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| image from Shimelle.com |
It's that time of year. I feel the peer pressure of joining in on the December daily fun. Don't get me wrong. I like the whole concept. I've given it a go a few times, but never really followed through. This year, I am trying something different. I have signed up to follow along with Shimelle and her
Journal Your Christmas 2012 prompts.
December daily is everywhere and often, I feel overwhelmed by it all. There are so many choices. Many people put out their own lists of prompts and photo suggestions. You can take a variety of classes. Kits are available. On almost every message board, people are talking about it. It gets to the point in which you become inundated with it all, which sort of takes the fun out of it. At least for me. Maybe that's part of why I never have completed the project. I decided that I need to simplify things. What are the factors that may contribute to my ditching the project partway through?
Factor 1: The very first thing that comes to mind are the kits. Some are low priced. Others retail for as much as $100. I am a memory keeper on a budget. Having scrapbooked for over a decade, I have a wide selection of materials at the ready. I do like the convenience of a pre-made kit, however, I really don't want to spend the money on it.Most kits are made for mini albums. I tend to scrap 12x12 and would prefer to fit my December album in with the others. I often pull from my stash of supplies, however, I find that I long for the ease of the pre-made, pre-cut items.
Factor 2: Too many prompts to choose from cause me a headache. Not literally. However, I tend to over research my options. I look too much at what everyone else is doing. Then I feel compelled to add more and more to my album. This inevitably leads to a long and overwhelming list of layouts. I feel less inspired by it all.
Factor 3: I think I am prepared, only to find that I am not. It's great that I pulled out my stash of holiday papers and embellies. However, they don't always fit my needs and then I tend to take too long figuring out what I want to use. I feel like my album has to match a whole paper line theme and then I feel hedged in.
This Year's Solution: I am not buying a kit. I simply can not afford to. I have decided to scraplift a kit. I have not yet decided from where.
I have also decided to make a list of the things I want to specifically document this year. I will use Shimelle's prompts but will include or substitute my list as needed. I won't look for prompts anywhere else this year.
Based on my list, I will pre-make some items ahead of time. This way, the chosen supplies will match the theme of what I am documenting.
My List of items to document:
1. Lego a Day Advent calendar. This is the first year we are doing something like this. I know I want to capture what my son makes each day. I also want one large photo of him with the calendar on the first day and one of him building something. I think this will be a two or three page spread in my album. I will have 2 4x6 photos- one of the building and one of him with the calendar. Then I will have 25 small photos of the things he builds. I have decided to pull out my star wars paper and embellies since the legos are star wars themed. I plan to premake a grid page for the month.
2. the stories of ornaments on the tree. All of our ornaments are unique, but I have only documented a few of them. Some span back to our parent's childhood trees.
3. our favorite holiday songs
4. favorite holiday tv specials or cartoons
Now I have a game plan in mind. Things feel more simple and doable. Over the next few weeks, I plan to document the project. Hopefully, this year can make it through. We shall see!
