In this episode of the Crafty Ass Female Podcast, Kristin talks to this season's third and final December Daily Roundtable with four amazing guests: Tracey Fox, Nolana Lynch, Shannan Manton, and Juli Whetstone; and we're talking all about the tips and tricks we have for our December projects.
Throughout the episode, we discuss how we document their lives through the holidays, including Ali Edwards' December Daily project. Tracy, Shannon, Nolana, Juli, and Kristin are all excited about scrapbooking the December season and chatting about their different approaches to the project. Nolana and Tracy are traditional scrappers, Shannon is a minimalist digital scrapbooker, and Juli loves mini-books. They all enjoy the different ways that they can document their December memories.
Our conversation revolves around making the project work for your life, how to make it fun and exciting, and how to make it unique to you. Tracy discusses how she prefers to work on her December Daily album after the holidays are over, in a process she calls scrappy Christmas in July. This allows her to have more perspective on the stories she wants to tell and also batch-processes the photos and journaling. Other crafters in Ali Edwards' community have also been touting the idea of "Done by December", which is working on the project throughout the year so you don't feel pressure to work on it every day in December.
List of our favorite tips & tricks:
- Work on this project whenever it makes sense for you. Day or night, every day or spread it out, finish it in December, work on it in January, or finish it throughout the year.
- Give yourself boundaries so that you're not trying to do everything and comparing yourself to everyone else in the process. Your project can't be everything, it can only be what you create.
- Foundation pages can be a great way to get ahead if you like working in advance.
- It can be fun and helpful to do things that help you get into the holiday season (playing music, getting out decorations, etc).
- Even if you're not preparing foundation pages, it can be helpful to prepare parts of this project in advance. Organize your supplies, think about what stories you might want to tell, etc.
- Make some things personal to you and your stories. If you're not a Starbucks person, don't feel like you need to go out and create a Starbucks cup page just because lots of people have one.
- You can create this project in any size that you want. It can be the same size you usually work it, it can be bigger, it can be smaller. There are no size restrictions.
- Your pages can all be different from one another. There is no need to tie everything together because you're already tying it all together with the month itself.
- Create some stock photography on days where the lighting is good, the house is clean, and you've got your camera out.
- Plan things out early, map out a few pages that you want to use for special days (or not special days).
- Don't stress about the parts you find tedious. If you don't like those parts, skip them and move on to something else. Just because certain things are prominent in other people's books, doesn't mean they need to be prominent in yours.
- Let this album be in your style. Use the things you like. Create in ways that you find fun. Don't worry about what everyone else is doing, unless you love their style too.
Tracey Fox is a self-proclaimed “scrapbookin’, feminist nerd” living in central Ohio with her husband, three cats, and no kids. She is a director of data analytics by day and a scrapbooker by night (and on weekends), and she documents her introverted adventures with bright colors and lots of photos on every page. Traditional layouts are her jam, but she has been known to dabble in other projects to keep up with all the fun in the scrappy community. Tracey has taught classes and contributed content for Get it Scrapped, Scrap Happy, and The Awesome Ladies Project, and she has served on design teams for Elle's Studio, Paper Issues, Freckled Fawn, Feed Your Craft, and Color Cast Designs. These days, Tracey spends most of her crafty time stashbusting and enjoying annual projects like #scrappychristmasinjuly.
Blog: [traceyfox.com](traceyfox.com)
Instagram: [instagram.com/scrappylikeafox](instagram.com/scrappylikeafox)
Nolana Lynch is a researcher, scrapbooker, social entrepreneur and more. She lives in Brisbane, Australia with her husband Aidan and son, Preston. She loves all things crafty - they bring her so much fun! When she is not working on her next crafty project, you can find her outdoors, enjoying the coastal air, the sound of the waves, hikes and the smell of the fresh Eucalyptus trees. Nolana has a rich past in social justice and environmental issues and is currently doing research on the capacity of Indigenous communities for sustainable livelihoods through native foods.
Instagram: [Instagram.com/nehlan.has.a.plan](Instagram.com/nehlan.has.a.plan)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nolanalynch
Shannan Manton is a digital scrapbooker and designer with a minimalist style. She lives in Sydney Australia with her husband and two teenage kids.
Juli Whetstone is a recovering perfectionist obsessed with purple. You can usually find her scrapbooking, reading, or taking care of her many plants. Through the ALP community she’s learned “my story matters”—even when you’re single & don’t have kids.
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