December Daily 2020 | Restarting An Album Project
Hello friends and welcome back to December Daily 2020! A few days ago I shared Days 8 through 11 in my album, and today we are going to reevaluate where I am and how to move forward. This album was my 11th year participating in this project, and there were many years that I finished my album in January. There have also been a few years that I put it away until summer. And then there was last year, where I put it away and haven’t really even looked at it until September! Time is magic, and picking the album back up feels good again. But first I had to walk through the album and refresh my memory of what I had already completed, and what was remaining. If you’d like to see how this album has come together, so far, check out this link: December Daily 2020.
Follow along with me in this video below.
I totally get how it can feel overwhelming to pick an album back up after a few months – or years. First getting past the guilt of not having finished already, which is baseless because there really is no time limit! Then trying to figure out how to jump back in is a whole new challenge! So let’s break it into steps like this:
- Walk through the album as it is right now. Don’t worry about product, don’t think about photos or placement or anything, just flip through it and sit with those memories for a few minutes. Give yourself time to smile and feel better about that event or time period, to remember the good times and to remember why you wanted to do this project to begin with. For December Daily, my goal is to be able to remind myself that we had so many wonderful memories. Even when there were hard times, we still celebrated, hugged, baked cookies, had dinners together, and opened amazing gifts together. And as I held that album in my hands, those warm fuzzy feelings returned.
- Make a list starting with the layouts/days you have accomplished. If you’ve skipped around, leave blank spaces for the next step.
- Go through your photo folder on your computer and assign photos for each day you have left. At this point I typically don’t even worry if it’s exactly the day of, or chronological, unless it’s someone’s birthday or a major event that everyone will remember what day it was on. The list you made? Now you can add what photos you have assigned.
- Print your photos. If you are using templates, go ahead and build those and print those too. This may take a few hours or a few days, especially if you have to do a little bit at a time.
- Once everything is printed, place the photos in your album where they belong. Go ahead and slide them into the pockets. Cut apart your prints, if they are collaged. Have them ready to put into your layouts.
Now you are all set for all the fun of putting your album together! And that is what I will be doing with my album over the next few weeks too. All of my photos are printed and in place, now I can go through day by day and add journaling, embellishments, and all the fun details to make this album complete. I hope this is helpful to you as you work towards completing your own albums! See you back here again soon!
~Theresa