December Daily Completed

I completed my December Daily today. It is still 2011 and I finished it up just in the nick of time. WOW!! I enjoyed doing this project so much. The album became almost organic, with its own life. I was planning on doing 31 pages but I ended up doing 28 instead. I had to include the day after Chrsitmas because it was eventful; I did the 27 because it is my son's brthdayand finalized it with the 28 because I overheard an endearing conversation between my daughter and my husband that put the final exclamation point to the season. Why force anything? Just go out with a bang! The album was done then and I stopped on the 28th. I added a calendar in the interior left cover page and a dedication of the album to my children on the back page. I still need to attach an envelope with the receipts but other than that it is done.

I am very happy with how it turned out. It is very meaningful to my family. My son and daughter are already calling dibs on whose album it is. I realized then: that is a problem. Who should keep it? Isn't it a beautiful conundrum to have? Please beware of the avalanche of photos coming your way:

This is what I learned from the process and I hope my tips may be of some help to others who found the project too taxing:

1. Cut all your pages ahead of time using a base that will be repeated throughout the album. Next year I will be using kraft paper.

2. Make sure to print your pictures daily. This year I had to go and print them at the store. That delayed my process significantly and did not get my pages done daily.

3. Decide how you will journal. I mixed handwriting and printing my journaling. There are advantages to both. Write your journaling for each day even if it is on a notebook or diary. You will forget the important details.

4. Gather all your supplies and put them in a container to have them within easy access or to take with you to work on the album during a road trip or while visiting family and friends.

5. Some days will be busy and other days there will not be much to document. Just fill in the extra activities in the days you don't have anything to document. Problem solved.

December Daily -Altered Album

Mission accomplished. It is still November and I finally made a dicision on the album for my Dec Daily. I found this chipboard album at Wal-Mart. It cost me all of $6.00!




I decidded to alter it with the numbers page by Pop Culture called Hopscotch Red Hot. I then used a strip of Teresa Collins' Christmas Home green damasque paper. I used the December punch out tag.



I also was determined to use a frame but I don't have one that fits the December punch out tag. So I opted to pipe around the edges with Ranger's Glossy Accents. My Dec Daily pages now have a place where to live.

December Daily -My foundation pages

I edited this post to fix the pages that I uploaded sideways. I have no idea how to turn them right side up so I re-uploaded them and added a few more pages I've been able to finish.

This is my first time doing a DD and I am having two issues that keep me pondering. The first one is should I use an album or should I create my own cover. I am leaning toward just creating my own cover from covered chipboard. Second, I cannot bring myself to put the numbers to my pages. I guess I have commitment issues, ha! I am afraid of putting the numbers to the pages and then in Dec when I start to document the doings of our day I may want to use another page. When I scrapbook the photos or the story drive my layout and selection of supplies. Doing the DD without knowing what will happen when is making it difficult for me to get it finished.

In any case here's what I've come up with.




Well, here it is. I have not been making the progress I wanted because of all the painting I've been doing in our living room/dinning room. Oh well it is still November so I am not too far behind.















I'm excited about this project. I wish I had more time to work on it and have more elaborate pages but I want to focus on journaling instead of all the bells and whistles design approach.

What is everyone else doing??