December Daily® 2021 | Special Guest Emily Stebbins

Hi Friends! Emily here, and I am so beyond excited to be here on the blog sharing my December Daily® album with you. It was the opportunity of a lifetime to be on this creative team! Being in the presence of so much talent was truly humbling and inspiring. It also made me reflect on why this project is so important to me. Traditions, family time, holidays, joy—it all matters so very much. And documenting it matters. But you all know that! That’s what brings us all together, and that was my favorite part of this year’s journey. 

December is a crazy time for all of us, so success with this project for me is about fitting it into my life and not the other way around. For me that means streamlining: leaving my craft supplies out and accessible to me to sit down at a moment’s notice and start creating. I also have to make peace with the fact that my craft space will be a little bit messy all month.

The most crucial part of my success is putting away all of my non-holiday products in preparation for December Daily®. I’m talking journaling cards, stamps, chipboard, even ink pads in colors like oranges and purples. It all goes up on the shelf during this project. Yes, some of these supplies COULD theoretically work in my album, but the fewer supplies I have out, the more creative my mind becomes. And if my universe of options is smaller, it keeps me moving faster. Plus I always want to use the December Daily® supplies from the current year!

Another key to success for me is keeping pages simple. Getting crafty and making interactive pages is really fun, but if every page was like that, I would never finish! My most complicated pages are usually foundation pages that I start sometime in November. 

I have shared some of my pages on my Instagram account, which is @peacock.pigments.

There are so many fun storytelling options in December that it can be overwhelming, and then other times it can seem like nothing happened during the day, so what do I document? To solve this, I try to think ahead about some story prompts to have as a backup (e.g. a favorite holiday memory from the past, last year vs. this year, event calendar, gratitude). I pull from that list if there’s nothing specific from the day that stands out to document.

I also really like to sketch out my layouts ahead of time, and I highly recommend this! It makes it so when I sit down to my craft table, I have a plan and a direction, and can get right to creating! I kept this journal with me in my work bag all month, and when an idea struck, I sketched it out.

I would love for you to check out my completed album! Here is a flip-through video on my YouTube Channel.

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5 thoughts

  1. cjdragonfly says…
    02/04/2022

    I love how you layered repetitive shapes; such a great way to add texture and use the supplies. Beautiful pages - Chandra

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Emilyscrocker says…
      02/04/2022

      Chandra, that means a lot to me! Thank you so much! -Emily

  2. justlisa says…
    02/04/2022

    Love your album- heading off to your YouTube to watch your flip thru next! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Emilyscrocker says…
      02/04/2022

      Thank you so much, Lisa!! I am honored!!

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    11/23/2022

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    Reply 0 Replies