Ali Edwards's Blog, page 105

December Daily® 2020 | Story Seven

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2020 | Story Seven.

Today's story uses the prompt "December is..." It's a simple way to organize thoughts you might have in your head + heart about what December means to you. I loved creating a full page stamped background (and continuing that on the backside of the die cut). 

Let's start with the process video:

Here's a look at my page via images: 

In Product Play 4 I set up this Decemeber Die Cut (physical version sold out / digital version available here) as one of my foundation pages and played with paint + a star stencil + texture paste. This die cut is generic enough that it can be used to support all kinds of different stories in your project. I decided to pair it with the prompt "December is..."

To begin my storytelling I started with a 6x8 piece of white cardstock. On top of that I used the December Daily® 6x8 Alpha Stamp Set + Pendleton Ink to stamp/create a full page background. For my background I stamped out "December is" and one or two other words and then added my longer journaling to a simple white background card. I cut out a pocket from a page protector + adhered it to my stamped background using red line tape. A couple chipboard stars and one of the rectangle pleather pieces from the Main Kit finish off this page. 

On the back of the die cut "December" I used St. Helens ink to repeat stamp "December" to create a pattern/texture similar to the main page. 

Along the edge of my stamped page I stitched one of the December Daily® Half-Circle Fabric Phrases. I love how it looks both behind the stencil page and how the stitching turned out. 

As I sat at my computer and typed up my journaling I felt a little like I was writing a poem. I love the simplicity of starting each sentence with "December is..." and seeing what comes out of my head and heart as I'm writing. For this one I wanted to include both the awesome + the challenging pieces. 

Before settling on the plain white background for my journaling I played around with printing on top of the "stamped-off" (how I clean stamps sometimes) pattern/texture and on a leftover Gelli plate print I made for the Product Play 4 workshop. There isn't a right or a wrong - it's just fun to try some things out and see which one feels best in the moment. 

My stamped off pattern before running it through the printer. 

I also did end up adding a photo to the back of my journaling card. I had a close up of one of my poinsettias and used that for today. You can always include longer journaling on the back or pattern paper or just leave it blank. 

SPECIFIC SUPPLIES
December Daily® Main Kit December Daily® Die Cut Page Shapes (digital version here) December Daily® Chipboard Sheet Bundle December Daily® Alpha Stamps AED Pendleton Ink (red) AED St. Helens Ink December Daily® Tab Sticker Sheet (similar) December Daily® Half-Circle Fabric Phrases 4x6 Stamp Block Tim Holtz Star Stencil Titan Green Pale Acrylic Paint Texture PasteBASIC SUPPLIES USED IN MANY PROJECTS
Tiny Attacher Stapler Fiskars Trimmer Avery Index Tabs Scotch Rolling Adhesive AE Circle Stamp Block  Epson PictureMate PM400 Printer (5x7 and smaller) Epson XP 15000 Printer (up to 13x19) Black StazOn Ink We R Memory Keepers Punch 6 Hole Punch Silhouette Cameo 4 Red Line Adhesive Versamark Embossing Ink Snappy Tray Heat GunSHARE YOUR STORY #7

You are invited to leave a link in the comment section if you'd like to share your daily pages. As usual, please include a direct link to your blog post sharing your Day 7 vs. a general blog address link.

December Daily® 2020 | Story Six

Welcome to
December Daily® 2020 | Story Six.

Today's story was sparked by a text message from my parents as they decorated their tree for the 50th time during their marriage. 50 years + 500 lights were the words my Mom used and it felt like the perfect thing to add to this year's album.  

Let's start with the process video:

Now let's take a look at the project via photos: 

For today's story I decided to print the photo of my Dad + the tree at 5 inches x 7 inches (this is the biggest size I print on my 
Epson PictureMate PM400). I knew I wanted to use the phrase "50 years + 500 lights" and decided to use my Silhouette machine to cut that out. Font is Bebas (ampersand is Sentinel). 

My initial idea was to turn this photo into a flip-up photo with journaling underneath the bottom half of the photo but that became a little complicated with my 
Silhouette cut so I changed my mind and decided to print a family photo from Christmas 1980 and pair that with my journaling on the back. 

On top of the first photo I added a 
Christmas Token and a number token along with a glass star. I also added green embroidery thread through those holes to look like they are stitched in place (really I just adhered them to the photo). 

When I created the Silhouette cut I anchored the text to a bar along the bottom (in my design) so it would have a tab for me to adhere behind the photo. I used 
red line tape to adhere the title between the two photos. 

On top of my text title I used 
gold glitter embossing powder and then added a layer of Distress Glitter on top for fun. If you participated in the Prep Day (still available to grab the content) you saw a quick lesson from Tim Holtz showing how he used the glitter + glitter duster to add a little texture to plain journal cards. I knew I wanted to try that out at some point this month. 

I set this page up in Photoshop after taking a photo of this photo from one of my family albums and then printed the whole page on photo paper. 

Holes were punch using the 
We R Memory Keeper's punch. 

Love adding in a past photo to go along with present day stories. 

SPECIFIC SUPPLIES

Tim Holtz Distress Glitter Clear Rock Candy 
Gold Glitter Embossing Powder
Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz Glitter Duster
Tim Holtz/Tonic Studios Glass Mat
Tim Holtz Distress Collage Medium
Versamark Embossing Ink
Snappy Tray (similar)
Heat Gun
Tim Holtz Large Christmas Tokens
Tim Holtz Metal Number Tokens
Tim Holtz Dimensional StarsBASIC SUPPLIES USED IN MANY PROJECTS

Tiny Attacher Stapler
Fiskars Trimmer
Avery Index Tabs
Scotch Rolling Adhesive
AE Circle Stamp Block 
Epson PictureMate PM400 Printer (5x7 and smaller)
Epson XP 15000 Printer (up to 13x19)
Black StazOn Ink
We R Memory Keepers Punch
6 Hole Punch
Silhouette Cameo 4
Red Line AdhesiveSHARE YOUR STORY #6

You are invited to leave a link in the comment section if you'd like to share your daily pages. As usual, please include a direct link to your blog post sharing your Day 6 vs. a general blog address link.

December Daily® 2020 | Story Five

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2020 | Story Five.

Today's story is about making some magic + a slumber party in front of the tree in our living room. I had a ton of fun playing around with printing a photo + journaling on 
vellum and adding it into my album alongside a shaker pocket page I started in Product Play 4. 

Let's start with the process video: 

Now let's take a look at some images of the finished page: 

Today's page includes a 3x8 image adhered to the back of 
Story Four and a fold-out vellum print that's attached to my shaker pocket page. 

The photo of the cat in front of the tree was printed in black + white and is related to the story I'm telling today about our living room slumber party (it was taken earlier in the evening). 

On top of the 3x8 photo I added a gold star from the Main Kit and a word phrase sticker. 

For this page I knew I wanted to attach something to the original shaker pocket page. As I thought through options one of the things I decided to try was printing a photo + journaling on 
printable ink jet vellum and folding it in half. You could also easily just print something half the size if you wanted to not have a folding element or print on photo paper and cover the back with pattern paper. My vellum page measures 5 inches x 8.25 inches with an extra 1/2 inch left along the edge that is adhered inside my original shaker pocket page (check out the video to see how I adhered it together). 

Before printing on vellum I added word art x 3 to my photo and adjusted the opacity of each word art set in Photoshop in order to get the ombre effect. The first one was about 60%, then 45%, and the third one was around 20%. I've included the word art for you to download below. 

Download the "magic is something you make" word art here.

On the back side of the vellum I added two strips of star transparency (each one measured 2.5 inches x 8.25 inches). I did this rather than trying to fold the transparency. I both stapled and used a little bit of adhesive to hold those transparent strips in place. I love how the stars come up through the back of the vellum. To hold the folded portion down in my album I used a
Tim Holtz Game Spinner. I also added a "twinkle" tab sticker to the bottom of the fold out. 

This was really a fun one to play around with today! Hope you have a great weekend! 

SUPPLIES
2020 December Daily® Main Kit: gold stars (digital version available here) 2020 December Daily® White Puffy Numbers Inkjet Printable Vellum Tim Holtz Game Spinner Star Transparency 2020 December Daily® Tab Stickers Magic Is Something We Make Free Word Art (available in this blog post) 2020 December Daily® Phrase Sticker Sheet Bundle  2020 December Daily® Transparent Journal Card Set Laser Jet TransparencyBASIC SUPPLIES USED IN MANY PROJECTS
Tiny Attacher Stapler Fiskars Trimmer Avery Index Tabs Scotch Rolling Adhesive AE Circle Stamp Block  Epson PictureMate PM400 Printer (5x7 and smaller) Epson XP 15000 Printer (up to 13x19) Black StazOn InkSHARE YOUR STORY #5

You are invited to leave a link in the comment section if you'd like to share your daily pages. As usual, please include a direct link to your blog post sharing your Day 5 vs. a general blog address link.

December Daily® 2020 | Story Four

Welcome to December Daily® 2020 | Story Four.

A couple things to think related to this project today: 

My goal is not to tell every story of our family in December - that would just be way too much. All these one-per-day stories come together in my album to give a glimpse into our life at this point in time. One story per day helps keep this project manageable for me.  Look for the stories. Looking for a story as you go about your day is an activity. When you know you just need/want one story it almost becomes a little game to identify which one you want to tell today. It might be really simple. It might be fact-based or feeling-based or some of both. It might be directly related to Christmas or it might be more of an everyday life kind of story. All are welcome in this project.  The story you choose to tell does not have to be "technically" from today. Don't get caught up in thinking that one-story-per-day has to be directly related to the actual day something happened. I promise you that years from now (or even next year) no one will care that something happened last week + you are telling that story today. 

Here's a process video for how this came together (original foundation page was part of December Daily® Product Play 4):

Now let's take a closer look: 

Today's story starts with the cookies + ends with gratitude. 

I took a flat-lay photo of the 2.5 cookies remaining that a friend dropped off on our porch a couple days ago and cropped that image to fit the back of the pocket from Story Three. 

The cookie photo was paired with a page that includes 1/2 decoration (3x8 transparency with transparent circles on top) + 1/2 journaling. I printed my journaling on printable vellum and added it on top of the journaling card. To finish it off I added the #4 chipboard from the Main Kit. 

An enamel heart from the Main Kit was adhered to the center of one of the cookies. 

Hope you have a nice weekend. Find some magic to make! 

SUPPLIES
Printable Ink Jet Vellum We R Memory Keepers Punch 2020 December Daily® Main Kit (chipboard words, metal heart, chipboard number, 3x4 cards) 2020 December Daily® Transparent Circles (digital version available here) 2020 December Daily® 3x8 Transparency + Journal Card Set (digital available here) Brother Sewing MachineSHARE YOUR STORY #4

You are invited to leave a link in the comment section if you'd like to share your daily pages. As usual, please include a direct link to your blog post sharing your Day 3 vs. a general blog address link.

December Daily® 2020 | Story Three

Welcome to December Daily® 2020 | Story Three. 

Today's story focuses on our Advent calendars + embracing the evolution of our holidays. It's fairly simple which is one of the things I love about December Daily® - there is room for all kinds of stories and approaches in this project. Some days I have a lot of journaling + some days there is a lot less. Some days I use multiple photos, some days I use one, and some days I don't add any photos. Some days are super crafty and on + other days I just fill in the pockets. 

Remember, it's really not any one day that's the most special. It's the totality of all the stories coming together that is most magical.  

Let's start with the process video: 

Here's a closer look: 

Story Three includes a full page photo (7 inches x 8.25 inches) adhered to the back of the full page photo from Story Two. I took this photo by laying out the Advent calendars on our kitchen table and standing on a chair to take a top-down photo. On top of the printed photo I added one of the pleather rectangles from the Main Kit. 

I paired my full page photo with one of the kraft pockets from the Main Kit + one of the 3x8 journaling tags (digital version available here). 

In my video today I showed a little more about how I print directly onto tags like this. On top of the tag I added some green ribbon (stapled) and used a couple different washi tapes. The washi tapes got added because when I accidentally printed on my tag without removing the lines from my 3x4 journal box first (you'll see more about that in the video). 

I also added an Avery Index Tab along the outside edge of the pocket page and used a past December Daily® stamp for the sentiment. 

Totally love the Tim Holtz Christmas Label Tape. I added that to the bottom and layered a couple other washi tapes along the top of the printed journaling. 

I left the back of my tag blank but you could easily add a second photo or additional journaling or pattern paper. 

Loving the colors!

On top of the kraft envelope I added one of the felt numbers along with a Tim Holtz Christmas Token (held in place with green embroidery floss). 

SUPPLIES 
2020 December Daily® Main Kit: Tag Pocket, Pleather Rectangle (digital version available) 2020 December Daily® 3x8 Shipping Tag Set (digital version available) 2020 December Daily® Felt Numbers Epson XP 15000 Printer Mom's Typewriter Font Tim Holtz Christmas Label Tape ( Scrapbook.com | Amazon )  Tim Holtz Christmas Tokens May Arts Green Ribbon Washi Tape Black StazOn Ink AE Circle Stamp Block Avery Index Tabs Past December Daily® Stamp Set Scotch Rolling Adhesive Fiskars Trimmer Tiny AttacherSHARE YOUR STORY #3

You are invited to leave a link in the comment section if you'd like to share your daily pages. As usual, please include a direct link to your blog post sharing your Day 3 vs. a general blog address link.

December Daily® 2020 | Story Two

Welcome to December Daily® 2020 | Story 2. 

Today's story was inspired by a photo I took of the girls yesterday afternoon when they were playing around in their room in their new Christmas PJ's filming videos + laughing. 

Full page photos in this album (and many of my other projects) make me so happy. I also love photos that showcase people interacting in their own environment. I love seeing the "stuff" of their lives - in this case the stuff of two tween girls who share a room and so much more. 

Here's a process video showing my start to finish: 

Let's take a closer look via images: 

My photo foundation is sized to the outside of dimensions of the page protector: 7 inches wide x 8.25 inches tall. I print images like this on 8.5x11 Epson photo paper using my Epson XP 15000 printer. 

This page has two main elements in addition to the full page photo: the shaker stars from the December Daily® Star Mini Kit and the 2x2 pocket holding my tiny journaling card. 

Let's talk about the journaling card + pocket first. 

To create this pocket I cut out a 2x2 piece from one of these page protectors and adhered it to my photo using red line tape. Inside the pocket I added the "making magic" foil piece from the December Daily® Die Cut Variety Bundle and added a Tim Holtz Countdown Brad on top. On top of the outside of the pocket I added one of the December Daily® Half-Circle Fabric pieces. 

At first I planned to just print out my journaling on a 1.5 x 1.5 inch square and add it on top of the small journal card but I ended up running the actual card through the printer. It's risky but when it works it's pretty great. Mine is a little off within the square but not bad enough to start over. Really, no one around here will ever care. 

To do this I use Photoshop or Illustrator and create a box to whatever size I want and then type my journaling within the box. I print this out on a plain piece of paper so I know where it's going to be on the page and then I temporarily adhere the journal card on top (trying to line it up as best as I can - sometimes I hold it up to a window as that often helps to see through a bit better). I run the temporarily adhered journal card through the printer to add my journaling. With some journal cards you can do this on a typewriter if you have one but this one felt too small + I wanted my type to be pretty tiny too. 

I ended up adding the Tim Holtz Countdown Brad on top by folding down the feet of the brad and then adding a piece of pattern cardstock to the back side that hides the feet and keeps it in place. I loved this solution (I talk through a few different ideas in the video). 

The other elements I added to the background photo were the three shaker stars from our Star Mini Kit. These were one of my favorites this year and I was excited to get them added into my album early in the month. As I worked on this page (and changed my mind a few times) I decided that I wanted to have some little pops of red to go along with the fabric half circle. I ended up using red embroidery thread to attach the stars and I love the pop of red! You can find the French knot embroidery tutorial here. 

SUPPLIES

December Daily® Star Mini Kit
Red Embroidery Thread
2x2 Page Protector (the DD albums include two of this style)
December Daily® Die Cut Variety Pack 
Tim Holtz Countdown Brads
December Daily® Fabric Half Circle Phrases
Red Line Tape
December Daily Main Kit Pattern Paper
Epson XP 15000 Printer
6 Hole PunchSHARE YOUR STORY #2

You are invited to leave a link in the comment section if you'd like to share your daily pages. As usual, please include a direct link to your blog post sharing your Day 2 vs. a general blog address link.

December Daily® 2020 | Story One

Welcome to December Daily® 2020 | Story 1. 

If this is your first time participating in this project, welcome! If you've been here one or more years in the past, welcome back. I'm so happy to be telling stories alongside you this December. 

Today's story is a recap of what I've done around our house before December. I love the idea of beginning my album with the things I did in November because man was I ready and especially excited about putting up some fresh greenery to transition us into December. 

A full look at my foundation pages/starting place for 2020 can be found here. 

Also just a quick note to let you know that we've got a Classes + Digitals sale happening this week with 50% off select items. Prices are marked. If you've never taken my Storytelling With December Daily® workshop I highly recommend that one (and it's totally a steal at 50% off of $7.50). If you want to learn more about using photography for storytelling and my personal photo workflow check out Lens Of Joy. Check out all my workshops here.

Here's today's process video:

Here's a closer look at my story and tags: 

I created this transparent pocket page for our 2020 Prep Day and you can find downloads for the background (JOY) and the "around here" word art in that classroom. 

The background of the pocket was printed on a laser transparency with a laser printer and then run through my Minc machine using Rose Gold Minc Foil. On top of that I used my sewing machine + a star transparency to create the pocket. On the outside of the pocket I added one of the December Daily® Felt Numbers + a gold star from the Main Kit to designate Story #1. 

Inside the pocket I added photos + journaling cut to the shape of tags. More about those below. 

The "around here" prompt is one of my favorites that I come back to again and again in many of my projects. 

For today's story I identified four photos that I wanted to include which were taken over the last couple of weeks. Each one is a piece of our getting ready for December story. These were all printed using my Epson PictureMate PM400 and I used a Kraft Shipping Tag as a template to cut the two top edges. Holes were punched using the We R Memory Keepers Multi-Punch Tool. 

On to of each photo I adhered the "around here" die cuts (cut with my Silhouette using white cardstock) and varied the placement on either the top or bottom of the tag. I cut off the excess of the die cut that went off the edges of the tags. 

I added one additional 4x6 tag that has my journaling on one side and the black pattern paper from the Main Kit on the other side. 

Through the top hole in all my tags I added red + white ribbons and twine. Most are stapled in place using a Tiny Attacher. 

I ended up leaving the backs of the photos blank but you could easily add pattern papers or you could adhere your photos back to back (I decided I wanted them to all be on their own). 

I used the same combination of a Main Kit gold star + a star brad on this title tag that I used on the outside of the felt number pocket. 

Here's a close up look at my journaling. Font is Mom's Typewriter. 

SUPPLIES
December Daily® 2020 Main Kit December Daily® Felt Numbers "Around Here" Cut File + JOY background from the 2020 December Daily® Prep Day  Minc Machine Laser Jet Transparency Laser Jet Printer Rose Gold Minc Foil Star Transparency  December Daily® Kraft Shipping Tags Silhouette Machine Sewing Machine We R Memory Keepers Multi-Hole Punch ( Scrapbook.com | Amazon ) Tiny Attacher Scotch Dot Roller Red Ribbon + Twine (Prima Peppermint Lane Trim, Red + White Bakers Twine, Wondershop Curling Ribbon from Target) Organization Box shown in videoSHARE YOUR STORY #1

You are invited to leave a link in the comment section if you'd like to share your daily pages. As usual, please include a direct link to your blog post sharing your Day 1 vs. a general blog address link.

December Daily® 2020 | Let The Storytelling Begin

Happy December 1, 2020!

As we begin our December Daily® documenting adventure I want to remind us all of this: the most magical piece of this project is the words + photos. 

\Some of us will create super simple projects + some of us will go all out. Some of us will tell 25 daily stories + some of us will tell more or less. Some of us have kids + some of us don't. Some of us are dealing with really hard things this year + some of us are finding this to be the favorite season of our lives. Some of us love layers of product and creating homes for our stories in advance + some of us love just taking the cards from the kit and slipping them in the pockets and calling it good. Some of us are here for the very first time + some of us have been doing this project in one form or another since 2007. Some of us will finish this project before January + some of us will work on it next year + some of us will reach a point where we set it aside for whatever the reason.  

I'd love to invite you to spend a few minutes today reading a post I wrote about my hopes for people doing this project a few years ago. It's all totally still relevant today: My December Hopes For You. 

Remember: We are all here because we share a love for storytelling + the holidays. 

As we dive into this next phase of the project (or the start for some of you) I want to remind all of us that this isn't at all about competition or a race or anything that should bring you feelings of guilt or inadequacy. There is no place for those feelings in this project. 

What this project IS all about is celebrating + documenting our stories in December. It's about an awesome community coming together each year for fun, for crafting, for storytelling, and for support as we make our way through December. And in this year in particular I love that we get to participate in something with like-minded memory keepers from around the world that hasn't been cancelled. 

I am so excited to start paying attention to + documenting the stories of this particular season. I'm ready to take advantage of this opportunity to create, celebrate, and look for joy. I'm so happy to have you joining me in this adventure. 

I'll be sharing my daily stories each day starting on December 2nd (telling my December 1 story) here on my blog + YouTube. 

Thank you for being a part of this community + thank you for the ways you support + show up for each other regardless of our individual approaches to the project.  I can't wait to start telling stories with you in December.

ScrapSmarter Experience 2021

Quick announcement to let you guys know that I'll be the Keynote speaker for the ScrapSmarter Experience in January 2021. 

ScrapSmarter is an online weekend of inspiration + education happening via Zoom on January 15-17, 2021. I'll be there to kick off the event with a keynote on Friday and Saturday features 10 classes with each instructor sharing a pre-recorded class session focused on teaching new skills, techniques, and concepts + interacting in a live Q+A. ⁠

Instructors for this event include: ⁠ 

Simon Hurley // @inklipseMeghann Andrew // @meghannandrewKrystal Iduñate // @krystal_iduanteMisty Murphy // @craftysouppicsTracey Fox // @scrapplikeafoxAlice Boll // @alicebollSandie Reverski // @steakgoddessKristin Tweedale // @rukristinClaudia Azucar-White // @whitesugardesignsAndrea Gray // @retrohipmama⁠ ⁠

Here's what's included with this event: 

10 pre-recorded class sessions, one from each instructor10 live stream replays of the classes, including a Q&A session with each instructorA downloadable handout you can print for each classA live replay of the Kick-off party and keynote speechA live replay of the Wind up PartyEntry into the prize drawings

Get $30 off the event registration by signing up here until December 15th. Regular price is $129. ⁠
⁠

Ceiling Mounted Camera Details

A question I've often received over the last few years is about my ceiling mount set up for over-my-work-table filming. 

This was my Christmas present from Aaron a few years ago and it's really been an awesome investment and made filming simpler without a tripod getting in the way. 

This set up includes two different pieces: (1) a ceiling mount + (2) the arm that connects the ceiling mount to the camera. 

ARM : Manfrotto 396B-3 Section Double Articulated Arm with Camera Bracket CEILING MOUNT : GTX Grip GP 1037

The camera I have connected is a Canon 6D. It easily snaps in + out securely to the arm. 

In the photo above you can also see the studio lights + standing ring light that are also part of my office set up. Lockers are vintage from a sale many years ago and are still one of my favorite things. My art wall includes pieces from Mati Rose, Pam Garrison, Colleen Attara, a print about staying in your lane that Brene Brown offered at some point in the past if I remember right, Erin Gregory, a wall collage I made, a photo about living the length + the width, and a picture Anna drew of herself a few years back. 

Here's another view from the other side of my work tables: 

For more from my office check out my 2019 Office Tour (looks pretty much the same currently) or my archive of posts + the evolution of this room over the last few years.