Monday 4 November 2013

Twelve Days of Christmas - Day 1 - Composition Book

Marks Finest Papers are sponsoring a unique challenge called the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Each day from Oct 22 until Mov 2, 2013, they featured a different challenge. You can find the challenges here.

There is a Christmas themed stamp set  for each days individual prize,  and a grand prize of $350.  worth of current stamp sets for the grand prize winner who enters all 12 challenges. You have until 9Pm on Nov 11, 2013 to upload your creations. Submissions are limited to up to 5 per each days challenge.
 I am going to give it a try...hopefully I get it finished in the next seven days!  
Day 1 is to decorate a composition book. I have mentioned before that my daughters and I like to go down to the USA and shop the Black Friday sales. We book a hotel for 2 nights and shop till we drop. I get a lot of fabulous crafty bargains at Joannes and Michaels on Black Friday. We usually just sleep 3 or 4 hours as the sales are all at weird times at different stores. We do the bulk
of our Christmas shopping on Black Friday.

I think the Joanns is at 4 am or something like that! Yes, you read that correctly...you shop all night!!!
The line ups to pay are huge (maybe 40 to 60 minutes)...but the shoppers are all on a shopping bargain high...everyone is friendly and giggling...and it is a lot of fun! The massive savings suits this frugal lady too!

In order to shop successfully at Black Friday, we research the sales flyers and online ads, plan our strategy, make wish lists and mark the store hours for the special times our items go on sale.

We then create a master list that we all share. It would be impossible to get everything on your list if you were shopping on your own. We take a copy of the master list each, and we each get assigned stores and assigned items in that store. It is key to get a shopping cart and believe me, that is an experience in itself on Black Friday!!! lol

This book is the start of my Black Friday planning. My wish lists and stores, times, etc will be recorded in here...It is from this book that the master list will be compiled.  I use the back pages to assign a couple of pages per person in my family. I then use thes to list the presents I hope to buy for that person.  This way the book can still be used after Black Friday, for tracking the rest of the Christmas shopping and used to check and see who is finished and who still needs a couple more things. I try to treat everyone equally, so this helps me keep track of that.

For those of you whose heads are spinning by now, remember that I have a brain injury that causes me to forget things in the moment. If I did not have this list, I would get distracted and forget where to meet and at what time. I would also forget some  items I was there for. 
For me, it is when I multitask, or when I feel stressed, that I forget more often. This book really helps me stay on track for my bargains.
The snowflakes at the top are self adhesived felt from the dollar store and I stuck a small rhinestone down into the hole in the center. So the bling is attached to the green glitter paper and protected from being knocked off by the depth of the felt snowflake hole.

The large snowflake on the bottom right is a raw chipboard one that I picked up in a package from Michaels in the after Xmas sales last year. I added another felt adhesive snowflake overtop and punched a hole through it all for a red diamond brad.  I attached this big snowflake as soon as I finished cutting the glitter paper and rounding the right side edges. That way I was able to attach the snowflake to the glitter paper with the brad before I glued that whole front page down onto my book.

Now remember that I need my book to be able to withstand being shoved in and out of my purse those 2 days. I basically covered the entire back of the Best Creations Olive Green Glitter paper with Sook Wang and stuck it down. I used a Anna Griffin Christmas Kitsch Vellum quote sentiment sticker and affixed it first to some ivory card and then trimmed the whole thing down to fit on my book. It was just a little too big as is. That was then affixed to a snippet of the same glitter paper in red.

I really love this glitter paper as the glitter does not come off. It is glittery but affixed to the page really well...do not want a purse full of glitter now, do I...

The little red band is a belly band to keep the book shut and protect the precious pages! Yes, I know...it is a funny word...but it works!

This book is entered in the following challenges:

1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - must use snippets (the small, red, glitter card mat.
2. Marks Finest Papers Twelve Days Of Christmas - Day 1
3. Unstampabelles - Vellum
4. A gem of a challenge - Christmas
5. Allsorts Challenge - Christmas Cheer
6. A Little Bit Crafty -  Sparkle and Shine
7. Simon says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything goes

21 comments:

Peanut said...

I could shop all day and all night! Absolutely lovely card. Santa looks like he's had one too many by the chimney! Those cheeks are looking mighty rosy!
hugs, Asha - Sunny Summer Crafts

Christine Harrop said...

Great little memory jogger Maureen. No way could I stand for an hour in a queue, I'd go bonkers! You must have great fun with your daughters though! Hugs Christine xx

Mrs A. said...

Sounds like a mammoth expedition to me. I like the idea of you all being assigned different stores and items to purchase though. Miss and I are off to the NEC this weekend which is a huge craft fare with loads of stalls for us to cause hayhem with. Hugs Mrs A.

Hettie said...

OMG! This is more like a battleplan than a shopping trip! Great book but I will not be joining you for this event!
Hugs
xx

Carol said...

Love your book Maureen and your thinking! I had a brain tumour removed several years ago and have the same problems as you....I really should have a book too!! Carol x

Naomi said...

Fabulous card, Maureen! Love the vintage feel of the santa and the text patterned paper!

Hugs,
Naomi

catherine said...

This is a great idea for your book and it looks fabulous. thanks for joining our challenge at Allsorts this week
x catherine

Merry said...

This notebook is beautifully decorated from the glitter paper to the vellum santa sticker. Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Unstampabelles this month for our vellum challenge. That is some serious shopping you are planning for….I hope you find everything on your list.

Elizabeth said...

Aha! Another kind of belly band - it's different from the ones I put on my cards but I can see why it's so called. Love your notebook cover and your procedures for organising your Christmas shopping - it all sounds very effective. Hugs, Elizabeth xx

Darnell said...

Your book is not only festive, Maureen, it serves a necessary function for you, which is awesome!! Well done!! Hugs, Darnell

Sue said...

WOW! This is gorgeous, such a fabulous design and wonderful sparkle
Thank you for taking part in A Little Bit Crafty Challenge this month
Sue xx

Susan Hogan said...

I am so impressed with both your planning skills and your crafting skills! The book is fabulous and it fits the challenge perfectly! Best of luck with Black Friday and Enjoy! Thanks for sharing with us at Unstampabelles for our current challenge to use vellum.

brenda said...

As it’s something I don’t like doing will admit to this being a copy and paste comment because I am unable to type properly at the moment, but didn't want to miss the opportunity to take a look at your lovely Christmas creation and thank you for joining us at Allsorts this week.

B x

Jingle said...

Very cute card! Love the shimmer! Thanks so much for playing along with us over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge!

Anonymous said...

i love it! very festive, bright and cheerful. sounds like a fun trip and you'd definitely need a lot of energy for it. enjoy!

Sarah said...

Such fun! Thank you so much for joining us at Allsorts for our Christmas Cheer challenge this week x

Helen said...

Gorgeous project and perfect for our challenge.

Thanks for joining us at Pink Gem and good luck!

Helen x

CathyC said...

what a lovely cover ;-) that is some serious shopping planned, I hope you get everything on your list :) thanks for joining in our Vellum challenge at UnstampaBelles.

Lauren T said...

Very lovely book. It certainly sounds like quite a mission with all the planning involved. Thanks for sharing at UnstampaBelles!

Vickie Y said...

What a beautiful Black Friday planner! Thank you for playing along with the MFP 12 Days of Christmas Challenges.

mags said...

This is lovely. The vellum Father Christmas sentiment is gorgeous. Thanks for sharing with us at the Unstampabelles Challenge.
Mags
Guest Designer for November
xx