December Daily 2018 MEGAAA thread

Finally taking a moment to give a more in-depth look of how JYC works for those who are in the fog (understandably so: the project is a little more secretive - likely just less popular on social media - than Ali's DD).

Quick reminder: this is the "original" December album project. You'll see things that will remind you of Ali's DD and that's because Ali was part of the JYC crowd. She ended up picking up the concept, putting a twist on it (document what happened for each day of December although that has come full circle now and Ali's right back where Shimelle started the project: document one story per day, no matter when it happened in December, for the whole month #alittlebitironic) and trademarking it.

Themes and subjects are the same year after year. Prompt PDF files don't change except for the layout and photos but Shimelle's take on them switches up (which is where the real value of this lifetime membership is). In essence, you get the same subjects touched upon BUT you'll notice that as Shimelle's December months go by, life changes (becoming a mother and such), and the world itself evolves, her approach and points of view to look into these recurring themes morph into different types of stories. This is the fun part of JYC.

1. Shimelle's JYC begins on December 1st and runs all the way to January 6. Yep, you'll have the pleasure of doing the actual 12 days of Christmas which end with Epiphany. You can cut off wherever you feel like it in the month. It doesn't matter. This is a project to get your creative juices flowing, not a follow-along (most people who do JYC buy their own product from wherever they want and whichever collections they feel like working with so you'll have far less folks with pages just like the teacher #notjudging #juststating). First prompt is the famous manifesto (sounds familiar, I'm sure).

2. Access to class materials is through Shimelle's forum. When you pay for a class, Shimelle sends an email to welcome you within 24h. If it's your first class, you will be given your username and password. You will be granted access to the locked subforums/subfora (for you Latin lovers out there) of the class(es) you paid for. Simple but not as clean and fancy as Ali's Inked-powered website. You'll find the prompt and video archives for the previous years on there as well.

3. Your dailly PDF file in your email inbox is a file of several pages with quite a bit typed out. If you've taken an Ali class before, you have a good idea of what these files look like. These don't change. They explain the theme, its importance during the holidays, how to start looking into it. For the past couple of years, Shimelle has accompanied the dailly prompts by videos of her album coming together (6x8 for 2017 and 6x12 for 2016). There were some videos for 2014 and 2015 as well but they're a little different in format. These daily videos vary in length but are usually around the 10 to 12-minute mark. As mentioned above, this is where JYC shines and sparks creativity, reflection and desire to get busy with one's December album/journal.

4. Shimelle might have a bit of a funky patchwork accent due to her upbringing in the US and then move to the UK when she was still young (you'll notice a mix of American and British pronounciation which is not at all unusual for someone who has lived that kind of life) but she's pleasant to listen to. No frequent vocal fry/creaky voice, no bad habits in terms of tutting or such, no dancing hands caressing products. She's straightforward and moves immediately into getting down and busy with her daily spread (no time spent cleaning stamps or fussing about which papers to use). You're not going to be wasting any time getting through these every day to get inspired (or just to peep into her album ). She will still have her usual sense of design pedagogy such as explaining other options for placement of embellishments and why these would be less pleasing to the eye, etc. This is really one of Shimelle's strong points (I really don't care my style is so far away from hers because I keep learning when I watch her make pages).

5. An example of how one particular prompt is explored: I'm using this to illustrate the interest of JYC, not to "give away" a prompt (and I'll purposefully choose a not-necessarily-super-appealing one). Consider this your amuse-bouche and possible gateway drug to JYC. Day 2's theme is how we approach counting down time until it's Christmas and whether it has changed over the years (or if it's just our own perception that has changed, to paraphrase Shimelle's own words). In 2016, with her son then reaching an age of being very verbal and communicative, she used this prompt to talk about the Elf on the Shelf in their house as well as her son's "toy shop" setup on their table at home. He apparently liked to play Santa's elf himself and was painting "toys" for Christmas. In 2017, she documented about how she bought her first roll of wrapping paper for Christmas that year and how it made her think of all the wrapping paper she remembers from her childhood (and, specifically, how her grandparents had Muppets wrapping paper for many years which she suspects they bought a huge stock of one year during the post-Christmas sales). This is what I mean by the prompts being different: the actual themes and PDF files don't change but Shimelle's use and illustration of them does. That's the magic!

6. Shimelle uses a mix of products and also some older things from her stash (she brings up stretching your embellishments as well). Last year's album was an old SC handbook from the Seven Paper era. She added scrappy stuff from a variety of lines like Crate Paper's Falala and Pebbles' Merry Merry. This isn't going to feel like a product push campaign (even though she uses some of her own lines and her December stamp set). This isn't going to be about this embellishment going right on that paper. This is really going to be about making you think about Christmas past and present, writing a little about it and getting it in an album.

7. Shimelle takes a couple of days off during these 37 days of documenting + making videos. That's all. She also has a catch-up prompt day. I'd rather give you all the details so you don't feel cheated if you join and realise that she's not making a video on Boxing Day so she can be with her family. Epiphany (January 6) is the final day and you'll get a video with the entire walk-through of her finished album. 

8. This is a solid project with dedication and passion behind it. It's not your flashy in-the-face kind of material. The videos aren't lit like a pro YouTuber (but everything is very clear to see, no worries here). It's motivating and inspiring. It's not the trendiest or prettiest. Shimelle uses her own handwriting which isn't super fancy or on trend like Ali's. She works on the videos daily and often in the evening (artificial light). She doesn't use one line/one kit to keep continuity perfectly through the album (not to worry: she has an amazing eye for colours). I cheerfully call it: "Bah humble!"

I hope this has helped to clarify JYC to anyone trying to decide whether this is right for them or not. #ALLtheChristmasvibes