December Daily: days 11-17

I’ve been doing an okay job of keeping up with my daily pages, but photographing them and posting here have not been easy! This certainly is a busy time of year, isn’t it? My problem is that I do like to get to bed before midnight, and so not everything gets done. No 36-hour days have been invented yet, so I do the best that I can! Here is a composite of my December Daily album, days 11 through 17:

And did you notice anything? I got my binder from Studio Calico! Hot diggity! It hasn’t been decorated yet, but I have been putting my pages into it so I have a secure place to store them. Maybe tonight, or maybe tomorrow, I’ll put a coating of Mod Podge or matte medium on it with some decorations. I really don’t know how I want to decorate the covers, but I know it will be something simple. I’ll be back again soon to let you see what I came up with. Thanks for stopping by!

December Daily catch-up

Work, work, work! That’s what I’ve been doing, whether it be at the job that actually pays me, or the ones at home, life gets so busy this time of year! I took some time this weekend to play catch-up for my December Daily (luckily I have remembered to take photos, at least!), and after downloading some pics to put on my pages, I suddenly feel so grateful that I did at least some preliminary foundation work. I don’t have all of the PDF pages printed out yet, and I’m waiting for more Hambly transparencies to arrive in the mail to make more page dividers, but I at least had the first 5 days somewhat ready. I just put my photos on, did a little embellishing, journaling, and here you go, so far:

Hmmm, notice anything missing? No page protectors…..no binder! I ordered it with the kit from Studio Calico way back when, but I have not received my binder. I got a note in the kit that apologized and indicated that I would be receiving it by December 1……I was hoping they meant this year. Phooey! Well, these things happen, and it’s not going to stop me from completing my pages, anyway. I can always make my own binder, or pages, can’t I?

Extra ephemera I'll be adding

I am so glad that I am doing this; this kind of project is going to help me enjoy and appreciate the holiday season even more than usual; instead of feeling anxious, stressed or worried, I feel excited and full of anticipation (not expectations!) for joy, pleasure, and lots of love. That’s what the season is all about!

On another note, I did get the chance to make a layout which I am adding to our monthly calendar (It’s a My Mind’s Eye scrap calendar):

Photos from my daughter's recent Christmas recital

I used Mr. Huey's spray mist in white with a tree mask on the green background.

Not thrilled about the alphabet font….it came with a Christmas kit from a year ago, and had been unused, so I though, why not. The layout itself is scraplifted from a recent one Ali Edwards did. Thanks, Ali!

And thank you, too, for stopping by. It’s getting late, so tomorrow I will be sure to include the products I’ve used. Any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

A Week In the Life, 2011 (finally!)

I just completed the finishing touches on my Week In the Life project. It took much longer to complete than I anticipated, but here it is.

I participated in this project last year during the month of May, and I had used this American Crafts binder that still had plenty of room in it (this project doesn’t really take up enough space for an entire album, in my humble opinion), so I used the same album for this year’s edition, as well. The first half is 2010, and I made a “bookmark” as a divider and labeled it for the second half, which is 2011.

Not overly decorated, like most of my albums…I’m a minimalist when it comes to these things. I’ve had too many covers come apart, and it’s just not worth it since they will be put on a shelf anyway.

I started my Week In the Life (WITL) project on Monday, July 25, just like Ali Edwards (the head master/guide/initiator/guru of this annual memory-keeping experience). I ended on the following Sunday, and you may notice that some days have more photos than others. There are just so many pictures I can take at work (HIPAA rules), and at other times, I just plain forgot to get out my camera (really!). Some of the times on the photos may be incorrect because I was literally guessing at times, since I was not very good at writing times down when I took a photo, and it didn’t occur to me to look at the photo’s meta data until after the fact (doh!), and I really didn’t feel like reprinting everything…I’m using so much ink and paper with this!

So, please forgive the fact that this is so imperfect, but the bottom line is that I have documented my life for one week, and it will be really interesting to look back on this later on in the future.

Intro page

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

The end page.

Not showing are the notes I took which I put into page protectors and included in my album.

Originally, I was not going to include these, but then I thought, why not? These are my thoughts and the details of my doings, and it saves me time and money if I don’t rewrite them onto journaling cards. I credit Ali with giving me the idea; I think it’s a good one. Including your hand-written notes and journaling into your memory-keeping makes that memory more authentic and special. Your handwriting is a part of you, and your notes can include some important details you may not want to forget!

This was a great project that you don’t have to wait to do. Once a year, Ali Edwards (aliedwards.com) puts on this project, inviting anyone and everyone who has an interest in documenting their life for one week to participate.  It costs nothing to join in; it’s not a club, and you do not have to do anything you don’t want to. She puts it on during a specific week which she chooses each year, but there’s no reason at all why you can’t decide to do something like this for yourself any time you choose. You can also put your documentation into any sort of medium: an entirely digital album, a mini album, or something like Ali does, but with your own twist on it.  It’s just a form of inspiration which you may take a closer look at your life; pay attention to the little details, take note of what you really do/feel/say/observe/eat during a typical week in your life and document it for posterity’s sake. Can you imagine how your life will have changed 20 years from now? And imagine your grandchildren and their grandchildren getting to experience your life through your eyes, and really getting to know who you are. Fascinating.

Enjoy!