Exciting News at The Cutting Cafe

I know that everyone is consumed with Halloween activities, projects and fun right now, but I want you to think ahead a little with your thoughts for a moment.  As Halloween ends it will be time to start on those Christmas holiday projects.  I'd like to share what has become a tradition with my two granddaughters, thanks to Regina at The Cutting Cafe.  This will be the third year that Regina has offered a fantastic set of freebies for a Christmas Daily album.  A what--you say!  A Christmas or December Album or Journal is a way to document the thoughts and pictures of the twenty five days leading to Christmas.  You make a page for everyday in the month of December from the 1st to the 25th.  Each day you record thoughts, things your kids say or pictures of holiday activities such as putting up the tree, decorating the house, visiting with Santa, etc.  If you would like to get this free set to start your own tradition all you need to do is go to The Cutting Cafe at this link.  Regina will be offering this year's set free until November 2nd at midnight. 

To give you an idea of some of the pages you can create, I've added photos of the 8x8 album I made for my granddaughters last year.  You'll want to make sure you mark your calendars to visit The Cutting Cafe blog the week of November 20th.  The design team will be featuring projects using the December/Christmas Daily sets.  I promise you'll be seeing some fabulous and inspirational creations.

I made a title page to go first so I could add a personal note and date.

For the first page I used my Cricut Designer's Calendar cartridge to make a circular grid of 25 circles. Then I cut small images using assorted cartridges and added glue dots to the back of each one so Payton could add an image each day of the month like a countdown calendar. She enjoyed this page very much.

For day 2 I used my Cricut Imagine More cartridge for the frame and journaling paper along with The Cutting Cafe Christmas in a Square set. 

The tree on day 3 is a die cut that I've had in my stash forever.

Day 4 a simple Christmas tree border punch from Fiskars, some fussy cut Christmas lights and the sentiment. 

Day 5 has the fireplace cut from Cricut's Joys of the Season cartridge.

 For Day 6, I used a piece of jute to hang my Christmas stockings cut from the Cricut Christmas Cheer cartridge.  The sentiment is cut from Winter Frolic cartridge.

Day 7 title is cut using my Gypsy font and the list is cut from Christmas Cheer.  I'm sorry I don't remember who made the adorable paper with the Santa's Workshop and elves on it.

Again for day 8 I used Gypsy Font for the title using another piece of paper with the Santa and tree already printed on it. The sentiment is from the Christmas Daily set.

I forgot to say that my fancy background cuts were done with my Imagine More cartridge. For day 9 I used a background paper with cooking words. Sorry, again I don't know who made it since these are last years pics. The gingerbread man is actually made of dough and is an item I picked up at the day after Christmas sale at Target.

Day 10 musical background was a freebie I got from Lindsay's Stamp Stuff at My Grafico. Here is the link for that. My cute little carolers are cut from the Winter Frolic cartridge. The circle sentiment is from the Christmas daily set and the musical notes are from the Gypsy Wanderings cartridge.

Day 11's top five list was cut and printed from the Cricut Imagine More cartridge. Circle sentiment is from the Christmas Daily set and I used The Cutting Cafe Christmas Mini Words set printed on green striped paper.

This was one of my favorite pages to add to the album. It's always fun to give a call to Payton and find out about her day. I printed the sentiment right onto the lined Cosmo Cricket paper then mounted it on a fancy edge paper. The telephone is cut using the From My Kitchen cartridge.

Who doesn't love to go Christmas shopping? It will really be different for us this year. All of our presents will have to be sent through the mail because we will be away from our family. I think I will do mostly gift cards this year. I'm sure I'll have to make at least one trip to the toy store for my really small grandchildren, though. This was just a quick and easy page using the Christmas Daily set along with a fancy background cut with the Cricut.

Of course, after you buy the presents you have to wrap them. The background paper on this page is from a DCWV Christmas stack. I used a premade package embellisment in the center of the sentiment circle.

My mistletoe was cut from the Christmas Cards cartridge that came out last year. Mistletoe has been a tradition in the family since I was a baby and one that I did with my children. Now my grandkids are standing under the mistletoe for a kiss. Gosh, where does the time go?

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Now here's the question of the season...Naughty or nice. My daughter got a great picture of Payton last year pouting as she was sitting in Time Out. When you make one of these albums you'll want to make sure that you don't miss the everyday moments.

My granddaughter, Payton, loves to do crafts.  She takes after her Nana.  So when I made this page I included an inexpensive foam decoration kit I picked up at JoAnns for only a $1 for her to put together.

With this page I included a couple packages of hot cocoa for Payton and Paige to enjoy. Just another everyday occurance that you wouldn't even think to photograph or write about, but then you see that chocolate moustache and hear the words "that was the best hot chocolate ever" you'll want a photo to remember.

I'm a little sad as I see this page for I know I won't be taking the annual trek to the world's best Christmas store in Frankenmuth, Michigan. Last year we were able to take Payton there for the first time and the look of delight on her face as she took in all the lights and decorations was priceless. I console myself as I know this year her annual Christmas ornament from Nana & Pop will be bought while we are vacationing together in a couple weeks at the destination of all destinations---DisneyWorld. I can't wait to see the look on Payton's face when she sees the Princess Castle---because she's certain she'll be a princess when she grows up.

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Of course, this page was used for the photo of the ornament that Payton picked out while we were at Bronner's.  Can you guess what kind of ornament she picked---an ornament with Cinderella on it.  Again, I think of how excited she's going to be when she meets Cinderella in person in a couple of weeks

There will be no playing in the snow for me this year. Nope, for the first time in my life I'm going to be snow free enjoying the warmth of Florida. WooHoo!!!!

This is the perfect page for a picture of that annual Christmas photo.  I remember that we had several challenging years of trying to get  all five of our kids to smile and look at the camera at the same time.

It's nice to reflect back on family traditions. In our house my husband had an annual tradition of reading the story The Night Before Christmas. The kids would gather in front of the fireplace with a bedtime snack as my husband read the story. Last year we went to a Hallmark store and bought the recordable edition of the book so my husband could read and record it for Payton and Paige. Now it will be a tradition at their house.

For this page I used the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge. I made my little bed with the colors of Payton's bedroom. This is another photo opportunity that you probably wouldn't think of getting. There's nothing like a picture of a child sleeping. Especially after a day when they've tried your patience to the very limits.

And last but not least, the most important page of all to every single child. The delight of the moment when they see that tree with all the wonderful presents wrapped and waiting to be opened on Christmas morning.

If you've made it to the end of this very long post I thank you for sticking with it.  I hope that I've inspired you to create your own version of a December/Christmas Daily album or journal.  It will be a treasured family momento for your children, grandchildren, neices, nephews or friends.  If I can offer one piece of advice if your contemplating this project...start NOW.  You don't want to be rushed to create this family remembrance and have it done by December 1st.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Regina for her talent, forethought and generosity to provide these sets each year for her customers.  She is truly a magnificent lady and a treasured friend. I'm so very blessed to be a part of her Design Team and I'm so grateful for the opportunity she's allowed me.  Don't forget, you have until midnight on November 2nd to pick up this year's free set here which includes a fabulous word book this year.