Hello December!

Happy December everyone!  Can you believe how quickly this year has flown by?!  I certainly cannot believe it.  I'm looking forward to using this time of year as a way to "take back" the Christmas season.  If you are familiar with that phrase, than you must be taking Shimelle Laine's Journal Your Christmas.  Let me tell you, I am so excited to be taking this class!  

Last year, I "participated" in December Daily.  I still haven't finished my 2012 album.  It was extremely difficult to take a Christmas/holiday-season picture a day.  I was doing Project Life at the same time and didn't want to combine my December Daily and that album.  There would be days I was struggling to find something holiday to photograph.  My husband and I do not have kids yet, so we don't do too many holiday-themed activities, certainly not enough to document daily.

When I read about Shimelle's class a couple months ago, I knew this was the type of Christmas documenting I wanted to do.  I wanted something that helped capture new traditions with my husband and our current family gatherings with our childhood memories and how the Christmas season has changed over the years.  Just typing this makes me so excited for my album this year!

Now, I promise I will blog about my kit I'm using for my album this weekend.  I may do a video because I bought a small tripod during my Black Friday shopping!  I did want to show you guys some pictures though of my start up process for my Christmas album.

Here is the actual journal I will be using to write about the prompts.  I will be putting together a mini album, but I know that I won't be able to scrapbook everyday.  I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment right off the bat, so I got realistic.  I didn't want the "not being able to scrap daily" aspect of the holiday season to get in the way of me doing the journaling and documenting the season.  Enter in my homemade Christmas Journal!

 I am so proud of myself with this journal!  I didn't buy it!  During my lunch break yesterday, I went out looking for a slim journal.  I wanted something I could take with me pretty easily and something slim enough to put into a page protector at the end of the project.  I couldn't find anything.  And I was so angry because I used my whole 30 minute lunch looking for one.  I was going to stop by Target on my way back into Springfield, but as I was driving I remembered I had some paper at home. I had an "aha" moment!  I'll make my own journal.  I have a graph paper pad, in the legal size, that was perfect for folding over.  I folded 15 sheets in half and tucked them inside one another to make a booklet.  Then, I took some paper from Lawn Fawn's Love, Peace, Joy collection and cut it 1/4" bigger than the pages.  I then sewed everything right down the middle fold.  Voila!  A simple, handmade journal!  I decorated a little bit with the tag and label on the front cover and a 4"x3" Crate Paper Bundled Up journaling card on the inside cover to hide my stitching from adhering the layers on the front.  The bark stars and sequins are not adhered, but added as a prop, just for you guys!

Here's a little peak at my work space last night.  This was the first time I actually dug out my kit supplies.  I was able to make my journal (shown above) and the title page for my album.  I was pleased with myself for getting that far.  I didn't think I'd be able to get anything done last night, but I did.  Tonight, hopefully I can get my Christmas Manifesto page done.  

As I go through this journey, documenting my Christmas, I'll post more on my blog.  Also, if you're interested in seeing other Journal Your Christmas-ers, check out #christmasjournal and #JYC2013 on instagram and Twitter.  If you want to see what I'm doing this Christmas, follow my instagram @hsweet12 with the hashtag #asweetchristmas.

Also, you guys have until tomorrow (Wednesday) night to link up how you "kill" a kit for the Just Two Midwest Girls scrap challenge. Details for the challenge can be found here.  Those that enter have a change of winning a $5 gift certificate to Two Peas in a Bucket!  Come play along!

Happy December,
Heather