JYC Days 2-4

This project is such fun. I love it every year.  My first 3 JYC albums have a quite a 'timeless' feel, mixing elements of Christmas from my past and present. However, this year, using a Smash book has given me a different focus and I am going much more off-prompt to record the minutiae of THIS Christmas. It's quite a special one - with children aged 4 and 9 it is almost certainly the only year they will both be excited by the build up and the magic. Last year M didn't fully understand what it was all about; next year R will probably have stopped believing in Father Christmas.

This calendar page is on the back inside cover so the colour scheme matches the front inside. I stencilled the snowflakes using irridescendant paint and added some glitter and a few gold snowflakes. The calendar is only there temporarily. At the end of the month I'll print off the final version and add a bit more colour.

This time last year, here in the South of England, there was snow deep enough to close the schools and disrupt our exams. This year, I have not yet needed to scrape frost off the car.  In M's short experience 'Nearly Christmas' is synonymous with snow and she doesn't get it when I tell her that in my 40 odd years, I only remember a handful of snowy Decembers.

2011 has been unusually mild, which suits me very well. A dusting of the white stuff on Christmas morning would be magical, but otherwise it can stay away as far as I am concerned!

The butterfly is not very Christmassy, but it fits the theme of mild weather and it matches the glittered alphas I bought for this project (Making Memories) and the doodled shaped on the background. The tickets are by Tim Holtz and I will use them as well to give some coherence throughout the book.


This year, due to various changes in timetable and routine, I have been much more involved in both schools' PTAs than I have since R went up to Junior School. Though I try to limit the amount I volunteer for, I can't resist a Christmas Fayre so I was on the committee for 2 of them. Over the last few weeks I have blown up about 50 balloons, , wrapped 50 Lucky Dip prizes, made hampers and manned 2 stalls, as well as spending money at both fayres. I feel as though I have 'done my bit and I wanted to record it. 

I was organised enough to take pictures of the setting up as well as during the events themselves. I made similar collages for each side of the double page with a mixture of detail shots and portraits of happy children. The bunting was cut from a sheet of Berry Merry paper.

In Church on Sunday 4th FDecember, I realised that I am always very shy of sharing my Christian faith, but that above all else, is what makes Christmas so perfect. It doesn't matter if the gifts are not as lavish as I'd like, or the Christmas tree isn't colour-co-ordinated (more of that later). Christmas is perfect because of Jesus. This page in my Smash Book and the 'Perfection' prompt from Shimelle seemed the Perfect place to record this publically.