Happy December - we made it through week one.
I've been working on my pages every day, keeping it simple and small. I don't have my album yet (ordered this one by Jamaica) so I'm just building up a pile of 4x5.5 pages ready to go. I'm making a two-page spread per day and numbering the pages this year. I didn't plan it that way but that's how it's ended up. They'll be adhered back-to-back then punched for rings to hold it all together.
I'm making my pages in Photoshop Elements and printing out at home (on my Epson Expression Photo), sometimes adding letter stickers or minimal embellishments. My spreads are generally a full page photo on one side (on glossy photo paper) and a journal card with some text on the other (printed on matte paper). I love hunting for the perfect card from my digital stash to go with my photo of the day - I haven't bought anything new yet.
I'm sticking with one font for my journaling - Oceanside. I like the continuity in my book and it's one less decision to make. These pages don't take long to put together so it's easy to keep up and I look forward to sitting at my desk and working on it each day. I don't like working on this outside of December so I'm motivated to keep up.
Here's a look so far (apologies for the inconsistent lighting on the photos - it depends what time of day I take them). I've noted all products used but won't provide links as a lot of them are older and might not be available anymore.
This is my title page - just a simple journal card with some text. The card is from the Paislee Press December Daily Minikit from 2019.
My opening page is just a way for me to clear my head and get into December mode after being sick with Covid. I always like to just set a mood and intentions for myself for the season. The leaf card is also from the 2019 Paislee Press minikit.
I had planned to decorate the tree for Day 01 but just wasn't in the mood, so I documented a regular Thursday working from home. The card is from Push Print Studio (love their cards) and I just journaled on it - I also used some gold letter stickers on the photo.
Happy to have the tree done for Day 02 and thankful Eli was enthusiastic about it (someone has to be!). The digital stamp on the photo is from the Paislee Press December You Are My Fave No 8. The red journal card is from last year's In A Creative Bubble December Daily kit.
Day 03 is a food photo. I love including those in my album. Potato latkes for dinner with all the toppings. (Recipe from the What's Gaby Cooking website). The card is an older one from the One Little Bird Hangry kit.
Day 04 is a date-night selfie (my belated birthday dinner). The Me and You stamp is altered from Kerri Bradford Studio and I made the card with a 6x8 paper from one of the 2015 December Daily paper sets.
Zara and I binge-watched (and LOOOOVED) Wednesday on Netflix so of course she was going into my album for Day 05. I looked around my stash for a TV themed card but found the perfect one in an old Paislee Press set. I handwrote on the photo via Procreate on my iPad (some lyrics).
A city photo for Day 06. Zara came into the office with me for a couple of days. She does not do photos so a shot of this cool decoration on the side of Dior (my building is next door) would have to do. I used one of Ali's December Daily overlays (this set was 2017) over the photo for the date. The paper on the left is a 6x8 sized down from Paislee Press' December Your Are My Fave No. 6. The 'City Sidewalks' is a piece of chipboard from the 2017 Paislee Press December Daily Minikit.
Last one for this week - Day 07 - is about Eli getting out his old Ikea train set after being bored Wednesday evening. This made me feel a bit emotional because he's 13 now, but I have fond memories of him (and Brett) playing with this for hours as a little kid. Time strikes again. The 'Sparks Joy' black sticker is from the 2019 Paislee Press December Daily Minikit. I made the journal card with a 6x8 paper from last year's Paislee Press December Daily minikit (recoloured from pink to blue to match Eli's shirt). The number 07 is from last year's December Daily Variety Number Set. I like the pops of black on the light backgrounds.
So that's week one. It's looking very similar to my album last year and that is fine by me. I'm having fun with this little album and highly recommend going small if you are overwhelmed or feel like you won't have tonnes of photos everyday. I'm also enjoying the process of printing from home and seeing my finished pages after exclusively making photobooks this year.
I was excited to join one of the Crafty Ass Female podcast December Daily Roundtable discussions this week - you can find the epsiode (199) here.
I also have some new Christmas/December items in the shannanpages shop: template sets at various sizes and a journal card set that co-ordinates with one I made last year.
Thanks for being here! S
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