December Memories Album: Driving On

It's crisp here today, and bright, and it's starting to feel more than a little like Christmas might be nearly upon us. We're hoping to put up our tree tomorrow: hurray! It's the scent I look forward to so much: that first hit as we drive home with the tree in the boot of the car.  There's just one thing I have to do before we can get decorating..

and it was gently pointed out to me last night that I'd need to set aside quite a bit of time in which to do it. And soon. The problem? All my December album supplies are spread out on the floor directly beneath the hatch into the attic. And of course we need to get into the attic to find the tree decorations.  If the ladder comes down now, though... 

So I'll be tidying this afternoon. Not putting it away, you understand: it'll be more of a relocation exercise. Where? Your guess is as good as mine. Room for a little one, anyone?

I've been enjoying this album. It's the first time I've used cards and a Snap Binder like this; and you know, I think I'm going to find it hard to stop. I might have to get another one, maybe for the holidays?

Here are my latest pages. The first is a "remembering" spread, about this weekend last year, when we held a fundraising coffee morning. The second

includes the Planner Pages I have turned into a diary, and a note about our Learner Driver taking and passing her Driving Theory Test yesterday. Onwards, then, and upwards! She'll have to think about applying for the rest of the test soon.

Filling in last weekend here:

Most of my photos I've been taking on my phone and printing out two onto one 6x4 canvas with my selphy printer. But I realised I needed to mix it up a bit too; so Big Robin was pressed into service. He usually makes an appearance round about this time of year! I added his words straight onto my photo with picmonkey and did the same thing again with this older photo:

the "making and baking" stamp is from the Gossamer Blue kit

She liked to bake then and she still likes to bake now: this week she iced cookies with a musical theme for her Music Society party. Christmas music! That'll be next. After the tidy up. Or maybe before. I bet I could fit in a quick story before I start...

My December Memories Album: Come On In!

It's about a week, now, since I spotted the sign. It was blu tacked to the inside of a shop window, nothing fancy, not even nicely lettered; but it has stayed on my mind because it sounded just so ..real.

Come on In! it said. We are rocking December in here!

And as I have a few of the first of my December pages to show today, I thought I'd invite you to do the same. Come on in!

I didn't make an album last year, nor the year before. I made some pages, but not a book. This year I felt I had to do something. Our girl - that Christmas lover who in my first December's blogging was little enough to be known as The Small One -  is halfway through her last year at school. These days aren't going to come round again. I had to make a record. I'm going to fill in as much as I can now; but I'm leaving space, too, for her own words, later, after I give it to her on Christmas morning. And so, it starts like this...

The Gossamer Blue December Memories kit I'm using has a mix of Life Pages style cards and Planner pages. The Planner pages? I'm filling them in as a diary, all the while keeping in mind what I'd  like to know now, if I had an album from my last year at school. What was for dinner? What was the main event at school every day? What did things cost?

One of my Christmas cards tucked into a pocket. And a younger Fair family..

But in between I'm adding pages with stories from Christmas in her past: right from the beginning, when she wore a pink wool coat with a matching bonnet. We've been talking in the afternoons, when she gets in from school, about what we each remember

At a special graduation: her first Christmas in pink coat and bonnet

and then I've been racing upstairs to write it down while she's working.

And when we take a break, and do something festive, I add a page about that, too:

How to make bark: though she's unlikely to forget..

These are most of the first week's pages. You can see some of the Planner peeking through above: there are two photos of our Learner Driver to go into that pocket. I'm waiting for a fresh delivery of ink and photo paper to arrive (but at least I have some of our peppermint bark to munch on as I listen for the door). Then I'll be off, printing the next batch of pictures. Week Two? I'm thinking about Christmas clothes down the years. Oh, and I'm hoping we'll have our tree up by Saturday. More soon!