December Daily - A Late Start

Hello Bloglanders

I hope you are enjoying the holidays!!  My mum passed away last week. Thanks to everyone who sent me emails. It has been a LONG year for all of us. She has been sick for nearly 2 years and as we took turns sitting with her, it made our weeks a LOT shorter.  I did craft - at home and while sitting with her BUT just didn't get the time to take pictures and blog about it.

It means that I have LOTS of "old" projects to photograph and share with you right here @ Play as U GO. But, let's start with a new one - my 2015 December Daily.

I actually decided to skip the DD this year but as the month included so many big events, I reconsidered and decided to join in the fun. I got this free planner from this site, made a few tweaks to translate it into Afrikaans and printed it A5 size. Into my journal, a few supplies and ready to GO.

This year I'm limiting myself to these supplies:

2 sheets of Silhouette print and cuts , my Planner Pens, colouring pencils. a label sheet from my local dollar store (Crazy store for my fellow South Africans) and a few stamps.

I did start off a bit late and had to use my iPhone Collect App to get up to date. I have included a monthly Collect print-out in my PL spreads as well - will show one in another post. Great keeping track of events and pictures and also a good way to keep busy while standing in queues at the supermarket / keeping the sick company.

Have you tried it?? LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. I first met "Collect" over @ Amy Tangerine's. Read all about it here in her post. Even if you don't want to try out Collect - hop over there and see the GORGEOUS Jack - I just love that little boy.

And a few close-ups:

We normally travel a lot over the December holidays therefore I've added the little red cars to mark our trips. It's like a mini travel journal all in one glance.

I'm so glad I did it!! I'm sure that I would want to remember December 2015 in years to come. Normally we do a lot of fun things, have a lot of occasions to celebrate and do "summery" stuff  but I think this year would be EXTRAORDINARY for all of us - forever!!

Thanks for looking at my blog today. I'll be posting my next DD page tomorrow and share a bit of my plans for 2015. Let me give you a hint - I'm converting my PL to 12x6 next year.  Check back and all will be revealed.

Have a GREAT day.

PS. It seems that the Blogger devil re-arranged some of my I's - I will try to fix it. Please bear with me!!

Weekend Away Daybook for Project Life

Hello Bloglanders

I hope you are having a Marvellous May!!  We started out with a camping weekend near Ceres. For my non-South-African readers, here is a map and a bit about the little town. As always, I made a "daybook" for the trip.

I recycled pages from an old notebook, added a piece of cardstock to the back to make it more sturdy and used scraps to make tabs. I didn't even die cut the tabs - not time to waste!  Just cut a 1.5 x 1.5 inch square of scrap paper, folded it in half and used my corner rounder to round the folded edge / if you want a square tab - use as it is.

I even made some embellishments in advance.

One of my new years resolutions for 2015 is to use EVERY stamp in my stash. Can you believe it - I do have a few of them??? Well, this one from Cocoa Daisy is wonderful and I've never used it before!! Watch this space and you will meet again. I just stamped away on leftover watercolour paper, then punched it out with a 1" circle punch.

As always, I noted who went on the trip, what we ate, what we did, some funny (or not so funny) things about people and places - everything in one place - my Daybook. As I've already stamped my destination and date on the front cover, I don't need anything more as a title for my PL page. Even the journaling is done. More space for beautiful pictures.

Want a peek inside? OK, just a sneak. I'll be back with the Project Life page once my pictures are printed.

That's it. I'll be making the Most of Marvellous May - enjoying the beautiful Fall days down under in Sunny SA and using the time I have to play with my crafty goodies. Thanks for visiting my blog today. Have a wonderful week and please come back to play.

PS. This week the Wednesday challenge over at SimonSaysStamp is Anything Goes and my little Daybook will be joining in the fun over there. Hop over and see for yourself!

SimonSaysStamp Wedenesday Challenge

Good Wednesday to you all,

And I'm back to share a customized journal!!  This is not all I've done this week BUT you will have to check back to see the rest!!! I'm doing the Wilna Furstenberg class over at Big Picture and I'm painting my days away. Can't wait to go outside and do some more watercoloring.

First up - my "honeymoon" journal:

And I just love to decorate the inside as well. What more can a girl  wish for than a teeny, weeny pocket???

Now, you know me - I recycle, reuse and re purpose. BUT sometimes you get these little books for cheap, cheap so I have to show you how to customize them.

First of all - I didn't think this up all by myself. Monika Wright has a tutorial on how to add pages to a Zutter bound journal. And as nothing is new, I adapted the idea to add a customized cover to my CHEAP journal.

1. Tear one page out to the journal to use as a template. If you buy in bulk when they are on special (like IMPERFECT ME) you just tear one out and use it for all.
Mark the holes - I used my chalkboard pen to mark it out.
2. Punch the holes - I used a punch I've had for YEARS but never used but you can utilize your Crop-O-Dile or even an needle would work.
3. Snip a little slit at the back of the holes. (This is where I used Monika's idea)
4. Just glue your new front page to the shop bought one.
Decorate as you wish.
D-O-N-E !!!!

My beautiful son and his more than beautiful wife is going on honeymoon to Paris and I thought it would be wonderful for my daughter-in-law to have this little journal to keep track of everything they see and do.

BUT, as I bought a stash while they were on special, you'll be seeing them again!! I think they would make wonderful Xmas pressies. Just add a pen / pencil and I'm looking out for a Silhouette cut file for a little box. All my neighbour and friend pressies sorted!!

That's it. Please check back as I have LOTS and LOTS and LOTS more to share right here. In the meantime, have fun and remember to try something new TODAY.

PS. What inspired me??? The challenge over @ SimonSaysStamp - "Transport it" (= TRAVEL for me). Hop over and see what the rest of Blogland did  AND!!!!! Paris = Parys (in Afrikaans)

Binding Brochures into Travel Journal

Hi there Bloglanders

As promised - pictures of how I added brochures to my Travel Mini Journal.  I love to collect them as they have all the info I need but when you cut them apart you loose half of it.  So I came up with a plan!

First of all I punched 3 holes through my finished book with my Crop-O-Dile. If you look at the bottom right pic, you can see what I mean. The top left pic shows the whole brochure. Top right I folded all the pages in half to fit my book and punched 3 holes into it as well. Some binding with twine from The Twinery and everything stays in place.

Top right you can see how I did one that has to be off centre to fit my journaling.  For my Project Life album, I opened up my book to fit into a 12x12 Becky Higgins storage envelope.  I also added a map that I want to keep.  The book is quite bulky and this flattens it out for easier storage.  It also makes it much nicer to look at.  The little jounaling box included in the envelope still has to altered.  I plan to make a mini layout for it with some bright and cheerful pictures and titles. The envelope will be inserted between PL pages filled with holiday pic's.

What I love about this is that everything stays together and in the same format.  I've been struggling to get this sorted for the past few years and finally feel that I've knacked  it.

Thanks for visiting my blog today and please check back as I have lots more of crafting fun to share with you.  Have a Wacky Wednesday!

Altered Road trip mini book

Hi there Bloglanders

Oh, it's good to be back!!  I've been crafting away in my Craft Closet and loving it.  Today I'm going to share the notebook I made to document our trip.  I ALWAYS do that - if I don't write down while we go, I tend to forget all the nice bits. Do you take crafting supplies with when you travel?? If you love something, you will find a way to do it even when on holiday.  Why not write me a comment on what you take with when you go away.  Please, please, please!! - I plan on doing a post for Craft Storage Ideas on this topic.

And here we have my book:

Once again I started out with an ordinary school exercise book. I used one left behind from the days when my boys still went to school, tore out all the used pages and cut it to a 6x12 size.  I just like the look of it AND when you get brochures, they actually fit without cutting.  I'll show you what I did to accommodate that without glue or losing info. More about that tomorrow.

Once again, I covered the front and back with some scrapbook paper, added a title, a few stickers, some thick plastic and a belly band to keep everything tidy.  My book is already bulgy and I haven't even started on the pictures.  Inside the front and back pages are additional pockets for empty journaling cards and stickers. That's it - done in a flash and perfect to record any adventure.  Best part is that I can fit it into my Project Life binder.

Thank you once again for stopping by.  Please remember to leave me a comment about traveling with your art / craft.  I'll be back tomorrow to show you how I added the brochures to my holiday notebook.  Please check back and see for yourself.