First JYC Day!!!

After much anticipation it has finally arrived!!!! December 1st is here which means one thing- Journal Your Christmas begins!! I've been so busy with Christmas crafting preparation (please come along on Sunday to the Gifts for Girls Christmas Fair at St Georges- you'll get to see that all my efforts have not been in vain!!) that i havent had a second for my own crafting (goodness knows where I am going to magic all my Christmas cards from this year?). I have been so looking forward to starting my Christmas  Journal and taking a few minutes a day to create something festive. There are so many things happening at the moment that I want to capture and remember that it couldnt have been more perfectly timed.

But before we get on to my JYC album.  Here is a little something Stampin' Up! for the day. I finally purchased the fab Petal Cone Die and couldnt wait to create a festive cone with my card class ladies. This was inspired by some beautiful Christmas bunting I saw on the Convention boards. I used the Pennant Die and the Holly Berry Designer Series Paper to create the embellishment. This would look lovely hung on a Christmas tree filled with chocolately treats.

 And now onto the exciting JYC photos. I'll have to apologise for the weird lighting in these photos. Wouldnt it be lovely to get home while there was still good light. I'll try and take pics again at the weekend which might reflect things a bit more accurately.

I quite like this 'atmospheric' photo. To some this might look like a messy craft desk. But actually I find this pic quite inspiring as you'll see all things that I'd been turfing out of my Christmas box to make a start- alphas, Starbucks cup, scissors (and weirdly my phone- not sure where that appeared from?).  Anyways, as you can see from my album cover, this year I have sworn myself to simplicity. With my little monkey growing ever stronger (starting to feel some flutterings now) and my energy levels not quite back to normal I made the decision to keep this album simple and not sweat the small stuff. Last year I put so much pressure on myself to create every page as a work of art.  This year I want to capture mood and emotion and people. The journey is the important thing not the endless hours of worrying about embellishments. So here is my simple black folder embellished with a lovely reindeer decoration and matching letters (I am just waiting on a SU order to fill the space under the 'C' with a red glimmer paper heart- a splash of glittery colour).

 Here is my Christmas Manifesto for the album. I took Shimelle's Manifesto as my foundation but personalised it for me right now and what i hope to  capture.  I have just stuck this to the inside front cover of my folder. I wanted my Manifesto to balance the seriousness of things with the fun and humour of Christmas festivities. And of course the excitement of what looking ahead to 2012 will bring.....

 Day 1:

I found in my Christmas box a series of these plastic wallets with sub divided sections (about the size of a business card or ATC). I thought these would be the perfect solution to simplifying my album for days when there is not so much going on. Today I had some  journalling that I wanted to capture and tuck away so this wallet gave me the opportunity to make a pretty page and still tuck away my writing. I am using the bottom two spaces for Day 2 so as not to overstuff my album like I did last year (simple and space saving- just what I need!!!)

For my numbers this year I am using a FANTASTIC Stampin' Up! die that I was given from the USA (sadly not available here just yet). It creates little windows and is perfect for making advent calender windows for each days number I have cut this from Crumb Cake and then inked with Old Olive to match the mood of the papers.

 Just a couple more pics to show a bit more detail....

This is my journalling envelope tucked away in the pocket.

So thats my Day 1 complete. I am so happy to have a simple solution and I am really looking forward to seeing where December takes me.

Happy Crafting

-XXX-