete some layouts I have been thinking about.

December 9

Day 9 consisted of baking 14 dozen cookies for a cookie swap I attended on the 10th.  I tried a new cookie recipe that Becky Higgins shared on her blog.  Apparently they were really good (at least they smelled good).  I am not a chocolate mint kind of girl so I wasn't even tempted to try one.  The large snowflakes on the left are actually the gift tags that were on the presents Santa left under the tree.

December 10 

Admist a very busy day we went tree hunting.  I love how this page came out.  The fabric tag is a retired CTMH product that I have been hoarding because I just love them and didn't want to run out (I have issues...I know).  I finally figured out how to use my sewing machine and stitched it on.

December 11 ~ 

Decorating the tree.  I always have a hard time capturing this process.  I don't know if it is the set up of my room or the fact that I am shooting into the window.  I do love the picture I was able to get of the tree all decorated though.  I used one of Ali Edwards December Daily Layered Overlays available at Designer Digitals to create the collage of some of our ornaments.  I have never used Photoshop before because it frightens me, but after a few hours of youtube tutorials...I can work a layered template like a champ!

I used the December Daily format & overlays that Ali Edwards uses and many of my journaling prompts/story ideas came from Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class that I participated in this year. Click on either of the links above for more information on both of these concepts.

December Daily Days 1, 4 & 7

I am finally at a point where I can share my December Daily.  I am not quite finished as I am waiting for a few pictures and have a few pages to complete, but my book is almost complete and I am so happy with it.  I wanted to share right along all month, but I just don't have the time to craft each day...plus I needed to get over my mini book anxiety & perfectionist attitude before I could truly enjoy the process.

I will be sharing my book over the next week.  This was quite the undertaking but I will most definitely be back to complete another for 2012 as I am so happy to have these memories documented.

Enjoy

Inside front cover/title page:

The cover is a Teresa Collins chipboard cover that I purchased last year for my album (which caused all the anxiety as I was afraid to step out of my 12x12 box).  I printed Tis the Season with my printer on Kraft cardstock and made the little Christmas 2011 embellishment with my computer, some CTMH Holiday Collection Ribbon and a scrap of Anna Griffin patterned paper.  The embellishment is an idea I totally copied from Jenni Hufford.  I love her style and have used many of her ideas as well as many others throughout my book.  Scrap lifting and browsing other pages as they were posted really helped keep my mojo going when I ran out of ideas or started doubting myself.

December 1 ~

This picture is actually from 11/30 but I am ok with that as it was the absolutely perfect beginning to the holiday season.

 December 4 ~

We attended the annual children's Christmas party on Base today.  I wasn't able to snap any pictures of JT to use here as he was off with friends on the bounce house and eating cookies.  Kelsey is on her third year of volunteering as an elf so I was able to get a few of her and a group photo with Mr. & Mrs. Claus.  The back side of the insert is an instagram I printed of the kids in the truck on the way to the party.  The tree on the left page is a one of the crafts JT made that day.

 December 7 ~

Day 7 included the kid's wish lists for Santa.  We stopped mailing them a few years ago when our elf Carl came to stay with us...he brings them to Santa now.  I did take a picture though of the Santa mailbox when I was at the Post Office this week.  When JT is a bit older, I will include the story of the mailbox and how the letters get answered, but for now, the picture is perfect.  The Dear Santa arrows are cut out from clip art on my computer and the idea is courtesy of Ali Edwards.

I will be back with more tomorrow.

I used the December Daily format & overlays that Ali Edwards uses and many of my journaling prompts/story ideas came from Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class that I participated in this year.  Click on either of the links above for more information on both of these concepts.

The Christmas cards are done

Modern Christmas Christmas

Seasons greetings with personalized Christmas cards from Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Every year I tell myself that I will have the pictures done and the cards out early.  Every year I wait until the last minute and end up paying extra to get them to me so I can mail them out in time for the 25th.  But, every year, I don't really stress about it.  It seems more and more people are opting out of cards (evidenced by the decreasing number we receive each year) or sending them late like me.  I attempted to print at Walmart, CVS or Walgreens this year to save postage and take advantage of 1 hour processing, but wouldn't you know it none of the designs worked right with my pictures (mostly orientation issues) so I went with Shutterfly because I usually have good luck with their quality and shipping speed.

So, for those of you not on my mailing list (which I have paired down this year as well).  Please enjoy our Christmas card and have yourself a merry little Christmas.

Tracy

PS - I am working hard on my December Daily and hope to take a break from baking, cleaning & wrapping some time this week to post my first few pages.

PPS - Shutterfly is not endorsing this post nor have they asked for my opinion.  I did receive a $10 credit from the site for opting to embed my purchased card onto my blog, I am pretty sure anyone can receive this by doing so as I had the option after my purchase.

Muffin Monday: Six Week Muffins (Raisin Bran Muffins)

I know it is Tuesday, but I am back with another edition of Muffin Monday for you. 

Several years ago my mother in law gave me this recipe that she had made when my husband was young.  Bob loves these muffins and requests them often.  This is a large batch recipe (56 muffins) but the great thing is the batter will last in the refrigerator for up to 6 weeks so you can make up a batch of muffins quick and easy in the morning.  The muffins are unlike your typical fluffy muffin.  These are dense and chewy but really yummy and go well with a cup of coffee.

Six Week Muffins
1 box (15 oz) raisin bran
3 cups sugar
5 tsp baking soda
2 tsp salt
5 cups flour
1 quart buttermilk
1 cup oil
4 beaten eggs





1)  Preheat oven to 375 deg.
2)  In a very large bowl mix together the dry ingredients and then add the wet ingredients mixing well to combine.
3)  Fill cups 1/2 to 2/3 full and back @ 375 deg for 20 minutes.
4)  Store remaining batter in fridge for up to 6 weeks.
**8 cups raisin bran is needed if using a larger box or economy bag.

Enjoy!


Project Life

Have you heard of Project Life?  It is a concept designed by Becky Higgins to document your everyday life.  I had heard of it a few years ago, about the same time I attempted and failed miserably at Project 365 (one photo a day).  I guess I viewed Project Life as a way of scrapbooking your P365 photos and therefore didn't think twice about it. 

But then I heard about it again, and again and thought that maybe it was something I would like to try but honestly, I was a bit hesitant.  I have this hang up with going outside the box and that is what I considered Project Life to be. (My whole fear of Journal Your Christmas/December Daily which I also failed miserably at last year is a whole other post...let's us just say it started and ended with panic attacks over album size!)  I was a traditional scrapbooker afterall.  I enjoyed the creative process.  I love the embellishments and the pretty paper.  I wasn't too sure Project Life was for me.  

Truth be told.  I wasn't actually a traditional scrapbooker either.  I wanted to be.  I used to be.  I still consider myself one but I haven't been able to sit down and complete a layout in a longer time than I wish to admit.  I miss the creative process.  I miss the pretty paper.  I miss documenting my family's life.  All that missing makes me sad.

Earlier this year (May I think), I got it in my head that I would start Project Life.  I was following Ali Edwards' take on it and swooning each and every time she posted.  I was still torn but decided I would take the jump.  So I started collecting bits and pieces.  I started taking more pictures of the everyday things and not just the special occasions.  I ordered an album to house it all and some photo sleeves.  I scoured the web for inspiration and that was it.  It sat. 

I can't explain why.  I think I was hung up on it being May and I really wanted to keep a whole year together (that out of the box hang up again).  Going back to the beginning seemed overwhelming to me and I didn't want this process to be overwhelming, but...I wanted to do Project Life.  I want to do Project Life and so I finally am.

I spent the last week or two going through my pictures from January through now.  I organized my favorites, or those from the events I want to document, into weeks.  Not approaching my picture taking for Project life from the beginning left me with quite a few weeks where there were no pictures or only a few.  For those weeks I will be doing two weeks together or in some cases (like January) I plan on doing a month in review.  The great thing that I have learned about Project Life is that there are no rules, you approach it how you need to and make it work for you. 

I am (im)patiently waiting for my pictures to arrive (so happy I was able to take advantage of a great print sale on Snapfish).  I plan on going through and doing the easy weeks first.  Those that I have all my everyday filler items all ready to go.  Then start with the present and work backwards.  I think organization is going to be the key.  I think working in chunks of time, one week at a time and not getting overwhelmed with finishing it all at one sitting is going to be the perfect mindset. I have already starting cutting bits of leftover patterned paper to use, and journaling cards as well as pulling out flat embellishments from my stash.  I am ready to go and have a solution to my hang up about not having a year in one book. 

I am excited to start and will document my weeks here as I go along.  Just please bear in mind that they will be all over the place.  My only goal for completion is to be done with this album and ready to go from the beginning for 2012.  I think that is doable.  Although I am using what I have in my stash for my 2011 album (with the exception of the photo sleeves and album) I am seriously considering ordering the Clementine Project Life kit when it is available on Amazon...we'll see.

I am working on pulling together a list of blogs that I frequently drool over when they post their PL updates.  These are my main source of PL inspiration and the reason I have decided to take the plunge....or stop wishing (gawking) and just do it.  Stay tuned this week for a post with that list.

Wish me luck. 

and on a side note...my Week in the Life album is almost done and one of the main reasons I fell back in love with the Project Life concept.  I will share soon. Oh and the JYC/DD fiasco I mentioned above?  Well, I might have conquered my fear on that too...I will be trying again this year...more on that to come soon as well.

Muffin Monday ~ Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins

I know, I know it has been forever, but my dear friends, I really hope that now that I am not knee deep in clutter and fall sports are winding down this week that I can end my blogging hiatus and get back in the swing of things.

So...that being said, I would like to introduce Muffin Monday. 

My husband works a 5/4/9 schedule, which roughly translates to him having every other Monday off.  Being the good boss' wife that I am, and nuturing my love for baking and feeding other people, I have designated his work Mondays to be Muffin Monday.  I figured if the boys have to work on Monday, they might as well start their week off with a smile (and a yummy muffin). 

I have my old standbys but there is nothing like using a bunch of hungry (and appreciative) military men as guinea pigs for new recipes I have found on the web.  Pretty much every other Monday I will be sharing here the Muffin Monday muffin recipe....I scour the web searching for yummy recipes so you don't have to.

photo credit

Pumpkin Apple Streusel Muffins
 source: Allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 cups peeled, cored and chopped apple

Streusel topping:
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons butter





1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 18 muffin cups or use paper liners.
2.  In a large bowl, sift together 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups sugar, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt.  In a separate bowl, mix together eggs, pumpkin and oil. Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture; stirring just to moisten.  Fold in apples. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.
3.  In a small bowl, mix together 2 tablespoons flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle topping evenly over muffin batter.
4.  Bake in preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Enjoy!