Diane’s 2023 Christmas Album

December 4, 2023

Welcome back, crafty friends!

Last week, Diane shared the 2023 Christmas Album she has been making for her daughter Jill. Diane has made albums for Jill for many years and we always look forward to seeing her latest beautiful creation! You can see a few of Diane’s past albums right here on our blog. Just type “Diane Christmas” in the search bar.

Click HERE to watch the video with Diane from Wednesday, November 29. Grab a cup of cocoa and settle in to be inspired!

Click HERE for links to the products Diane used for this year’s amazing project. She started with an A5 Elizabeth Craft Vintage Black Planner (A5 = 5.8″ x 8.3″) as her album base, then created pages with her Elizabeth Craft dies which are designed to work with these planners. Diane recommends getting out all of your Christmas products when you start on a project like this. Boxes and old trays make it extra fun and festive! Diane got me started doing this a few years ago and I love getting out all my supplies while I’m making my Christmas cards and other projects.

Before sharing her Christmas album, Diane showed us some beautiful fabric-covered books her daughter made using Tim Holtz fabric and burlap. Because they’re only used for stacking/displays, she simply adhered the fabric inside the covers with Scor-Tape…no sewing involved! This cozy stack of books will make a wonderful addition to a holiday vignette.

Diane also shared these fun Collage Photo Frames adorned with just a bit of ephemera and displayed on small easels. This is a fun way to display favorite holiday photos from years past! She also showed us several 3″ embroidery hoops created with Tim’s fabric, ephemera, and a bit of ribbon at the top. They are so easy to make and look adorable hanging on a tree or displayed on an easel. Imagine how cute these hoops would be tied onto a package?

Diane also showed us last year’s keepsake album which she created with an Elizabeth Craft planner. Learn all about Diane’s beautiful 2022 Album HERE.

So now let’s take peek inside just a few of the pages of Diane’s 2023 Christmas Album! Be sure to watch the video and learn about the techniques she used on each page as she walks us through the entire amazing holiday journal.

Diane chose the Dear Santa collection by Simple Stories as the main collection for her album, adding many embellishments from Tim Holtz and also from her stash. This is a great project to use up little bits of this and that! On her cover page, she added stamps, ephemera, and more to establish the theme for her album. She even printed Jill’s family name on the ephemera for a personal touch!

When you’re making a smaller project like this, it’s important to leave space for pictures! Placing the ephemera and hanging elements at the top left leaves space for photos below. If you look closely, you’ll notice that Diane uses metallic elements throughout her book: Loop pins, bells, tiny clips, and more.

When you make an album like this, you’re not constrained by page protectors so you can make your pages any size/shape you’d like. Here you can see how Diane cut this page more narrowly so that you see the page behind it. The aged tinsel gives a true vintage look to the tag.

This page is one of Diane’s favorites (ours, too!) as she used the Winter Days Stamps by Elizabeth Crafts to make the slide frames, backing them with nostaligic images. The black stamped accents really stand out and visually connect to the black paper used on the previous page. Beautiful work, Diane!

On this page, Diane left several cut-apart pieces connected, adding stamped elements, trims, and space for a special photo. Notice how the little piece behind the photo mat pulls out to reveal journaling!

Diane made this page into a pocket to accomodate a large tag which provides space for photos and memories. If you like to sew, you can add stitching to your pages before putting them in your album…the messier, the better for this type of project! We also love how Diane made her own rimmed tag and added glitter to the ephemera for a bit of holiday sparkle.

On this page, Diane attached two layered pockets along the bottom which accomodate smaller tags, each adorned with tiny paper clips and stapled ribbon (Tim’s Tiny Attacher). She used her Elizabeth Craft dies to make the “Wish List” title for this page featuring the special gifts Diane’s grandsons would like to find under the tree. It’s been fun for the family to look back on the boys’ wish lists through the years!

Diane always plans a family baking day! This page features baking elements and introduces the pictures to come. We love how she cut a recipe card down to make her “Family Favorite” title. So cute…and those die cut cookies look good enough to eat!

Diane added a cookie tray by Doodlebug to accent the family baking photos Jill will add to this page. And notice the special Elizabeth Craft page reinforcements she added to the left and throughout her album, a little detail that adds a festive touch!

Diane used one of her Elizabeth Craft dies (Summer State of Mind) to cut a vertical slit in this page which provides space for tucking tags. That scalloped ephemera piece is a favorite, too.

On this striking page, Diane stamped and heat embossed the tree (Winter Woodlands Stamp Set + Distress Embossing Glaze) for a layered and vintage look. While some of us were taught to stamp on plain cardstock, Diane is not afraid to add stamped images and text to patterned paper to create a layered, vintage effect. Notice the strip at the left which attaches to the rings and allows you to include a smaller element into your album.

As you can see, Diane has a real knack for layering all kinds of pieces on top of patterned paper. It’s the combination of layered ephemera, stamps, and patterned paper that results in the vintage look that so many of us adore.

Wow, what an amazing morning with Diane! I think it’s safe to say that we were blown away by all the very special details in this keepsake album. Jill and her family will treasure it for years to come. Thank you, Diane, for taking the time to share all of your tips and techniques with us again this year.

If you’re inspired to make a keepsake holiday album like Diane’s, stop in! We’d love to help you find everything you need to create a very special album for yourself or someone you love.

If you can’t make it to the store, no worries! We offer online shopping 24/7 and super-fast shipping, too. Or just call the store at (515) 965-1102 and we’d love to help you shop by phone.

Have a crafty day!
Janet

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