I finished the journal, with that happy but slightly sad things coming to an end but it's been good feeling!
Big thanks to Shimelle and all the folks who've been doing this as well, especially the ladies of the UKS thread! Now if only all the craft stuff would magically tidy itself up ....
The end is nigh now, only one more day to go! The prompt for today was about packing everything up. Well, I didn't put much out as we went away, so only have a couple of candles and some cards to deal with. The artistic challenge was to include something that might otherwise get discarded -so I used the tag that my sister had made and hung round the neck of the adorable Lindt reindeer that was sitting at my dinner place on New Year's Day.
And resisting the temptation to just go and ahead and finish it two days early .....
Hi there and Happy New Year everyone! I was away quite a bit over the holidays so not a lot got done on the journal as a daily event, but had a bit of a catch up last night and have done up to the 30th now, so onwards into the New Year period later today then.... 
This is the title page, I quite like these quick simple los!!
Well, I didn't expect to be not having a lovely dinner with OH tonight as our Christmas celebration before he goes to his folks' ... I thought the flat would be all decorated and we could just relax and enjoy. Well, ho hum. I just haven't been able to shake off this lurgey buggy coughey yeuchy thing, so the flat is a mess, I can't really get interested in cooking anything (though I am trying to eat healthy things, honest), there are no decorations up and to be honest I don't really think I'll bother now cos I'm away on Christmas Eve, and OH is just going to drop in for a quick visit tomorrow morning instead of our nice romantic evening. And you know what? I'm not that bothered really. It's just the way it is this year. As long Mum and I are fine for our lovely relaxing Christmas away then that's fine. OH and I will have a quick catch up tomorrow, and the nice candlelit dinner can get rescheduled for the new year sometime. Now if only I could muster enough energy to just wash the dishes and tidy up! Everything is now bought in and mostly wrapped up, so once the tidy up is done it's just a case of relaxing and getting well...
I can explain! Honest! Well, I wrote a big letter to Santa last year, and felt like something quick and fun this year, so here it is!
Today's prompt was about christmas dinner, which this year is going to be so relaxed, elegant and stress-free in a lovely Highland hotel. So this was a quick page that hopefully conveys some of the atmosphere we'll be enjoying! My OH and I are planning a dinner this Friday, but that one's not planned yet ...
Day 17 and I found it hard to do this prompt as stated - journalling about the perfect present you've got for someone. I'm not sure I get things that perfect! And I find I'm getting a bit uncomfortable focussing on presents a lot. So I wasn't sure what to do, except that I quite fancied trying out these Heidi Swapp star masks, which was fun, and they were so easy to use. The journalling is about what I'm thinking of as my special present this year - time to recuperate properly, get well and rest and recharge the batteries. Having been off work last week with this rotten cold, I'm off til about the 8th January - and though I'm not doing much at the moment other than trying to shake this virus off, I am excited about having this time to chill out. I'm so looking forward to going away to the hotel on Christmas Eve for 3 nights, then chilling out back here then down to my sister's for Hogmanay.
Having a lazy Sunday morning - can't do much else with this cold, though I think I might need to make a foray out to tescos for more tissues - I've just about used the two boxes I got on Thursday... so decided to get today's page up. The prompt was gratitude and I decided just to keep it simple, and was brave enough to do some doodling too!
Day 14 was about Christmas music - so I used this paper which has bits of music in the background as well as tree baubles as well. It's nice to have Christmas music at Christmas, and I usually do some new arrangments each year, so have gradually built up a wee collection! Day 15 was about visitors, which I've turned round slightly as we're going to be guests instead! My mum and I have booked into a lovely hotel for a 3 night Christmas package, which I am so looking forward to. I've had to stay off work this past few days due to a really stinking cold which has set off my asthma, so the thought of some real relaxation time and a chance to get back to full strength sounds heavenly!
Which means I'm up to date! At least til tomorrow ....
Onward with this year's journal then. Day 10 was an easy one - luckily I had already bought my IKEA wrapping paper and tags so that didn't take long, just the addition of a little word fetti sticker about making presents look luscious. Day 11 was about the tree. Well I don't have mine up yet, and don't plan to put it up for a bit yet, and anyway I used a piccie of it last year, so wasn't quite sure what to do. Then I realised I had lots of stickers with trees, and that they kept featuring on paper and so on. So I stuck on lots of trees, then added a tree stamp. Then I didn't know what to write so tried googling for an appropriate verse, but couldn't find one quite right. So I just wrote my own! Well, it works for me...
Okay, so my piccie taking skills are pretty poor, and apparently folks would like to read my wee tree verse so here it is:
CHRISTMAS TREE
A symbol of the season
Of memories and lights
Coloured balls and trinkets
Glittery and bright
A focal point to gaze on
To just enjoy the sight
And feel the peace of Christmas
There for all this night.
THE MANIFESTO 
Thanks to Cherylol for seeing her inspiring day 6 with the Oliver Herford poem 'I heard a bird sing'. I didn't know the poem and was so struck by it that I used it for my day 6 page too. The rest are pretty stratighforward: 1 was to say why you are doing this / 2 was about the weather - as I travel a lot it's a real worry here / 3 was cards - which I've not really thought about yet! / 4 was about your perfect Christmas. Now I had a bit of a problem with that one - I'm not really into shiny materialistic out of a magazine Christmas and I hate all the stress and tension that comes with it so for me a perfect Christmas would be chilled out and relaxed! One day maybe ...
Well I couldn't could I? Not after my parting thought yesterday, so I did indeed tie lots of ribbons onto my Christmas journal, and now it looks a lot happier...
Oh well, better go and tidy up now I suppose...
It's twelfth night, and the end of the journal, *sniff*, I can't quite believe that it's over, or that I've finished on time, season of miracles indeed! This has been a great thing for me to do, both creatively and emotionally, it really has given me back Christmas as a time to enjoy. And that is quite some gift. So huge thanks to Shimelle for this class ... can't wait for the next one.... and also to all the wonderful scrappers I've 'met' on the group and been inpsired by their work both on their blogs and on writtendown.com, and who have helped me along so much with their fun and inspiring comments here. Here's to next year!
We were also asked to take some photos of the finished book, so here goes:
Hhmm, did I say I was finished? Think I'll maybe just go and put some ribbons on the spiral binding ...
I took down all the decorations today, shortly after Gordon picked up Mum to take her home. They come down quick enough, but I hate the actual packin up, wrapping in tissue paper, putting them in their little boxes, then into bigger boxes, and then into the wardrobe in the spare room, to sit in silence, hibernating, and waiting til their time comes round again ...
But once it's done, and all the bits of tinsel and glitter have been hoovered away then the place looks so clean and spacious and white ... ready for the year to begin.
The artistic challenge today was to use something that would have been packed or flung away, so I've used one of the Christmas napkins, and a little tree decoration. I find this such a sad and maudlin thing to do, it's hard to get back into 'normal' mode. And we finish our journals tomorrow, which is both an achievement and kind of sad too....
The end is nigh, and today we had to write down all the things we need to remember for next year - mine unfortunately say quite a lot about me...
Note to self, please remember that:
1. All food eaten at Christmas does still contain calories.
2. Cards will not arrive if they are not posted.
3. Christmas cake is not healthy breakfast food.
4. The things you hid in the cupboards to make the place look tidy will still be there the next time you open up the cupboard.
The prompt today was to focus on one perfect moment, hard to choose as there were quite a few candidates but in the end I settled for the lovely peaceful moment of sitting back in a tidy and decorated flat with all the decs up, with all the memories they hold, lights twinkling on the new (and my first) Christmas tree... a peaceful and perfect moment indeed!
Today's prompt was to focus on innocence, and if you wish to journal your religious feelings about the season. Most of my journalling is hidden on the tag, but the main thoughts are on trying to take the seasonal thoughts of joy and peace on earth and compassion with me through the rest of the year.
So here's to peace and love for the whole of the year and not just Christmas!
Today's prompt was about resolutions and if you make them or not. I do, though like many folk don't seem that good at keeping them, but hey ho another year and a new start! I liked Shimelle's note that you have to write down how you're going to get there and not just do unreachable goals, so I've tried that. So, what have I gone for - well my guess is they'll be pretty familiar to folk : lose weight (cut down, eat more healthily, excerise, walk, swim and gym) / budget better and save some / take better care of me! / a couple of work ones, and two that just about sum it all up: TAKE CONTROL and ORGANISE AND PLAN. Wish me luck!
