December Daily/Journal Your Christmas

Like many of you, I am attempting to create a December Daily album this year.  I made one last year for the first time. I enjoyed the finished product, but I must admit it didn't get complete until July! You can see some of my posts about last year's album here, here, and here.

Last year I followed Ali's templates pretty closely.  I used her 6x8 overlays and layered templates for most pages, and included the transparency layers in between.  It looks great, but I found it a bit overwhelming. I also felt a bit guilty when I didn't have anything to include on a particular day, since I had already printed out the pages. Those empty pages were taunting me! This year, I'm doing a few things to simplify the process:

• I'm not going to attempt to document every single day. Some days I may not have anything to say, and that's okay! I have not created any number tags yet, since I don't know which days I'll actually make a page for.
• I'm applying Noell Hyman's 6x6 minibook technique (if you're a paperclipping member, check out video #162 over at Paperclipping.com).  I've pre-cut a bunch of Christmas papers to 6x6, and they are currently sitting on my desk along with a bunch of random Christmas embellishments. My plan is to make a 2-page spread for most days, with journaling on one side, photo on the other.  If I have a lot to say, I can add a 3x6 journaling page in between. 
• I'm combining December Daily along with Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class. I've never done Shimelle's class before, but I am hoping her prompts will inspire me to write about something even on days where I don't initially feel I have a story to tell. Today she encouraged us to think about why we are making this type of album/journal and shared her "manifesto" with us. For now, I'm going with her manifesto and embracing the concept of "keeping it simple"!

Are you taking part in any of these holiday projects? Have you done anything to simplify the process? I'd love any tips you might have!

December Daily: Days 6-10

Welcome back to another installment of my December Daily album!  I relied heavily on Ali Edwards' design, and used her layered templates and overlays for most pages. I finished these pages over a week ago, but finally got around to editing them in Photoshop Elements.

For some of the days, especially typical work days, I really didn't have much to write about so I included various Christmas cards we received throughout the month.  I found this to be a good way to display those photo cards we receive every year, but never know what to do with at the end of the month!

For my earlier pages, please click here and here! 

Thanks for looking!

Welcome back! Here is the next installment of my December Daily album.  For each day, I went with a two-page spread. I generally used Ali Edwards's layered templates on the left, and her overlays on the right, with a transparency in between.  I printed out all the overlays in advance on white cardstock, and usually used these as a space for my handwritten journaling, perhaps a picture or a scrap of patterned paper. The left hand side was usually for photos, although for days when I didn't have photos, I found it was a good place to put ephemera or some of my favorite cards that I received. Without further adieu, here are days 1-5:

  

Thanks for looking! Come on back tomorrow for days 6-10!

December Daily: Covers and Title Page

This year I decided to attempt to keep a December Daily album.  I had never done one before, and it was a bit of a ridiculous task to contemplate, since December is one of my busiest months (I'm a college professor, so December is spent creating and grading lots of final exams and papers).  But Ali Edwards made it look so simple and appealing, I decided to give it a try.  When all was said and done, I only completed 4 or 5 actual pages during December.  However, I took lots of photos and jotted down notes about daily events and happenings, so that when I *did* get some free time (i.e., my winter break from school, going on now!) I could put it together.  Right now I'm about half way finished.

I followed Ali's design fairly closely...I made a 6x8 album, with a two page spread for each day, and I relied heavily on her 2010 6x8 layered templates and overlays from Designer Digitals.

For the cover, I cut a piece of chipboard to 6x8 and covered it with Gesso.  I used some old KI Memories lace paper as a mask and sprayed with glimmer mist and used that for the inside cover.  I took the lace paper and adhered it to the other side of the chipboard for the outside cover. Colored Ali's December freebie with red stickles, and added it and a few die cut embellishments.  Done!

Here's the inside. Between each two-page spread, I included a transparency. I believe this one was from Fancy Pants.

I put a photo strip of a few favorite pictures on the title page (also a freebie from Ali):

Here's a close-up of the title page:

Thanks for looking! Coming soon, Days 1-5!