Bella Blvd Studio Blog: December Documenting | Every Friday in December with Leanne!

Happy Friday Friends! This week I am back with my December Daily, sharing pages 5 through to 9. The inside of my album is starting to fill out with cute little details and I am loving the interactive elements found between my pages! Again, each day I am documenting a story of a single event or conveying the main theme of the day. This week in particular has been very busy, as my children finish up school for the year and prepare for our Summer holidays! Yay! Sleep ins, sleepovers and fun time adventures are in our immediate future! *grin*

Today I will also share some of my inspiration points for the types of photos I include in my album.

December 5

By Day 5 our weather in Queensland, Australia has been soaring to high temperatures! The thunderstorms have been rolling in from the west each afternoon and the air-conditioning has been on full blast! However... the weather didn't stop us from sampling a few hot chocolates in these sweltering conditions! LOL!

It was also a day where I got to spend time with my eldest while her brothers were still at school. Being a teen, she didn't want her photo taken in public and continually held her phone in front of her face. We were both laughing too much over her stubbornness, or maybe it was mine, that I don't even mind that her face isn't in the shot. I documented the story of why I added this photo as part of my DD, including the part about the stranger sitting near us, offering to help me get a sneaky shot. Sometimes the story doesn't need to be accompanied with photos of people looking directly at the camera. I don't want to have to stress about getting the perfect shot for the day. This was a reminder for me to be in the moment. And I am glad this "ah ha" moment occurred early in the process for me with creating this album and not on Day 24!

December 6

Day 6 was an organised school reward day for students who show good behaviour. I was "volunteered" to go along with teachers and the younger students to help supervise Grade 1s, 2s and 3s. My youngest has just completed Grade 1 and was invited to attend the "gold pass" day at the local aquatic centre. To compliment my DD, I took some Santa hats with us to use as photo props. Knowing in advance what type of event will take place and the general layout of the area I was going to visit, helped me plan for the photos that would suit. I have also allowed for white space on my photos to add titles without losing the atmosphere in the shot.

Between the pages of Day 6, I've added another Clear Cut insert to provided interest. The white hearts represent splashes and the great time we had during our time at the pool.

And as I mentioned last week, some days require more photos than others. I create a photo collage on my iPhone using a jumbo collage from the Diptic App, but any photo collage app will create the same type of image. This photo was printed at 4x6 but then trimmed down to 4x4.

December 7

Day 7 was about the story and the photo is there as a support element. It is blurry and there are elements in the photo that I wanted hidden but a Paper Piece quote banner from Oh My Stars! helped solve my issues.

I also wanted to provide a date/day number title using the Illustrated Faith CHRISTmas Tip-Ins. I've chosen to create something similar to a bookmark as the story is 100% school related.

I've trimmed the Tip-In to size and using the same technique as the clear cut inserts, punched holes and inverted circles on the corners so it can turn easily in the album. On the reverse side I have added washi stickers and alphas from the Homespun Black Eyed Pea sticker sheet.

December 8

For Day 8, I have shared a photo of my youngest son's drawing. He has never been one to explore his skills on paper, being very much an outdoor, sporty type of kid. Including his reindeer drawing in my album firstly reminds me of his fascination with artwork at the moment and secondly as it is his own form of documentation about his school Christmas concert. He will be singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and has been practising constantly at home and in the car!

Part of this story has been documented on the back of a Holly Jolly Christmas Gift Tag.

Tags | Stamping + Typing

step 1. Using the Illustrated Faith Homespun clear stamps, stamp the day/number on the back of the tag.

step 2. Run the tag through a typewriter or add your own hand writing.

step 3. Complete the look of the tag by adding a pen line to the outside edge using a fine tip marker.

December 9

On Day 9, I played around in Photoshop and created my own wall art print using fonts already in my database. I had this image printed out onto photo paper and then trimmed to 4x4. A touch of colour was added with the Paper Piece from IF CHRISTmas collection.

Another Clear Cut insert was added between the pages with theme appropriate paper pieces and round gift tags providing a focal point for my date/day title. The same sticker strip from the Holly Jolly Christmas Fundamentals sticker sheet, has been used on both the front and back of the clear cut to hide raw edges and sticker backs.

Finally for Day 9, embellishments have been added directly to the photo collage to help connect each image together.

I hope these few tips and ideas have helped boost your creativity if you're feeling a little overwhelmed or rushed during the holiday season. I will be back next Friday sharing more of my album as I progress forward. Thanks for visiting..x

Supplies:

Holly Jolly Christmas: Fundamentals, Gift Tags, Tabbies, Paper Pieces, Mr Claus, Daily Details; CHRISTmas: Paper Pieces, 6x8 Mini Paper Pad, Fundamentals, Tip-Ins; IF Enamel Hearts: Hey Sugar Sugar; Oh My Stars!: Pickle Juice Stars, washi stickers, Paper Pieces; IF Homespun clear stamps: #s; IF Homespun cardstock stickers #: Apple of my Eye; Homespun cardstock stickers: Black Eyed Pea; IF Mini Paper Pad: 6x8 #1407; Tiny Text: White Tiny Text; Clear Cuts: Stars Ice, Hearts White; Christmas Cheer: icons.