10.23.2010

a little December in October


Every year it is my intention to create my own December Daily. If you are unfamiliar with what that is, simply put, it is a journal designed to visually and verbally chronicle the month of December. It is also the brain child of scrapbooker Ali Edwards.

I get as far as pulling papers and then my enthusiasm fades. I find myself going through the month in a haze of work, travel and exhaustion.

I decided that this year would be different, for one, I wouldn't be traveling, and that would make the whole process easier. I also decided that I wouldn't worry about 25 days or 31 days, I would focus on simplicity. It would be a part of my holiday experience and not just another task.

My plan...

A pattern page, a journal page and back to back photos in between. That would be page/day 1.

I would focus on a combination of things; individual days, traditions, favorite things etc. it would be a Daily recording but not necessarily recording the day...know what I mean? For example...I want my book to include the things that make this month magical for ME. I didn't want to forget something so I pulled out the list I used for a 12 days of Christmas workshop I taught a few years ago and thought that it would serve as an excellent guide. If you are interested in this idea sheet you can download it here.

Here's the book:




The first two pictures are of the cover. I made it using heavy weight chipboard and polka dot patterned paper. The next two pages are just inner pages, I stamped all the numbers all the way through using the Noah stampset I got from Studio Calico. That tiny little "No." stamp is really old and I have no idea where it came from. I was going to use number tabs or round spots since I have so many of them:) but I decided to make it really simple and use a basic stamp set that I could reuse for titles and such. I also have a few other stamp sets I plan to use. I kept the embellishments to a minimum because I didn't want to build up the pages before I even take pictures. I've done that with other projects in the past and it didn't work for me. I like it being a bit bare...that way I can really create based on my images and the story I'm telling that day.

So that's it...you can see a few more pictures of the inner pages here.

Now that's it's done I can't wait to fill it up!

5 comments:

Diana said...

Maybe because I'm a bah humbug type of person when it comes to December/Xmas, I have no desire to do a December Daily album. HOWEVER, I cannot wait to see yours! It's beautiful already.

Nolatari said...

I LOVE your thought process and the design of your album! I've often blogged my Dec Daily but haven't yet put it into physical album form simply because I couldn't keep the album from overwhelming me. What you've done here is PERFECT and I will be using it as my jumping off point this year. Looking forward to keeping up with your progress along the way!

Malou said...

This is so beautiful! I love the color you picked and I would be inspired to do that! I can't wait to get my own mini that I won from you! Thanks,again! Malou

Malou said...

I just wanted to let you know that I got the mini album from your giveaway!!! It's so lovely thank you so much from the bottom of my heart! I will posts pics of the finished product I guess sometime in December!

Kelly said...

Your book (and concept) are great! I think the key to completing the DD is to keep it simple (and lovely) and that is what you have done.