2014 december pages ~ day 1

today a look inside my December pages...

it's traditional that i start with our family photo from the year. not sure how long ago this began, but it's just always the cover page. it tickles me to open these albums up every year to come upon previous year's photos and see the changes in these guys. sheesh!

the title page starts on clear paper by Bazzill. one of my favorite mediums to work with inside a mini album.

as i started to think about this year's album, i came up with a bit of a game plan.
here is my approach to this year book:

• i use a basic sketch of page layouts and then repeat those over and over. this year goes something like
• a clear page
• a clear tab page ~ the Merry&Bright album comes with 4 clear tab pages.
• a fabric page ~ also already part of the M&B album
• a half page ~ i usually create a 4-inch wide page and make it a pocket
• then 2 full pages...this is not set in stone, but it gives me a base from which to start. i really need that.
• going to highlight family traditions as opposed to highlighting each and every single days doing. as my kids get older, i am seeing such strong trends in our traditions and what is important to them. i really want to write and record these like right now.
• a more defined emphasis on journaling. i stated that in my nov24 post.

something else i keep doing in my December album is have layers of pages showing. it gives great interest to the book and allows the story to peek through to the front. face it, i'm just a layer honk.

Merry&Bright has some beautiful prints. there is so much to love in this collection. i cut this from the  Tis the Season pattern. sort of made it a 3x4 kind of card. lots of phrases on that paper perfect for cutting out.

and again as always, our church's handout finds home in my album. my notes are on the back. the first week of Advent service was so amazing! i will come right back to that memory when i look through here next year. truly a favorite of mine.

i printed out the Day1 freebie from Pink Paislee's #PPC2C...but the red would not print correctly for me from my printer. so I covered it up and still used it as a divider for our actual day 1 activity.

the real Day1 spread.
with lots and lots of journaling.
real life journaling that is. because while this was a very very fun night with ALL of my family heading to the tree farm, as the night waned on, it went south. so. what did i do? i wrote about it! not in a mean way. but in an honest candor. i think sometimes bloggers can make it all look like sunshine and roses. but that is just not the truth of everyday life. the story ended well. it was an example of honesty and forgiveness. now if only they all could end that way.

 forever in my heart.

thank you for reading.