Packing away Christmas!

Sometimes you just have to admit defeat and decide that your priorities are just that, priorities.  We can't always do everything we want to do in the time that we have.  If you've seen any of the WOYWW pictures of my desk then you will have seen the baskets devoted to Journal Your Christmas that have sat there since the beginning of December.  I got a bit behind and then never managed to catch up, like you do, but I kept saying that I would.  I'd promise myself that I'd just finish this layout or that thing, but then something else would come up that I wanted to do first and now here we are in May and I haven't touched those baskets other than to take something out to use some place else.  That basket of loveliness had become like my basket of ironing in that I was finding something else I'd rather do all the time.  The fact that I had compared my scrapbooking to an overflowing pile of crumpled laundry was like a slap in the face with a wet kipper.  It should not be allowed to happen.  I had a little chat with myself about what was important and of course it is my mental state.  I had to admit that the pressure to finish it was overriding the joy of taking part and it had become a chore and not enjoyable which completed defeated the point.  I am disappointed that I didn't even get to Christmas Day but this coming Christmas I won't have any courses on so I WILL get further.  Shimelle would be chewing on her American Crafts pen to know that I have got myself into a knot about finishing because that is SO not what her classes are all about.  I really liked all the pages I did complete though, which is a rarity!

So, all is not lost.  I enjoyed what I did and I developed my crafting a bit more and of course I have loads of stash left over.  And more importantly I have an album of memories to keep forever.  Here are the last 3 pages that I only just got around to photographing.

13th December - rubbish photos but sometimes you gotta work with what you have to preserve the memory right?  L's school had a lantern parade and sang at the local shopping centre and it was really wonderful.

14th December - One benefit to doing some of the pages after Christmas is that I was able to include photos of this Christmas on prompts that came before the big day.  I left my camera in the car overnight so it was full of condensation hence the misty shot.

8th December - Again, not the best photos but I know what they are and that's all that matters!  I really liked the way the stamped title worked out and I really need to do more of this.

The sights of Christmas for me this year were the poinsettias that I buy (and shortly after kill) every year, the new people across the road and their amazing light display, and the chestnut vendor in Winchester centre.

I love this paper - its by Stephanie Dyment for Papermania and the range included pinks, blacks and lime greens alongside the more traditional colours.

This is part of my album with the Notes page.. ahem... empty.  What I had intended to do was really concentrate on the journalling aspect and I didn't want to crowd my pages or feel like I couldn't tell the bigger stories so I made these notes pages to interleave with the page protectors.  I didn't complete any but I want to try and do this again next Christmas as the idea was a good one I think!  (In theory!)

So there we have it.  My desk is almost clear.  Ready to try and create my name badge for Scrap-a-Mia next week!  I can't wait and yet I am a little nervous too.  Any ideas on what I can do with embossing foil for my name badge???

Bye for now xx