Until Next Year...

OK so it's a little on the late side but better late than never right. I have finally finished my JYC 2010 album! Can I get a whoop whoop? ;o) I have to confess (eek, should I?!) I have a strange love/hate relationship with mini books. I love the idea, I love that you can dig out some co-ordinating stash, make a huge dent in it and not waste time digging through moutains of scrapbooking supplies. But... I find myself getting really bored before I've finished :o( I lose interest and cannot wait to start my next project so rush to put an end to my mini adventure (OMG, did I just admit that?!) Anyway here is my take on JYC 2010...


I used a packet of 4x6 AC page protectors (inspired by Laura's Paris Mini Book), Sharon Ann's Christmas Magic collection by LYB, some very old Making Memories metal charms, the flowers are Glittered Dahlia's - Jolly Christmas by Petaloo, and a some bits and pieces from Jolly and Bright by Heidi Grace.

The photo is of our Yankee Candle Snowman Family tart burner. We bought him on honeymoon in the Yankee Candle Shop in the Florida Mall {heart}. I love that this depicts our little family as we are now, Mummy, Daddy and wee man :)

And here is the wee man opening his first 'door' on his advent calendar. This was a hugh deal this year as it was the first year Jack was able to eat chocolate at Christmas and it's the first time he's been able to understand the concept of an advent calendar although I don't think he really 'got it' but he knew there would be something waiting for him in the little pocket of his Santa everyday.

I know I wasn't the only one to see some white stuff this year. This is our backgarden in all its snowy glory.

What can I say. I love my Christmas tree. It's not an expensive tree, it's plastic and at the grand old age of 7 it is starting to look at little worse for wear but almost every decoration has a story to tell. All the non-discript red and gold baubles were bought in 2003 when we bought the tree and could only afford the basics. All our honeymoon ornaments bought at Walt Disney World in 2007 are there. All the ornaments we bought on our first trip to Orlando in 2005 are there too. There are ornaments from our friends. Baubles we were given at a friends wedding that were used a place settings with our names on from 2005. The Spaceform ornament that we were given on our first wedding anniversary, ornaments with Jack's name on, baby's first Christmas ornaments from 2008. I love putting the tree up and reliving each and every one of those memories.

This is Jack's Christmas wish list, I made it up as he's too little to make a list but if he could this is what I think he would have asked for. Funnily enough Santa brought everything on the list.

We have a lot of Disney Christmas decorations. We're huge Disney fans and spent our honeymoon there in December 2007. For me Disney and Christmas go hand in hand = magic. All our Disney decorations remind me that Disney is truely a wonderful place to be especially at Christmas.

This was Jack's first time meeting Santa and he wasn't too sure about him. I think his face in this photo says it all. He happily shouted 'bye Santa' all the way out of the grotto though!

No actual gifts under the tree for fear of little 2 year old hands helping themselves to them :o)

He's been! Our livingroom after Santa had been.

I'm not sure what I'll do next year. I'm sure I'll want to join in again but maybe not a mini book... until next year... thanks for stopping by Kxx

My Manifesto for the JYC Project

As I started to put ink to paper a manifesto for this project (not the theme of this project) started to form in my mind.

I am not going to be bogged down deciding which supplies to use. I will not wait until I have just the right shade of ink before starting my project. I am using Sharon Ann's Christmas Magic collection by LYB and that's an end to the matter. And I'll use the ink I have to hand and to be honest the one and only shade of green that I have isn't a bad match.

I'll pick a format and stick to it. I'm not waiting until I have all my photos. I am using a packet of 4x6 AC page protectors (inspired by Laura's Paris Mini Book) and that's that. I'm going to have one page for journalling and one page for photos, therefore the photos can be added at the end or whenever.

This project is going to be doable. This is a project that I am going to finish.

And to that end, I have a plan, I have my mojo and I have a front cover! Thanks to Shimelle for an inspiring, kick in the bottom first prompt yesterday. For anyone who is swithering whether to take this class or not I say GO FOR IT!! I cannot wait to get started on page two and all of a sudden a project that I have wanted to do for so long but feared at the same time seems doable but much more importantly, enjoyable too.