You would even say it glows: 2012 December Daily-ish album COMPLETED!

Back in the fall, I enthusiastically ordered the crazy expensive December Daily album kit from Studio Calico.  I was all set to Document Our Christmas and Participate in the Online Festivities.  But I quickly realized that making a page a day was NOT going to happen with a 2 month old baby and a 3 year old in the mix. So I focused on having a GREAT holiday season, aided by our Holiday Fun List, and decided to work on the album once the season was over.

That was so much easier.  I started in late December with a bang and made a bunch of pages for the Hello Forever journaling cards I had carefully written up during the holidays.

And then I got stuck.  Once I put all those 31 cards into the album, it was almost full.  And that was without ANY photos. And boy did I have photos.  So I stuffed the project into a clear Iris box and put it with my other unfinished projects.  It mocked me with every passing month.

I wondered whether I should rip it all apart and start over with a bigger album. I talked it over with two crafty friends, who gave me a bunch of helpful suggestions, so I didn't let that expensive kit go to waste.

I've been given the gift of time in this new life as a stay at home mama, so I am trying not to squander it.  I forced myself to tackle this project even though I felt really uninspired.  So a few weeks ago, I pulled out the box, and took stock of what I had.

My biggest job was to EDIT. Since I was creating this album about our holiday season, from the end of Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, not every day was magical and awesome. Many were downright mundane. I had journaling cards written where it was clear I was trying to find SOMETHING holiday-related to write about.  So I got rid of those and just kept the interesting ones.  I was pretty ruthless about it. I added a separate card to track all the books we read during our Book Advent so I didn't lose the information.

Printed on Studio Calico awesome grid card

Once I accepted that it didn't have to be a comprehensive listing of EVERY last thing we did in December, it was a lot easier to make progress and choose to highlight the best parts of the season. I cranked through it in just a few days and finished it easily.

My favorite part is this confetti pocket I made with a Flip Pocket and vellum that I printed on.  I knew I wanted to use this photo for the last page, and love how the vellum lets it peek through.

Last page - confetti Flip Pocket, Thickers, vellum

My favorite holiday photo

Here's a slide show of my entire album.  If you can't view it, here's the gallery.

I'm really glad I tackled this project.  This year, I'll incorporate it into my Project Life album, using the Design E (4 6x6) page protectors.  I love the 6x6 size, and that'll be more compact than a separate mini album.  Since I'm only doing Project Life every two weeks, I'll have plenty of room in the album for extra projects like this.  I'm really looking forward to it!

Did you do December Daily?  Did you finish?