WOW!! To have reached 50,000 followers on Facebook is quite an achievement! Way to go Canadian Scrapbooker!! I couldn’t be prouder to be part of such an amazing and talented team. Congratulations from the bottom of my heart!

With a red coffee cup in hand, I set out to take on the world.

“Well. Hello December.”

I’ve been obsessed with the new Hello December Project Life © by Stampin’ Up! card and accessory kit. I cannot wait to start documenting this merry month using these kits inside a 6×8” cherry cobbler album. I am showing the cover today and will gradually show bits and pieces of the rest of the month.

Make sure you stay tuned to my blog and CS to see continued updates of my pages as I move through the month.

On this album cover, I heat embossed the snowflakes using the Project Life © December Wonder stamp set by Stampin’ Up! I added glitter to the wood veneer snowflake to give it a snowy sparkle. Afterall, you can never have too much sparkle.

I used the Many Merry Stars Simply Created Kit to create this banner. Every time I see this wreath, I feel merry and bright. To create the project, I combined a roll of ribbon, the Many Merry Stars Simply Created Kit and the Frightful Wreath Simply Kit. It was easy with the help of a glue gun.

First, wrap ribbon around the Styrofoam wreath ensuring that there are not any gaps. I used a full 10 yards of 1” cherry cobbler sheer ribbon.

Next, I quickly put together the largest star from the Many Merry Stars Simply Created kit. Like it says in the title, these kits are created to be simple. So, within 10 minutes I had my large star finalized. Even the adhesive was done for me.

Did I mention you can never have too much sparkle? Make your “glitter-ing” easy. Empty the jars in a container and have a plastic spoon handy. Apply your two-way glue and hold the project over the container. Use the spoon to pour the glitter over the project with the excess going into the container. No mess, no fuss!

The Many Merry Stars kit features several star boxes of all shapes and sizes. It’s a cool idea for gift wrapping.

December also means that our family starts our countdown to Christmas Day. We do this by celebrating with books. Every night, we open one wrapped book to be read before bedtime. There are 24 books labelled one through twenty-four. The last book is always “Twas’ the Night Before Christmas”. I actually re-wrap most of the books every year rather than buy all new books.

To make life easy, I used the Greateful for Days Simply Created Kit and the Under the Tree Tags a Bag kit in order to make labels quickly. This is how I laid out the tags and then stuck on the stickers. Knowing that my children will tear everything to shreds, I want these labels to be painless.

We place the basket full of books by the fireplace for the month of December. I truly love this countdown because it’s something that we all look forward to every night. Unwrapping the present is just as fun as reading it. Night time cuddles and laughs is what the holidays are all about. So, if there’s any new tradition I would like you to consider… it’s this one.

Have an amazing Christmas with your loved ones. Document the little things and the big things. Don’t spend all your time behind the camera. Take one shot and don’t worry about it being perfect. Make sure to share with myself at In the Cat Cave and Canadian Scrapbooker on Facebook!

Cathy Caines, Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator

St. John’s, NL

www.inthecatcave.com

Supplies used are Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise stated: Many Merry Stars Simply Created kit, Grateful for Days Simply Created Kit, gold glitter, cherry cobbler 1” sheer ribbon, burlap ribbon, Under the Tree Tag a Bag kit, Kraft Designer Wrapping Paper rolls, Hello December Project Life © by Stampin’ Up! card and accessory kit, versamark, white embossing powder and silver baker’s twine.