Just to say...

December Daily/JYC Day 5

Sooooo....after worrying that I would be marooned in Scotland by the imminent adverse weather, I made it back to London without any problems at all.  And then today, it snowed.  Big time.  London had about 3 inches, which might not sound much...but trust me, that's a lot of snow for London.  It meant that we left work early this afternoon, so I had a welcome couple of hours this evening to work on my December Daily (although the 'daily' part is probably a bit redundant now.  Oh well).  

For day 5, I wrote about how - for me at least - the annual Coca-Cola Christmas commercial marks the start of the Christmas countdown (using Shimelle's prompt as a starting point). 

Here's a close-up of the envelope on the left:

I'm excited about how this album is coming together - I think I'm finally starting to find my groove.  And hopefully I'll be able to catch up over Christmas itself...is it really only a week away?!  I'm slowly chipping away at my to-do list, but I honestly can't wait to have a few days to 'pause' and enjoy the festivities as they  reach a crescendo next weekend.  How are your Christmas preparations coming along? 

Happy Sunday!

Off on an adventure

 I'm currently sitting on a train, hurtling towards Edinburgh.  Loving the pearlescent skies and snow-covered English countryside.  Also loving the opportunity to wind down after another hectic week...right now I'm sipping a cup of tea and watching Pride & Prejudice (the original BBC version).  As a side note, I have a bit of a crush on Mr Darcy.

I'm spending the next few days in Scotland and I can't wait.  I should still be able to check in from time to time, so expect an update soon :)  And here's hoping I can get back down to London - with another dip in the temperatures predicted for next week, I have a feeling that Edinburgh will get more than its fair share of snow and ice for the second time this month.  

*And yes, after professing my undying love for the Hipstamatic app just a few days ago, I am celebrating a new love affair with Infinicam.  Sharyn, I place the blame squarely at your feet :)

Have a fantastic weekend everyone...and thank you so much for your wonderful comments on my last post.  I know I've said it before, but you guys rock. 

December Daily/ JYC Days 3 & 4

Before I started putting my foundation pages together last month, I spent a few happy hours researching Christmas albums from years past.  Needless to say, I came across some fantastic and equally inspiring albums, but the ones that stayed with me the most were those that incorporated photos + journaling + memorabilia (like Molly Irwin's beautiful December Daily from last year).  This year, I decided that I would try to use this formula to tell a more rounded and more complete story of Christmas 2010.  And, since I've shared scans of my first two pages with you, I thought that I would do a post about the 'bits in between,' which will hopefully give a more complete picture of where I'm going with my album.... 

Day 2:

 

You've already seen the page on the left, but I also included some photos that I took on my iPod Touch (Hipstamatic and IncrediBooth apps) in the snow.  The 'Baby it's cold outside' stamp is from the AC Dear Lizzy Christmas collection - love it!       

Day 3:

And the before:

 Day 3 is about the Spirit of Christmas Fair at Olympia (back in November).  I collected a lot of business cards that day, so I put a few of my favourites inside the envelope.  Attached to the back is my journaling and a metal 'season's greetings' tag, which I purchased from one of the stalls.  I also included the Spirit of Christmas pamphlet...I've got a lot of bits and pieces like this to go inside my album (I'm just hoping I'll have enough space).  I included just one photo of the fair itself, but I might put a couple more inside a divided page protector if I have the room. 

Day 4:

Images from Victoria magazine.

And the before:

 Day 4 followed Shimelle's prompt about 'perfection' (click on the image to read the journaling).  The twill ribbon is from a local art shop.  If you look closely at the last image on the left (taken from a magazine), the name on the table setting is Genevieve :)  I thought that the list on the right (a hand drawn brush by Ali Edwards) would finish off this page nicely...it pretty much epitomises everything 'perfect' about this time of year.   

And that's my album so far.  There have been a couple of hiccups along the way and the 'daily' dimension lasted for all of 24 hours, but that was to be expected!  Otherwise I'm happy with how it's coming along.  I have a feeling it's going to be a slow process, but this fabulous post by Sian reminded me why it's so important to persevere.  How's your album coming along?  

December Daily/JYC Day 2

Webster's Pages and American Crafts papers, Bazzill cardstock, Fiskars punch, number tag from every jot and little

On Thursday morning I peered groggily through the gap in my curtains....and there before me was a winter wonderland.   I spent most of the morning snapping pictures before my parents and I risked a walk to the station to investigate the train situation (I had a presentation in London on Friday that I couldn't miss).  As we plodded down the lane towards the centre of town, we were overtaken by a small group of kids chattering away whilst hauling their sledges along behind them.  For me, that almost timeless moment pretty much epitomised everything that I love about this time of year...and just for a minute, I wished that I was 8 again.    

I wanted my page for day 2 to capture that sense of nostalgia, so I used what turned out to be the perfect piece of scrap paper from the Dear Lizzy Christmas collection alongside my photo of the retreating backs of the kiddos and their sledges (edited with the Pioneer Woman's PSE actions - it looks a lot more sepia in real life!).  It also helped to tone down the busy pattern on the foundation page, which I felt detracted a little from the photo.  Also for that reason, I decided to let my journaling stand alone on the adjacent page:

I also included a divided page protector to accompany this prompt.  I'm going to do a bulk order of 4x6 prints from Photobox once Christmas is over...but in the meantime, here are two of the pictures from Thursday that I will include:

And on the other side (from Friday):

Even London had to get to grips with snow and ice!  I took a detour through Trafalgar Square on the way to my seminar on Friday afternoon and snapped these photos on my phone.  It was freezing....

And here's a look at the original:

Thank you so much for looking!  I'll be back soon with day 3.  And I hope you're having a fabulous weekend...perhaps you've been working on your December Daily too? 

December Daily/JYC Day 1

Echo Park and October Afternoon papers, Bazzill cardstock, October Afternoon cardstock stickers,  

number tag from every jot and little, Ali Edwards 25 Days of December Overlay.

Happy December everyone!  Can you believe it's only 24 days until Christmas?!!!  I know the next few weeks are going to fly by, so last night I thought that I'd make a head start on the prompts for Journal your Christmas.  In fact, that's what I love about doing JYC in conjunction with a December Daily album...you can mix things up, do the prompts out of order if you want/need to (especially if you're having your photos printed in one bulk order)...and you have something to inspire you on those December days when you've tried to catch up on laundry.  Perfect.
 

A couple of quick words on my system: I'm doing an internship, a part-time job and a Masters at the moment...so I know that I won't be able to stay ahead of the prompts for long.  On some days I will post multiple pages...but there will likely be long gaps in between.  But that's ok, because as I keep reminding myself, live first and document second.  A combination of the big freeze, winter weather and a basement flat mean that daylight is scarce in my neck of the woods, so I won't photograph the actual album in its entirety until it's pretty much finished (or at least half way through).  I think I'll try and post a picture of the foundation page as well, because a little 'before and after' action is always fun: 

And last but not least, thank you for your wonderful comments and  words of encouragement - they never fail to make my day :)