11/21/2009

Holidays in Hand - Displaying my Prompts

I took a little break from my advent calendar project to get myself caught up on the first few days of the Holidays In Hand course over at jessicasprague.com.  I had been reading the daily newsletters and assignments and of course checking in on the class gallery and forums, but hadn't taken any time at all to actually do any printing, or to get creative.

This is the first of 2 big projects for this course (the second will be the actual album work which will be completed throughout the month of December.)  This piece involves a series of prompts, one for each day of December that are deigned to hang or stand somewhere in your home where you'll see them every day.  The plan is that these prompts will provide you with ideas for capturing the stories of THIS holiday, and also to connect to your stories of holidays past.

Each prompt card includes suggestions for:
  • What to write.
  • What to photograph.
  • What to Do.
  • What to Make.
I had a bit of a hard time deciding exactly how and where I was going to display my prompts, but since I'm in a use what you have on hand and avoid buying more supplies kind of mood, this is what I came up with.  It will be displayed (I think) on the table in my entry way.



The prompt cards were designed by Jessica, and I printed them in the 5.5" size.  Then each card was mounted on coordinating cardstock (I used a green, a red and a light tan).  The album which I had in my stash, is by American Crafts (the D-ring style).  The idea is that each day I will change which prompt is displayed on the front. I just love these little albums, and I loved that for this project it would sit on the table like a wedge because it wasn't completely full.  I opted to go the album route because I wanted to use the page protectors as pockets to store recipes & lists that I might need to complete each prompt.  This would keep everything handy in one place.  The page protectors can also be used to store journaling cards/notes upon which I can record my thoughts temporarily until such time that I can transfer them to the final Holidays in Hand album.

I covered the album with a very festive digital paper by Crystal Wilkerson that she so graciously provided to the Holidays in Hand class for free.  It is also part of her December '09 Paper Collection that can be purchased in Jessica's online store.

Here's a look at the album inside - I created a title page using yet another free digital element - a tag from Liv Estaban's Holidays in Hand tag pack that she designed exclusively for this class.  Just to add a bit of interest, I embossed the green background using a Cuttlebug folder, then added a bookplate & rubons to identify the year.  The 2 fonts are available at dafont.com and they are Inked God and Jane Austen.  I can't take the credit for what I think is are incredibly appropriate font choice as one of my Holidays in Hand classmates studio {k} chose them for her project which was posted in the HIH Gallery.


As a final though, you may recall that I was trying to decide whether or not to complete Ali's December Daily project in addition to this one.....Well, I've decided to just focus on Holidays in Hand this year.  After seeing what all is involved with Jessica's system, there is some overlap in these projects and I'd like to do this one well, as opposed to trying to take on too much all at once.

Until next time.