The album looks big with the little guy holding it, but its largest page is 6" x 8.5". On the shelf its the same height as the Kolo Catalina with a fatter spine. I needed every bit of that binder ring.
You can view a slideshow of the complete project here.
I think this year I'm going smaller, along the lines of the 2006 version Ali made, published in Life Artist. And I Know I said this last year (and then I became caught up in the excitement), but simpler. It's tricky to keep it small when adding newspaper clippings, school programs and other memorabilia.
Now, where did we leave off all those months ago ...
the 20th -- (2 spreads)
I stitched a clear sleeve to size for the newspaper story about the storm. The only digital element on these pages is the holiday word outlines. I love their clean elegance and had to restrain myself not to use one on every layout.
the 21st
On the 21st I documented one of Marty's favorite jokes of the season. We heard this dozens of times throughout the month, yet I think it's one of those things might be forgotten in time if not for this project. Some shopping tags are on the right.
22nd + 23rd
The 'peace on earth' is a free PDF download from Amy Butler printed on a manilla folder. Brown grosgrain ribbon photo corners by Martha Stewart.
There's no day 24. It was a travel day and I could've taken photos, but didn't. There's just so much here it's not lacking a thing this way. I jumped right to a collage of photos from Christmas Day.
The red mini insert is here.
Then I continued to cover Christmas Eve and the celebration of Mom's birthday. I decided to make this book comprehensive so everything is in this one place. I just know myself and I won't go back to this story in another place and time.
To conclude I added a quote by Sister Joan Chittister. I read this in Ali's archives and found it so moving that I wanted to pass it along to the family.
I can't seem to find the song lyrics the girls wrote on our way home. It's possible I photographed them and threw them away, but I didn't think so. If I find them I'll simply tuck those in an envelope in the back.
I'd like to think of this approach to December as tradition now. My tradition. I envision this book being set out on the coffee table at Christmas, providing fireside reading for years to come.
Thanks to Ali for inviting me/us to observe the season closely; to recognize, in the moment, memories in the making. I've enjoyed interacting with others through the flickr group, watching these projects unfold. So inspiring. So many good ideas. I was just over there this week and I know I'm not the only little train chugging into the station.
Getting started is half done. chug. chug.
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