Happy December - we are underway! I'm enjoying the 3x8 size so far. I just have to remember that I need tall + narrow photos if I'm doing a full-page.
I never plan out my project or make foundation pages beyond choosing a size and buying a few digital kits. I find that once I make my first day's spread, it sets the tone for my project and I feel much better about where I'm headed. (I have a post with the digital products I'm planning to use here).
The first of December is the first day of Summer in Australia so I used a photo of the kids in the pool as my main page (with one of Ali Edwards 3x8 overlays) then a page of journaling about our very normal Saturday using some Paislee Press word art from last year's element set. I had planned for Day One to be a page about decorating but it was just too hot and none of us could be bothered.
On Sunday we did decorate, so I used a photograph of some new ornaments we were gifted as my main page, with a small photo of the living room in a Paislee Press template on the other side (from the December You Are My Fave No 7 3x8 Album Kit). I only did some short, basic journaling and that was it. Our living room and tree look the same every year and appear in so many of my December Daily albums so I was OK focusing on the ornaments and just using a peek of our room. I'm sure there will be another day where a larger, fuller picture of our tree will appear.
Worth noting that my ornament photo is not date-specific and could have fit in my album on any day. I love those kinds of photos/stories. I also took the photo a few days ago, not Sunday, and that's OK too. There is no shame is having a store of photos that you can go back to on a day when there isn't much happening - it's like your own Stock Photo library.
I also added an intentions page to the front of my album using one of Ali's 3x8 journaling cards. I always like to give myself a pep-talk at the start of December and set some intentions and a mood that I can look back on when I'm feeling overwhelmed.
Looking back through my old December Daily albums, I noticed that I have a few different tried and true methods of storytelling/journaling for this project and mix them all up throughout:
a single, contained story (eg the tradition of being the one to make the Christmas pudding every year, which recipe, steaming it all day)
a simple rundown of our day (we went here, did this, ate this)
introspective - writing out my feelings (feeling overwhelmed because... feeling happy because...feeling tired because...)
reflective (eg a note to Zara and Eli about how they are embracing the season, how their school year was, highlights etc)
just the facts, short and sweet (We finally put the tree up today. The End.)
I'm also sharing two quick videos from my Day Two process - the first using the overlays, the second using the template. These are just a quick look at how I put my pages together. I'm planning to make a longer, more detailed video and post about layered templates but these little evening snippets are the best I can do on a week night when my house is full (and loud).
Thanks for being here - as always, email me any questions.