*Edited in*
This
blog is 'asleep' until the 1st of November this year
when it will 'wake up' again for the start, motivation and preparation of our 2014 December Daily journeys!
Bookmark us/become a follower...... and be sure to join the December Daily journey too!!
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Weeeeell, all said and done for another year of December 'Daily-ing' for
2013
Our Design Team shares their thoughts....
what they have.........
learned,
un-learned,
wise words,
not so wise words.....
what we will, wont, maybe, do again.... for 2014
What
a journey my 2013 December Daily became. I think I really managed to
do quite a few things I really loved to do in this one.... like fold-out
pages, the use of acetate with LOTS of see through pages, quite a few
sparkly things like sequins and glittery bits and loved the use of the
'doors' this BoBunny album afforded.
One thing I have
learnt is that I need complete change every time I attempt a December
Daily...and am really hankering to do a vintage book for my next one.
I'd love to do a 'blue' Christmas....BUT.... I've learnt that I
absolutely fail in keeping to set colours! I just forget to! Then
merrily (pun LOL) set off creating before I realise that I have one off
in a different colour direction!
Another thing I've
learned also as I watch friends and relatives leaf through this Dec
Daily... is that some things I've included are a bit fragile... like
this doily pocket or the flip-out being refolded back in.
Non-scrappy
people (especially children and teenagers) arent as gentle replacing
things in and out... and I've held my breath as pages/photos/flipouts
have been pulled, pushed, shoved, flipped and closed hard... all
unintentional by all means...but it does make me wonder how these
fragile bits will hold up over time... and 'maybe' I should put a little
sticker on some things saying 'Be gentle with me, I'm fragile'? It's
definite food for thought to make 2014 more hardier! Another lesson
learned!
But, having said all that, ...for me... its also about
the fun of creating it, and once the beginning of December is over (on
holidays from work).... luckily I do get time to plan, play and create
as well as preserve the memories.
Its been a total joy and will look foward 2014 with as much anticipation!
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and
December Daily Journey
This is my third December Daily and my favorite so far.
Being able to contain my lumpy and bumpiness in the box has made the end
result look more finished off than my pregnant brick from last year.
As for what I have learnt from this year.
- I totally am not good at sticking to a colour theme.
-
Although I enjoyed scrapping all of 'Hoots' adventures and antics, it
did take up more time to scrap two things for each day. So next year I
am going to rethink how I record what Hoot gets up to.
I've had fun and am already thinking of what to do for this year December Daily!
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This
being my 3rd December Daily, it is probably my favourite so far now
that it is completed............that is to LOOK at, not so much the
creating of it if that makes sense. I love how it has turned out but
think the pastels will be a "one off" as I really did miss creating with
the more "traditional" Christmas colours especially red although red is
not really a colour I scrap with a lot in everyday scrapping. There
are a couple of the things I did this year that I will probably do in my
next December Daily...........Handmade dated circles and some handmade
embellishments. I mainly did this to fit in with the pastels theme this
year but really enjoyed pre-making these in the lead up to Dec 1. Also
the inclusion of some plastic sleeves (divided pockets) throughout the
album. I think it has added some interest to my album.
So, my thoughts for my 2014 December Daily...................
*Maybe
try a different look other than the rings on the outside holding it all
together. This is what I have done for all 3 December Dailys.
*Also
my first 2 were portrait orientation and this one was landscape and I
think I prefer to work with the portrait orientation. The size was good
to work with.
*Definitely no pastels (well at least not for a few years).
*Start
collecting bits and pieces right now for my 2014 December Daily so that
I have a real mix of things as I think I prefer the "bit of this and
bit of that" rather than one particular line of papers or a particular
colour scheme.
*Totally loved
Mandy's use of acetate and her little peek-a-boo pages in her 2013
December Daily so will keep this in mind for my next one too.
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This
December Daily was my 5th and I loved it just as much as the excitement
and eagerness as the first AND this was my 1st December Daily in a
Project Life style. But with that, there have been 'what ifs' and do's
and don'ts that I have come across with this album as with all my other
albums.
With my life being so much busier than my
previous 4 albums, this Project Life style was sooooooo much simpler and
easier to keep on top of. I'll definitely be doing it again with an
even busier lifestyle this year.
But the changes I would make for my next album would be:
*
Pre make more title cards, decorated cards, shaker pockets, words etc. I
found this was the main thing that held me up, but with having some of
the cards, embellies etc already done, was a great help and very
efficient with being so busy.
* Not being so hard on
myself if I forgot about "Tinsel", our elf every night and not
remembering to take a photo. I was regularly taking pics at the start of
the month, but as it was getting closer to Christmas, I was struggling
to remember with all the things I had to do to get ready for Christmas
Day.
* My past albums I have loved the full page or
larger photos in my album. So my next album I want to include some full
page photos cut down into 4 pieces to fit inside the 4 pocket pages.
*
Sticking to a colour theme. - What made it easier was having ONLY my
"christmas" coloured embellies, cards, ribbons and paints in a bowl all
together. I'll definitely be doing that again.
*
Deciding on a "colour theme" early on was a great help. Having those
colours that I had chosen, readily accessible from the start made it so
much easier. I didn't have to think to hard and waste time thinking
about the colours when the focus was on the photos and the important
journaling and memories that I wanted to record before I forgot them.
*
Not worrying so much about what everyone else is doing and how AWESOME
everyone else's albums look. I did this for me and my children and they
LOVE it!! So thats all that matters. Once you start worrying about
everyone else's gorgeous albums, then time is being wasted stressing
about how you 'wish' yours was looking. I spent too much time doing that
and forgot to focus on why I was really doing it and it's main purpose.
Enjoy the process and the memories.
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And with these great last words...
Thanks so much for coming along on our 2013 journey with us here at 'Let's December Daily'.
We all had a different outlook, end result and purpose.
Its been both a joy and pleasure,
The
blog is now going to 'sleep' until the beginning of November this year
when it will 'wake up' again for our 2014 December Daily journeys!
In
the meantime, we are sure this site will be used as a wonderful
resource especially towards the end of the year along with your
contributions in Mr Linky (only open for your submissions till the end
of January 2014- so get in quick!) for everyone who visits to see....
Dont
forget to become a follower and put us in your bloglists so you know
when we will be back up and running .....November will return sooner
than we think!
It seems to be in a 'blink of an eye' these days!
You can find some more information with our members and visitors sharing
with Mr Linky below
