Christmas Stories with Jen McMurtrey

Hello friends! It’s Jen here! I’ve been plugging away at my 2021 December Documented album and just finished a bittersweet spread about this year’s Christmas tree that I am sharing today.

As we raise our children, we hope they will someday leave the nest and become happy, healthy, and successful adults. What no one prepares you for is the sadness that accompanies their leaving. A couple of weeks ago, our son and his new bride moved into their first apartment on the Central Washington University campus, which is about 65 miles away. While I am thrilled for them and this new adventure, I really do miss having them around. With that in mind, today’s project focuses on the move, Caleb’s childhood ornaments, and this year’s tree.

Let’s take a look:

Supplies | Document December 2021 Kit, December Vellum Stickers, Puffy Heart and Star Stickers, Wonder Paper Stack, The Merriest Puffy Stickers, Title Builder Vol. 5 The Merriest Stamp, Dear Santa Stamp, Pattern Block Stamp, Holiday Tags Metal Die

One of my favorite new Elle’s Studio products is the Title Builder Merriest Stamp designed by Meghann Andrew. The sheer number of title possibilities makes this set a must have for anyone’s stamp collection, and it is front and center on today’s project.

To begin, I used the Holiday Tags Metal Die with folded white cardstock to make a flip-up element. On the front of the tag, I used the Title Builder Merriest Stamp with green and red inks to create the title for this story.

When the tag is open, there is journaling on the right and another flip-up element on the left. When typing the journaling, I created a text box in Word that was the same size as the tag, printed and cut it, and adhered it to the tag.

On the left, there are two photos backed with patterned papers from the Wonder Paper Stack. The photo of the kids outside their apartment has “joy” stamped on it as well as a stamped tab from the Document December 2021 Kit. This photo was adhered with a December Vellum Sticker on the right edge so it will open.

The second photo is adhered to a 4 x 6 inch journaling tag and is visible when the kids’ picture is flipped up.

Next, I cut patterned paper to fit the back of a 4 x 6 inch journaling tag, sandwiched the bottom layer of the tag between the two, and glued them together. This allows the tag on the previous page to be opened and closed.

On this side of the page, I added a photo of all of Caleb’s ornaments he’s received since he was a baby. On the bottom layer, I used a border punch to add texture and placed the matted photo on top.

Between the layers, I added “memories” from the The Merriest Puffy Stickers, a stamped tab, and cardstock sticker. On the right of the photo, I used Puffy Heart and Star Stickers to pull the readers eye across the page.

The final page in the project is very simple with a large photo of our Christmas tree adhered to patterned paper with a narrower strip behind it. On the bottom of the photo, I added the date with stickers from the Document December 2021 Kit.

I am loving the overall look of these pages in my album and look forward to documenting more of our December stories! Thank you for visiting today, and I hope you’ve been inspired to create!

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