December Daily Simplified - PLS Project

I learned something really interesting this year amidst working on my December Daily.  The issues I've encountered with not being able to complete the album in December can be overcome and modified.  And although there is no rule for having to complete a page each day, or even finish your album by January 1st, for most of us, we tend to place these types of seasonal projects on the back burner if/when we feel the "moment” has passed and we're on way to the next thing.  At least that's been the case with me and all of my past December Daily'.

The worst was last year.  Would you believe I waited until Thanksgiving weekend of THIS YEAR to complete my 2016 album?  I bet you would believe it if you're one of those that have unfinished albums from years prior... (no judgments here)

What I've discovered in doing this for 5+ years isn't that there isn't enough time... because we can easily spare 15-30 minutes each day to taking at least 1 photo, editing the photo on a phone app, sending it to print on our home printers [SIDEBAR: for those that print outside of home, I have no answer for you except to fill the page with a temporary mock photo and fill it in when the prints arrive...], but to the rest of us that print at home, we can easily have our photo ready by the end of the day, pick a pattern paper or a 3x4 card or whatever format of documenting you use, add our hand-written or typed journaling, a little sticker to embellish, maybe stamp the date or add pre-dated chipboards / stickers and be done.  How quick did that sound?  Let's try it again, except in list format.

1 - Take photo.
2 - Print Photo
3 - Insert Photo
4 - Journal
5 - Embellish

See the simplicity behind it?  So what brings about the delay in documenting our December if it only takes 30 minutes a day?  The answer may be found in our supplies.  Are we drawn to all of the Christmas supplies out there, thinking we'll need it all for our December Daily, but end up with yearly overflow of product that we feel obligated to use for next year's album, but we also want to purchase the latest and greatest?  The issue may be that we are starting off with too much.

This year I focused on 1 collection.  Pretty Little Studio "Wonderland" collection.

Pretty Little Studio's "Wonderland" line, and added just a couple of other pieces from their other line that would blend well with Wonderland.  What I found was that my stash was very minimal and it made me a little nervous.  "Will I have enough 3x4 cards or pattern paper?  Yes!  Because I also have diecuts and stickers and wood veneers.  Focusing on all the elements of one collection limits my options and helps me focus on using what's right on my desk, rather then digging through boxes and bins of things.

If you can easily manage all those supplies, then yes by all means, but the most important part here is to actually complete your album, use your products and spend more time completing holiday puzzles, making hot cocoa and watching your favorite Christmas movies.  The most important part of this project is to actually getting it done.

I'm happy to report that because I made this change this year, to use a minimal supply list, my album has been very easy to keep up with.

The most difficult task was creating my intro page.  I wanted something fun, yet meaningful, and so a last minute idea came to mind to dig into my 1987 roots and create a poem. It's fun, whimsical, yet heartfelt.  I love that it's both cheesy and sweet.

The rest of the days were built quickly; because, once again, I withdrew from having so much on my desk to work with and concentrated more on the photo and the story.  This has been working out great for me and has relieved a lot of the stress from having to get it done, plus enjoy my days. 

Below you will find how I used some "bookmark" cards for journaling.  I like to call them pennant or banner cards.  I thought it would be fun to turn them sideways and use back to back colors to tell two different stores for the same day.  Because the photos are my main focus in this layout, I opted for small journaling pieces that still match my pages, but didn't compete for attention.

If you visit the Pretty Little Studio shop you may come across a great sale.  Up to 75% off on a lot of their stock.  If you have not already chosen a collection to play with or if you've never tried a DD, but are interested, now would be a great time to find the collection the suits you and get it.

I appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog today and I welcome you to follow my blog and visit my other social media accounts.  I post daily on Instagram.

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