Document December with Lisa: My Project

 Welcome back to my second day on the blog where I get to share my December project with you.

Yesterday I showed you my The Ghost of Christmas Past kit which I put together to record some stories about December 2014.

Just as a reminder - here's my kit:

I've decided to use Project Life pocket pages - design A - as well as some Heidi Swapp inlays featuring gorgeous gold foil words and designs. There were also a few sheets of vellum with gold design which seemed to go very well and some photo overlays.

To get me going, I went through my photos from last December and printed out a handful. All square photos are at 3x3 and the others are 3x2 which will all fit nicely onto 3x4 or 6x4 pocket cards. I don't know if I will use all of these prints (which appear to cover the first couple of weeks) and I might even print out more - right now, I'm leaving that open. To begin though, I picked out some of my favourite people shots, some decorations, some signs of Christmas, and a few with directly relate to some stories I want to tell. Once I've worked with these, I'll print some more of the remaining December days - I didn't want to overwhelm myself with too much at once.

I've decided to mix it up a little and not only try to record what we were up to last December (as if my memory is that good anyway!) but also to pick some of the Shimelle Journal Your Christmas prompts from last year to tell a few stories. You get to participate every year so I will just have a look on the forum at last year's handouts and see what inspires me.

But as a start, there are photos of my Advent Calendar, a glass of whisky in front of the tree, a screen shot of Fred and Bing in Holiday Inn and Fred the Camel from the Kempen Christmas Market.

Now I know that won't mean much to you, but these are triggers for some wider stories relating to more than one Christmas, in-jokes, new traditions or just what Christmas means to me.

As further preparation, I decided to just cut the pattern papers into 6x4 or 3x4 and fill all the pockets. Yes, I had a helper last week with this! Hello Charly :-)

I started off just cutting up a full sheet of paper to make my title page. I might go back to decorate this but I kind of like it simple. Just the date the the two sheets of vellum. Maybe it needs a little touch of red or a flair or something. I will come back to this at the end of the project to see again what I think.

 Next up I just mixed and matched papers across the spreads. There are a lot of aquas, greens and soft creams so I tried to make sure there were lots of pops of colour to really grab your attention. Of course, once the photos and embellishments are added, there won't be so much on view and the clash won't be felt so strongly - that's the plan anyway!

I've started with one double spread per week plus the back of the final half. If I need more, then there is plenty of paper left in the kit and I can expand as needed. I will no doubt also add in a 6x12 here and there for some extra journalling.

Here you can see the Heidi Swapp gold foil overlay, a Crate Paper photo overlay and two of the Crate Paper pocket page cards.

Many of the papers were cut from the Silent Night (October afternoon) 8x8 mini-pad which means that the patterns are just that bit smaller - ideal for pockets such as this partial map - you know how I love maps!

I've dotted my vellum sheets across the spreads so that there is always a little bit of gold to see. I reserve the right to change around any of the papers I want and to add or take away papers, vellums or cards. This is just a starting point.

Just looking at those pages makes me motivated to get going with adding my photos and words to the cards. Embellishments will be simple and I'm allowing myself to be inspired by Shimelle's approach to a pocket page Journal Your Christmas. Even this preliminary step is the same as her process this year. I'm hoping that it will make the actual finalising of the project easier and more achievable!

I'll fill you in on how the project's going through our link up page (don't forget to link up your own December projects  - tab at the top of the blog).

Thanks for dropping by and we continue tomorrow with the über-delightful Lynnette, so make sure you come again!

Lisa signing off and wishing you a very Merry Christmas - and here's to a wonderfully creative 2016!