December Daily 2014 // Supplies + Organization

This year will be my fifth year following along with Ali Edwards' December Daily project, and I can't wait. I have come to look forward to documenting the holidays each year. I love having a little album that records the special events, annual traditions, and little moments of the season. In the last few weeks, I've been looking back at my previous DD albums and it really was a joy to have these special books filled with memories. It definitely inspired me to begin planning this year's mini-book!

Let's be honest. I have tons of scrapbook supplies and I love holiday themed products. Looking at my stash, I also have lots of leftovers from last year's DD project and the previous years as well. Seeing how much holiday product I had in my stash led me to the decision to curate my own kit this year. There are lots of beautiful holiday kits out there (the official Ali Edwards December Daily kit is still available too), but I decided to pull together my own papers and embellishments for this year's project. It feels good to be able to use up some of my holiday stash! I am still in love with a lot of these supplies, and no one will know if they're a few years old.

Of course, I couldn't resist some newer products here and there. I do have lots of leftovers from past Studio Calico kits (Pine Hill is particularly good for the holidays!), the journaling cards (only) from Kelly Purkey's kit, Mama Elephant's holiday stamps, and Elle's Studio holiday tags and embellishments. Though Paislee Press/Gossamer Blue's On My Desk collection isn't holiday-themed, I love the gold foil bits in it so I've definitely pulled it out for my DD as well.

Since I don't plan on premaking my DD pages, I've found the key to being able to work efficiently on the project throughout the month is to have all the supplies organized together. I wrote an extensive post last year on my DD organization, and I've pretty much stuck to the same organization system this year, save for switching on the multiple compartment candy box with a sturdier bead organization container. You can read last year's post over here.

I thought I'd show you some of the supplies I've chosen for this project as well, since I'm not using a kit this year. I broke things down by category and it'll give you a good idea of the stuff I plan on using!

Patterned Paper
I started by pulling out patterned paper from my stash, which is mainly from past Studio Calico kits. It's from my papers that I start to get a sense of my album's color scheme, which tends to lean towards the bright and colorful side. I knew I wanted lots of reds, greens, and aquas, with pops of yellow. I also found lots of neutrals to use in subtle patterns.
Not pictured: Specialty papers - transparencies and vellum from my stash.

Alphas
Lots of thickers. Lots of mini alphas...I have a couple of Basic Grey sheets and Elle's Studio sheets.
Not pictured: I also found a bunch of retired KP alpha stickers and SC alpha stickers to use.

Journaling Cards
Pretty self explanatory - since I'll be using the 6x8 format for my DD again this year, I wanted a variety of journaling cards to use. I have some specialty ones, hoarded from LifeLovePaper's screenprint packs, Gossamer Blue/Paislee Press' On My Desk collection, and from past DD kits. I also pulled out whichever cards I thought would work for the holidays from my past Studio Calico kits. I caved and got Kelly Purkey's beautiful cards from her kit, designed by my talented friend Christine Herrin (I didn't purchase the whole kit but KP kindly let me buy the cards). It's an eclectic mix and I'm happy to have lots of vivid colors.

Digital Supplies
To get ready for my DD, I printed a bunch of my new holiday printables in advance. I also used my Silhouette to get some die cuts ready. All digitals are from my digital holiday release in my shop.

Letterpress
I also knew I wanted to incorporate some letterpress pieces in my DD! Letterpress is a bit more time-consuming so rather than making a couple tags when I need them, I decided to premake a whole bunch of them before December. The letterpress plates I used are all from Studio Calico. Will have a tutorial on this soon!

Embellishments
Embellishments are a must in my DD! I organized all of my little embellishments in a plastic bead container. I like how the dividers are adjustable so I can customize the size. As you can see, I pulled out one of the dividers so that my long labels would fit in the compartment. A lot of the embellishments are from Ali's DD 2013 kit, and I also have a bunch of Studio Calico wood veneer pieces and embellishments as well. Flair buttons are from a bunch of sources - there are a couple of SC ones and a some from Kelly Purkey's 2012 DD kit, I believe.

Miscellaneous Embellishments
Larger embellishments I pulled out - label stickers, word stickers, tags (thankful I still have a sheet of Jennifer Pebbles' Awesome Christmas collection from years back!), Studio Calico puffy stickers and chipboard shapes, and enamel dots.

Stamps
As you all know, stamps are my favorite! I have lots of old and new holiday stamps that I can't wait to use. Here's a random selection I pulled out to show you :)

Trims + Washi Tape
I pretty much use washi tape on every project I make. I pulled out a selection of aqua/red/green/metallic washi tape from my stash - these are all from MT and were purchased in Japan. The ribbons and trims are from Ali Edwards' 2013 DD kit. The twine has a thread of gold metallic in it and is so pretty!

Tags + Envelopes
Finally, a miscellaneous assortment of tags and envelopes from my stash. I love incorporating envelopes in my DD, whether it be for some hidden journaling, additional photos or my wish list!

The majority of these supplies are things I already had on hand, and it makes me happy that they'll get used instead of hoarded/forgotten forever! I will probably dig into my stationery collection a bit too for a couple of extra special pieces. That's pretty much it! Now that I have all my supplies together, let the December Daily-ing begin!