Christmas Journal - 27th December

I know that I am a little behind again with my journal, but I did sneak an hour in my Crafty Corner this afternoon when we got home from my in laws and did a page for Monday.  Since our Christmas cake had a page of its own, it felt only right that the Christmas Pudding should also be a star for a day!

I love making my own pudding, for me it is all part of the magic, and using my mixing bowl that my Nanna bought me all just adds to the special feelings.  I think it might have only been Hayden and I who got to stir the mixture and make wishes this year, but I did manage to capture that image knowing that I was going to try to journal the whole of our Christmas this year.

I didn't leave myself enough room to journal everything I wanted to, but I know how I feel about it!  I made the little paper pudding by cutting two circles and then using a wreath die to pinch the holly from!

I'm going to have trouble with the next two days journal in that I have taken loads of photos, and then it will be New Years Eve!  Oh well, I'm not going to give up now!  Still undecided about when to finish though - my binding rings are suggesting New Years Day might be when to stop ...

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 26th December

Boxing Day

We had a lovely Boxing Day!  We took the dogs to the beach for a walk and to blow a few cobwebs away after Christmas Day.  It was chilly although not as cold as we thought it would be but it was bright and sunny.  The rest of the day was spent with our very good friends The Moxeys:

We had such a lot of laughs with all our silly presents - funny hats and glasses and soap (!)  It turned into a very late night so we have been a little bit delicate today ...

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 25th December

We had a lovely day!  Our plans changed unexpectedly but if anything, it was for the better.  One regret - I forgot to take photographs of our dinner :(  I still struggled to pick just a few photos though!

I also forgot to take a photo of Morris's latest gift to us (well, it was rather embarrassing that we had company when it was discovered and Alex screamed her head off!)  Loving the timer function on Alex's new camera!  And how good is Skype that we got to see Simon and Mary Anne on Christmas Day even though they are thousands of miles away?

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 24th December

I've been playing catch up today and have managed to do the Big Three pages - all of them double pages for the most important days of my Christmas Journal.  My main problem was choosing which photos to include - ideally I suppose I would have gone with maybe four per double page spread, but there was no way I could whittle them down!

I made a little pocket to pop a couple of extra photos into, along with the journalling and used a few more embellishments than usual - well, it was Christmas Eve after all!

Hope you all had a lovely Christmas!

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 23rd December

When I finished work this afternoon, we were meant to have visitors for a cup of tea and a mince pie (or two!) but the plans had to change when Waitrose phoned Alex and asked her to go in early, which meant that Mum's taxi was booked, and blow my plans!  So, I ended up going to my friend's house instead (for the afore mentioned cup of tea and mince pie!) but forgot my camera :(

So, in the absence of anything else to journal about, I chose another of my favourite Christmas decorations:

Bit worried about what to journal tomorrow - Christmas Eve!!!  How did it get to be Christmas Eve already?!  Note to self: take camera everywhere tomorrow!!!

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 22nd December

Had a funny old start to the day today, whilst out walking the dogs (in the frozen slush) when we realised that my two dogs weren't keeping up with us.  On further investigation, it became apparent that they were up to no good, and Ollie emerged carrying a dead rabbit :(  I think that some team work had been used as there is no way that my nearly 12 year old, eyesight failing, arthritic Spinone had caught it on his own.  He was pleased as punch with himself and there was no way that he was giving it up, not with the offer of biscuits, nor with me trying to prise his jaws open.  So, much to my embarrassment, I had to walk home with a dead rabbit hanging out of my dog's mouth!  He eventually gave in to the temptation of a biscuit and I was able to whip it away ...

I then spent a few hours in the kitchen and made a big batch of mince pies and finished off my Christmas cake:

so that was what I journalled about today!  Another simple layout, but simple means that I am keeping up instead of stressing and being fed up that I am falling behind!  Bit worried about the three main Christmas days when I am planning on doing double pages ...

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 21st December

Today I got two very important things done - the food shopping including the turkey, and I finished the gift wrapping.  I have NEVER before been this late with my wrapping!  I was hugely relieved that the Waitrose lorries had managed to get through to Ringwood and I bought everything on my list that everyone said they wanted because it felt like Christmas to them (OH pork pie, DS little sausages wrapped in bacon , DD Pringles! and I wanted/remembered everything else, like Stilton, red cabbage, cranberries, satsumas and parsnips)  Spent a small fortune, but it's only Christmas once a year!

The kids and I also went to the dentist this morning, no work needed thank goodness!

This afternoon I finally finished my wrapping.  I made a start last week when I wrapped everything for everyone who lives here as I was struggling to hide the gifts.  It feels good to have done that and the food shopping!

So, todays journal page is another simple one that came together quite quickly.  I wanted to do circles instead of the usual rectangles, I used a left over piece of my actual wrapping paper and included one of my handmade tags.  Was unsure where to journal, so added it straight onto the actual page.

Hoping to get into the kitchen tomorrow on my last day off before the big day ...

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 20th December

Wow!  We had such a lot of snow today - but I was working so didn't get to enjoy it really, and by the time I finished it had turned to rain.  However, my children had enjoyed it, and a lovely snowman had taken up residence in our garden.  Alex had taken some photos so they are what I used for today!

I had made the snowman embellishment back in November and have tried to use him on previous pages but he didn't seem right, but today he did!  I used a few similar elements on this page as I did on the first Snow Day page back on 2nd December deliberately (like the Wassail paper, the title font and random punched snowflakes).

Hoping to keep up to date with my journal for the next few days at least ...

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 19th December

I had a long list of things to achieve yesterday, and managed most of them, except the most important!  That will have to be done tomorrow without fail!  Watching a Christmas movie was actually on the list, and we did it!

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 18th December

Saturday was a bit of a funny old day, so I ended up with quite a few photos that I couldn't whittle down.  So I made a little concertina book.  Our day started off well, there had been no more snow overnight in Watford, so we had a leisurely breakfast with my sister then headed off to deliver a couple of Christmas cards to old friends in Watford and  popped in to see my friend who has a litter of kittens - and we came home without one!!!

While there, the snow started and I realised quickly that we needed to head off, but I wasn't that worried as I thought that the M25 motorway would be fine.  It wasn't.  Far from it.  It was dangerous and scary and the most horrendous driving I have ever had to do.  However, once we reached the M3 it was a lot better and we got home without incident.

I had promised to make a batch of chocolate cupcakes for my friend's daughter's 18th, so I got on with that as soon as I got home, then headed off to that party!  I was shattered that evening!

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 17th December

I'm back - and I've caught up!  I headed straight into my Crafty Corner this afternoon when I got home from work and did the three pages that I had missed, and today's.  Panic over!  I was worried that by getting behind I would lose the motivation, but I am glad to say that that isn't the case.

I had an up and down kind of weekend, luckily more ups than downs!  Hindsight is a great thing - had I known what I now know (about the snow) I should never have gone up to Hertfordshire, but it was lovely seeing family and we made it home safely, so all's well that ends well.

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 16th December

I did warn you that some of my favourite Christmas decorations were going to make an appearance in my journal over the next couple of weeks or so - and here is another one already!  What else are you supposed to do on a slow day?  Besides which, I miss these lovely things for the 11 months of the year when they are packed away in the attic!

I'm hoping that the next few days entries might be a little more exciting, but things are a little up in the air due to the weather forecast :(  There should be two parties, one tomorrow and one on Saturday and I won't make a decision about what to do until tomorrow lunch time.  I know that I will be behind with my entries, but hope to catch up again on Sunday.

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 15th December

I was stuck for a subject for my journal today.  Back in November, I made copious notes about subjects I might cover on slow days Christmas wise.  I read through them all and nothing was jumping out at me.  So I walked around my house and took some pictures of some of my favourite Christmas things (so expect to see a few more over the next couple of weeks!)

This was a lovely project to stitch, I love Lizzie Kate designs and have stitched many of them over the years.  This page seemed to take me quite a while despite it still being fairly simple.

So, 15 days in, and I'm still hanging in there!  Well done if you are too!

I also managed to make those birthday cards that I needed for this week - it felt really funny working with different papers after 15 days of Basic Grey Wassail (did I mention that they are my favourite ever papers?!!!)

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 14th December

This is my 100th post!!!  Wow!  No one is more surprised than me.  It was with some hesitation that I started blogging - who would be interested in my crafting?  A few of my forum friends started following, so that inspired me to carry on and now I am delighted to be "meeting" new people through my blog.

Today was the day that I set aside to finish off my Christmas shopping.  With this in mind, I set off to the shopping centre armed with my shopping list only to realise that I had forgotten the camera!  Still, I'm sure that everyone knows what a queue looks like!  My photo was the first thing that I did once I got home:

This page is another simple one - perhaps too simple I think.  I might look at it again tomorrow when I might get a flash of inspiration (it doesn't happen often, so I won't hold my breath!)

Hoping to get some wrapping done tomorrow, along with some crafting - need to make an 18th and a 60th birthday card along with a few more gift tags - I just don't think I'm going to have enough!

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 13th December

I had no idea what to journal about today, and as I have been working quite a lot recently, this is causing me to be behind with my Christmas preparations and this in turn is making me a little bit stressed (and tired!)  Is anyone else finding time to journal a bit difficult, or is it just me?!  BUT, I am really loving how it is beginning to look and just know that if I can finish it, I will love, love, love it!!!

So, I used a photo of 3 Wishes, the card shop where I work here in our village (although actually I worked in the Ringwood shop today!)  I took this photo a couple of weeks ago when we had the snow, it has all gone now.  Working is certainly playing a large part of my Christmas this year!

I think I'm getting the hang of simple!!!  I even hid a small journalling card to keep it really simple.  Although it is simple, I do quite like it!

(Journalling reads : Working here is what is causing me to be so behind with all my Christmas preparations this year!)

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 12th December

Guess who has been working again today?  Yep, it was me!  My own fault too :(  I worked last Sunday, so wasn't supposed to be working today but I asked one of the other girls if she could swap shifts with me next Friday in order that the kids and I can attend my Uncle Ian's 60th birthday party which is in Hertfordshire.  Before I knew what I was saying I had volunteered to do her Sunday as a kind of pay back ...  that will teach me to open my mouth before engaging my brain!  Never mind, we are now going to the party and will hopefully see LOADS of my family which doesn't happen all that often (especially with there being no family wedding during 2010!)  It will be difficult to keep up with my journal, but hopefully I will catch up next Sunday, when I will definitely NOT be working ...

So, todays page is all about the lovely evening we shared with our friends Louise and Ian last night!  It wasn't really a take lots of pics do, but as Louise knows about my journal, I managed to get my OH to take this one pic so that I could use it today!

Again, another quite quick page for me (well, we have got last nights Strictly to catch up on after dinner!) - maybe I'm getting the hang of simple?!  I'm loving the little wooden reindeer - a bargain from Tesco, a box of 10 for 99p.  I am a little bit worried that my journal is getting quite full and that my binding rings might not be able to cope ...

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 11th December

I can't believe that today I made my first batch of mince pies for 2010.  Outrageous!  Normally we would have had a few batches by now, but I suppose that is the problem with being a working Mum which I wasn't this time last year.  I made these so that I had something to take with us tonight when we go to our friends house for dinner and games (mind you, as it is the X Factor final tonight, maybe we will end up watching that as well).

So, my page for today:

I went with stars since the mince pies were photographed on my beautiful Christmas star shaped Emma Bridgewater dish (I love Emma Bridgewater!)

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 10th December

Just another regular day here - I'm really having to come up with lots of ideas to journal about on these regular days - any hints gratefully received!

So today features the only member of the family who hasn't yet appeared in my journal (he's been mentioned but not seen!)  He is Ollie, our Italian Spinone.

He just loves to snuggle up in front of the fire!

Since the fire was mentioned, it seemed like a good opportunity to include this photo that I was desperate to include somehow!  It is on the reverse side of the journalling which I popped into the envelope.

It's not a great photo, but I love it (and I stood outside in the cold for ages to get it!)

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 9th December

Just about managing to keep up (hope I haven't spoken too soon!) with this lovely project.  Today's page is a subject very dear to all of our hearts, and the 9th December makes us feel very nostalgic and yet full of happy memories.  Wish we were jetting off today ...

Once again, I kept it quite simple, but was pleased with how it turned out (helps that I love the photos!)  I picked out the candy cane in the photo and went with that with the baker's twine and strip of paper.  Can't quite believe just how much my children have grown up and changed in just four years ...

Since today's page went together fairly quickly (for once!) I also managed to make my 9 Christmas ATCs ...

Back tomorrow (hopefully!)

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 8th December

Two posts today!!!  I have never posted twice on my blog before today!

So, nothing much Christmassy happened around here today, so I journalled about a pre Christmas event that happened a couple of weeks ago.  Thanksgiving seems to me to be such a lovely day, and it's such a shame that we don't get to celebrate it too!  However, with the American branch of our family over visiting, we all got together.

Along with the Christmas gifts that we exchanged, my SIL had also very kindly brought me over some essential American supplies (Tollhouse chocolate chips, Levi jeans and STASH!!!)  Yippee!

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 7th December

Sorry for being a day late with this post.  Yesterday I had planned on writing my christmas cards and then doing a journal page about that very festive of activities.  Sadly I didn't actually get started on the cards until 3.30 p.m. and then got on a bit of a roll with them, so didn't get to do any of my journal yesterday.

Never mind!  I did it this morning instead!

I thought about sticking one of my actual cards into my journal, but that wasn't going to work so I used the embellishment instead - holly leaves and three red buttons which I sewed onto the journal spot.

Right - now on to today's page!

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 6th December

WARNING - THIS BLOG POST CONTAINS YUKKY IMAGES!!!

Do you remember that I mentioned that a fantastic journal opportunity presented itself last night?  Well, actually two did, but one was such a surprise that I forgot to take a photo (d'oh!)

How could I have forgotten to take a photo of such a kind and thoughtful gift?  We sat and looked at the brownies for ages trying to work out who could have left them but in the end we ate the evidence - and then I realised that I hadn't taken a photo!  So, Secret Santa, thank you very much, we loved them!

The other gift of the night I did manage to capture an image of, although it isn't particularly pleasant (to say the least!!!)

Sorry to share, but it was the first gift Morris had ever brought us home - luckily it was dead and not still running around!  I had wanted to do a journal page for Morris, I had thought more along the lines of his first Christmas (he was born on New Years Day 2010) but this will do for now!

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 5th December

Tried to keep it really simple today - but it still took a while!  I had to work for four hours in the shop today, so continued with decorating the house when I got home, took some photos and then got on with my journal - must thank my hubby for making the dinner tonight.

A brilliant opportunity for tomorrows journalling cropped up this evening!  It's a bit yukky - OK, it's a lot yukky, but it's very cute at the same time ...

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 4th December

Today was nearly the day that I didn't manage to do any of my journal (already!)  However, by doing things slightly differently, I found the time to do today's page (and happily, it also leaves me something to journal about tomorrow!)  Normally, we set aside a day to decorate the house for Christmas but we didn't have a clear day this weekend and just didn't want to wait until next weekend.  So, the boxes were brought down from the attic this morning, and when we returned home this afternoon we set about putting the trees up and decorating them.

So, today's page is all about our Christmas Trees:

I made a pocket from my gorgeous Basic Grey Wassail papers and tucked the photos of the trees and my journalling card into the pocket (I also popped in the everyday journalling card).  Loving the title in my Doodlebug all mixed up rub ons.

I do apologise for the quality of the photos, but the trees are much more lovely in real life, and I am loving having them up and twinkling - it is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!  It will feel even more like Christmas tomorrow as I shall finish decorating the house when I get home from work - yes, don't ask, I am working in the shop on a Sunday :(

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 3rd December

So far so good!  No apologies for journalling about the snow for the second day running, but we really don't get snow very often so it had to be done!  The forest really was beautiful (getting there was pretty dicey though, all the compacted snow has now turned to ice), it sounds different with snow, kind of peaceful and a bit magical.  I walked with my friends Roger (in the second photo) and Yvonne, and it is their three dogs also in the second photo.  Thanks Yvonne for taking the photo of Tilly and I!

Although walking in the wintry forest isn't especially to do with Christmas, I think the title helps to make it more christmassy (but can you say it without singing the tune?!)

This page has a flap to lift with the journalling and another photo underneath:

Thank goodness it's the weekend!  Hoping to put up the Christmas decorations tomorrow!!!

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 2nd December

I had decided what I was going to journal about last night, but then we woke up to a white world and my plans changed!  My original idea will keep for another day that is slow on the Christmassy front (tomorrow maybe?)  We had thought that we might not get any snow as we often don't when the rest of the country gets it, but this time we had a good 5 inches.  The kids were delighted when we found out that both of their schools were shut for the day and they have had a lovely time out playing in the snow with the sledge.  Sadly, I had to go to work so missed out on all the fun.  However, as arranged, Alex took both of the photos that I have used for todays page:

What I haven't shown you yet is the lovely little journal cards that Alex made for me and which so far I have used as an extra little page - they are quite small but just right to journal the other bits of life that happen each day - you know, the mundane stuff that happens around each story.  I might also use them as the actual journalling, although I don't know what I will write the other bits on in that case ...

Right, off to do some blog hopping to see how everyone else is getting on!  Loving this project s far!

Carole x

Christmas Journal - 1st December

Well it's finally here!  Day one of my Christmas Journal 2010.  I have been so excited about getting started on this project, especially after the hours of preparation I have already done.  I have been thinking about this page and planning it, and now it is finished I need to think about what to do for tomorrow and Friday!  This is hard as the advent calendars are the only Christmas decorations that have been brought down from the attic!!!

Here it is then - Advent Calendars, the start of our Christmas.

I have also been making Christmas Happy Girls - photo to follow - with red sparkly dresses and festive bling!  How on earth am I going to keep up this level of enthusiasm and excitement especially as there are another 36 pages ... maybe I'll rethink how long my journal should be!!!

Happy Journalling everyone!!!

Carole x