Hi, my name is Jamaica and last year, I failed to complete my December Daily album. What, you too?

Despite my best intentions, I didn’t get past the first week in my album. We traveled over the holiday and all the preparations involved in that—making time other family, holiday parties, wrapping things up at work, shipping gifts, etc.—threw me off my game. This year I’m going to be away from home a lot as well. Sometime in December my 2nd nephew will arrive and I plan to spend as much time holding that new baby as I can. Which means I need a really good plan if I’m going to make it past the first week.

As I started thinking about what might or might not work, I came to the conclusion that I need it to be flexible and portable, and most of all, EASY. When the This Day in December cards were released, a lightbulb went off. What could be easier than jotting down a quick note each day on an already printed card? Done.

Printed on heavy white cardstock, all 31 cards make for a stack over a half inch thick. The next challenge was what to do with those cards. Because I want the flexibility to add photos, patterned paper or other bits of holiday ephemera, the pages need to remain loose until the end of the month when I can decide how I want to finish the project. I can either punch a hole at the top and add a giant binder ring, spiral bind the pages together or I just add them to my scrapbook, they are the right size after all. Who knows? The idea of using a folio to hold the cards until the end makes the most sense. It’ll keep them tidy during the month and protect them while I travel.

The folio is made of 3 pieces of chipboard (cover/ spine/cover) spraypainted gold, cream colored bookcloth tape and an elastic band. The inside is lined with my favorite On My Desk paper, Screensaver. It adds a fun pop of color when you open it up.

After adding the pink/red liner, I started to get excited, envisioning what the “pages” will look like with the addition of photos. Eager to try it out, I pulled a few photos from last year and printed a few extra days worth of cards, so I could play around.

Depending on what kind of photos I have and where I am, I can easily do more or less work each day. I can add a photo to the other side of the spread or cover that side (the back of the day previous) with patterned paper. I can add a longer story, snippets of Christmas cards, wrapping paper or ticket stubs. Or, if it’s busy and I don’t have anything to add, all I have to do is jot down a note. If I want to get fancy and have the right kind of photo, I can layer the This Day design right over the top. I can handwrite my notes or use my typewriter if I’m at home. So many options. I’m really hoping with all this flexibility, I won’t have any trouble making it to the end of the month.

Here’s one last shot of the spine and just how thick the little book is with all the cards tucked inside.

Now that I have a plan and all my cards printed out, I can’t wait for December to start!

xo, jamaica

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