December Daily™ 2011 | Hello December And A Few More Tips To Get You Started
1. TAKE A DEEP BREATH. This project is not meant to cause additional stress or anxiety (there's enough of that going around as it is). Take it one day at a time, one story at a time. Consider it an opportunity to slow down and savor what you most love about the holidays through words and photos (and some other fun crafty stuff mixed in if you want).
2. MAKE STUFF WHEN YOU CAN. Some days I put my layout together first thing in the morning - a certain story will come to light and I'll decide that will be the topic for the day. You don't have to wait until the end of the day to document a piece of it. Most days I put my pages together in the evening - yes, it often means staying up a bit later than normal, but for me, it's been worth it over the years.
3. BE REALISTIC. I post everyday because I want to encourage you to keep going because the end result is really pretty awesome. You should have zero stress if you don't/can't/decide not to "keep up" with the daily posting, uploading, etc. Don't worry if you miss a couple days - you can always add them in when you have a bit more time.
4. YOU DON'T HAVE TO CAPTURE EVERYTHING. I don't approach December Daily™ the same way I approach Week In The Life. I'm not trying to document everything that happens from waking up to falling into bed. I look for ONE STORY per day - that's it. Keep it simple - one little story per day adds up to a big collection of 25 at the end of the journey.
5. THIS IS NOT JUST A PROJECT FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE STUFF GOING ON. And your life is not too boring to document. There's so many things you could document in addition to where you end up on any given day.
6. TAKE THE TERM "DAILY" WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. If you have TONS of stuff happening there's no rule that says you have to tell the story only on the day it happened. Use the word "daily" loosely - as a guide - if you go to the Nutcracker on Sunday but already have a story you want to share for that day then tell the Nutcracker story on a different day. No big deal.
7. HAVE FUN. Yes, have fun. If it becomes not fun, switch things up. Do something different. Put your camera away and just write or put down your pen and just take photos or have a day where you just play with your products to create a cool collage of memories on the page.
8. THINK ABOUT PERSPECTIVE. Consider what you wish you knew about someone in your life and how they spent their holidays. What was their perspective, what did they love most? Get those types of stories into your book. I'm continually thinking from the perspective of what I wish I knew, and what I most want my kids to know down the road.
9. SPEND THE TIME YOU MIGHT BE SURFING AROUND FOR INSPIRATION WORKING ON YOUR PROJECT. I know how it goes. Trust me, I know.
If you want more specific ideas don't forget to check out the 25 December Daily™ Ideas and Story Inspiration post for more ways to get you motivated for telling your December stories.
Here's a few other great places to find, and share, December Daily™ visual inspiration:
Tomorrow I'll be back early in the AM with my DAY ONE post (I have to live it before I can document it). That post will include a place for you to link to your stories of the day.
Most of all my hope for you is that this album brings YOU joy.
Now go live your life, record some stories and make a little something.
Happy December!
TODAY'S POST SPONSORED BY | The Daily Digi
The FREE Digital Scrapbooking Manual is a resource filled with information we wished we would have known when we started digital scrapbooking. We asked digital scrapbookers and designers from around the community what they wished they would have known in the beginning and we share that information with you; expanding on it to save you from making the same mistakes we did. The Digital Scrapbooking Manual is a free gift brought to you by The Daily Digi.
Thanks to Daily Digi for the free manual! I'm going to read it through and through, as I have been interested in trying digi-scrapping!
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I admit that I am one of those people who have the boring life with no little kids getting excited. I am going to try to find things to document just because. Wish me luck.
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i have been following this concept since it's inception. i have begun albums ahead of time for two years now and never completed them prior to December, so what never motivated to follow this through. this year? i had my DD album done and ready to go end of october! thank you, AE, for inspiring me, as always. i had an inspirational, fun, and adventurous lil December 1st with my daughter, i can't wait to document!!!
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Ali, I have a technical question -- with the overlay pages printed on cardstock, you then have the back side blank, which I assume becomes the first page of the next day's spread. If so, since you've already added materials to the other side (like the Playmobil calendar packaging last year), how do you run into through the printer to add a photo page? Do you just remove anything bulky and then put it back on afterwards? Maybe I'm just being a bit dull-witted this late at night.... I just decided tonight that I will use the overlays to give my book some structure, so that's why I'm wondering.
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This is my year to do DD and my dtrs. first to be away in NY serving in the Coast Guard. So we both are doing a DD album!! I am spending the first part of the month in Ny with her and then she is coming home with me for the last half of the month. I can't wait to do our albums together. Thanks Ali for the idea and some good dtr/mother bonding activities!!!
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To take the stress out for me, I'm doing this blog style this year. Hopefully in Jan I will have the time to make a mini book from it all. But already it's got me to pull the camera out and document writing to Santa. A perfect way to start the month
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Hi Ali,
Wishing you all the joy of the season.
I have started my journal..yikes..scarey but sooo excited.It is my little niece Orlaith`s birthday on the 1st and i have done a page about her..she is adoreable and we spent an evening together with family and we all had a lovely time..playing,laughing and catching up.My book is already so fat,lol,and it is only day 2!!
I only have a tag with some journalling to add to my day 1.
Thank you so much for the inspiration and i am looking forward to living each day and journalling my way through what i hope will be a special keepsake to treasure.
Tracy
xxxx
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[...] is filled with inspiration these days. I’m already having fun with Tim’s 12 tags and Ali’s December Daily, and really getting into the holiday creative spirit. Last week, I focused on many of the great [...]
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I'm so excited to be joining December Daily for the first time this year. Thank you, Ali, for the encouragement and the reminder not to be pressured and stressed out by the task or the season. I appreciate your willingness to share your creativity with us. You are such an inspiration to memory keepers everywhere. :-)
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[...] have an enormous amount of stuff going on around here from day to day. I loved Ali’s post, more tips on helping get started with this project and in particular point five on her [...]
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[...] Hello December And A Few More Tips To Get You Started [...]
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[...] free course which has come out of Shim’s course is the Great Ali Edward’s December Daily. Ali joined Shim’s course one year and then developed her own [...]
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[...] year, I TRY to attempt something called December Daily, that was originated by Ali Edwards. Ali is one of my favorite scrapbookers, and has always had me [...]
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Hi Ali! BIG thanks for inspiration! I've started doing my December Daily journal thanks to You!!! It's my first 10 days of Dec, please, let's see on my flickr or a blog
http://www.flickr.com/photos/madebymonalisa/6593772837/
Mona
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[...] tried to do the December Daily before and, although I was really good at the picture thing, I was terrible at writing down the [...]
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[...] for me! I barely made it through Week in the Life and two years in a row I quit a few days into December Daily. I’m planning to actually blog my PL spreads, it just hasn’t happened [...]
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[...] back on my Hello December post I suggested not getting hung up on exactly what day something happened? Here’s an example of [...]
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[…] Edwardsのブログのこの記事やあの記事などを参考に、Wish […]
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