I love my Daily December album! It has a prominent home on our coffee table so I can thumb through it and relive last Christmas. Ian loves to see what he did and ask if we can do it "today." If he had his way we would have decorated and bought a tree about three months ago!
This year I'm going to document December again, but I'm starting on Thanksgiving. My Thanksgiving photos always get lost in the shuffle of holiday preparation so it seemed like a good place to begin. Plus this year we are celebrating the turkey day with Shea's family and Christmas with mine. Now we'll have photos of both included!
A few things I learned last year that I hope to remind myself of this year.
- Make time to document. I tried to make time each evening to look through photos, document funny things that happened or sweet things Ian said. Having a lot of photos helps to jog the memory.
- Keep to a simple format and stay with it. I'm going to use Ali's December Daily Templates 2 and use the same papers and embellishments I used last year creating a continuation of last year's book. I'll mix in a few of the Original December Daily Templates ! I just love those!
- If you miss a day don't freak out. I missed a couple of days last year both photos and words. I just skipped those days in my book. The sky did not fall. There is no gaping hole in the book. It still makes me smile.
- Use the camera you have! Last year I found myself with Ian at the mall experiencing one of my favorite days of the year. I did NOT have my camera, which is a rare occurrence! I snapped photos of him anyway and created one of my favorite pages of the entire book.
- Enjoy the moments. I believe we experienced more as a family because of the project. I really wanted great photos, great locations, and to see everyone smiling! That meant venturing out on cold nights (ok, California cold, but we are in Northern California so it is a bit cold!)
Did you do Daily December last year? Link us up to your book or your favorite page from your book so we can be inspired!
Here is my favorite page from last year! The story still makes me smile :) Happy Thanksigiving! And yep, bring on December!
Here is my favorite page from last year! The story still makes me smile :) Happy Thanksigiving! And yep, bring on December!
3 comments:
Your book is such a treasure. The stories have become familiar to me now - I remember them from last year. Your favorite page in particular. That little Ian - he has so many memorable moments in his childhood that would have been forgotten if it wasn't for his mom!
I love your tips - all such practical advice. I agree about using the camera you have too. And also, if you don't get the book done in a timely manner (a la moi), jot a few notes so you remember specifics about the day.
Here's a link to my favorite page: http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/ideas/showphoto.php?photo=113063&ppuser=167
Thankfully, I had blogged a story on that date, so even though the day was long gone, and I would have forgotten anything special about the photo, my blog (and an idea from Cathy's template) saved me. :)
What a great idea to get started! I certainly hope you are planning to share your pages! Here are two links on mine from last year. (Yikes! It's paper!)
http://amylejeune.typepad.com/benefits_loaded_daily/2008/12/december-daily.html
http://amylejeune.typepad.com/benefits_loaded_daily/2008/12/december-daily-part-2.html
Katrina, I absolutely love your book. I'm doing it this year, except I'm just making a "Christmas book", not particularly documenting this year, but documenting lots of Christmasses, our traditions, etc. I've started, who knows, it might take me till next Christmas to finish, LOL. But you were one of the main instigators that made me want to do it. I love following your drive and determination in creating this fabulous history for Ian, and of course yourselves.
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