December Daily® 2016 | Day 01

Welcome to  December Daily® 2016 | Day 01. 

Bring on the stories. Bring on the little moments. Bring on the twinkle lights. Bring on the love & kindness. Bring on the finding of joy in both unexpected and expected places. 

For my story today I decided to write about "paying attention" after looking up at the sky multiple times throughout the morning and just feeling thankful.  

Today's story is a great reminder that this album doesn't have to be a specific "holiday" story each day. Paying attention is an everyday thing, but it's also a specific seasonal thing for me (slowing down, savoring, etc) and was the story I most wanted to tell today.

Also please remember this project is less a sprint and more a marathon - focusing on one story per day makes it both manageable and meaningful. You can do this. 

I've got a video walk-through for you below with more details on today's page and some thoughts for tomorrow. I'll be sharing videos here as well as on my YouTube channel if you are interested in following along over there. I can't promise to include them every day but I'll do my best when I can. 

As a reminder, here's what Day 01 looked like as a  foundation page (my post that showed my starting points for my 2016 album): 

When I put together my foundation pages this page full of  2 inch x 2 inch pockets was pretty much already done (one of the reasons I like to do some things ahead of time). Next to it was a blank 6 inch x 8 inch pocket that was the back of my Reason Why page. 

Here's a look at what Day 01 ended up looking like inside my album after I added my story for today: 

My story for today is printed on a 6 inch x 8 inch photo that was cropped in Photoshop (words were also added in Photoshop).

This year I started using a new printer after hunting for a more reasonably priced one to recommend. I still love my oversized Epson that prints up to 13x19 but I realize that's outside of what many people are interested in paying (or you don't care about printing larger than 8.5 inch x 14 inch). The one I decided to test, and ended up really liking and using in my Hybrid workshop, was the Canon Pixma MG7720. I used it today to print this photo on 8.5 inch x 11 inch Epson Glossy Photo Paper.

I'm definitely still using my Epson PictureMate PM400 for prints that are 4 inch x 6 inch and smaller. The Canon can definitely print that size as well - it has two trays which is great because you can keep one stocked with 4 inch x 6 inch paper and one with 8.5 inch x 11 inch paper. 

And outside the album: 

The chipboard piece added to the top of my journaling is from the Pam Garrison December Daily® Mini Kit. Along the bottom of the image I used a rolling date stamp + Staz On ink to add the date + a small gold star from the Main Kit. 

Onto the "Christmas Cheer" tag (from the Main Kit) I added a "thurs" die cut that was cut from kraft paper using my  Week Days Craft Die and attached it with a Tiny Attacher.

DAY 01 | JOURNALING

In the mornings during this time of year I do a lot of looking at the sky. When I get out of bed sometime between 5am and 6:30am it’s dark. Pitch black. Nothing to see. But as I help get the kids up and go about the early morning routine of breakfast and coffee and packing lunches and reminding the kids of the next thing on their list, the light through the back windows of the house becomes visible and I have my first chance of the day to witness the sky. During the late Fall/early Winter there is often an awe-inspiring pink/orange sky in those early morning hours before it makes way for grey (often) or blue (less often). If you blink you’ll miss it. If you are too busy with the “stuff of life” you’ll miss it. I have to remember to look for it. As the minutes tick by the colors change and daylight takes over. When we walk out to the car (currently parking outside the garage) I try to remember to look up again - this time in the opposite direction as earlier. I want to breathe in the beauty of the morning even in the rain. Today, as I drove home from dropping off the kids at school around 8am, I pulled my car over so I could take a photo of the sky and the tops of the trees that line the road leading to my house. These trees bring such brief joy as they change with the seasons. Amazing blooms in the spring for less than a week. Amazing color right now for about a week before dropping their leaves for the winter. I love how they line the way home. I love that they give me an opportunity to pause to celebrate each season for what it is. Hello December. I’m paying attention.

DAY 01 | VIDEO OVERVIEW

SHARE YOUR DAY 01

I'd love to have you share a link to your Day 01 album pages below. Please link directly to your post vs. a general blog link.