On the Agenda!

The winter season would not be complete without trips to the Christmas tree farm or the ice skating rink in Central Park. Holiday chores including shopping, baking, and wrapping presents make for a busy month. With snow on the ground and holiday cheer in the air, there is a great variety of activities you can engage in. So I ask, do you write an agenda to help you keep it all straight? And, furthermore, how do you feel about lifting that agenda and incorporating it right into your next layout?

An agenda essentially lists all of the topics you will highlight at a particular event. These are typically used at business meetings or seminars. But they are also found in our everyday lives. Even if we don’t realize it, we all set agendas as we visualize what will unfold. Think about how many agendas you can create for the entire winter season or for a specific week, day or hour. Imagine the day you are making cookies for the cookie exchange or building a snowman with your kids. Use the steps and even the times to write an agenda that will serve as the basis for your journaling. We often talk about adding interest to your writing and this will most certainly help you accomplish this task.

The gifted artists below used an agenda to record the details of the situation. Reading the list makes you feel like you are a part of event. Check out these stunners!

Christmas Eve To Do by Pamella Brown

Supplies: Paper: Echo Park, BasicGrey, Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Alphabet Stickers: October Afternoon, American Crafts, Tags: Every Jot and Title, Stickers: Echo Park, Ribbon: Fancy Pants, Thread: Coats and Clark, Floss: Bazzill Basics Paper. Tools: Punches: Marvy Uchida, Other: sewing machine, typewriter.

Editor's Notes: Pamella created so much movement by placing her numerals in a staggered fashion. It really leads your eye around the page and draws attention to the journaling. Her bright and stitched frame is a beautiful touch.

Journaling: 1. Make Cookies 2. Leave milk and cookies for Santa (carrots for the reindeer) 3. Open 1 present each 4. Read ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas On Christmas Eve every year, you will find us doing these 4 things, our Christmas Eve traditions.

Dec 21st by Melanie Blackburn

Supplies: Paper, Stickers: Bella Blvd., Cardstock: Bazzill Basics Paper, Chipboard: BasicGrey, Pink Paislee, Alphabet: American Crafts, Alphabet Stickers: Pink Paislee, Pearls: Kaiser Craft, Brads: Bo Bunny, American Crafts, Pins: Making Memories, Ink: Colorbox, Font: Balloon. Tools: Border Punches: Stampin’ Up!, Other: sewing machine, thread.

Design Notes: I added the time the event took place directly on the picture using small Pink Paislee stickers.

Journaling: This year we had an early Christmas celebration because uncle Seb and Mat were going on a trip over the holidays so we planned a full day of fun Christmas activities to enjoy. Our day was so busy that we made sure to organize our activities and allow for ample to enjoy everything we had to do!!! I can't wait for us to do this again, even if all our family is here and there is no need for an early Christmas, we had a blast, this is definitely a new tradition for us!!! 8 a.m.: pancake breakfast, 9-10 a.m.: Christmas movies, 11a.m.: gingerbread house, 12p.m.: lunch with friends, 1- 3 p.m.: cuddle/nap time, 4 p.m.: photo shoot, 5 p.m.: trimming the tree, 6-7 p.m.: Christmas dinner, 8 p.m.: gift exchange. What a fun day we had!

Fa lala Frenzy by Melissa Elsner

Supplies: Paper: BasicGrey, Lily Bee Design, Chipboard: Lily Bee Design, Alphabet: American Crafts, Alphabet Stickers: Making Memories, Buttons: Nikki Sivils Scrapbooker, Brads: Pink Paislee, Pen: Zig Memory System (Kuretake), Other: thread. Tools: Electronic Cutter: Silhouette SD, Punch: Fiskars, Other: sewing machine.

Design Notes: I used the ledger paper from Basic Grey as the background because it helped contribute to the theme of keeping an agenda or recording a schedule. I partially adhered the musical notes so that part of them would pop up to get texture and dimension.

Journaling: The typical Christmas choir agenda: 1 October - Choir rehearsals & auditions begin. 2 November - Rehearsals cont. once a week. Weekend performances amid all the other hullabaloo. 3 Get a cold. 4 Miraculously get over cold night before Christmas performance.