December Daily 2015

I finished my December Daily 2015!

I worked on it in spurts, not daily, but there's no right or wrong way to make 'em, so it's all good!

I tried something a little bit different this year and created my memories in a Heidi Swapp MemoryDex. Originally it was in a MemoryDex spinner, but I switched to the box so I could see all the pages all at once and flip through them easier with both hands. But I love the spinner too so I'll use it for a different project.

The making of the foundation cards can be found in the A Heartfelt Christmas class taught by me and Wilna Furstenberg this past holiday season. I also shared a clip on my YouTube channel flipping through the spinner:

Days 1-4:

You'll notice that there are quite a few cards and journaling for only 4 days! That's because after the first day I jumped back in time and talked about the first snow and decorating our home for Christmas - those things happened back in November, so while not technically part of our "December Daily", I feel like they are the official start of the holiday season and definitely deserve to be documented! After narrowing down and selecting the photos I wanted to include in my album, I cropped them all square and created collages in Picasa - I made all the photos 2" square and even 1" square so I could pick and choose the size I needed based on the card the picture/s would go on. Some pictures that I really wanted to highlight I printed at 4x4", punched the MemoryDex holes into the bottom, and tucked them right into the album. When it was time to add journaling I printed what I wanted to say onto vellum and made them their own inserts or printed smaller captions onto grid paper and trimmed it to fit the cards. Such a whimsical and fun process!

Days 5-7:

Again, lots of cards for not many days! This time the reason is December 5th was a HUGE day with LOTS going on: not one but TWO Christmas markets, visiting Santa, AND our annual family photo shoot! Such a fun day and every bit needed to be told :)

Photo pockets:

If you look closely at the image of "Days 5-7" and find the cards with "Weiden Christmas Market" and "Grafenwöhr Christmas Market" on them, you'll notice that they're pockets that hold lots of photos! How could I ever narrow down the pictures I wanted to include from both Christmas markets we went to on December 5th and still have room for the rest of my December Daily?! Those pictures alone could have filled up an entire MemoryDex! I was in a major pickle. I was so happy when I thought of sewing paper onto cards to make pockets so I could include all the photos I wanted! Hooray! I made a couple more photo pockets later in the month to hold my favorite pictures from the Eschenbach Christmas Market and all the pics from our Christmas jammies photoshoot.

Days 8-18:

I originally made a lot of "filler" cards, or cards that had big elements on them meant to go in-between days. But it turned out I needed more cards than I planned, so often times I took off the large embellishments and replaced them with photos. I used all 85 cards that I cut!

Days 19-25:

All finished!

These December Daily albums are some of my favorite to look through. Every year has so many similarities with traditions and activities that only come with the holiday season, but every year is also very different because of where we are living, the kids getting older, and other special instances that make every year of documenting a fun and new experience.

Thank you to Ali Edwards for dreaming up the December Daily!

I already can't wait to create next year's album! I think I'll go back to a traditional mini album base, but it was SO FUN to create this MemoryDex album!