December Daily 2009 : Step One • Gather Your Materials
Yes, it really is getting to be that time of year again soon.
And yes, I know that we haven't even hit Halloween yet.
And yes, what you see here in my office is my December Daily pile.
And yes, that's my progress so far.
WELCOME TO DECEMBER DAILY 2009.
You are invited to join me in what has become a favorite holiday tradition: December Daily.
December Daily is an album project that documents the 25 days leading up to Christmas. Many people start their documentation earlier and many people go longer. I have found that 25 days is just right for me.
One of the keys to success in this project is getting an album structure set-up in advance of December so that during December you can enjoy the season & enjoy the process of documenting your days without having to be putting the entire thing together at the same time. It is not meant to be stressful. It is meant to be a way to creatively celebrate the season and document you special holiday memories in one album.
If this is your first time reading about December Daily I highly recommend you read my 2008 welcome post. It will give you a run-down of the basics and give you a better understanding of what's happening. There's also a Question & Answer post that my clarify things for you even more.
For the rest of you, let's get started!
STEP ONE: GATHER & ORGANIZE YOUR MATERIALS
Easy enough. Get all your holiday stuff in one location. Having it all in one spot and accessible makes the entire process that much easier. As you can see from my photo above I have it all in one place just not really in any order. My organizing for this project is usually just a box or basket - judging from the photo I might need a bigger box.
While you are gathering your supplies it's also a good opportunity to purge things you might be ready to pass along to someone else (think school, church, retirement home, shelter, etc).
Here's a look at my album before any December documentation was added last year: December Daily 2008. As soon as I have the bare bones structure for this year I will post it. Working on it a little bit at a time right now.
There are so many different ways to approach this project:
- Some people make it a game to use what they have on hand (all those years of stocking up on holiday products and then making one layout is paying off). If this is you, your goal over the next week is to get all your stuff in one place.
- Some people mix old products with new products (this is me).
- Some people do all digital albums.
- Some people do a mixture of digital and paper (this is me too)
- Some people do big albums and some people do really small ones.
You're also invited to join the 2009 Flickr group which can be accessed here: December Daily 2009.
A couple other things to note:
- Katie Pertiet has a great digital album coming out this weekend at Designer Digitals if you are looking to do all digital this year.
-
Cocoa Daisy will have a December Daily kit available on November 1. I coordinated products that I have been collecting with Tricia, including the Prima fabric album I will be using as my base.
I'm here to encourage, celebrate and cheer you on along the way. I can't wait to see how mine turns out - I'm trying a couple different things this year (including incorporating some fabric for my cover) and still trying to keep it simple overall.
It's totally possible that you are already making this more complicated than it needs to be in your head. Take a deep breath and do one little thing at a time.
I can't wait to start this...it will be my first year. I have never been a big holiday fan, but I want too. I thought this was a great project for me to try.
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I love the ironic timing of this! I just did a post about this exact thing the other day! LOL
http://doublehdesign.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-most-wonderful-time-of-year-almost.html
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Hi Ali... another great project...
But I was wondering how do you get that line around the photos - with the writing like that... I am fairly proficient in photoshop but can't work out how you do that !! thanks
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Ali, I just started this last night! This is always one of my favorite things of the Christmas season (wait... I just started last year, but it's quickly become a favorite)! I can't wait to see what you do!
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Wahou ! I discover your Blog, Ijust discover the december daily ! I really want to do it. What a great idee !
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Yay!I'm way ahead of you - I was so excited about doing this project that I made my album pages in August (mostly from last year's xmas stash)! I just have the covers left to do, which are going to be made from some repurposed cardboard packaging and some funky Michael Miller Christmas Critters fabric. Can't wait to see what you're going to make this year, Ali, you are such an inspiration!
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I'm really looking forward to trying to do this! Every year, I think I'm going to do something, but then life gets in the way. Taking baby steps each day seems manageable (or at least I think so today... LOL). But there have been tons of changes in our lives this year, and it is time to get some things documented.
Thanks for always being such an inspiration!
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Ali, I love your site and visit it daily - you are such an inspiration! I've just started my own blog, but it's like learning a whole new foreign language (thank goodness noone is reading it yet! :) I don't know the rules yet so I wanted to ask if I can post a link to your blog and send friends there often? Can I mention what you're doing whenever you do new cool stuff? I will always give you credit if I ever borrow an idea or scraplift something you did. Would that be ok? I'll wait to hear from you before I post next (I wanted to link friends to your site for the beginning of December Daily '09)
Thanks for your consideration and for putting your life and family out there to inspire us to create!
Sincerely,
Marcy Grant
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Yay!!! I don't scrapbook, but watching your album come together has become a new happy part of the season for me. Can't wait to see what's up your sleeve this year.
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yay!! I've been really looking forward to this! Will keep checking back - you gave me so much inspiration last year :)
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I started gathering and some assembling of basic pages on Saturday! Felt really good to start it early so that it is done by Dec 1st!!!
Really excited about Dec Daily this year and can't wait for December to get here! It's my favorite time of year!
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I was jsut last night looking at your last years december daily 08, and thought I might give this ago this year. So last night I gathered my xmas supplies together and put them in a pile, seems I have quite a bit of xmas stuff in my supplies. Im looking forward to seeing what your album looks like this year, your blog give me lots of inspiration
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I've been waiting for this. Got my Dec Daily album from everyjotandtittle and will be adding in a few things here and there but otherwise, CHECK! Just flipped through last year's Double D album to remind myself why this project is so cool.
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I'm in
At least I want to be in,hope i will have enough time
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I'm doing mine digitally this year! So excited. (The hardest part for me in keeping up in the past was the printing of pictures...not this year!)
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I have had my supplies ready for about a month. I haven't done anything with them yet. I am excited as this is my first year to attempt this album. I have a lot of ideas as this is my daughter's first Christmas. It should be fun!
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Go for it Marcy - and welcome to blogging!
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Don't feel bad that it's not yet Halloween. I ALREADY have my December Daily 2009 assembled (mostly). I remember your post about Christmas in July at the Daily Digi and I couldn't wait to dig out my Christmas stuff. I can't wait to be inspired!
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I've been collecting supplies since January. Can't wait to participate this year!
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I have been so looking forward to this project. Thank you, Ali, for sharing this project and especially doing so early. I would have been trying to do it in the middle of the season or after the fact. Instead I can enhance the pleasure of the season each day's page. Thannk you, thank you.
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So excited about this. I love looking back over last years album and seeing how my kids reacted to the holiday season. Can't wait to do it again.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Cheers, Lyndal
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Ali, I know you get so many comments and questions but I was hoping you could take a minute to talk more about the album choice that you are using this year. I want something durable that can be looked at again and again so I was leaning more towards something with page protectors. The Prima fabric album looks nice but with the ties holding it together it doesn't seem very sturdy for a house full of little boys. I am also a little nervous about the canvas pages since I don't use my sewing machine on my pages. do you have any other options that you have looked at or used in the past???
Thanks so much!
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Can't wait! I have been stalking your blog for the past week - knowing you would be posting your first DD post soon! I am so happy it's the time of the year! My goal this is year is to have my book done before December starts so I am not so pressured during the month of December. We will see how it goes :)
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Molly-- I totally loved your book from last year. Will you be using the same type of album?
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Ali-- I'm so ready this year! I've been looking back at both your albums and I'm getting so inspired and excited :). I loved the one that I made last year and I can't wait to get started.
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