My Christmas Journal

My Christmas Journal has been a challenge this year.  Last year I combined ideas from Ali's December Daily and Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas.  This year I've also added Jessica's Holidays in Hand to the mix.

With all this inspiration, and not wanting to duplicate last year's album (which I LOVE), I tried to narrow down how I wanted to handle this project.  I started with this album:

It's a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" 3 ring binder from WeRMemory Keepers that I had in my stash.  I bought a new collection - Fancy Pants Christmas Magic - that I had fallen in love with.  I even went so far as to precut a bunch of the background papers.

And that is as far as I was able to get before December arrived.  And as far as this album ever got.  Because before December arrived, reality arrived.  And I knew I didn't have the time or the inclination to be overly "crafty" this year with my Christmas journal.

Another reason this album is going no further is that I stumbled into a 50% off sale at a gift shop and found this album:

This is a simple one-up 4x6 photo album which just happens to have a gorgeous acrylic cover.  It has enough pages to do a two page spread for most days if I choose to.  But having only a 4x6 space to work with is going to really limit the amount of embellishing I can do.  Not to worry - right now I think this is a GOOD thing!  Some days I will do just a photo.  Some days I will do just journaling.  On days when I don't feel like writing or photographing, I may just add a Christmas quote.  I am determined to keep this simple and not overly stress about the content.  I just want to document our holiday season and remember to be present in the moment.  Hopefully thinking of some content to add each day will remind me to pay attention to what is happening during the day, rather than just going through the motions of living.

Here is my title page:

For reasons I cannot fathom blogger has insisted on turning this image and I do not see any option for me to turn it back the way it belongs!  Apologies if you get a crick in your neck trying to see this.  The rub-on is from the Fancy Pants "Christmas Magic" line.  The lettering  is Fancy Pants (red) and Thickers (brown).

And here is my opening page:

Just in case you can't see the journaling, it says:
1. Slow down and just breathe.
2. Remember to be present in the moment.
3. Try to see beyond the commercialism to the real JOY of the season.
4. Enjoy the time with my family.

Those are my intentions for this month.  The paper is a journal card from the Fancy Pants "Christmas Magic" line.

Finally, I leave you with my December 1st entry:

The overlay is from Ali Edwards and available at Designer Digitals.  The font is CK Ali's hand.  (Okay, I admit I love Ali's stuff!).