Christmas Memories 2019 – Part 2 | Merry & Bright Collection | Michelle Stokes
Hello Hello! Its Michelle here with you today. I hope you’ve all had a wonderful festive season and are all rested and ready to see this crazy year off and start a fresh new one in the next couple of days. I have another instalment of Christmas Memory sharing for you all – the second half of the 2019 album I shared with you last month featuring loads of bits n bobs from the very cheerful Merry & Bright Collection. Like the first post, this one is also very photo heavy so lets jump straight into it..
… starting with the middle of December. There was lego building, tree building and secret letters from Twinkle our Elf.
I’ll leave links for all the products I’ve used at the very bottom of this post
This time of year is also when Leila or one of us in this house tends to fall ill. In 2019 for Leila sadly it was a stomach bug that had her wiped out next to the undecorated Christmas Tree’s for an entire day
I created a flip/ shaker pocket to conceal the photo and journalling from that day using a label from the cut apart sheet Oh What Fun and ’14’ from the Countdown paper. There’s some glitter and a couple of ephemera hearts sprinkled into the front of the pocket on top of the pocket page card. To keep them all in place I sewed the flap directly onto the pocket page below.
Over the page I’ve kept things pretty simple using more numbers from the Countdown paper. I’ve repeated this step through the entire album to keep things cohesive.
In between the pocket pages I’ve added a giant paper tag insert using 2 pieces of pattern paper from the A5 paper stack – Joy to the World and the text side of Oh What Fun. I’ve created the round glitter shaker over the top of the floral pattern using the large circular wreath ephemera piece, some left over clear packaging, a tonne of sliver glitter and machine stitched around the wreath to keep out closed. I added flowers and banner from the ephemera pack, then stapled a piece of coordinating ribbon to the top.
I kept the text side of the tag blank as the album is already quite bulky, plus theres a lot going on in the photos to the right. The 18th of December last year was quite the busy day – we treated ourselves to a new car and Twinkle got up to mischief in my craft room creating signs for the Christmas Tree. It was a sad time for Leila saying goodbye to our first family car, but we were all very excited with our new wheels!
Top right of the pockets is another see through glitter pocket using the numbers from the Countdown paper, a single puffy gold star and machine stitched along the top edge to stop the glitter going everywhere.
As we start to creep towards the last third of the month it gets a little busier. The end of school, long days at work, House Elf getting up to mischief and HOT HOT HOT weather.
Another flip pocket using pocket page cards, ephemera and some off cut strips of Jingle all the Way (candy cane stripe) conceal more photos of Leila’s last day at school. One a photo of the crazy mask she made and the other a photo with one of her favourite teachers ( not shared for privacy reasons)
This kid is a hoot! An accessory sticker was perfect to embellish the photo I took of a well needed coffee at work. What a crazy time of year working in Pharmacy can be, and not because its Christmas!
We made it to see Santa to share with him all the things Leila was hoping to receive for Christmas. I had Leila write on the Dear Santa card herself which was the perfect touch to this spread. If you’d like to do the same with your children you can find this card on the Oh What Fun cut apart sheet.
We didn’t get the chance to ‘trim the tree’ until quite late in the month. The lead up to and start of December is always chaotic for us with work, school and Leila’s Birthday so the poor tree always gets neglected until the last minute. We make sure to enjoy it for a few weeks into January before packing it all away.
I used some of the wonderful woodgrain found on the Seasons Greetings paper or in the A5 paper stack as a base for this mini layout. I cut a frame out of the Candy Cane stripe Jingle all the Way to frame the photo then layered 2 trees from the ephemera pack and some stickers to finish it off. On the right hand side I used the darker green print of Oh Christmas Tree to cut a tree design cut file from CUT to YOU. I backed it with some clear velum and sprinkled glitter within each circle to create twinkling lights. I’ve machine stitched the tree onto the Oh What Fun paper to keep it in place.
On the back I created a simple sequin shaker pocket using another ephemera frame and adhered it to some Countdown paper with ephemera pieces and a strip of ‘Christmas rainbow’ diagonal stripe that can be found along the bottom of the Oh What Fun paper.
Over the page I kept the pockets simple using cards from the pocket page card pack. I also documented a photo I screen shot from facebook when our beloved country was on fire.
Were on the home stretch now, just a few more to go…
Another simple insert between pages of photos using vellum, ephemera pieces and a puffy gold star
with a very similar cluster created on the reverse to coincide with the photos of family from Christmas Eve.
Another photo heavy spread with pocket page cards as fillers with the addition of a couple accessory stickers and a cute ephemera house
All the fun of Christmas Day contained in 1 spread. This is literally all the photos I took on this day minus a few extra blurry ones. I chose to live the moments in person rather than a face behind a phone camera, but I’m happy I took just these few.
Lastly we round out the month with a few crazy faces from New Years Eve. Every year so far this crazy kid has been awake and ‘celebrated’ it well and truly into the new year with us. Last year it was on the couch watching fireworks from around the country on tv with her beloved stuffed animals.. and a few crazy selfies with me. You’re welcome lol
Well friends thats a wrap on my 2019 Christmas Memories album, and my creative shares here with you for 2020. Its been a crazy year for us all, and I cant wait to see what the next year brings.. Lets hope its a little less chaotic than 2020 but a heck of a lot more happy!
Thank you all for your love and support throughout the year.
Until next time, Stay Safe and Happy Scrapping!
Michelle xx
PS. Heres the list of products used from the Merry & Bright Collection
A5 Paper Stack
Countdown 12×12 Paper
Oh What Fun 12×12 Paper
Pocket Page Cards
Ephemera Pack
Puffy Gold Stars
Accessory Stickers – Not available