December Dailyn Questions

[jaylensmom]

Is anyone doing a December Daily album this year? If so, are you making your pages ahead of time or daily? I'm trying to figure out what would be easiest...considering I'm still working on last years album I'm leaning toward making the pages ahead of time. If you completed one in the past what made it easy for you

[carriesmom]

I did one last year and I'm hoping to do it again this year. It was hard but I used templates for all my pages ( a lot were the Cookies For Kids). i have all my Christmas items tagged in Picasa and I tried to scrap them along the way.

[Jengerbread88]

I feel like such a newb for asking this... but what is a December Daily album??

[ksbella]

I'm hoping to play along with it this year as well, I stocked up on Cindy's template so I'm going to probably use templates so that I can get them done each day!!

You can read about it here -- http://aliedwards.com/2009/12/decemb...mpilation.html

[MissKim]

I find December Daily so much easier to do if you have your foundation pages done. However, this is the one project that I actually do in paper, so maybe I shouldn't chime in here. The only digital thing I'll be using is photo overlays to put over the photos before printing.

I think the whole point of December Daily is to have the foundation done before the 1st of December, though. The holidays are so insane without having to scrap pages every day. If I were doing it digital, I'd get my foundation pages done so all I'd have to do is add a photo and journaling.

P.S. Just a plug for Shimelle Laine's Journal Your Christmas class. I did this last year (alongside December Daily). She sends out daily prompts and photo tips and it really helped me stay motivated. Once you pay for the class, you get the prompts for life. Very cool.

[Penny Springmann]

I'm doing my Countdown to Christmas collection again this year...this week actually...and it also works really well for December Daily people as well. This year it will include a set of 5x7" templates, titles, some other goodies, and a planning page so you may easily plot and plan each day to prepare for December. I plan on using it and one kit from the store (haven't decided which one yet) for my album.

[KyRainbow]

Oooh Penny....can't wait for that. I'm planning to do an album this year, but rather than doing the December Daily album, I'm going to do an Advent Album, documenting our advent activities, and this sounds PERFECT!

[ColleenSwerb]

That sounds great Penny!
I'll be doing my album mostly paper. I'm hoping to get some time in the next few weeks to get it set up ahead of time. I already pulled out book board pages from my stash for teh cover, so I have my size all set (8x10). I keep all my Christmas stuff together in my craft space, so it's easy to pull from. I agree that the best way to approach it, even if you're doing it digitally, is to set it up ahead of time. Pick 1 or 2 kits to use, and then create pages with photo and journaling spots that you can just drag and drop, and then write in your journaling. Much less pressure.

[MamaBee]

Well... given my experience last year and that I actually only scrapped 2 pages... I really should get the foundation down. My downfall last year was that I tried to do too much... I always struggle narrowing down what kit to use and then if I do a true daily it's competing with P365... so I might do a double spread... but I just haven't figured it all out yet... should get cracking...

[ColleenSwerb]

Rebecca, don't make it harder on yourself. Combine DD with P365! They'll be in different albums, and no one will know the difference.

[scrap2day]

Originally Posted by jaylensmom

Is anyone doing a December Daily album this year? If so, are you making your pages ahead of time or daily? I'm trying to figure out what would be easiest...considering I'm still working on last years album I'm leaning toward making the pages ahead of time. If you completed one in the past what made it easy for you

It's so good to hear that I'm not the only one still working on last year's album.

I think I would like to do another December Daily album this year. If I do I plan on making my pages ahead of time. Still not sure since I'm also trying to do P365 (which, of course, I'm behind on too. LOL).

[mpatry]

This is my first year doing a Daily December Album. I'm thinking of doing it mostly paper though. I've got an 8x8 chipboard binder album that i'll use with some added pages.

I'm in the planning stages right now and am trying to pre plan some of the pages while making them still versatile... having trouble with that... lol.

But I'll try to add some things in from digi, like tags, 4x6 and 5x7 photo collages that i can print and add to my pages, titles, and maybe some journaling blocks too.

Can't wait to see your stuff Penny! It might be just what I need to keep me going all through December. I have trouble finishing things... lol.

[marnel]

I honestly have never done this and I think I get the fact that your documenting what you do in the 25 days leading up to Xmas kinda like the 365 is that right?

[Megan Turnidge]

I'm going to do one this year... but I'm going digi this time. I tried hybrid last year and never even got close to finishing it!

[carriesmom]

Originally Posted by marnel

I honestly have never done this and I think I get the fact that your documenting what you do in the 25 days leading up to Xmas kinda like the 365 is that right?

Exactly. Alot of people plan things for certain days and then scrap about it.

[ColleenSwerb]

Originally Posted by marnel

I honestly have never done this and I think I get the fact that your documenting what you do in the 25 days leading up to Xmas kinda like the 365 is that right?

Yup! It's like P365, but just for December. It's a fun way to document the holiday season. Someone linked up to Ali Edwards who "started" the project. I've wanted to do one for FOREVER. Last year I started it and then was sick for 2 weeks and never got anywhere with it.

I joined Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" 2 years ago as well, and that can be SUPER helpful (again, I think someone linked up to it earlier in the thread). Ali's method is more organic (she has her album completed already, and then journals and tells the story as the month goes, and is totally ok with scrapping about something non-holiday in the album), so if you're a person that needs a guideline for each day, Shimelle's class can be awesome. She sends out a prompt for each day. I tend to not follow the prompts exactly, making them fit my needs. For example she always has a prompt about the weather, but it might come on the day that we go out and pick our tree. So I "save" that prompt for another day when I might not necessarily have something going on. I like to mix and match my project like that.

[Nettio]

Eeee, I'm so excited for this! It's one of my favorite scrapbook projects, despite the fact that I've yet to totally finish one, haha. My biggest obstacle has always been that we travel a lot at the holidays which makes it near impossible to keep up. But this year Adam and I are staying here for both Thanksgiving & Christmas which I'm really excited about since it might mean I'm actually able to do this this year.

I actually have my foundation pages put together but only because I put together a book for last year and then decided that with all the travel (I left the 6th of December), it simply wasn't going to happen. But that means I'm already a step ahead for this year so woohoo. My book is hybrid this year but even if you're planning to do a digital album, I'd really recommend putting together some foundation pages and paring down the supplies you'll use ahead of time. It really will make it easier.

[Nettio]

Originally Posted by ColleenSwerb

Yup! It's like P365, but just for December. It's a fun way to document the holiday season. Someone linked up to Ali Edwards who "started" the project. I've wanted to do one for FOREVER. Last year I started it and then was sick for 2 weeks and never got anywhere with it.

I joined Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" 2 years ago as well, and that can be SUPER helpful (again, I think someone linked up to it earlier in the thread). Ali's method is more organic (she has her album completed already, and then journals and tells the story as the month goes, and is totally ok with scrapping about something non-holiday in the album), so if you're a person that needs a guideline for each day, Shimelle's class can be awesome. She sends out a prompt for each day. I tend to not follow the prompts exactly, making them fit my needs. For example she always has a prompt about the weather, but it might come on the day that we go out and pick our tree. So I "save" that prompt for another day when I might not necessarily have something going on. I like to mix and match my project like that.

This is me too. I use Shimelle's prompts some days and just do daily documentation other days. That's one of the cool things about this project - it can be really go with the flow and just feature whatever you feel like documenting that day. My books tend to be a mix of daily events and stories about family traditions, etc which I really love.

One big difference between Ali and Shimelle's methods is that Ali does her book only for Dec 1-25 while Shimelle does hers to include the 12 Days of Christmas so her's goes for 37 days total. I've found that once Christmas passes, I'm done so I don't plan to continue after the 25th, but I am thinking about possibly starting Nov 26 instead since that's when we tend to do our tree and lights and stuff. In the past it felt weird to me to not document those days too.

[ColleenSwerb]

Yes, excellent point Lynnette. I like to start Nov 26th too. It's only a few days extra, but that to me is the start of the Christmas season. We'll be going to a PSU game on the 27th, and I want to include that.

[Nettio]

Exactly. Plus it gives me an excuse to create a few new foundation pages this year.

[ColleenSwerb]

I really need to finish up some of my projects and get my desk cleared off so I can start on this. I promised myself I wouldn't start my DD album until I finished off the other stuff, but I'm ITCHING to get started!

[julifish]

Originally Posted by ColleenSwerb

I really need to finish up some of my projects and get my desk cleared off so I can start on this. I promised myself I wouldn't start my DD album until I finished off the other stuff, but I'm ITCHING to get started!

C
Colleen.
If you are itching to start your book then I would encourage you to just do it now while you have the enthusiasm. It's all too often I wait to the "right" time to start things and then that time comes and I feel blah about the project. Go forth and create!

Thanks everyone for their ideas. I tried to do DD last year but it seemed like we only did holiday things on the weekend so I was at a loss as to what to documennt but now I have a bette plan and a cute little binder to use as my album.

[heathergw]

I'm going to do it this year. I failed at it last year even though I had my foundation pages done in advance... I got one page done, lol.

I think I'm going to do hybrid this year and am totally excited about it... I just need to finish up the 2 projects I'm working on now that need to be done before the end of this week

[jaylensmom]

If you are doing it digi and using templates how do you determine which templates to use and do you use different kits...Last year I didn't do mine ahead of time because I wanted to use templates (I used Cindy's) and different kits and I just didn't know how to incorporate that ahead of time...

[carriesmom]

Originally Posted by jaylensmom

If you are doing it digi and using templates how do you determine which templates to use and do you use different kits...Last year I didn't do mine ahead of time because I wanted to use templates (I used Cindy's) and different kits and I just didn't know how to incorporate that ahead of time...

I have all my templates organized by number of photo places and if they are two pagers or not. I download my pics everyday from my camera to see which pictures I want to use, then find a template I like. I used all sorts of kits but I'm a mish mash kind of girl. I just type in Christmas which brings up all my christmas kit and then pick which one I want for that page. It's an imperfect system but it works for me. I don't do anything ahead of time. except my cover which I set up like a quickpage if I'm including photos.

[nonnie]

I have decided to do this too! I am going to make my album a "holiday" album starting on Thanksgiving and going to the 25th December. I am hoping it will keep me motivated this holiday season! Thanks for the link ups!

[ColleenSwerb]

That's a very good point Juli! Hmmm...I might just get this started tonight then

Rachelle, I would encourage you to think about how you scrap. Do you tend to create 1 photo pages? Or 2 or 3 photo pages? Do you have templates in your stash that you love but just haven't gotten around to using?

If I were doing it digital, I would go through my stash and pull out 30 of the templates that excite me the most. I know I would probably want to scrap a whole bunch of photos from Christmas day, so I would pick out a 2-pager for that one and scrap it ahead of time with my favorite christmas kit. I would create a "December Daily" folder on my desktop and dump everything I wanted to use in there, to sort of limit the choices for myself. I tend to get overwhelmed when I consider my entire stash, so that would work well for me. Personally, I would try and pre-scrap as many of those templates as I could so that I could just drop in photos and add a date label.

[nonnie]

Originally Posted by ColleenSwerb

I joined Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" 2 years ago as well, and that can be SUPER helpful (again, I think someone linked up to it earlier in the thread). so if you're a person that needs a guideline for each day, Shimelle's class can be awesome. She sends out a prompt for each day. I tend to not follow the prompts exactly, making them fit my needs. For example she always has a prompt about the weather, but it might come on the day that we go out and pick our tree. So I "save" that prompt for another day when I might not necessarily have something going on. I like to mix and match my project like that.

Hmm - I went to her site and she wants 35.00 to send you a prompt every day - Is it really worth it? Seems a little pricey for a prompt -

[ColleenSwerb]

I joined a few years ago, so it was cheaper then. BUT, once you join, you're in it for life and never have to pay again. Last year she also included a ton of photography tips, which were pretty worthwhile.

[MissKim]

Hmm - I went to her site and she wants 35.00 to send you a prompt every day - Is it really worth it? Seems a little pricey for a prompt -

Well, I think it's worth it for the lifetime access. She does give out a digital kit and templates (but I wasn't that impressed last year). I really like the community aspect. She has message board where people share their pages, etc. That's my favorite part. The prompts also include photo tips, which are nice.

[Nettio]

Yeah, I joined in 2006 so I think it was only maybe $25 at the most then. But I will say that they aren't really just prompts - they're like multi-page PDFs with examples and photo tips and other things. Plus I believe this year she said there would be a huge digi-kit involved too.

Ok I went and looked and this is from her blog post about it:

In addition to ideas for writing topics and styles and notes on photos not to miss, the 37 prompts include more than 300 scrapbook pages to inspire your crafting creativity.

Every year, I change it up a little to make sure there is something new for those of you who keep coming back. This year, those goodies include:
…By request, the return of the photography focus. 37 talented photographers share their tips and examples for taking your best photos throughout the holiday season.
…A brand new digital kit, including 50 papers, 5 full alphabets, 20 square and 20 rectangular page templates, 20 square and 20 rectangular quick pages and more than 100 embellishments. We’re talking crazy amounts of stuff, and this will be available for you to download on the 15th of November, two weeks before the start of class. If you’re a paper scrapbooker, much of this kit is suitable for printing out and adding to your book.
…A selection of step-by-step crafting tutorials for Christmas projects and journal embellishments.
…An online chat party to get things started at the beginning of December.
…Bonus workbook for bloggers with special holiday blogging tips and resources.

For those who are joining us again, the class outline remains the same but the prompts are refreshed with new examples and additional content, including tips for how to revisit a prompt you have written about in a previous year.

Like all online scrapbooking classes at shimelle.com, Journal your Christmas includes
…permanent access to all class materials
…private forum for discussion and sharing your work
…prompts delivered straight to your inbox
…ongoing membership — pay just once and participate as many years as you would like at no additional cost.

So yeah $35 might seem like a lot when you consider how cheap most digi-prices are but that's only like $1 a day and you get a lot of other stuff too. And no, I have no affiliation to Shimelle, I'm just a fan.

ETA: I do want to say that there is NO reason you can't do a December Daily type album without taking her class. This is just one option if you think you might want some more ideas/support for getting your album done.

[MandaT]

I'm starting to think a seperate Holiday Album spanning from Thanksgiving thru Christmas sounds like a fabulous idea.

Maybe an 8x10 book?!

Thanks for the inspirations.

[jewelz729]

I did this last year and loved it! I created all of my pages in advance, but I purposely chose a size that was different from what I usually scrap (I scrap 8x8, but did my DecDaily album 5x7). It's amazing how much more creative I was just by switching size!

I kept my pages pretty simple when I started - mostly using different configurations of blocks. That made it pretty easy to change if I found I needed 4 photos instead of 3 for a particular day. Each day, I probably only spent about 15-20 minutes dropping in photos and a bit of journaling.

I also sort of pre-planned out my album. I looked at the calendar and noted all of the activities we had scheduled for the month. I knew those days were automatically going to have photos. For the rest of the days, I made a list of random "fillers" and used those as I needed them (things like my favorite Christmas song, pictures of my holiday decorations, random Christmas memories from my childhood).

If it helps, here's a link to my empty pages from last year: December Daily Album
I realize now that I never went back and uploaded the finished pages, so I'll have to make a point to do that.

[jaylensmom]

Originally Posted by ColleenSwerb

That's a very good point Juli! Hmmm...I might just get this started tonight then

Rachelle, I would encourage you to think about how you scrap. Do you tend to create 1 photo pages? Or 2 or 3 photo pages? Do you have templates in your stash that you love but just haven't gotten around to using?

If I were doing it digital, I would go through my stash and pull out 30 of the templates that excite me the most. I know I would probably want to scrap a whole bunch of photos from Christmas day, so I would pick out a 2-pager for that one and scrap it ahead of time with my favorite christmas kit. I would create a "December Daily" folder on my desktop and dump everything I wanted to use in there, to sort of limit the choices for myself. I tend to get overwhelmed when I consider my entire stash, so that would work well for me. Personally, I would try and pre-scrap as many of those templates as I could so that I could just drop in photos and add a date label.

Thanks Colleen...I think I'm going to start off by choosing my templates that I want to use

[jaylensmom]

Originally Posted by jewelz729

I did this last year and loved it! I created all of my pages in advance, but I purposely chose a size that was different from what I usually scrap (I scrap 8x8, but did my DecDaily album 5x7). It's amazing how much more creative I was just by switching size!

I kept my pages pretty simple when I started - mostly using different configurations of blocks. That made it pretty easy to change if I found I needed 4 photos instead of 3 for a particular day. Each day, I probably only spent about 15-20 minutes dropping in photos and a bit of journaling.

I also sort of pre-planned out my album. I looked at the calendar and noted all of the activities we had scheduled for the month. I knew those days were automatically going to have photos. For the rest of the days, I made a list of random "fillers" and used those as I needed them (things like my favorite Christmas song, pictures of my holiday decorations, random Christmas memories from my childhood).

If it helps, here's a link to my empty pages from last year: December Daily Album
I realize now that I never went back and uploaded the finished pages, so I'll have to make a point to do that.

Thanks for posting your album...I never thought of scrapping in a different size...I also like the ideas of "filler" pages...

[heathergw]

got a peek at what Penny has for this weekend and you guys are going to love them... just sayin'