December Daily Album Day 20 - before
December Daily Album Day 20 - after
I needed to add another piece of card stock to the left hand page for day 19, so on the back I added a sticker border and label stickers for journaling. I talked about how awesome it was for the Man and I to be able to purchase the most presents we've ever bought this year and how blessed we are for that opportunity. I actually made this layout and slipped it into the page protector instead of working on top of it. A more traditional layout.
December Daily Album Day 21 - before
Another baseball card holder page. I used the small pockets on the left side to staple some see-thru embellishments. I really like how this is looking.
December Daily Album Day 21 - after
On this day, I didn't have much going on so I used up some of the smaller version of previous pics to simple count my blessings. For the left hand page, I got wild with some stickers and such and focused on family. I've have finally gotten to the point in my scrapbooking that I need to actually use what I'm collecting. No more hoarding, what's the point? So what if I use all my glitter letter stickers, they are going to look so awesome on the layouts I use them on, so use them. I have to keep reminding myself this, as I often love the look of something in the package and think its so pretty, that I don't want to open them and using them on a layout. No more! What's the PURPOSE keeping them in their packages and not blessing my pages with their beauty? Quick - Simple, No More Overthinking things - Give things Purpose.
December Daily Album - Day 22 (there's no before picture, as I wanted to leave myself some playing room, as I didn't know back in November what this project would be like or even if I'd finish it)
December Daily Album - Day 23 - there's no before or after, for some reason, I must not have taken a pic of this page, bummer. I'm not going back now, I'm moving on. But the day has a picture of all our Christmas cards and a copy of one of the cards I made. Sharing the holiday spirit.
December Daily Album - Day 24 - after
Because it was snowing like mad the Night before Christmas, I ordered an 8x10 of a snow pic, then I added little plastic snowflakes. I love it. It was so fun having the snow here and it was almost magicial for our first At-Home Christmas.
December Daily Album - Day 25 (multiple page layout)
Page 1
I added another large snowflake to back of day 24 because of all the snow and that cool red Happy Holidays tag is from a present I received last year and I saved it. I totally love it. The right hand page is a pic of LG Christmas morning along with his note from Santa that was attached to his present. The ornaments on this page are cut out from another sheet of patterned paper.
page 2
The left hand page, I inked all the edges with green chalk and added a piece of Merry Christmas paper to mat the big photo. All the boys opening the Wii. Buddy was so excited. I really wish I sould have captured that look, but I was there and wrote about it, so hopefully I'll always be able to bring it back to my memory. For the right hand page, its just like LG's with a picture of Buddy with his beloved Lego men and his note from Santa. You can tell he's truely happy here.
page 3
On the left, I really didn't know what to do, so I came up with this great idea of recording the gifts of the day, including what each boy got and gave. I really like that I documented this, especially what they gave to each of us. The right hand page, is a cool, curved edge page I made for like day 7 or something and kept moving it further and further back into the album until it ended up last but it was perfect here for pics of the boys playing in our 8 inches of snow. Love this page alot.
So here's the album. Finally complete and wonderful.
I had originally had two pieces of red chipboard as the front and back covers of the album, held together with 2" binder rings, but this didn't work. It didn't work for Ali Edwards either and she had 3" rings, so it felt good, that even the professionals are just like the rest of us. So I began looking for something else, and this album was strongly suggested for my Challenge of Me class, but I couldn't find them anywhere and online they were $18 plus shipping. yikes. Like I said my scrapbooking fund is seriously depleted and most likely negative at this point (remember I stopped at Tuesday Morning). But I did manage to find this finally, on like my third trip to Micheals last week. I'd looked before, but they finally had this particular album. American Crafts D-ring 8x8 cloth album for only $14. woo-hoo.
So now my December Daily has a nice bright red home.
(this pic was taken on Buddy's bed so I could use the natural light)
More Thoughts.......
1) I am so, so happy with this project. I'd read about them for years and finally decided this was the year. Its such a wonderful sense of accomplishment seeing it on the shelf all pretty and knowing all the wonderful memories that are recorded inside it.
2) This was the first time I've ever worked with 8x8 pages and I kind of like it. That's why I'm doing my Challenge of Me in 8x8.
3) I always thought mini-albums were pointless. I confess. I thought what would be the point in doing a mini-album, just something to take up more shelf space, when you could include the same memories on regular pages in regular albums. I WAS WRONG! Mini-albums have their own little vibe going on. And because there's a beginning, a middle, and an end to one - they get completed, even if you get behind, there's an end. There's a goal - its sooooo rewarding.
4) Which lead M.E. to the purchase of Ali's book "Sharing Your Story" all about mini-albums (remember I bought a book at Barnes 'n Nobles). About three pages into this book and having the glow of completing my December Daily still in my heart, I knew I had to have this book as inspiration for my next adventure.
4) Premaking most of the pages in November was awesome, it forced M.E. to work with what I'd already did prior to experiencing that day. So it made assembling and planning the layouts much quicker and simpler.
5) Because it was just a running daily record, the content of what to include and not include was easy. Super easy and it didn't need to be fancy or warm n' fuzzy everyday, just a record of our daily lives - the exact thing I wanted to capture.
6) I will not be doing one next year. I've decided that the novelity and magic of the December Daily could easily be lost if I'm doing this year after year. Instead the Man (yes, I said the Man) and I have decided to choose a different month or two this year and do a daily album. He's even going to help! I'm sure he'll want to pick a month with a hunting season in it. LOL!
7) I learned through this project, not to hoard my supplies, use them and use all of them. The manufactors are always making bigger and better ones. I learned that my style is changing, I'm not such a clean and simple layout kind of gal anymore. I'm mixing things up, painting on pages, using my sewing machine and layering like crazy. Its almost messy. And I'm liking it. I learned to have a goal, set an appointment with myself to scrap. It makes M.E. happy.
For the scrappers out there, that actually read all this to the bottom. Thanks for reading and listening to M.E. And I'm really wanting to do this more and I'm really wanting to teach a class on this or something. I just want to share this accomplishment, because with my regular albums I always feel behind because there's no end. The sun keeps coming up and there's another day, I didn't get recorded or another event I didn't take pictures of. Even if its just finding an album you love and giving it a title and determining what its going to be about, gives that album a PURPOSE, and with that knowledge, the album can fly together (like in a couple of days, weeks, or months).
Again thanks for reading and if anyone is interested in learning more about mini-albums or the Daily Album project, leave M.E. and comment and maybe we can do one together via the blog and email. I think it'd be fun.
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