December Daily® 2015 | Day One

Welcome to  December Daily® 2016 | Day One.

I always really start to fall in love with this album as it begins to come alive with the addition of photos and words. 

One of my biggest pieces of advice (t hose of you who were in the workshop this year heard me say it over and over again): this album is not about any single story rather it is the sum of all the parts. Remember that as you go about your days and give yourself permission to make it work for you. I aim for a mix of short and long stories that come together in the end to make one big story of the season. Stick with it, even on the boring and/or busy days. 

Also, one thing I hope to do on some days this year is include step-by-step videos. I was able to do one for today that you'll find at the bottom of this post as well as on my YouTube Channel. Hope you enjoy the peek at my process. 

Here's a look at Day 01:

Today I decided to go outside the page protector and I printed two 5
inch x 7 inch photos, adhered them back to back, and added them to my album by punching holes using a  Crop A Dile. 

On the front photo I added a #1 from the  Emily Ley Mini Kit, a "merry" from the cut files in the Storytelling With December Daily® digital package (cut with my Silhouette & kraft cardstock), and "deck the halls" from my main kit (popped up with foam dots).

When you flip the card over you see the second image - looking down on
Anna and all the ornaments. As you take photos this season, think about your perspective: look up and look down vs. straight on for a different view. I love Christmas morning shots like this too.

My large green ornament boxes are made by a company called Sterling Pair. I bought two from Amazon a few years ago when I was looking for a more sturdy option to hold our ornaments and they have been awesome. This year I also bought these grey twill ornament boxes with zippered lids for each kid that are just for their own individual ornaments (they are made for mugs but work great for ornaments - we wrap in tissue paper and then you can put multiples in each cubby). I had my own box growing up that my Grandma Cathy (Mom's Mom) made that I now have here at my house with all my childhood ornaments included. It was a big part of our family traditions when I was growing up to put your own ornaments on the tree and sit around and talk about where they came from (we had lists that documented who gave them to us because that's how my Mom rolls).

On the page opposite the 5 inch x 7 inch photos I added a "memories" sticker to the Tuesday cut with my Silhouette. 

On the 4 inch x 6 inch card below I covered up the original design with the star pattern paper and added one of the circle label stickers + "before december" added with an electric typewriter that Katie found at a local thrift store a few years ago. On top of the label I added some gold stars from my stash. 

Underneath I wrote my journaling by hand that talks about what we did on Sunday when we put up the tree and how it felt a little like Christmas morning bringing all the stuff in from the garage. 

Here's a look at the pages outside the album:

DAY 01 | STEP BY STEP 

SUPPLIES

• December Daily® 2015 Main Kit
• Emily Ley December Daily® Mini Kit (gold #1)
• Crop A Dile (for hole punching)
• Black Staz On
• Rolling Date Stamp
• Fiskars Trimmer
• Epson R2000 Printer
• Old Typewriter (Smith Corona Electric)
• Scotch Dot N Roller Adhesive
• Martha Stewart Fine Tip Glue Pen
• Cut File from Storytelling With December Daily® workshop
• Foam Dot Adhesive
• Silhouette