The December Journal
The December Journal is here, and it’s lovely. Remember the pile of papers and Christmas ephemera I collected on my desk in December? I turned the whole pile into a December Journal full of Christmas Evidence!
Most of the pages are sewn on the sewing machine and the journal itself is spiral bound.
I’ve got a spiral binding machine (it’s huge and it’s called Renz SRW) and this might be the new thing of the year! More journals like this, it is so fun to make them. I hope this post inspires you to save all your paper ephemera from Christmas (and other events + daily life) and use them in your own books! Or buy a ready made one from me once I put it up in my Etsy Shop! :-)
I love the cover! It’s the Christmas bag from last year from the Swedish pharmacy shop. Can you believe how cute this design is with the blue background, white squirrels and red hearts? Love it! I have had it in my stash for a whole year and I think it makes a perfect cover. I am just gonna keep squirreling away papers and collecting them for “future use”!
Let’s have a look inside my journal now. Inside of the cover and the first “introduction page”:
The right page says: Withholds inspiration. It’s both a journal, a scrapbook and a Christmas Idea Book for future use (I’m hoping).
The first spread is a mix and match collage page (I got the über cute label with a cat that looks just like my Smilla before Christmas from Marcia – thanks my dear friend!) and the magazine pic of an owl ornament (it wasn’t on sale this year either). The right page shows a “To Remember List” of things to remember before Christmas for a good holiday (written on the free and printable recipe card of course).
Left: Reindeer page with a little “Grace” sticker at the bottom (gift from Michelle Ward). And then my Christmas card photo from a few years ago featuring Smilla in a red bow! So glad I had an extra copy left for this journal. Here is a close up:
I just love the silvery “Smilla stickers” from Panduro. The S-marked postage stamp (S for Smilla) was a gift from Sophie T. Perfect for this page!
This is one of my favorite spreads! A bit of journaling (using a white Sakura gel pen) on the inside of a red card from Taiwan (from Inger). And a very white page with a strip of polka dot fabric sewn to the bottom. I just can’t write on this page, I like it as it is.
A frog (because I love frogs!) and another reindeer + a cut apart envelope (the one I got from Marcia). The right page is a thin wrapping paper page, white with polka dots on one side and green on the other side! Yum.
Chip n’ Dale deco tape (from Malin) on the green page and a page made from gold coloured wrapping paper. I sew the Papaya postcard with the text You are a miracle on top of the page! Simple and beautiful. I love it!
More writing. My 2010-icon image with the pink background + flash card (from Paula) with the word generosity to remind me what Christmas is supposed to be about. It’s quite interesting to see all the little bits of very generous blog friends that is showing up on these pages, don’t you agree? I am more than grateful for little gifts of material to play with, it makes the pages a whole lot more interesting & fun! They remind me that generosity is an all year around thing too!
Scrapbook heart paper with a scrapbook label and Happy Birthday wishes to little Jesus. Why not?!
White envelope page waiting for some writing + dancing girl. Pink santas and green scrapbooking papers with pine trees. Love these colours together.
It’s a wrap!
I’m posting this journal as this months crusade contribution because it’s all about Christmas ephemera in a new series of post about Evidence pages (oh, did you see I did Evidence pages on washi tape last year?). So, crusade no 47: It’s a wrap!
BTW: There are so many pages in this journal (most of them waiting for the writing/journaling until next December – but still oh so pretty) that I’m going to show more another day. In the meantime if you haven’t seen it already check out my post on week one of this year, it was all about art journaling bliss!
See you around, crusaders!
Those pages are so fun to look at! I love the Smilla card. And I agree that the white page (with polka dots at the bottom) is pretty just like that. It does not need any writing on it.
Hugs,
Sophie
Wow, that is a wonder to behold! The editor’s notes are pretty cool.
Washi tape is so cool. I found some beiges and whites that I really like.
Hey! Thanks for taking the time to comment again. Jodi, it’s so fun to see you around here. Love the crochet you’ve got going. Too cute!
MissKoolAid, thank you! Sometimes I have a hard time “stopping myself” before adding to much, but clean pages open up for some calmness within all the craziness inside the journal, hehe. :-)
Hi Hanna,
Thanks for the comments on my pages.
Wow, you made the whole journal! Gorgeous!
wowee hanna! what a magnificent spread of pages! love how you record what has passed your way this holiday season and what ideas you are stacking up for next year. so many terrific layers to behold on every page. love it. thanks for sharing this with the team!!
Oh! This is amazing-what a great idea and I love that you have a binding machine, I’ve been wanting one of those. Thanks for sharing this awesome journal!
your december journal is so colorful and festive! thanks for taking us on a tour through the pages. i am so excited now to sort through my own piles of “junk” and get to work.
An amazing fun journal! Envious of your new tools!
wonderful!!! i love this book and you have inspired me to put it on my list for next year, to make my own and jot down xmas memories! great pages, hanna!
Hanna,
Your December journal is stunning! I love the bold colors of the scraps, and the unique nature of your project — it turned out great. :) You’ve inspired me to incorporate my collection of birthday cards (years and years worth) and paper scraps into a new journal – thanks!
Ooh, lovely work! You inspire me (again)!
Wow, overwhelmingly wonderful, Hanna! Thanks for sharing all the details – and I agree about the cover paper!
Hi Hanna,
Love the journal, each page is a delight. I have a binder as well. Just need to put some things together. I was hoping to make journals tihis year. You are so inspiring.
fun fun fun collaging done! really get me back into the christmas mood. nice ideas. i love my coil binder, so cool these binders are.
Beautiful book – what a good idea! You make me feel like starting a monthly journal – how fun would that be to see how much one could collect and recycle within a month… Love your work – always exciting to check what you have been up to…
H?lsa Sverige och alla svenskarna.
Lena
Sorry – gl?mde skriva vem jag ?r…
Lena
I gasped when I saw your journal! Fabulous!
This is wonderful! Thanks for sharing…I am struggling a bit with the concept of evidence pages (read your washi tape entry too!) so hopefully have a better grasp on it now.
I LOVE your pages and I am definately going to attempt a christmas journal next year!!!!
Karen
Had a great time looking through all your pages. How good of you to have a binding machine, nothing can stop you now.
Wow, your december journal is fabulous! Love the look of it and how you are capturing all the tidbits from the season…very cool. I will have to do this next year!
What a bright, energetic and fun journal this is and a great idea to record all through December as it goes by so fast and it is always so hard to remember what actually happened. Hope you have lots of fun with your new binding machine.