December Daily Album : Part Two

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Now comes the fun part: selecting + organizing + numbering pages.


One of the things I aim for in this album is variety: sizes, textures, colors, edges, etc.


For this album I cut a bunch of pieces 6 inches x 9 inches and arranged them inside the album (or as close as I could get with some circle + die cut papers). You will cut yours to whatever size makes sense for the book you are using. After putting them in I did other things: tearing, cutting smaller, creating decorative edges with the Fiskars Threading Water Punch, etc.


Next, as you will see below, I added numbers to each page.


For me, this book is less about decoration and more about documentation. What that means is that when the time comes in December to add my words and photos I will not spend a lot of time trying to figure out what I want to add product-wise. I don't have any plans to spend more time each day than it takes to upload and print a photo (here at home), write up some journaling, and adhere it into my book (and maybe add one embellishment or a couple word stickers). I don't want this album to take up more time than necessary during the holiday season. Again, I want to be present and experience the season and do a bit of documentation as we go along.


I like to do documentation as we go along, rather than after the holidays, because I find that I have a tough time remembering what were the specific important or poignant or endearing or special parts of the day months after the fact (sometimes they are comments in passing or very simple things that end up meaning the most). Instead of "we went to see Santa today" I want the journaling to be more personal and real: how did Simon react, what was special about the moment, did he say anything silly or wonderful, what made it unique from last year, etc.


Those are the things I want to capture in this album.


As you will see below this is all about keeping it simple. Don't spend too much time deciding where to put the numbers or journaling blocks. Get it done. When December rolls around you will be working with what you have in front of you rather than starting from scratch. Making it work is a creative task in and of itself.


Day One:


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[ Clear Scraps XL Deco Acrylic Page (cut in half + used the second half for Day 18); Ali Edwards December Daily Photo + Journal Overlays ]


Day Two:


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[ Scenic Route Kraft Photo Mattes; random playing card tucked behind the tabbed photo matte ]


Day Three:


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[ Art Warehouse Mistletoe Ledger; Ali Edwards December Daily Photo + Journal Overlays; Fiskars Threading Water Punch (for decorative edges) ]


Day Four:


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[ Hambly Climbing Vine Antique White Transparency; Tree: Art Warehouse Noel Epoxy Sticker ]


Day Five:


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[ Baseball card page protector cut to size; Every Jot + Title Red Circle Numbers ]


Day Six:


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[ Creative Cafe Dark Red Polka Dot Felt; vintage circle 6 card; American Crafts Ribbon #57604 ]


Day Seven:


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[ Paper Source Red Envelope; American Crafts White Subway Foam Thickers ]


Day Eight:


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[ Art Warehouse Mistletoe Transparency; #8: Every Jot + Title Red Circle Numbers ]


Day Nine:


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[ Heidi Swapp Overlay Dots; Ali Edwards December Daily Photo + Journal Overlays ]


Day Ten:


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[ Art Warehouse Mistletoe Dot Die Cut Paper; American Crafts White Subway Foam Thickers ]


Day Eleven:


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[ Making Memories Flocked Vellum Snowflake Paper; still needs a number ]


Day Twelve:


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[ Making Memories Flocked Dot Papier Rouge Paper; #12: Every Jot + Title Red Circle Numbers ]


Day Thirteen:


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[ Random Chipboard Piece; Scenic Route Berkley Red Letter Stickers ]


Day Fourteen:


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[ Heidi Swapp White Moments Clock Overlay; #14: Every Jot + Title Red Circle Numbers ]


Day Fifteen:


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[ American Crafts Bushels of Fun; Jenni Bowlin Studio Boy Icons Printed Journal Ticket; American Crafts Black MOMA Remarks Letter Sticker Book ]


Day Sixteen:


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[ Paper Source  Pocket Envelope; Scenic Route Berkley Red Letter Stickers; Tree: Art Warehouse Noel Epoxy Sticker ]


Day Seventeen:


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[ Unknown Music Paper; American Crafts Mumbo Jumbo Black Letter Stickers ]


Day Eighteen:


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[ Clear Scraps XL Deco Acrylic; Ali Edwards December Daily Photo + Journal Overlays ]


Day Nineteen:


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[ Making Memories Skinny Stripe; Circle Sticker: Art Warehouse Christmas Cardstock Stickers; American Crafts Black MOMA Remarks Letter Sticker Book; "Merry:" Unknown ]


Day Twenty:


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[ Jenni Bowlin HOME Bingo Card (may be replaced with one from her holiday collection coming soon); Circle Stamp: Savvy Stamps ]


Day Twenty-One:


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[ Baseball card page protector cut to size (end up with four pockets); American Crafts White Subway Foam Thickers ]


Day Twenty-Two:


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[ Art Warehouse Die Cut Mistletoe Text; Ali Edwards December Daily Photo + Journal Overlays ]


Day Twenty-Three:


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[ Heidi Swapp Overlay Dots; Tree: Art Warehouse Noel Epoxy Sticker; American Crafts White Moma Remarks Letter Sticker Book ]


Day Twenty-Four:


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[ Making Memories Artisan Solid Die Cut Paper; Scenic Route Berkley Red Letter Stickers ]


Day Twenty-Five:


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[ Art Warehouse Dear Santa Hollyberry Paper; Scenic Route Berkley Red Letter Stickers ]


These albums get more stable (vs. just a piece of patterned paper as a page) when photos are added. Some photos will cover the entire page, some will be cropped and arranged on top of the patterend paper, and others will be added in as pages themselves. Most of that will depend on what happens on that particular day. Take a look at last year's album to see completed examples.


Edited: Feel free to leave questions in the comments today. I will address them in a post tomorrow.


Dottedline


Am I skipping Thanksgiving?


Someone asked in the comments yesterday if I was going to do anything for thanksgiving/November/gratitude-related and the answer is YES. I am hoping to have more information and details on a great project for you soon! I mainly just like to get this one out and done with early on as I have lots more projects planned for the lead up to December (you can see the holiday projects I did last year here).


Dottedline


This is part of a series of posts on creating a December Daily Album. All posts can be found here.

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148 thoughts

  1. christen says…
    10/28/2008

    what do you do if you have a day that you really don't do anything special/holiday related?

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. sue says…
    10/28/2008

    I love this album! Thanks for sharing. I'm thinking about doing a similar album for Thanksgiving and recording everyone's feelings about what they are thankful for. Add a photo of each person and call it my Blessing Album. Thanks for the wonderful ideas.
    Sue

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. Nicky Anderson says…
    10/28/2008

    Thanks Ali - looking at albums this morning and trying to figure out if I will make my cover - but time to get ready for work.
    Have a great day!!
    Nicky from Canada

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. jenny says…
    10/28/2008

    Love it! Great start! Thanks for listing your resources.

    Reply 0 Replies
  5. JLS says…
    10/28/2008

    This could be just the thing to get me going after taking a haiatus from scrapbooking for over a year. I love the holiday season, and if we start having children within the next few years, it will be awesome to be able to look back on our child-free years, to see how things change. Thanks for the inspiration. Time to dust off my papers!

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. Mary Frances says…
    10/28/2008

    thank you for all your inspiration - love the idea, doing one for Nov (thankful) and one in Dec for Holiday stuff!
    Great - feel like I am getting things accomplished and I haven't even taken a photo yet!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. anne_l says…
    10/28/2008

    Thanks for sharing the inside look of your December Daily album. It is giving me a strong inspiration to do one for my family.

    Reply 0 Replies
  8. Molly says…
    10/28/2008

    that's it! I'm doing this. I know from experience that it's easier to create things IN THE PRESENT than trying to re-create it later. I'm in.

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. Margarita says…
    10/28/2008

    Ali, do you glue the pretty paper to a thicker page? I don't understand how a page, lets say Vellum, can hold a picture and a journal since is so thin...
    Rookie here...

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. HeatherC says…
    10/28/2008

    This is so unbelievably cool -- I am going to make one too!! Love it.
    Question -- About last year's album. Did you make up Periwinkle Penguin? What a great idea.

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. Sara says…
    10/28/2008

    I love it! Can't wait to get started!!!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. Malea says…
    10/28/2008

    I can't wait until my album that I ordered gets here! I'm so ready to start assembling everything. Thanks for the inspiration and helpful tips along the way!

    Reply 0 Replies
  13. Danielle says…
    10/28/2008

    I love this album and I'm considering doing this project along with you because I absolutely loved the week in the life project. I am a little concerned about starting though because we are going away for a week in December over Christmas any ideas how to make it easy even when traveling? Thanks!

    Reply 0 Replies
  14. tara pollard pakosta says…
    10/28/2008

    this is so CUTE!
    i just got all the new Art Warehouse christmas goodies yesterday and plan to use them for an album similar to this! they are ADORABLE!!!!! thanks for sharing! i just LOVe your work ali!
    tara

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. Julia says…
    10/28/2008

    Ali, thank you so much for sharing your album and making it so easy to see the projects you did last year. I was recently thinking of all of the wonderful and fun things you did last year. Thanks again.
    Julia

    Reply 0 Replies
  16. gina says…
    10/28/2008

    I woke up today and enjoyed a few quiet minutes under the still warm comforter thinnking about how I will approach this project. Yes, I have 27 other things on my plate at the moment. Yes, we already have a lot of other holiday traditions. Yes, it is my busiest season at work. But also...YES, in 20 years we will pull this book from the holiday box and remember the nooks & crannies of one holiday season. Thanks for the daily inspiration!

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. alexandra says…
    10/28/2008

    You are a wonder! Always something amazing to offer - thanks for sharing!

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. Gayle says…
    10/28/2008

    Wow! Thanks so much Ali for letting us peek into your awesome album. I can't wait to see the other projects. This really gets me into the holidays!

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. caro says…
    10/28/2008

    Hi Ali, this year's album is a tremendous showcase, of the beautiful "papers" available... LOVING the polka dots, the variety of date numbers and the layered look thru' the transparencies. THANKS for the early peek!

    Reply 0 Replies
  20. Jen says…
    10/28/2008

    Great pages! Love the different sizes and the mixed in transparencies. Looking forward to when you start filling up the pages. =)

    Reply 0 Replies
  21. Viki says…
    10/28/2008

    I really like the idea of a daily album.
    Sort of like the book "The 24 Days Before Christmas" In the book they do something special each day in December leading up to Christmas.
    Being the packrat that I am, I'm thinking that old Christmas cards would make great pages.
    Viki

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Dori says…
    10/28/2008

    Thanks so much for listing all of the products you used to assemble your amazing album. It makes the whole process much easier for me. :) You really inspire me! Thanks again.

    Reply 0 Replies
  23. Crystal LaDoux says…
    10/28/2008

    Hi Ali, Last year you gave us a recipe for muffins that you made on the 4th of December. I think they were Angel food muffins, I can't remember and would like to make them could you please email me and let me know where to find the recipe. crystalladoux@yahoo.com.
    Thank you
    Crystal, Fountain MN

    Reply 0 Replies
  24. Shelly says…
    10/28/2008

    Thank you for inspiring me to begin this project early. Every year I join in Shimelle's class (and I love that)but I only end up completing maybe half of the entries because I get bogged down trying to create something pretty. I spend all my time playing with the papers and embellishments rather than documenting the memories.
    This year I will follow your lead and make up my album/journal ahead of time. Maybe I will have better luck completing it.
    Thanks for the idea.

    Reply 0 Replies
  25. Anne Alley says…
    10/28/2008

    It looks amazing!! I can't wait to see how it progresses.

    Reply 0 Replies

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