162 days to go...

Yes folks, 162 days is all you've got until Christmas 2013. In the middle of the hottest summer in the UK for the last seven years, some wintery scrapbook pages are just what you need to cool you down.

This bloghop is the brainchild of the lovely Ruth, who has put together an incredible list of ladies all joining to give you inspiration for those Christmas photos that you still haven't scrapped. You should have come here from Catherine, and after me you need to visit Tasha.

The challenge was to create a project that was Christmas-related. And so I turned to me Christmas 2012 album to see what gaps needed filling. Last year as always, I took part in Journal Your Christmas, this time choosing to mix up project-life style divided page protectors with standard 12x12 pages. It began well...using a mix of photos and journalling cards, I put together several layouts that I really love in my album:

Ah, see that there? That's the first gap. And that point around the 17th of December must have been when I lost my way with the project and everything kind of ground to a halt. It gets worse:

That is a divided page protector with two pockets filled and the rest empty, showing the page behind. Grrrrr. It looks unfinished - it is unfinished, and when I look through my album the story of Christmas is incomplete. So this is as good a time as any to crack on and fill in those gaps. I pulled out the stash of paper I was using for this album, and the envelope of photos that I'd had printed and then put away.

First things first. Sort the photos into the ones I want to use, and then start grouping these together. Most of these pictures are from Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and I'm not worrying about the JYC 'daily' format. Then I got to work putting this in to some kind of order!

(Sorry for the strange colours, the light had gone by this point.)

Photos from Christmas Day morning on the left - the back of the previous insert with lots of gaps. I've been using this alternate photos/journalling block layout throughout so I thought I would continue it. The page on the right is a new insert, using three photos I just couldn't choose between. I wanted to make a bit of an emphasis on 'eat, drink and be merry' so I separated each word from the phrase on to a separate insert. To create some repetition, I punched three hearts to embellish the photos, which also filled in the gaps as for some reason I'd had these printed at 5x3.5 inches so they don't quite fill in the spaces. 

One of the best things about picking up this project after such a break, is that I don't feel guilty about doing cards which are simpler. And yet, these are some of my favourites.

Maybe there's a lesson in this: work quickly and worry less. And it's amazing how having a kit can help my creativity.

Am I finished with my Christmas pages? No! I still have another couple of page protectors' worth to do. But now that I've got my stash out and found a working method, I shall probably carry on and do them all. Hopefully thinking about cold winter days will help me keep cool over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks for sharing my contribution to the Christmas in July bloghop. Your next stop is Tasha. Have fun!