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Christmas Journal 2007.2

Well, not too shabby, if I don't say so myself. Keeping up that is. The actual pages however...well they are s i m p l e. But thats OK. I'm trying to keep up. And I know your going to say "yeah, yeah" but the pages DO look so much better in real life than my pictures and this awkward album I chose to work in. I'm sick of pulling the pages in and out of the spiral so I'm leaving the book apart until I'm done so the pages aren't flat and look weird in the pics.

Enough excuses, lets get on with it.

12.10.07 All the Trimmings...

We were challenged to use wrapping paper. I have this lovely silver paper with flocked snowflakes from Crate & Barrel that I sparingly used last year as if it was the last roll of paper on earth and I just love it. There is journaling with a silver pen so oddly (duh me) it doesn't show.

12.11.07 Oh Christmas Tree

OK this one I rocked. The Tim Holtz tree stamp is what rocks it really.

12.12.07 Tales of Christmas Past

This one I made all about the journaling and no pictures which was weird for me.

12.13.07 Tales of Christmas Presents

No journaling on this one yet. Maybe after we hand out presents I will have something to say.

12.14.07 Falalalaa

Christmas carols for me are all in my ipod. I made my Christmas playlist while I was on vacation last June. Chris Cornell singing Ave Maria, Dave Matthews Band, Sha Na Na, the Kinks, Queen, some traditional Bing, Andrews Sisters, that theme song from Love Actually from she who will not be named on my blog, dialog from the Grinch and OH YES my favorite Cocteau Twins singing Frosty the Snowman to name a few.

12.15.07 Over the River & Through the Woods

Guests and visitors at Christmas. Again all journaling but I may throw some pictures on after the event.

Thats it for now. I'm going to finish my dinner of Rice Chex and a Diet Coke and maybe go work on the 16th....Cheers!

i'm taking back Christmas...

...part Two.

Or maybe Year Two I should say. This year I hope to complete...OK maybe thats pushing it...how about get 2/3rds complete my Christmas Journal. Why oh why did I choose such a challenging journal for a "page a day" kinda project.

Simpler would have been better. Oh well, I vow to complete this.

This year Shimelle has taken it up a notch with a new forum and a flickr group which makes is SO easy to check out everyones progress.

I have to say this class really gets me in the spirit of Christmas! I really like thinking about all the prompts and reflecting on years past. When I do a page I'm not limiting myself to this Christmas so it will be a compilation of this and Christmas's past. Kinda like Scrooge. But Happy.

Since I did get off to a pretty good start last year I had all the pages done up to this weekend for this time round. The first several (OK ALL but one) you might recognize from last year.

The Cover

12.01.06

12.02.06

12.03.06

The challenge was to use a card which I had fun with.

12.4.06

I love how my letters turned out!

12.5.06 - Advent Layout

12.6.06 -Journaling done 12.08.07

12.07.07 - Shopping!

12.8.06 - Journaling is a pull out on the right.

12.9.06

So I'm officially caught up till Monday...hee hee! Wish me luck!

December 4th ~ 8th

Yes, I'm a little behind...are you surprised?

December 4th ~ Putting your head straight... I loved this one! We had to approach this entry in a relaxed state. I contribute to me getting behind due to this one since it was hard to get to a "relaxed state"...but eventually I did and voila! Artistic Challenge was to use a picture or a drawing. Easy peasy for me! Getting relaxed? Well, not so much!

The layout was very simple but I spent allot of time on the letters. They were Making Memories letters in kraft which I painted. Then stamped dots on in black. Then glittered them! That weird shape on the left of the page is from the previous entry that sort of spilled over so I just used like it was supposed to be there. I also love the stars that I made using a "dream" stamp and a little gem. This is my favorite layout so far!

December 5th ~ How Many Days to Go...Challenge was to consider using the date or a countdown to Christmas. My journaling is in the pocket.

December 6th ~ A Little of This, A Little of That...Record two Christmas memories, one perfect and one not. Artistic Challenge to find an innovative way to display the two memories. I don't think I accomplished that here. Especially since I haven't journaled it yet! But I promise to go back. Really.

December 7th ~ Sorry, not done yet! I decided since I was running behind to complete the ones that really called to me first rather than forcing myself to keep chronological. I can always go back and include more layouts.

December 8th ~ Do You See What I See... Record the differences you see as the holiday gets closer. Artistic challenge to use something small. So I threw in some punched out paper squares. The journaling pulls out with the tab. I don't know if I should include more on the right page. Any thoughts??

So I'm 4 layouts behind...maybe tonight I can get 2 done! ;)

December 1st ~ 3rd

December 1st - Introduction page (or Manifesto Page) with the artistic challenge to use a box or create a border around the manifesto or dedication.

My layout's pretty simple huh? I'm going for simple pages since the challenge for me is to actually make time to do a page a day. Simple...but I like it! It always makes me happy to ink around the edges of things!

December 2nd - Talk about the weather with the artistic challenge to make a snowflake!

OK, I didn't make a snowflake but instead used a clear overlay which I *love*! I know Shimelle would forgive me! We did have soooo much fun, Alex and I, making flakes. Check it out cause we made several and then Alex cut them out, you should see the floor around his desk!

I have been really wanting to use my new Making Memories ready to glitter stickers and glitter kit. So I spent my time trying that out rather than making snowflakes. The product was a little difficult to use honestly. But I do like the glitter!

December 3rd - Christmas cards with the artistic challenge to use one on the layout.

Since I'm not even close to getting cards done for this year I choose a card from last year that we received.

I choose this card because it has flocked edge which I really like and a couple images I could cut out and would match the colors of my album well. Speaking of which I'm surprising myself as to how traditional the colors I'm choosing are. I didn't begin with a theme of colors. I'm making them up as I go or what I feel lends itself to the layout well. So I guess Christmas speaks to me in traditional colors, you learn something new everyday about yourself I guess!

So, this is my first post with my layouts. Not trying to make excuses here...wink, No Really! But my  album that I choose it a tad wonky. The pages are weird because I have to take them out to work on them and I feel like I'm putting allot of wear on my book by taking the spirals in and out. So I've decided to leave the book apart and then every couple of days put it together and post it!

I'm really loving this whole process. Not only am I creating a little every day it's making me more thoughtful about the holiday. And I have so much fun reading the message board and checking out everyone else's creations! Tomorrow's challenge is up already and is great! It's about "putting your head straight" and "taking time to put the positive and perfect back into your most stressful season". It's like scrapbook therapy and I sure NEED it! Stay tuned!

I'm off now to see if I'm smart enough to follow the directions to post on written down where you can see all the work that people are doing. There is also a list of blogs to check out if you want to do some blog surfing of creative folks. Check it out cause it's so much fun and I hope some of my dear friends here will join me next time!

taking back Christmas

Manifesto: Noun. A declaration of one's intentions.

Starting December first, I will keep a Christmas journal. In it, I will write something every
day to reflect on the holidays of my past, enjoy the holidays of the present and dream
about the holidays of my future. To some, this will be a stack of papers and trivial
scribbles, but not to me. I am taking back my Christmas, I am letting it be something I
relish and, most importantly, I am giving at least fifteen minutes every day to myself no
matter how crazy this season becomes. I hope you will share, encourage and understand
as I make something with my own hands, my own words and my own memories.

I may post some or all of my entries here. Other artists are doing this with me, and you
can see there work here. Or you may join us!

Above all: enjoy the season. I will.

Andrea

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Shimelle suggested we post a manifesto on our blogs to keep focused. I *love* the idea. And I'm taking back my Christmas! I got my journal started as you can see above. Cant wait to play inside...

feeling crafty

...inspiration coming on!  I've been browsing blogs and online little galleries checking out people Christmas Journal projects from last year.

See, in a moment of holiday relaxation over the weekend I signed myself to take Shimelle's Christmas Journal class.

I'm getting excited! It reminds me of how much fun the circle journal was! I plan on posting my journal pages here but only hope I can keep up!

Was I crazy to think I could do this?!  Yes. But who cares, it will be fun! I will not stress out if I fall behind! Yes of course I can make time but the last couple of days in retail hell at work have slapped me into reality. No negativity. I will have time. I will prepare. I will be organized and I will enjoy this holiday season dammit! HA!

So tomorrow night when I get off work after stopping at the grocery store I will march into my little abandoned scrap room, clear off the stack of mail, blow the dust from my tools, and begin the journal. Cause see tonight I brought paperwork home since I was too busy actually helping customers today to get anything done so I cant start.

If any other of the extremely crafty Christmas Journal ladies stop by here to say hi please feel free to comment because I would love to hear about your process so I can glean wisdom from it!

I'm looking forward to a fun holiday season and I think this will help me slow down, stop and think about what the holiday means to us by doing this journal! 

Will keep you posted on my progress! :)