Man I love this time of year. I’m doing very little on the work front, ergo, the lack of blog posts this week. Everything slows down a little. We make cookies. We play games. We drink wine (not all of us in the Zielske family, mind you.) Despite the lack of sun—and I’m not kidding, we haven’t seen the sun for oh, about 10 days—it’s all good. I wanted to compile a bunch of images from my December Daily album as well as wish everyone a Merry Christmas. Sound good?
First off, I did decide to ditch the gold spray painted chipboard page from Installment No. 04. It just bugged me. So instead, I did this:
Just a big shot of Dan and the date. Boom. Done. Happy.
For Day 15, I snagged a few of the phrases from this blog post to make a list of things I was excited about. To create that journal block, I made a white rectangle using the Rectangle Tool, then screened back the Opacity to about 75%. Love that see-through effect. Of course, it works best with an image that has a bit of space that won’t compete, visually.
More daily life for Days 16 and 17. Simple stuff. I made that “holiday cheer” card last year as part of a digital set that never got done. Might have to revisit that at some point.
Day 18 was Go Get Aidan Day. We tooled around Madison, staying one more night in her now former college town before heading home. I love how Ali’s template worked on the right-facing page. And the Elf shot? Well, what’s not to love, really? (Except the typo on Japanses. Might have to fix that one.).
Aidan made manigot (manicotti) from scratch on the 20th. Here’s the story (and here’s a link to the recipe!)
I used one of my templates to create the right two card on the page above. Just printed out a 6 x 8 and cut it into fours. I love how it looks.
And that is where I’m at with this so far. I really have loved adapted this project to fit my style and taste.
So with that, have a very merry Christmas! Check back Friday for a cool giveaway from Katrina Kennedy for those of you who want to embark on a Photo 365 project!
December Daily is a registered trademark of Ali Edwards. Ali makes amazing products to help people document their December memories plus she is an amazing woman running her small but mighty business. I encourage you to check out all of her products for December Daily here.
SUPPLIES:
Susan says
beautiful. Printed the Manigot recipe too. Hoping to give it a try over the holiday break. Thanks!
Christine says
Because the filter between my brain and my mouth burned out sometime ago….just gonna say I’m loving the demise of the gold page. It was lovely. Truly. But made me stop. Every time. Like a speed bump. Thanks for sharing. You always inspire me and make me laugh. And please thank your daughter for allowing you to share what was I’m sure a tough period in her young life. I’ve used it as a talking point of late. Very helpful.
TerryB says
Can you point me in the direction of the recipe for the cookie frosting? Pretty please. I never get it right, and your cookies look so good! Merry Christmas. 🙂
Cathy Zielske says
Terry, email me and I can hook you up! It’s not a recipe from online. 🙂
Anne B says
Our week has been much less relaxing… 3/4 of the family was down with that nasty flu last week, feverish, sniveling, hacking and coughing. Unfortunately, both adults were included in the count, so we are really behind on getting things done! But it will still be Christmas, and it will still be fun!
heidig says
Love the update! Merry Christmas to the Zielske family (and Happy New Year too!).
Michelle says
Loving your capture of December for you and your family, hope the sun appears sometime soon. Merry Christmas Cathy & fam.
Yolanda says
That Holiday Cheer word art looks great. I say, yeah, revisit it. Wishing you and the fam a very merry Christmas.
SherriS. says
Your pages are so wonderful! Your joy in having Aidan back home is shining through. I also have to say your cookies look so perfect and professional!!!
Robyn says
Just love your style Cathy – and those cookies! Man they look so professional! Any chance you can share your frosting recipe!? Merry Christmas to all of you!
Cathy Zielske says
Yes! Email me. It’s not a recipe from online. It came from a friend. 🙂
Chris says
The bigger question is…How do you decorate them so perfectly? My frosted cookies always look like frosting blobs. sigh.
Cathy Zielske says
Royal Icing + Pastry Bags. 🙂
Amy says
Heck yea, share the frosting recipe!! When I saw your post on FB I immediately clicked over to read your blog thinking, “yea right Cathy made those cookies! I bet she clipped that out of a magazine.” But NO, you are in fact a secret super baking chick. YOU. MUST. SHARE!
Cathy Zielske says
Email me! I will send it to you. 🙂
Kelsey, Especially says
Okay so I love approximately a billion things about this installment, namely:
(1) That elf photo, obvs.
(2) That full page cookie shot.
(3) That manicotti from scratch – I’ve never made the pasta from scratch, but I generally make the rest of it from scratch. We do finely chopped fresh spinach, parsley, and cilantro instead of mushrooms and like, seven different cheeses. My son LOVES it. He calls it “pizza spaghetti” (he’s 2.5), mostly because that’s what I told him it was called when first trying to get him to eat something new, knowing he loves both pizza AND spaghetti.
Cathy Zielske says
Kelsey, you should try it. It’s seriously so good and the pasta is just thin crepes sans the sugar. 🙂
Lida says
Totally loving your DD!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Jenny B. says
Still loving your album! That cookie picture is my favorite! Well, that and the Elf one. HA! I just realized it’s Christmas Eve, and I have yet to watch that movie this year! Must remedy that tonight. 🙂
Amanda B says
Ah…manigot. I can’t read that without hearing it like my grandmother would say it. Complete with hand gestures. Great recipe, too.
brandy says
Merry Christmas. Will have to try the manigot recipe and would love the cookie & icing recipe
Karen H says
I love your album. What brand album and page protectors are you using?
Cathy Zielske says
It’s all from the Ali Edwards December Daily kit!
Loey says
Ok, the picture of you and Buddy the elf is something I have to copy! Love love love! Merry belated Christmas!!
Chrystina says
YES. More Italian crafter bloggers. That’s what I like to hear.