December Daily 2009 : Days Four, Five, & Six

those pictures are so cute the kids are so sweet. i love those everyday moments. catching up 4, 5, and 6 myself tonight. we had a busy weekend. your pages are looking very nice.

Heather what program are you using? In Photoshop Elements you grab one of the corners and drag - in all other programs I have worked with (I use Photoshop CS4) you need to hold down the shift key while dragging to maintain the correct proportion.

I definitely played catch-up this weekend and I am really enjoying the process. I love that I am creating in some way (almost) every day! I wish I didn't have my other responsibilities during this time -- just being with the kids and doing Christmas-y things is so much fun.

I am finding, especially this year, that I trust my intuition as I go through the day and don't worry if I miss something. On Saturday I did nothing related to the holidays - no photos, no journaling, etc. So when I worked on this last night I thought to myself, "what did I do on Saturday?" I worked. So that's what I quickly journaled about on Day 5.

In the past I have put the photos after the number page :).

Love these photos, Ali. I've been doing a lot of journaling, but haven't added photos yet. (I can't print at home.) I'm enjoying the process, though.

I noticed that in your photos the rings of the album are missing. Did you take them out to make it easier? Just curious if they are giving you trouble? I love this canvas album and would love some feedback on it in case I use it down the road.

Thanks for all the inspiration Ali.
For anyone looking for the white Sharpie, I see they are avilable from Rainbow Resources (homeschooling supplies). I have been looking for one for awhile.

Hi Ali! Just wanted to pop in & say that I am enjoying following your December Daily album progress! I decided that I just wouldn't be able to do it myself this year...but so LOVE the idea!!! Your kiddos are just ADORABLE!

One of them was broken (it was broken when I took the original photos) and I haven't had time to get replacements yet :). Found it easier to just take them out for now.

Hi Ali,
I am absolutely loving following you on your December Daily 2009 journey. Like you, we are a family of four this year, and things at home are considerably busier, but, surprisingly, I am keeping up on my documentation. I made my foundation pages last year, but never documented the season, so I am using that album this year. My scrap style has changed in the past year as I dove into digital, and it's great to be making a hybrid album. One thing you said recently in a past post was that although you don't necessarily love all your pages individually, you love the album as a whole. That notion has stuck with me, and even though I don't love every page I have done so far, I am loving seeing the pages come together as a whole. It's very motivating, and I see what a great keepsake this will be in the years to come.(Unfortunately, my work on Y&T has taken a back seat...but I'll worry about that later.)
As always, Ali, thank you for your inspiration.

well, i have my cover done.....!!!! sounds like everyone is doing better then me! my husband and i have been super busy helping our 19 year old only child move, she left on friday for Boston (we live in iowa) sniff, sniff. i've taken tons of photos and have named my book holiday daily so that i could include the week before she left to have more photos of her in it. everyone who still has children at home, don't forget how blessed you are...i still can't imagine our house without our daughter this year. keep up the good work everybody and a comment to Anneke, i personally would LOVE to see your album pages posted!!!! your pages reflex your exciting life that is different then mine and that makes them wonderful! julie

Just had to smile at your "Even when I knew...."
Me too. Thanks for that memory.
Happy Christmas!

Lots of inspiration looking at the DD on Flickr.
I so wanted to do the DD this year; but we moved into our new and first home at the beginning of November. SO, we're still trying to unpack, paint, unpack, unpack...just enough to get Christmas decorations up! :)
So that means the scrapbooking room isn't ready! I'm hoping to be super motivated to get a lot unpacked and up this week, so maybe a DD could still be done this year?!? Let's hope...they look like so much fun! :)

I am not keeping up at all. I have all that I want for day 1, but I haven't committed anything down yet. I have all the photos and things I have done on all the rest of the days, but I think today I need to record some things so I don't lose track. I have a big work project next Monday through Wednesday, and am hoping that I'll be ready to roll on my December Daily 100% after that. In the mean time, I am so enjoying seeing your pages, although, I have to admit, your work is a little distracting to me. It looks so great, and your ideas for the photos for each day are so cool that what ever I chose for mine doesn't seem quite as cool or nice. Isn't that funny? :)

Shannon you could always do something like the 12 days leading up to Christmas :).

I totally understand your comment about "distracting." Remember, this is supposed to be a no-stress project - it is supposed to be something to make the holiday experience richer rather than more complicated. It's hard not to compare what we make with what other people create - the best advice I have is to embrace what you make yourself. We all go through times where we "try on" similar things that other people are doing...that is part of the fun...and part of the process of figuring out what we like best about creating with and keeping our own memories.

Oddly enough, I was caught up before the weekend but fell behind on the weekend pages! (Somehow, having my husband around throws off my "schedule.") Oh, well. I caught up on the journaling last night and will get some pictures printed today!!
Thanks for the inspiration! Because of you, I took the time to write my 7 month old a Christmas letter.

I love how your album is turning out Ali! I'm doing mine competely digi. I just couldn't find what I wanted in time to do hybrid. I have completed Days 1-5 along with a cover. I really love this project and I hoping to use it as a warm up for Project 365 next year. Next year I am definitely doing hybrid!

Your two children are just so cute and cute together -- love that! Thanks for always sharing as you do; your life, your passion, your art.
Also, our family is wishing yours the best season ever and a happy new year (can't wait to see what the future has in store for all of us)! =)

I have an 18-year old that will head off to college in September. So, this is our last holiday as a "we all live at home family." We have two younger kids that are 4 and 6. It really hit home that he made a comment almost a week ago about this being his last year that he would be home for all the prep, or something like that. To tell you the truth, after I heard "last year at home" I kind of went into my shell and started thinking about all the traditions we had when he was a youngster. This is only my second DD, and I'm so glad I'm doing it. For the stories, for the memories, for the chance to take photos of our everyday life, for being joyful that we can celebrate Christmas. Rejoice in the time you have with your husband and reminisce about your daughter when you're out on your date nights together. Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday, Happy Kwanza...whatever it may be, make it a good one.

This is my first December Daily (first album, ever) and I am so, so, so glad I decided to do this. Each day I have to work through some compulsions to perfect, change, "correct" things. But I've mostly succeeded in letting it go, working with my original layout, and moving on.
On Friday, my plans for a spirited, holiday-themed day were derailed, when my mom called me crying because something happened to her knee, and she was in excruciating pain. But instead of pouting about the images I thought I was going to capture that day, I took my camera with me to the hospital and wound up capturing, and documenting, the day as it actually happened. Not some fantasy, but my, real hardcore life. Years from now, I know I'm going to love having a keepsake of that day, more than I will love a picture of a tree. And I wouldn't have done it if it weren't for this project.
Coincidentally, i slammed a knife into my finger and managed to chop off half of my finger nail last night. So the season continues to be filled with comfort and joy, and just plain real stuff, too. And I love being present for the journey. For once.

thanks for this project!! i love it!!!

Hi Ali,
I really love the DD and enjoy the process. The part that I don't enjoy is that my camera is broken. We are planning to buy a new one in the next couple of days. So for right now...I take cell phone pictures and they only come out if there is enough light :( So that part is kind of frustrating.
On the days where I had almost nothing out of the ordinary to do, I go and use Jessica S. Holiday workshop DD ideas and journal about that.

I am using elements. I think I may have finally gotten it. LOL
I got it to at least not warp. But it is enlarged. Is that right? What if I wanted it to stay small? Perhaps I'll try it with the shift key too.