Advent calendar

Some time ago I gave you a little sneak peek into a huge project I had started, not really knowing whether or not I'd be able to finish it in time for December (this year). I'm extremely pleased to say that I am, in fact, done! :D

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So this big project is... *drum roll* ...my advent calendar! I've scrapped one 12"x12" layout for each day in December up to (and including) Christmas Day and glued them into a canvas-backed book. Similar to a December Daily except I've already made everything and is just showing it off now. ;) Today I'll show you the basic structure of the calendar. Starting Tuesday (December 1st) I'll show you one layout each day until Christmas Day. Today I'm just giving you a sneak peek at all the pages as I had them spread out on my table sorted into the desired order:

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I'm fairly pleased with the overall results! But please forgive the quality of some of these layouts as they come along through December - I've never scrapped anything in my life before this, although I suppose the card making has given me some relevant experience. Some layouts turned out great, some... not so great. It takes all my strength to not go back over some of these layouts and doing them all over again. ;) So, what you'll see are my very first attempts at paper crafting in this format. They won't be shown in the order they were made, as I first made them all and then sorted them in the order I wanted them to be in the calendar.

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I've learned a few things during this: Firstly, 25 scrapbooking pages takes up a lot of space. This is the finished calendar compared to the original base without decoration. Obviously the spine had to go, and I struggled to find something to replace it with. The solution (at the moment) is to use some relatively long strands of ribbon to hold it together when stored, and adding two jump rings to compress the spine when it's displayed to make it stand upright better.

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Secondly, glitter goes everywhere. It's in my face, on my clothes, on my bathroom floor. I'm supposed to be an adult and not a messy four-year-old, but I can't help it. But glitter makes any page pop, so glitter there must be. ;)

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Thirdly, I'm bitten by the bug. I want to make more. More. More! So I suspect that a similar calendar for the rest of the year is coming. Not one layout for each day just yet though, I want to live a little as well. ;) But perhaps one per week? I've already got several photos ready for the task!

Another long term project

I've started another long term project. Really long term. If all goes well this will make a couple of gifts in February. I'm having a go at making my own vanilla extract! Exciting and something completely new for me. Occationally, I'll find a recipe asking for it but since I've never had something like that in my cupboard I've just skipped it or chosen another recipe. The vanilla essence you'll find on the super market shelves is just revolting stuff, trust me. This is the real stuff - made from lots of vanilla pods (seeds and all).
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It's looking a bit dodgy in this picture, as I had just shaken the jar and some of the seeds were still floating around in it. They sink to the bottom so the mix turns clear and clean. In two months or so I'll decant about two thirds of the extract into small bottles to give away. The last third will make the base for another batch - I'll just refill the jar with vodka and keep adding vanilla pods now and then.
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There are several recipes online, I've used this one from Craft Magazine.
Check back in a couple of months and I'll share the results. ;)

Randi 60 years

I often go for vintage style cards when making cards for this age group, but somehow it just didn't seem right for Randi! She needs to get something in bolder brighter colours, something that suits her personality better. You may recognise the BG Wisteria paper pad - again... Yes, I know, I'm addicted.
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I've coloured the stamp with Prismas as usual. The Prima chipboard numbers are painted with H2O's - they are more blue in the picture than in real life although I didn't manage to match the colours as well as I would have hoped. A bit of lace and a few paper flower buds later and the card was done.

Knut 60 years

I have to admit this is a recycled idea... But cards for men are so difficult, and he loves nature, fishing and dogs so this was just perfect for him! That's my story and I'm sticking to it. ;) The card is all about texture, with several layers of various structured paper. Wooden buttons and paper leaves is the only other decoration. It's still almost too much... Oh well. I think he'll like it. ;)

Wisteria and Miss Anya

This is the last of the cards I made at HobbyHimmelen on Saturday.
Most of the BG Wisteria paper pad has soft, pale colours. But now and then some strong bold colours show up! Like these. The richness of these colours make them a joy to work with, and I decided they were best suited for a card with clean lines. Miss Anya was coloured with Prismas as usual. Black hair is a nightmare to colour, even worse than blonde! I certainly cause trouble for myself... From now on I'll always use colours that suit brown hair. *lol*

Vintage angels

The BG Porcelain paper pad has been put to good use again! Along with a pink square from the Two Scoops pad. Brown and pink has got to be one of my favourite colour combos... Other matierials used are MS doily lace border punch, Prima Hydrangea flowers, Kort og Godt roses, misc. hardware from stash, brown Scrapper's floss, a rub-on ("love you") from Ett Trykk and Creamy Brown chalk ink.
This card was also made at HobbyHimmelen on Saturday, for a sketch challenge that day. The day was awesome! I'd certainly like to do it again.

Dream in pink!

This card was made for a sketch challenge at HobbyHimmelen on Saturday. I had already made one and was running short on time, so it was rushed a bit, I'm afraid...
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The papers are from the BG Two Scoops paper pad, ribbon from Kort og Godt, giant rub-on from K&Co, EK Success border punch. Image coloured with Prismacolor pencils - and I've realised that blonde hair is really difficult to get right! The pink flowers came in a give-away from Stephanie. Thank you so much, they're lovely!

Spots 'n stripes Wisteria

My BG Wisteria paper pad is getting thin... I just love them so much!
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Papertake Weekly asks for spots and stripes. The stripes should be fairly obvious, and the darker paper have flowers made from spots and circles. I've used half a Bazzill paper flower again and sprinkled other flowers around. The image is coloured using Prismacolor pencils and the flowers have been lightly sprayed with Glimmermist Pearl.

Vintage card

Finally, a new card! I've been so occupied with my December project that cards have been a rare commodity around here lately. But I've got five more lined up for the next few days. The reason for this is the 12,5 hours I spent scrapping and cardmaking along with several wonderful ladies at HobbyHimmelen yesterday! So much fun! Although I almost regretted it when I started choosing and packing what to bring the night before... *lol* I hope to get the chance to do it again - they just have to stop organizing these events whenever I work the weekend. *sigh* And now for the un-packing...

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The papers are from the BG Porcelain pad. I've inked the edges with Creamy Brown and also inked the entire surface of the picture (found online) to give it a sepia feel. Then layered a cut Bazzill flower with a cream flower and pale pink roses and rosebuds. I also used my Spellbinders labels four that I just couldn't resist buying yesterday...

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This card is going into the ABC Challenge (green) and the Our Creative Corner Challenge (vintage). It's been a long time since I've entered a challenge - perhaps I'll get some beginner's luck back? ;)