December Daily® | Special Guest Nolana Lynch

Hi Everyone! 

How are you doing? This is Nolana (@nehlan.has.a.plan on Instagram) and I am so very happy to be here with you today to share my process as I prepare to document December Daily.

This is my absolute favourite time of year and full disclosure, I begin thinking about December Daily by the time Christmas in July comes around. 

I start by reviewing last year's notes and taking note (pins, saves, photos) of things I'd like to try this year, whether it's a new mixed media technique or a new interactive feature. In going through my notes from last year, I see if there were any sketches I made or ideas I jotted down that I didn't get to include in my album, and suss out if I'd like to try it this year. 

To be honest, these first few months of making foundation pages are all about HAVING FUN! Here are some foundation pages I created between August and September, that I've always wanted to include in my album!

I've always wanted to create a floating gifts page and I'm so so happy I finally did it! This is one of the December Daily Pages that I worked on for my Big Picture Class "Pockets of Fun".

I also always wanted to do a 3x4 tag page - simple I know- but since this is currently my favourite page protector orientation, I just had to pay homage that! 

Without further ado, here's a Flip Through of where I'm currently at with my 2023 Foundation Pages. My goal every year is to have as many foundation pages as possible going in to December, as this makes the documenting process super easy for me. Find my video on YouTube here.

So where to next? When I get to this point in my foundation pages, I want to make sure that I am 1. Not over making foundation pages and that I am staying on track with the stories I love to tell and want to tell. To help with this, I love looking through my past albums and seeing which stories I DO in fact tell each year. 

Here's a quick flip through of my albums from last year. It brought me so much joy going through these to see what I loved. There were also a few Foundation pages that I didn't get around to using, which I may try to use this year. I also listed the events which are happening again this year, like Christmas parties, Santa visits and so forth, that I am yet to make pages for, and I jot down any ideas for layouts that spring from looking through this. Find my video on YouTube here.

I love revisiting the stories I told in previous years, as well as look for any new stories I'd like to tell this year. For example, last year I wanted to go to a wreath making workshop, so I most certainly booked one for this year and I'm so excited to include it in my album! I also love looking for new age appropriate Holiday activities for my toddler. This year I've found a Kids Holiday Cooking class, and a Christmas Messy Play activity, we also made some abstract art painted ornaments for his teachers and I'm so happy to be adding these new stories in to my album this year.

Here's my December Daily planner with a quick list of the stories I'd like to tell this year:

Once my stories are listed, and I do a stock take of the pages I've made, I begin to envision layouts for the additional stories. I look through my stash to see which things I love and I'm still holding on to. I pull these out and organise them on my desk. 

Sometimes it may be a colour scheme I haven't tried before - this year, I wanted to try creating some black, white and gold layouts - so I pulled these out!

Another thing I like to do is work through my mixed media pages early. You're welcome to check out my Instagram feed, but from the end of July, I began testing out and playing with some mixed media techniques to try this year for my album.

I enjoy compiling notes, photos, pins and saves that are really inspiring to me and choosing a few for my December Daily album. I will do a follow up blog post which focusses solely on the mixed media projects I have embarked on this year. 

So what's next, each week in November, I note which tasks I'd like to work on to bring me closer to my goal of completing foundation pages. 

This week, I'll be working on pages for the events that occur every year, like Christmas Parties, Santa's visits and so forth and I look forward to sharing them with you next week! 

Until then, happy December Daily Prepping! If you'd like to work along with me in preparing pages, feel free to DM me on Instagram- I'd love to connect with you!