A December Daily Album

I am so endlessly inspired by one of the Creative Editors for Creating Keepsakes Magazine, Ali Edwards. Her scrapbook style speaks to me, begs me to get to work on project after project. I first found her art in 2004, before her first book was out, before she was an creative editor, and have been a loyal fan ever since. I have to be clear: I do not know this woman personally, she's a scrapbook celebrity. I've left much less than a dozen comments on her blog, and have never heard a word of response from her; I don't even mind. I think everyone, when they find Ali's work, feel like I did. Eureka!! She sometimes gets upwards of 2000 comments on a single post! Nevertheless, I can't recommend her enough to those of you who scrapbook, (or just blog, because her blog is genious, too). She lends her talent, time, skill, and heart to her followers, and it's humbling.

Last year she published the makings of a blank album called the "December Daily" in her column in CK; she then posted the step-by-step process on her blog so everyone could make a similmar momento. I loved the idea, but read it well after December 1st; I decided to do the project this year and began collecting goodies for it sometime last December. Hehe.

She's doing the project again this year also, and has been blogging about it lately. I picked up my supplies this week and was pleased-as-a-Christmas-pickle to find her starting her project at the same time. Nothing like a little inspiration from the master.

I spent a few hours each of the last 3 days on the project. When, with two small kids, do I find time to scrapbook? When they nap, when they go to bed at night (7pm right now, thanks to the earlier sunsets). When they play... all the time .

I completed the framework for my album last night. I am so proud of it I almost slept with it on my pillow. I wish I was kidding. For our family, the significance of this December is greater than normal b/c of Theo's upcoming departure. The daily, the mundane, and the significant holiday traditions we have established as a family need to be documented now more than ever. I am thankful to be in the creative spirit. It's frightening how bad I need to create right now. I'm cranking out cards and pictures and journaling. I've run out of the adhesive, folks!

I wanted to share my December Daily album with you all. I love the textures, colors, and the overall vibe it's putting out, and I can't wait to bulk it up even more with photos, notes, and ephermera from our month. For now, it'll rest on my shelf, and I'll be starting another project.

Hope you enjoyed it!