December Daily 2010

December Daily – Day 12

We’re only a third way through and my album is already not closing. Not good….

With the front, I just added one reindeer and left it simple.

Inside, I journaled:

On the back, I put the photos of the kids getting their haircuts.

And that’s day twelve.

December Daily – Day 11

I have three pages for today again. I love this pajama page so I didn’t alter it much. Just added the word-stickers.

On the back, I put the photo of me with my three boys and added the title Gilroy Gardens on top of the photo and a few more word stickers.

Second page starts with this photo of David I love.

Journaling Reads:
David, it’s likely you won’t remember tonight in a few months. But thanks to you, I will remember tonight forever. The way you screamed “awesome, awesome, awesome!!” as the train drove through tunnels tonight will remain etched in my heart for the rest of your life.

I must admit that we do a lot of these holiday events because I love them. I’ve learned a while ago that it’s best to do them for myself and if you guys like it, too, all the better. This is the only way I am always happy we went. But those times when you enjoy it just as much as I do, if not more, are the times I cherish more than anything else.

And when I look back on these days, I will not remember how tired I was or how many times you asked “how many more minutes till we’re home.” I will remember the joyful way you shouted awesome and the excitement that overcame you as you ran from one ride to another, trying to decide which one to go on first. Thank you, my son, for being my best present.

The back of that page is a photo of Nathaniel.

The third page is just a collage of all the other photos I love from the day.

December Daily – Day 10

I loved this photo from yesterday so I used it on the front of my page.

Here’s the back:

Journaling Reads:
I love everything about the holiday season. I love the smells, the music, the joy, the gratitude, the presents, cuddling up, the crafts, advent calendars, trees, I could go on and on.

But what I love more than anything is the lights. I love that they are everywhere and that they add so much cheer to our life. Which is why I love Vasona Park. I still remember the first year we went there and saw all the lights. I was so awed. I loved looking at the Santa playing basketball, the penguins sliding off the igloo, Rudolph and Santa’s sleigh. Dinosaurs. Volcanos. And the pirate ship. The elusive ship that I cannot photograph for the life of me.

This year, they also gave 3-d glasses that created prisims everyhwere and made the whole sight even more magical. Seeing all this from the warm car while listening to Christmas music on the radio might be one of my favorite parts of the season. I love love love Vasona Park.

David loved looking at everything tonight, too. Even Nathaniel said “wow” at some point (though he might have just been making the noise randomly.) I know many might think it’s silly but these lights make me happy. They speak to the child still living inside me. And they make her jump with joy.

This second page has the aforementioned 3-d glasses in it.

And that’s day ten.

December Daily – Day 9

I knew today would be magical because I knew it was the day of our Polar Express trip. But even I couldn’t imagine how wonderful it turned out to be. On the cover, I put the actual tickets and some lettering.

Here’s a closeup

For the back, I put a photo I took up there and added some accents. Simple.

Then I added two 5×7 pages with photos on both sides. I love this photo of Jake and David and I wrote some of my thoughts from the day on it.

The journaling reads:
Today we got to ride the Polar Express train to North Pole. Today we drove all the way to Sacramento just to get on the train. Both of you wore Christmas PJs. We ate lunch at a little cafe and David gave Daddy lots of hugs and Nathaniel made cute faces.

Today, a magician made David laugh. Nathaniel ran around the train station screaming with joy. We waited in line for the Katy car and got on and looked out the window with wonder and joy. We listened to Christmas music and heard the story of Polar Express.

Today the conductor signed our copy of the book. They gave us cookies and hot chocolate. We waved at Santa and his elves. We got our fist Christmas present from Santa. We waved our jingle bells and listened to their chime.

Today we laughed and laughed and laughed. We hugged. We shed tears of joy. We hugged some more. Today we were deeply grateful for our life. For being together. For the magic of Christmas. And the magic of little kids and their joy.

Today we made a collection of new memories. They will live etched in our hearts for a long time.

Today was a most magical day.

On the back, I put this photo of both kids laughing. I love these joyful blurry shots.

The second 5×7 has a photo of Nathaniel looking at the bell.

and on the back, I collaged a few more photos from the day.

and here’s the little boy very excited and curious when I take photos of these pages:

And that’s day nine.

December Daily – Day 8

For the front, I just wrote a little title and left it at that. I liked the way it looked.

For the back, I wrote about the two rings I bought at the beginning of the season. I love love love these rings. I bought them right here in case anyone else wants some.

The journaling reads:
My favorite purchases this holiday season are these stacking rings. Jake & Karen and David & Nathaniel. I originally sized them to fit my right hand’s thumb and index finger but for now I’m wearing them both on my left index finger. I look at them several times a day and touch the letters often. I love my family more than anything else in the world and these little rings allow me to carry them with me at all times.

And that’s day eight.

December Daily – Day 7

I originally had journaling spots on this overlay but I didn’t like them so I took them off and added some Making Memories letters.

Another look.

For my stories, I added the one photo I got with my dad and Nathaniel (my ink is starting to run out I think which might explain the off coloring on this.)

The journaling reads:

Since we took some great photos with David, I really wanted to have some photos of you with my parents, too.

But it wasn’t meant to be.

Or more like, you just refused to stay in one place for more than a second. Of the forty photos I took, this is the only one where you don’t look like a blur.

At first I was bummed that the phone is covering half your face but then I reminded myself that this is life. This is how it is.

Not perfect.

You’ve been obsessed with opapa’s cell phone for the last few days so it’s perfect that it’s in the photo with you. When we look back, we will remember how much you enjoyed playing with his phone and we will laugh all over again.

Life is so much more wonderful than perfect photos. Thank you for teaching me that once again, my son.

I love you.

And then on the back, I put this photo of David’s gratitude journal:

Journaling reads:
David’s been writing one thing he’s grateful for everyday for the last few weeks. Seeing these fills me with joy and gratitude. I am so thankful for you, my son.

And that’s day seven.

December Daily – Day 6

The last few days I’ve been unmotivated to work on this project and, of course, once I start falling behind, it gets worse with all the stress and pressure so I decided to just work with what I had and move on. For day 6, I put the only photo I had lying on my desk and added some sequins.

Another look.

And on the back I journaled about how even during the season some days are on and other days are off. Life. But I am still very grateful for my very ordinary days.

All about trying to keep it simple and one particular day is not important in this project. It’s the whole project that matters.

And that’s day six.

December Daily – Day 4

For day four, I had the menorah candles from the day before and I didn’t want too many days to pass before I told the story so I did two pages.

I always love taking photos of the changing leaves since their colors turn stunning shades of red.

And then on page two I put the story of the Breakfast with Santa. I wanted this photo to take the full page since it’s my favorite.

And on the back, I made a collage of all the other things we did there and wrote some journaling about how the morning went.

Simple.

And that’s day four.

December Daily – Day 3

Continuing with the theme of crafting+photos+stories, I made another fun page. I used my snowflake border punch and punched out some flakes and then cut them. Then I used twine to hang them like a clothesline. Then I covered them with pearl enamel and then I covered them with antique linen distress stickles and then added a pearl in the middle. The number 3 and three little stickers from The Girls’ Paperie and we’re all set.

here’s another angle so you can see a bit better.

For the back, I used the photo of the three of us from yesterday.

And there you are. Day three. Keeping it simple. Not a lot of stories so far but I know there will be many and I know there are days without photos too so I can use my stories then. I am not too worried about being specific to the day we actually did the events. This album is for the holidays so as long as it’s sometime during December, it’s all good.

December Daily – Day 2

I have to admit I tried to go all fancy on this day and kept trying to think of a great idea and then I just gave up and reminded myself to keep it simple. so here we are. I only added some ribbon to this page.

you can see it better this way.

and some beautiful Tinsel and Twig on this page with a My Mind’s Eye sticker:

And finally the story and photo of my amazing husband. I love him so.

And there you are. Day two.

December Daily – Day 1

Well here we are! One of the things I realized as I went through my books from the last two years is that I like having a combination of photos, stories and crafty stuff. So this year I will make a conscious effort to do that.

I wanted to start the book with the holiday spirit in our house. I took photos of all the stuff we have up and made a little collage. And so it begins…

and for the back, I love that pajama fabric so I just sewed on a tree and decorated it and sewed the pages together.

and another look:

And there you are. Day one.

December Daily 2010 – Setup

I finally finished my December Daily album this past weekend. A few months ago, I’d already decided to use a pre-made album this year. I bought a 6×6 American Crafts modern album in red and decorated the cover with muslin, linen and ribbon.

I then put it aside and couldn’t decide what to do with it for quite some time. I first thought I’d make mini-layouts each day and so I’d fill it with white cardstock and page protectors. Then I thought, no, I need more variety. I went back and forth for weeks. I couldn’t decide if I wanted something plain, something artsy, something simple. I finally ended up doing what I do each year partly because I like that most of the album is premade this way. I work with what I have. Having said that, I reserve the right to still change my mind. I might scrap the whole thing and go back to just white. I might use these pages in a weird way. I have no idea. That’s what December is for.

With all that, here are my pages so far. Most of them use The Girls’ Paperie, My Mind’s Eye, Collage Press, papers I had left over from the previous December albums, and the only addition this year is 6 pajama fabrics I bought. More on these later. A LOT of images here obviously so apologies in advance.

For those of you who receive my posts by email I did not want to fill up you inbox with all the images, so I didn’t mail out this post.