December Daily™ 2011 | Day Twelve

i am struggling to keep up (not in a stressful way) i am on day 5 which is almost complete i have been jotting down notes and printing out the pictures so i am keeping up with that i hadn't made my pages before hand as i wasn't sure what direction i wanted to take i have been drawing out pages something like ali's digital pages and found that worked the best i really like the strip of pattern paper at the bottom i am determined to do this project as i think it will be fun to look back on it next year at this time ali inspries me!!

The look of concentration on Simon and Anna's faces are priceless and Simon's pjs are too cute! I love this project and my family loves it too, I couldn't do it without their support. Thanks Ali for the encouraging words and support too!

I am glad I read your words of encouragement for today. It has been a frustrating past 3 days and I was about to give up on the Dec daily. You are so right. This is for fun. Thanks for bringing me up.

love. thanks for the reminder. i find that now (after several years of completing this project) i am much less stressed about the whole thing. it is all about the words and photos and it really does enhance my enjoyment of the season.

Thanks Ali. I've only finished 3 days so far but I have been taking pictures and making notes for each day. I'm trying not to stress about it. I'm hoping to get some scrapping done at my monthly crop on Saturday and if I don't get this album done until January, that's OK too.

Dear Ali, I wanted to thank you for this message today. This year I am finally DOING it and keeping up with the December daily. In fact, I made each of my kids one (age 9 and 14) and they are journaling the month of December as well. I have been feeling MAJORLY depressed and anxious about the fact that our albums right now are NOT picture heavy. I could give you a zillion reasons why I haven't had the TIME to take pictures and another zillion as to why we haven't had tons of "christmasy" things lately..however, I've made sure that all of our December dailys include JOURNALING..photo or not. I'm trying not to feel so stressed out about seeing all of your great pics (and everyone else's) when our books are containing hardly any pics right now but lots of words. And oh those words I treasure!! :-) Thanks for the reminder that things are just OK with how they are right now...peace and blessings!!

i love this page! the stamping adds a lot on it (i need to remember that!) - my kids are too old to write letters to santa :( but they do make me lists...

Thank you Ali for your helpful and kind words and reminders. It is sometimes a struggle - there aren't enough hours in the day! But it is so worth the effort. So thank you again for your constant inspiration. And a happy Christmas to you and yours.

Beautiful page.
And I know, in my head, this is supposed to be fun, encouraging, story telling and memorable. I know this. But there is this nagging voice in my head that is constantly saying, "what's today's story? What's today's story? Is this the story? Wait, maybe this is my story (click, click of the camera)...." I know I'm too critical of myself. Also, just like last year, during the week my pictures are taken after work/school, and they all seem so dark. And Ali, I want mine to look as beautiful as yours. And that's where I get stuck. I'm working on it...thanks for your continued support as I am working to become a better story teller.

Fell way the heck behind, so started doing my journaling in an email draft for ease. Have pics that need printing and will get to those. Keep telling myself "I'll get there" and it's all good. I know I want to have this finished product at the end of it all, so that keeps me going.

Love watching the process of your project. I have a question for anyone who sews in their scrapbooking - do you backstitch at the beginning and end of each line of stitches? Do you have a problem with the sewing coming undone if you don't backstitch? Hope that makes sense!!

Hi Ali - *thank you* for your reminders about looking at this project as a source of fun and time to play during the holidays. Life is taking me on a surprise journey right now in the midst of all things holiday, end of year and new year. Just working to go with it and be kind to myself. I'm setting aside time to work on my book tonight and slip some things into pockets in project life. Little steps can add up to make something beautiful :) Love how your book is coming together. Actually, I'm using many of your pages as templates b/c I'm having trouble coming up with my own ideas right now - but yearn to put something lovely together :) Don't want lack of ideas to stop my actual doing.

I'm not quite through day 12 yet, but think this may be my favorite of the pages you've made so far. I like that there is some pattern paper with the photo on the left and that it is added in an interesting way as well as the stamp + journaling, which I have yet to try, but will. Great job!

It is so inspiring to come here each day, your pages are wonderful. Thanks for sharing with us:)

I think this is my favorite of your pages so far!!

I love seeing your ideas and pages! My season is always so busy, and I can't print great quality at home, so I can't make detailed pages each day. But I did find a simple formula to use. I put one full-page photo on the left side that I order when I can, and I make a list on the right of things we did that day. If there are other photos to include, I can print wallets or add extra pages like you do. On days I know we will have lots of activities, I use a baseball card holder for more space. I can also staple in receipts or other bits in empty spaces. I go back later and add strips of journaling to the full page photos if I want. It is easy to make pages ahead, note the photo placement in pencil, and journal out my list each evening or even a day or two later. And one year when I am not so busy, I may try different pages.

Fantastic photo of your children!!! I love your pages for this day. Just so darn cute and inspiring!

As I'm ordering my pics, I only have through day 5 completed. But, I'm not too worried about it. I've been blogging the details of the day in case I need more info when I do get my pics and I'm really, really happy with how it's turning out so far. My kids love it already and that's the most important thing for me! <3

That is sweet :) Love the jammies that Simon is wearing too.

I've got to compliment you on that photo, I love the reflection on the table. Thanks for sharing this. I just came across your blog a few days ago, and am enjoying seeing your process. I've admired your stamp designs for a long time, and just bought a few that I plan to use on Valentine projects.