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December Daily® 2017 | Part four

Today I share the fourth and final part of my December Daily® album. Unlike the past years, I decided to just document my December until December 25 (in the past I always documented through December 31). But it felt just right to stop on December 25, because nothing Christmas related was happening afterwards.

This album is my favorite one I made so far. I love the size and also the great kits I worked with. Especially the Be Merry Kit and the Holiday Tradition Kit (by JamaicaMakes).

At the end of the post you can find links to all the other parts I shared here on my blog and links to process videos I shared on Instagram.

 

I always include a photo of all the Christmas cards we received and also add the information, who sent it to us.

 

 

You can find my other December Daily® 2017 posts here: title page and part one // part two // part three

I also made process videos of each spread. You can find them on Instagram:
Day 1 + 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 - 6 / Day 7 + 8 / Day 9 / Day 10 / Day 11 + 12 / Day 13 / Day 14 / Day 15 / Day 16 + 17 / Day 18 / Day 19-22 / Day 23 + 24 / Day 25

One Little Word® 2018 | WILD

My One Little Word® for 2018 is WILD.

This word works on different levels. I want to do something new and exciting in 2018. I want to make wild decisions. Do something, I never did before. Expanding my comfort zone. I want to learn new things and improve my skills. I want to be more outdoors, literally in the wild.

I participate in Ali's class again next year but as always, will use my own album. I fell in love with the 3x8 size and thankfully have another album from Jamaica Makes in my stash. I love to make my word visible with my Salvaged word from Colleen Attera and whole heart pocket talisman from Soulmantras. I also started a Pinterest board a few weeks ago to collect quotes and other stuff about my word.

I didn't set any goals for 2018 but there are some areas I want to focus on and my word will be my guidance through the upcoming year:

• Focus on a handmade wardrobe and don't buy any new clothes
  This means I have to improve my sewing skills and learn how to make new things like Jeans or Underwear.
• Focus on being more outdoors
  I love to be outdoors, but I always have so much on my plate that I just don't find enough time for this. In 2018 I want to change that.
• Focus on reducing my belongings
  How wild would it be to give away almost everything I own? I like the idea of just keeping what I truly love and need. Minimalism and slow living are really speaking to me right now. In this area I always talk about "my" belongings, because I can't decide for others what and how much they want to keep. So if my boyfriend wants to hold on to stuff, that's totally okay with me.
• Focus on producing less waste
  Zero Waste (or Minimal Waste) concept, do something wild and ask for meat, fish and cheese without packaging (this really scares me), visit a package free store, try to make my own cleaning supplies, and so on. The goal here is to minimize my ecological footprint, which also resonates with the word wild.

Wild is a loud word. And I'm scared and excited at the same time what and which changes this word will bring in 2018.

*One Little Word® is a concept created by Ali Edwards where you pick a word at the beginning of the year. You work with your word on a year long journey. You can find out more about it and sign up for the class here. 

READ MORE ABOUT MY JOURNEY WITH MY ONE LITTLE WORD® HERE
one little word® 2017: BALANCE // one little word® 2016: LIGHT // one little word® 2015:  QUALITY //
one little word® 2014: OPEN

December Daily® 2017 | Part three

And another week in December is over which means I'm sharing another part of my December Daily® album. Of course I filmed the whole process again (I still need a proper set-up to make videos though). Today I share day 14 through day 22. 

Day 14 // For this day I had more photos than space so I created a flip up card again. I really like this technique to include more photos in my album.

Day 15 // Space is very limited in my album. That means that I usually don't want to use a pocket just for filler cards. But of course I got some patterned paper in my kits and have to add it in my album somehow. I like to use it as a background for my text cards. I cut down the white piece of paper with my text and adhered it on a patterned paper.

Day 16 + 17 // I didn't have a story to tell for each day of last weekend because nothing exciting happened. So I decided that this would be my story and combined both days. 

Day 18 // I knew, I wanted to include a Q&A card once in my album this year. Because there was no other story on this Monday, I included it here. We both answered the same questions. That Q&A card is an old one from JamaicaMakes. I printed directly onto the card (and onto the tag on the right as well). The key is to first print your text on a piece of paper. Then you adhere the card you want to print on right on top of the part where your text is (with some washi tape) and you run it through your printer again (I learned that from Nicole).

Day 19 // nothing special here. The story of receiving Christmas Cards.

Day 20 + 21 // I like repetition. Text and photos with the same design.

Day 22 // The story of the beginning of our Christmas vacation which we started with a delicious brunch in one of your favorite cafes.

 

You can find my other December Daily® 2017 posts here: title page and part one // part two //

I also made process videos of each spread. You can find them on Instagram:
Day 1 + 2 / Day 3 / Day 4 - 6 / Day 7 + 8 / Day 9 / Day 10 / Day 11 + 12 / Day 13 / Day 14 / Day 15 / Day 16 + 17 / Day 18 / Day 19-22 /

A Year Between Friends | Favorite Projects

In 2017 I decided to not set any goals but made my way through the book A Year Between Friends by Maria Alexandra Vettese & Stephanie Congdon Barnes (better known as 3191MilesApart). I love books where each chapter represents each month of the year. Every month I spent some time reading one chapter. I didn't always make the projects or tried the recipes but it still was great to just read a few pages.

Each chapter starts with a few photos and a letter to each other. Then you will find recipes and/or diy projects and personal stories. On the first of the month I always took a moment to read through the chapter and decided what I wanted to try this month.

Today I want to look back and share my favorites with you.

(1) GOOD LUCK FRITATA from January
Such a good recipe. We made it several times throughout the year and it also inspired me to finally buy a cast-iron skillet a few months later.

(2) COCONUT CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES from March
Oh these were SO delicious. If I had to pick my absolute favorite recipe from the book, this one would win. It was the first time chocolate chip cookies looked like the way they had to. Everytime I made them for friends I got many compliments. These cookies are perfect for freezing (before baking). Every few months I make a huge batch and freeze them. This way I have fresh cookies around the house all year long.

(3) SPOON OIL from January
I sourced some beeswax from Switzerland and made this great spoon oil. Everything that is out of wood and I use in my kitchen got a coat. They looked a lot better afterwards. It's about time to oil all my wooden supplies again.

(4) SUMMER VEGETABLE AND CHICKEN HAND PIES from July
I especially love the pie crust from this recipe. Something I never tried before. I also had more then enough so I freezed a few hand pies (before baking). Hand Pies are really easy to make and super delicious. 

(5) SCRATCH BAKING CO.'S ALMOND CAKE from April
Another delicious recipe. I made it twice this year. I really love the moist texture of this cake.

(6) STANDBY GRANOLA from September
This granola is my go-to recipe since 2014 (they shared it before on their blog). I like that it's not too sweet and that you bake it in the oven. It's also something I really love to give to others. With a cute tag and a ribbon it makes a perfect gift (you can see an example here on my Instagram account).

There are a few things I didn't try in 2017 but there are a few projects and recipes I really want to make next year:

• Quick Spiced Pickles
• Pecan Shortbread
• Summer Strawberry Pie
• Waxed Cloth Wrap
• Wintertime Bright Yellow: A Natural-Dye Project

It was a joy to work with this book in 2017 and I can highly recommend it to anyone who loves to try new recipes and diy projects. It is such an inspiring book, even if you just look through it and read a bit here and there. This book is definitely one of those books that will stay with me forever.

December Daily® 2017 | Part two

Welcome to the second part of my December Daily® album. Today I show you day 7 through day 13. As you will see I added two book rings this time. At the end there will be six but it's not fun to open them all the time. So I just use two at the moment.

Day 7 is all about creating our Christmas card. This year I decided to use that fun tree printable by In a Creative Bubble which I combined with a stamp from PAPIERPROJEKT.

The back of my Christmas Card and Day 8. I like how the "merry merry" card from day 9 peeks through. It gives the whole page a pretty nice border.

Day 9 includes the story of my Secret Santa gift I put together. I created a flip up card on the top left. This way I could include more photos. Love the result becaus it looks a bit like you are opening the gift.

Day 10 and one of my favorite spreads so far. It was a perfect day to bake cookies with my sister while it was snowing outside and we were listening to Christmas music inside.

The card on the bottom right is a really cool one. It actually was a 4x4" card with a square in the middle. I cut it down to fit my pocket and added some written text on white paper on top. This created a box where I had enough space for the number as well as to stamp the words "making cookies".

Day 11 and 12: I really love how well the three kits I use this year (The Be Merry Kit, the Holiday Tradition Kit (by JamaicaMakes) and the Paislee Press December Daily® Mini Kit) work together. It's like they were ment to be combined.

And day 13. Just a photo of our front door, a handwritten note and this fun patterned paper.

 

You can find my other December Daily® 2017 posts here: title page and part one //

I also made process videos of each spread. You can find them on Instagram:
Day 1 + Day 2 / Day 3 / Day 4, 5 and 6 / Day 7 + Day 8 / Day 9 / Day 10 / Day 11 + Day 12 /
Day 13 /