Today we welcome our November guest, Meg Gundlach, back to the Elle’s Studio blog for her final post with us. She is sharing a beautiful new pocket page spread with us, and her take on how she is tackling a new December memory-keeping project: one that goes back a few years! We know you will love not only how she recorded it, but her simple and stress-free frame of mind for this busy time of the year!
The scrapbook world is in full holiday mode! The phenomena of documenting your December in a specific album continues to grow every year and I’m certainly not immune to the allure of new holly jolly products. Even though I feel like my celebrations are perfectly well documented in my weekly pocket pages, I was really drawn to the idea of a special scrapbook that comes out at Christmas to reminisce about past holidays. In that spirit, I started an album in 2013 with the objective of making a couple pages a year to hold only seasonal memories, and today I’m sharing a new spread that I created using the merry November 2019 Kit and add-ons!
I originally intended to start the album in 2006, the year I moved to the United Kingdom and met my partner. Despite the fact that I’ve not yet completed those years, collecting the photos and memories together was so much fun I decided to roll it back to my first Christmas in 1984! The ‘early years’ volume will likely have only one page (front and back) per year, allowing the 22 years to fit in one album. Because these holidays are pre-digital, I’ve been slowly collecting, organizing, scanning, and printing photos for this ongoing project. I have no expectation that this album will be completed anytime soon, but I’m really enjoying the process. An added bonus is that I get to draw my mom into this project for assistance in identifying pictures and details. Family bonding win!
One of the things that most draws me to December documenting is that the albums lend themselves to trying out new or creative techniques. Even though my album is a much more condensed version I still take the opportunity to find inspiration and play. As soon as I saw the Fa La La Wood Confetti in the November release, I knew I had to make a shaker pocket and the 1986 page seemed as good as any to jump into this project. Because the words have a natural order and I am OCD, I split the elements into segments.
I am definitely guilty of not using my big toys often enough so I made a point of pulling out my Silhouette digital die cutting machine to use with the November Cut Files. Because my title card is simply the year, I decided to cut a forest of vellum trees to add some interest and bulk to the label. You may also spot some leftover trees tucked behind the ‘cousins’ Christmas Die Cut Label on the rear of the page.
The very nature of this album dictates some of the same elements appear year after year and I am totally embracing that. In addition to the obvious inclusion of the year, each page also notes my age (as a child) and the location where Christmas was spent. Pages for more recent years include photos of new ornaments and intentional bits of ephemera: our card, favorite wrapping papers, packaging, etc.
There are so many awesome December project types to choose from these days and it can feel overwhelming to complete it in real time each year. By adapting a concept that appealed to me into an achievable format, I am allowing myself to participate without the additional stress. Plus, I get to keep adding to my Christmas product stash—it’s the best time of the year!
Supplies | November 2019 Kit, November 2019 Cut Files, Christmas Die Cut Labels, Tiny Holiday Label Stickers, Holiday Puffy Stickers, Christmas Multi Color Puffy Alphabet Stickers, Fa La La Wood Confetti, Say Cheese Stamp, Jane Alphabet Stamp
Hi! I’m Meg but you may know me better online as TravelScrapSleepRepeat. Born and raised in Wisconsin, I moved to the United Kingdom in 2006 for grad school and have been roaming ever since. Shortly after arriving in Wales I met my partner Ken and since we both work in archeology/cultural fields, we have the opportunity to travel a lot. In between these adventures I print my photos and play with pretty things. I will never be ‘caught up’ and I’m totally cool with that—always chasing the next experience!
Thank you so much for inspiring us with your pocket pages this month using the November 2019 Kit and add-ons, Meg! It has been such a pleasure to have you use ES products on your beautiful, colorful pages! Be sure to share how Meg has inspired you—post your project on Instagram using Elle’s Studio November goodies with the hashtag #EllesStudio!
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