DYD Basics/Getting Started | Document Your December 2020

Happy Holiday Season to you all!

Whether you’re brand new to DYD or have been making books for years, now is the time to start making decisions on what you would like your project to look like. So where to start? I honestly don’t know… lol!... I tried to prioritize the list, and came up with what’s below. But it, by no means, has to be done in this order.

What story do I want to tell?

There are so many different ways to do DYD. I like that we use DYD here at The Lilypad vs. terminology that references a daily project. It opens it up so much more to interpretation when you remove that label. So some starting questions would be, do I want to do a daily project or am I just documenting things related to the holidays?

For me, I’ve broadened my project a bit more by calling mine Stories of Christmas. This allows me to start my pages in November as some holiday events happen early. My book is limited to only holiday related pages but I do make a page a day for December 1st - 25th. If we have nothing holiday related on a day, I will use that day to document things that are not defined by time… like new ornaments, neighborhood decorations, favorite songs, etc. For more ideas about what story you might like to tell with your project, check out Lori’s post here.

What size would I like my project to be and how will I print it (if printing)?

Determining your size and how you would like to print it will allow you to get a jump on choosing product and creating foundation pages (see Farrah’s post here for more information). Once you’ve determined the story you want to tell, you can start thinking about how much room you will need to tell that story. Journaling heavy pages, may need to be printed bigger so the print is legible. Photo centric ones have many options, but have the option to print smaller. My DYD one year was just a single photo each day with a caption, printed as 3x4s and slipped into a 6x8 Sn@p album. One year was a journaling heavy 8x8 album, but to accommodate my journaling I had a photo/layout on one side and journaling by itself on the facing page.

There are so many options for sizes, so take this time to look at the options on your favorite printing sites or at albums at the craft store to see what appeals to you. Also, check out Jan's DYD book showcase thread for some great examples.

How cohesive do I want my project to look and how do I want to achieve that?

There are many ways to create cohesion in your album...

One way is with how you set up your album. Like I mentioned before, one year I had journaling on one side and a photo/layout on the other. That gave a consistent look to my whole project. The past couple of years, I have made pocket pages for my entire album.

Another way is through product. For example you could pick this year’s DYD collection and use mainly those products. The coordinating products will give a cohesive look to your project. Another example would be to pick a template set and use it throughout your entire album.

One more way is through style. Do you like minimalist scrapping, do you like flat graphic style, do you like art journaling, do you like clusters and lots of embellishments? There are so many different styles to choose from and picking one for your album can tie your pages together.

This is far from a comprehensive list of things you could consider while planning your DYD project, but I hope it’s enough to start getting the wheels turning! I’m sharing my plan for this year below… I would love to hear your plan and be sure and ask any questions if you have them!

 

After many years of 8x8 albums, I have the itch to try a 5x8 trade book from Blurb. I’ve been doing my gratitude album as 5x8, so I’m getting practice with that size (hardest thing to adapt to so far is taking photos so my subject fits on the page the way I want it to). I will continue my usual plan of including any Christmas related activities in November and starting a “daily” project with December 1st. Since I no longer do project life, I have considered doing a true daily DYD, including whatever actually happened on that day regardless of whether or not it was holiday related, but I do enjoy being pushed to find something Christmas to document each day, so that’s what I’ll probably end up doing. I think for cohesion, my plan is to have a two page spread for each day, full page photo on one side with journaling/additional photos on the facing page.

 

Will do! I'm excited to see one in person!

 

My suggestion is the cover and the title page to start. I print my books through shutterfly and I cannot tell you the number of times I have missed a sale because I have left those two things until last... lol! Also, I find doing my cover first helps me set the design tone for my whole book. You can also start making foundation pages, if that's something that interests you.

 

YAY! I'm glad you're back for another year of DYD! I did pocket pages for DYD the past two years (I did mine as a faux 6x8 album in an 8x8 Shutterfly book). I loved making those pages, they were so quick to put together.

 

My plan is to branch out with a new size this year, but I just adore my uniform little stack of 8x8 DYD books... it's going to be tough to break from that!

Oh! That's a great idea! I'll have to keep that in mind. Are you pulling out old photos for these pages or will they be all journaling?

 

When I started DYD, I was also doing Project Life so I kept DYD all Christmas to differentiate the two projects... but now that I've stopped PL, I'm thinking about this approach as well. I love that you've been doing this project several years now... and it's fun that they're all in the same album!

 

I love the look of your little books! I'm glad you're keeping those going again this year! Do you display books from previous years somehow at Christmas time?

 

Sorry that I didn't respond right away! I see that you found Lori's post with prompts and Jan's post has some as well. Excited that you're trying DYD this year, it is probably my favorite project each year!

 

They look so cute in that basket! I'm trying to figure out a way to display my books this year.