First of all: yes I think I'd better do a journal this year too. If I have done it for a few years in a row I really can't stop now can I? :)
Spread through this post are a few images from last year's journal. This was what it looked like before I started adding things to it and this really worked for me.
Ali Edwards, Shimelle... or something else? I'm kinda going with my own version. I have done Shimelle's "Journal Your Christmas" in the past and will therefore get the prompts for free every year. Some days I will follow them, others not. Also her class goes onto the 6th of January. I find that I don't particularly need those last January days in my journal so I make my own adaptation. Then we have Ali Edwards and her "December Daily" album. This really appeals to me and I love what she does with her album but she ends on December 25th. Again this doesn't feel good to me as I really want New Year's Eve in my album. So last year I made my own version by going from Dec 1st to Dec 31st and that really worked for me. I got to feature the days I wanted without doing "days just for the sake of it". So I'm pretty sure I will got with my own 1st-31st format again. Also for each year I'm learning more and more to go with the flow, do what I want and stop worrying about what you "should" do. :)
Michelle asked me: when did I do the journaling/add photos and make the journal? The journaling and adding the photos I do on the day in question. So on the 1st of December I use a photo(s) from that day and journal about that day. On the 2nd of Dec I do that page and so on. As for making the journal. Before last year, I would make each page on the day of doing the journaling. Last year I took a different approach and made the journal (put together all the inside pages) before I started. This worked really well for me and I hope to do something similar again this year.You can see some parts of making my journal from last year here:
Work In Progress - Christmas Journal 2008
Journal Ready To Use - Christmas Journal 2008
Finally Liberty asked if I would be using one of my journals from Karla's class as my Christmas journal? This is very easy to answer because it's a definite NO to that question. Why? Here comes one of my best tips for the Christmas album. Do NOT use a pre-bound album. No matter how non-bulky you make your pages, the album (with all the pages added) will turn out pretty bulky in the end anyway. You need something with a very wide spine, or something you have the option of changing along the way, or something you bind AFTER you have finished. This is just my personal opinion of course, but this is what I have learnt that I need myself. So I either go for bookrings (which I can later change to larger bookrings as I go along, if needed) or I don't bind my album as make it, but I bind it with my Bind-It-All afterwards (ie in January!)... normally needing the biggest o-wires available LOL!So what am I doing this year? I wish I hadn't been so rushed off my feet at the moment that I could sit down and start making my album. I'm really looking forward to do this and I'm itching to start. I just need to find the time. Anyway, this is what I *think* I'll be doing:
* making my own covers totally from scratch (as usual!)
* format is more likely to be rectangular than square...but not sure yet (though it could be that I go for a square album cover with lots of rectangular pages inside)
* varied pages & sized inside (loved this from previous years!!)
* most likely bound afterwards with BIA machine, but possibly bookrings
...that's what I know at the moment. Are you doing a Christmas album? Have you started? What are your plans? I'd love to hear some comments about this and I hope you managed to pick up some tips above.
I do always try to journal Christmas but last years was awful so I stopped LOL! Maybe this year will be better and like you I have tried it several ways and this year am going to do it my own way instead of following any given class. Best of luck with it.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking book. I am thinking of doing a cross between Ali and Shimelle myelf this year.
ReplyDeleteOoh Anso! Thanks for the tip! I just clicked on a blog on the Shimelle forum and found it was you! I was so excited! I felt like I had found a friend god bless me!! haha!
ReplyDeleteI loved the way your journal was all higgeldy-piggeldy last year, different sizes, layouts etc it made it so exciting so this year I combined a mini chipboard album (with D-rings) and see-through pages with bits of saved chipboard, envelopes and random sized pages. I've covered some chipboard in paper and left some blank. I will blog it soon but it was all down to your inspiring album last year so THANK YOU!!!
That looks great, I am doing the SYC for the first time this year and welcome tips.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to Shimelle's class starting....but like the notion of combining ideas from different sources....I love Ali's December Daily.....and will probably combine myself this year.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful journal. I should really do something like this.
ReplyDeleteCan`t wait to get started. Love your input here. I might end up with a 12 x 12 album this December - just for the challenge:)
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I've created both Ali's journal and Shimelle's also. Last year I made a December Daily journal and life became so crazy I never used it. I'm digging it out to use this year. I'm taking Shimelle's blogging class and your's is the first blog I've visited. Thank you for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteOooh I love it!! Your photos show a very similar style (ie - lots of different size pages!) to the one that I started a few years ago and have never got around to actually filling in! Maybe this year...?
ReplyDeleteLast year i had my first attempt at Shimelle's JYC but found that having to follow the prompts resulted in some 'just for the sake' pages which were difficult to create and of no interest for future reads. I really like the look of Ali's December Daily and that's what i will be doing this year. I love the non-uniformity of the album so i will be following that format and will be creating pages only on days which inspire me....lets hope they will all be inspirational.
ReplyDeleteI've never done a Christmas journal! Imagine getting to be 60 yrs old and never having done one! Ahhh well, I do have lots and lots of Christmas pictures, in books, albums and storeage boxes! Many of them I didn't put dates on. I guess I thought I'd remember. HAH! Me with the swiss cheese brain! So the thing I've learned over the years...DATE ALL YOUR PHOTOS!!!! That way if you don't get them bound in some kind of book, right away, you'll know all the info you need when you do! I love your journal from last year. Can't wait to see the new one!
ReplyDeleteI lOVE it!! I've tried to make eclectic journals like this, but they always look messy to me. This looks fantastic!
ReplyDeleteLove your journal from last year -- all the variety of page type and sizes! Last year was my first year - I sort of followed Shimelle's and Ali's like you. Love doing it that way. Mixes it up I guess. Good luck on this years!
ReplyDeleteI do Journal Your Christmas too. This year I am thinking of doing an album from Thanksgiving to New years Day, or maybe when the kids go back to school rather than stick with Ali or shimelles dates
ReplyDeleteI stared putting my Christmas journal together today.I know of people who have fallen by the wayside in the past after a few days and others who are still finishing it months later.So I like you,wanted to get a head start.I blogged about this today ,for Shimelles new class.
ReplyDeletehttp://karen-somewhereovertherainbow.blogspot.com/