Ali Edwards's Blog, page 186

December Daily® 2015 | Day Nine

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2015 | Day 09. 

Today was super fun to put together. I've been excited about playing with circles in some way or another in this album ever since I received the 
Main Kit with the wood veneer circles. And I love see-through pages. And yes, I did change this up even after I filmed the video. I ended up taking off the "E" and embossing the little white trees on top which keeps it consistent with the other large red chipboard numbers I've added on previous days.  

Step-by-step video included below.
You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel if you'd rather watch videos over there. 

Don't forget to download my gift to you today 
over on Pinterest as part of my 12 Days Of Giving. 

Here's my Day 09 from my 
foundation pages post: 

Originally Day 09 was in a 4-pocket, 3x4 page protector. Day 08 ended up being one page so I was able to remove that page protector before starting Day 09. 

Here's what I ended up with for Day 09: 

Day 09 includes a 
transparent plastic page (content on both the front + the back) and a full page 6x8 photo. 

The photos in my album today were editing using 
RadLab which I use within Photoshop. The filter I used today (and a couple of other days in this album) is called Bullet Tooth. 

The story, obviously, is quick and simple to fit into the 3-inch circle. 

The
transparent insert page is a thicker plastic piece that holds up well as a page on it's own. I originally bought these from Studio Calico in 12x12 sheets - this one was cut down to the same size as the page protectors - but you can also get them via Amazon here. 

On the front of the page I included four things: 

The large wood veneer circle from the Main Kit + a circle-punched piece of the white star transparency + a large letter red E (for my last name) that has been trimmed around the edges and that's embossed with small white stars + a green "jingle all the way" sticker. 
The number 9 card from the Main Kit punched with a 3-Inch circle punch + a "merry everything" circle from the Seven Paper Felix Plastic Shapes (stapled on top). 
A photo of Anna and the tree punched with the 3-Inch circle punch. 
Two 1-5 inch punched circles from the star transparency.

On the back of the 
transparent page I repeated the same circles - simply adhering these other circles directly on top of the other circles (simply on the other side). One photo of me, one star pattern paper (Main Kit) and one circle punched from December Daily® Jasmine Jones Mini Kit (lines with home for the story). 

I cut the "twinkle" white rubber banner to have the same edges as the circle. Little circles on top of the white tree are from the 
December Daily® Jasmine Jones Mini Kit.

On the bottom of the enlarged photo I added a red label sticker that I had stamped on using stamps from the 
Storytelling With December Daily® workshop stamp set. 

DAY 09 | STEP-BY-STEP


SUPPLIES

December Daily® 2015 Main Kit (red chipboard letter, label stickers, #9 card, green phrase sticker)
December Daily® Jasmine Jones Mini Kit (lined paper, mini stars and circles)
RadLab for editing photos in Photoshop
Seven Paper Felix Plastic Shapes ("merry everything transparent circle)
Grafix Transparent Plastic Page 12x12 (cut down to the size you want)
3-Inch Circle Punch
1.5-Inch Circle Punch
Storytelling With December Daily® Stamp Set
StazOn Ink
AE Precision Pen .03
Bella Blvd White Star Transparency
Epson R2000 printer (anything larger than 5x7)
Epson PictureMate PM400


SHARE YOUR DAY 09

I'd love to have you share a link to your Day 09 album pages below. Please link directly to your post vs. a general blog link.

Spark Your Story | Scrapbook & Cards Today Winter 2015

The Winter issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine is now available and my article this time is about navigating how to tell your holiday stories in traditional layouts. 

Today I'm sharing the full images of my layouts from this article here but invite you to click over and download your own FREE digital copy of the magazine and read my full article that includes much more about the concept and ideas related to each layout. You can also become a subscriber and have it delivered to your home address (awesome). They have even set it up where you can download just a PDF of my article: Spark Your Story.

Here's a look at the pages I created for this issue: 

Joy Together

A great example of a way to use the December Daily® kits outside of your actual album if you plan to tell additional stories from this year or past years. 

Products featured include: 

December Daily® Jasmine Jones Mini KitDecember Daily® Emily Ley Mini Kit"Here's The Story" stamp from my Stories Stamp Set

Love These People

A favorite silhouette shot of mine from my holiday in 2014. 

Products featured include: 

Gatherings Story Kit™ (black and white stickers, half-circle chipboard piece)Week In The Life™ Star Washi TapeChipboard Hearts

Oh Yes

My Black Butte Chipboard alpha paired with a full-page in the dark photo on a beach in Cancun last year. And stars, always stars. 

Big thanks to Scrapbook & Cards Today for being so great to work with! 

December Daily® 2015 | Day Eight

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2015 | Day 08. 

Part of making your own magic includes setting stuff up in order to have it actually happen. In my foundation pages I used the "Let's read a Christmas story" card from the Emily Ley mini kit as a reminder to make it happen - which wasn't too hard since I knew it was something we would do anyway, but I bet you get the idea.

Also, check out my fun 12 Days Of Giving information below to see how you can download free holiday word art as a gift from me to you. 

Here's a look at Day 08 from my 
foundation pages post (in that post I talk about how I embossed the number 8 using a star stamp and white embossing powder): 

And here's how it ended up looking with the story and photo: 

I moved things around this time by removing the 4-pocket page protector and just using the back of Day 07. This story fit just fine in these three pockets along with the addition of the flip up card. 

The book Anna's reading is called 
The Sweet Smell Of Christmas and it's one of the favorites around here. You can read a post I wrote previously about our Christmas book collection here. 

PS: I can't wait to play with Day 09. Circles here we come. 

Something I've done the last few years is include flip-ups and/or flip-outs to make space for my stories or additional photos. We talked more about this in the 
Storytelling With December Daily® workshop (which is still open in case you wanted to dive in to that content) - it's a simple and easy way to make sure you don't skimp on the words. Washi tape for the win. 

The "A" and the "6" are from an old Studio Calico kit - no idea which one it was (if you know feel free to mention it in the comments). They are plastic rectangles and I've been holding on to the alphabet & numbers waiting for a good reason to use them. 
Today was the day. Love the red. The "A" is for Anna and the "6" is because that's how old she is right now.

Here's a look at it outside the album: 

STEP BY STEP | DAY 08


SUPPLIES

December Daily® 2015 Main Kit (wash tape, #8)
December Daily® Emily Ley Mini Kit ("Let's read a Christmas story" card)
December Daily® Ashley G Mini Kit (pattern paper behind the 8)
White Opaque Zing Embossing Powder
Epson PictureMate PM 400 printer
Word/Phrase Stickers | Maggie Holmes Craft Market, Pink Paislee Yuletide Stickers

12 DAYS OF GIVING 

Yesterday we started something special and fun over on 
Pinterest. For the next 11 days I'm excited to bring you 12 days of designed giving. Follow me on Pinterest and check back each day to reveal a free digital stamp download (click on the number over on Pinterest and it will take you to a free word art download for the day). May these gifts inspire you to create something special and spirited this season.

As an added BONUS, you can enter to WIN a 6 month subscription to my Story Kit™. See 
this pin for all those details - full rules and regulations can be found here: http://aliedwards.com/12-days-of-giving.

SHARE YOUR DAY 08

I'd love to have you share a link to your Day 08 album pages below. Please link directly to your post vs. a general blog link.

December Daily® 2015 | Day Seven

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2015 | Day 07. 

A quick and easy page and story today to start the week. I've also included a super quick overview of this page via video below. 

Here's a look at Day 07 from my 
foundation pages post: 

And here's what it looks like with words + photos added: 

First up is the transparent page that says "the most wonderful time of the year" that was included with the Main Kit. I love this page. I mention in the video that it's a nice "break" in my stories as I transition personally from being without kids for the last five days to with kids. I didn't intend that when I originally put the foundation pages together but noticed it today. 

Today's story is simply about Simon coming home this morning (a no-school day for him) and opening up his Advent calendar for the last few days and being in awesome spirits. 

I repeated basically the same design for the card as I did for the short note to Ann on Day 02 which included an embossed title at the top of the card. 

On top of the photo of Simon I added one of the rubber banners from the Main Kit which I trimmed it with scissors to adjust the size and added a small gold star above it. 

Here's a look at the page outside of my album: 

DAY 07 | VIDEO OVERVIEW



SUPPLIES

December Daily® 2015 Main Kit
December Daily® Ashley Goldberg Mini Kit (#7 card)
Epson PictureMate PM 400 printer
Ranger/Tim Holtz Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder
Versamark Embossing Ink
Heat Gun


SHARE YOUR DAY 07

I'd love to have you share a link to your Day 07 album pages below. Please link directly to your post vs. a general blog link.

New Story Subscription Promotion | Book Of Joy

Thinking about joining my Story Subscription program? Sign up for a 6-month or 12-month subscription by December 13th and receive my online workshop Book Of Joy for free. 

Book Of Joy is a fun mini-book project celebrating the things that make you happy and the workshop includes a full color PDF handout + step by step process video + a message board and gallery for sharing your project. It's a mini-book that would also make a great gift as you document the joy that someone brings to your life.

Each month Story subscribers receive a Story Kit™, a Story Stamp™ or Digital Story Kit™ (depending on your subscription choice) comprised of intentional memory keeping products based around a certain theme. Past themes have included topics such as gatherings, roots, cheer, little things, magic, click and go. Upcoming themes include old & new, heart, craft, tough, wild, read, and believe. 

Here's a look at a sampling of products you can expect to find with a Story Kit™ (products shown are from the current Cheer kit):

In addition to the products shipped for free domestically or for $2 international, each month includes a classroom with step-by-step process videos for at least three story-based projects (usually including one Project Life® spread), a welcome presentation that addresses story ideas for the specific theme, and a PDF handout that includes the story ideas + the how to's for each project. We also have guest storytellers each month who share their take on the theme with a couple projects posted mid-way through the month to keep the ideas and inspiration going. 

Now's a great time to join this awesome community of storytellers who are encouraging and inspiring each other as we tell the stories of their lives.

All current subscribers should have already received access to this workshop as a Thanksgiving gift - check your My Classes section. If you are a current subscriber and you don't see it under your user name / My Classes please start a conversation with my Customer Service team and they will be happy to give you access. 

December Daily® 2015 | Day Six

Welcome to
December Daily® 2015 | Day Six.  

I love including other voices in my album - today I'm doing that in the form of an email from my Mom that I formatted to fit on the back of the tag from 
Day 05. 

In the video today I show you my step-by-steps as well as how to use the joy/stars silkscreen + paint that was included with the 
Main Kit and how I'm using the Fuse Tool for closing off some of my page protector pockets. 

Here's a look at Day 06 from my 
foundation pages post: 

And here's a look at Day 06 after including my story and making other adjustments: 

As I mentioned above, the story for Day 06 is an email from my Mom that I received in the morning. I loved how she talked about some of the things she's thankful for (a nice addition after my own list of thankfulness for Day 05). 

I copied and pasted the body of my Mom's email into an Illustrator file (you can use Photoshop, Word, etc) keeping in mind that the tag was 4 inches wide x 8 inches tall. The font is Remington Noiseless. After printing I used 
Super Sticky Red Tape to adhere the letter to the back of the tag and trimmed off the excess cardstock from around the edges. 

To get the silver stars on the tag I used the silkscreen + the silver paint from the 
Main Kit (watch the video for a tutorial on how to use the screens). On top I added a metal-rimmed circle tag that I had put together when I did my foundation pages. I cut it in half using scissors from Tim Holtz. 

At the top I used some great
red + white twill ribbon from Paper Source to finish off the tag. 

I decided to cut the 2 inch x 2 inch pocket page down to one strip of four pockets. I added a silver glitter star from the 
Main Kit and then added an Avery Indext Tab along the edge with stamped sentiments from the Holiday Circles stamp set. 

Here's a look at the pages outside the album: 

Think about the different ways that you could include another person's voice in your album. Emails, notes, things children bring home from school, stories you ask someone else to write, etc. 

DAY 06 | STEP BY STEP


SUPPLIES

December Daily® 2015 Main Kit (includes star silkscreen and silver paint)
Fuse Tool
Metal Rimmed Circle Tags
Paper Source Red & White Twill Ribbon
Crop A Dile 
Fiskars Trimmer
Avery 2-inch Index Tabs
Tim Holtz Scissors
Super Sticky Red Tape
December Daily® Holiday Circles Stamp Set

SHARE YOUR DAY 06

I'd love to have you share a link to your Day 06 album pages below. Please link directly to your post vs. a general blog link.

December Daily® 2015 | Day Five

Welcome to
December Daily® 2015 | Day Five.  

Today I'm sharing what I ended up doing with those 5 number tags I had included in my foundation pages. Step-by-step video is included below (also feel free to follow me on my YouTube channel as well). 

Today involves a bit of painting and embossing with a star stencil and writing out five things I'm thankful for right now. 

Remember, my days will probably get simpler here when the kids are back this week. Making it work for you is about telling longer stories/more involved pages when/if you can and then doing shorter stories/quicker pages when time is tight. 

Hope you guys are having an awesome weekend! Thanks for being part of this storytelling adventure. 

Here's a look at Day 05 from my 
foundation pages: 

And here's a look at how it looks with words and photos and other adjustments: 

For the back of my Day 04 photo I ended up adding another enlarged photo (sized to the size of my page protectors). I went with a photo I took last week of the paperwhites in my kitchen window. Alongside the enlarged photo I created a pocket tag to hold my number tags. More details below. 

On top of the enlarged photo I added a rubber banner from the Main Kit + "tis the season" stamp from the Holiday Circles stamp set + a small gold star from my stash. 

To create the pocket tag I started with a 4 inch x 8 inch manila tag (you can see this process live in the video below). On top of the tag I painted three coats (or so) of white gesso as my base layer. On top of that I used this star stencil (same one I used for the interior of my album cover) and more of the Gold Tinsel embossing powder from Tim Holtz to create the star pattern. 

To create the actual pocket I cut a piece of star transparency and used my Brother sewing machine to stitch around three sides. The collection of tags then slip right into the pocket. 

I totally love how that turned out - better than I imagined actually. 

The front side of the tags outside of the pocket. I decided to just keep them plain. 

On the backside of the tags I used the gold stripe washi from the Main Kit along the bottom of each tag + a red star sequin adhered to the gold star sequin. 

I stamped "tis the season" using Color Theory Well Red ink and then wrote out each of the five things I am thankful for right now.  

Here's a look at the pieces outside my album: 

DAY 05 | STEP BY STEP


SUPPLIES

December Daily® 2015 Main Kit (number tags)
December Daily® Emily Ley Mini Kit (gold #5)
Gesso (or other white paint)
4 inch x 8 inch Manila Tag
Tim Holtz Circle Philosophy Metal Tag
Tim Holtz Loop Pin
Color Theory Well Red Ink
Sticky Dots .25 Flat Circle Adhesive
Crafters Workshop 12x12 Star Stencil
Bella Blvd White Star Transparency
Brother Sewing Machine
December Daily® Holiday Circles (tis the season stamp)
Ranger/Tim Holtz Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder
Super Sticky 1/4 Inch Red Line Tape

SHARE YOUR DAY 05

I'd love to have you share a link to your Day 05 album pages below. Please link directly to your post vs. a general blog link.

Give Sunday | 48

This year, in honor of my 2015
One Little Word® "give," I'm sharing a hand-drawn quote each Sunday here on my blog.

Click here to read my initial post and download the #givesunday word art title and checklist for helping you to give a little something today. You can also view all the past #givesunday quotes via the archives. 

Click here to download the #givesunday 48 quote. Please note: If you are reading this post via email you need to click through to the actual blog post to download the file. 

You're invited to join me. What will you
give today?

Have a wonderful Sunday. 

December Daily® 2015 | Day Four + Documented Life Project

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2015 | Day 04.

Today I'm sharing my 
December Daily® story/album pages in conjunction with a fun collaboration called the Documented Life Project. If you are new to the Documented Life Project go over and check it out (here's a link to what they are focusing on over there for 2016 - "The unPlanner"). If you are looking to spread your wings artistically you should definitely check out this fantastic community of mixed media creatives who are documenting their lives via techniques rooted in color, texture, words, images, etc. If you are new to December Daily® I encourage you to check out my Project Page and watch a short video and check out my archives for this project.

Here's the theme, challenge, and prompt I was given for the 
Documented Life Project: 

December Theme: Storytelling with the Written Word
Challenge: Words front and center
Prompt: Life is a book. We fill the pages.

As many of you know, I like creative constraints and guidelines so it was fun to approach my story today with those ideas in mind. As many of you also know, words "front and center" are a big part of my personal memory keeping process. 

I took this prompt into account as I decided what story to tell
and how to tell it. I love the "we fill the pages" portion of the prompt and it actually spurred me to go get the rest of the garland I needed to wrap around my front porch with the idea that magic is something we make. We don't always get to choose what story we step into, but we get to choose how we respond to it and how we move forward from there. 

How are you figuratively filling the pages of your life's book? Are you living a "good" story and what in the world does that even mean for you? 

I know many of you out there face challenges this month - personal, emotional, attitude, etc.
I get it. It can be hard to document or look for the good when you are feeling not good. One of the things I've learned over the years, and I regularly remind myself, is we really do get to choose what our own attitude is towards any given situation and towards our life in general. It's not always easy to choose the positive, but it's possible. One moment at a time, one day at a time. 

This season I'm choosing to the fill the pages of my life by seeking out and creating magic for myself. I'm not waiting for someone else to make it happen. I'm writing my own story and filling my own pages by the choices I make. 

A step-by-step video tutorial that includes more thoughts and a closer look at the process of building this story is included below or you can watch it on my 
YouTube channel. 

Here's my
foundation page for Day 04: 

And here's what it ended up after adding my photos and words: 

Ah, yeah is right. 

I love how this turned out. 

First thing I want to talk about today is self-portraits.
DO THEM. Make them happen for yourself. 

I took this shot after I was done putting up the garland around the porch. I held 
my big camera out in front of my face and took about eight shots. I wanted to see myself in this story and I wanted to capture how I was feeling in the moment. Which was happy and good and proud of myself for taking action on creating magic for myself. 

For editing this photo (and the enlargement) I used the 
RadLab filter Bullet Tooth (I use RadLab as an add-on within Photoshop) and it was printed here at home using the Epson PictureMate PM400.

On top of the photo I added a "finding my way" stamp from the Roots Story Kit™ and a 
Silhouette cut of "joy" from the Storytelling with December Daily® workshop package. The little star was included with the Jasmine Jones December Daily® Mini Kit. 

Just a short bit of handwritten journaling included on the 3x4 card today that gives a few more details of the story about making my own magic. I used a date stamp + the 
gold tinsel embossing powder (again) for the date. 

For this page I used 
Educational Insights See & Stamp stamps + black Staz On to stamp my words onto vellum. Going big is fun. This can also simply be done using fonts on your computer and printing onto the vellum. 

Think of a message you could include - something that you are working on, a message to yourself, a favorite quote or song, etc. 

In addition to self-portraits that show your face, get some of you in action. It's all a part of the story of you who are right now. I set my camera up on a small table I took outside with me and played around with different shots using the timer on my camera. 

On top of the printed photo (sized again to the same size as the outside of the page protector) I adhered another Silhouette cut from the workshop. I dotted three of the "i's" using the small gold stars in Jasmine's kit. 

Remember, this is your story.
BE IN IT. Via your words and via your images and via the choices you make. 

Here's a look at all three parts outside the album: 

DAY 04 | STEP BY STEP



SUPPLIES

Please note that some supplies are not linked below for pieces that were created previously but can be found via my Foundation Pages post.

December Daily® 2015 Main Kit
December Daily® 2015 Jasmine Jones Mini Kit (small stars)
Roots Story Stamp™ (no longer avaiable)
Educational Insights See & Stamp
Vellum
Black Staz On Ink
Printers: Epson R2000 (anything over 5x7) and Epson PictureMate PM400
Die Cut Word Art from the Storytelling With December Daily® workshop
Silhouette
Crop A Dile (for hole punching)
Martha Stewart Glue Pen


SHARE YOUR DAY 04

I'd love to have you share a link to your Day 04 album pages below. Please link directly to your post vs. a general blog link.

December Daily® 2015 | Day Three

Welcome to December Daily® 2015 | Day 03. 

Three thoughts to share with you today: 

Pace yourself. This is a December project. If you are short on time, do a quick story. If you have more time, have fun with it. Don't burn yourself out in the first week. 
Remember that this album is for whatever stories you feel like telling. It might be something Christmas-related or it might be something life-related or it might just be a quote. This is your album and your story and it can be anything you want it to be. 
One of the things I love about this project is that I don't know what story I'm going to tell each day. I love working with what I have, working with what's happening, identifying the story, and then getting it in the album. It's like a surprise and a gift to myself when I pick the story and run with it. If you are feeling stress or dread, how can you turn it around to use this project as a tool for gratitude or love or reflection? 

Here's the foundation page for Day 03: 

And here it is with the photo/words and other adjustments: 

Multiple changes to my foundation pages today that you can see in real-life in the video below. When I decided on my story today (which is kind of two stories but they are also related) I knew I wanted to include a photo of Aaron from our date and a photo of my feet at yoga. I also used a couple stickers from the Gatherings Story Kit™ (black and white stickers). 

These stories could be separate - when I look at the day now it almost looks like two days. But I'm cool with them being a part of one story in my heart and in this album. 

The "3" card is from the Main Kit. On top of it I added an embossed metal-rimmed circle tag using the "Cheers" stamp from the Icon stamp set. I also added in one of the fun little rubber speech bubbles from the Cheer Story Kit™ this month. Short journaling about our date night includes a rolling date stamp that shows it actually happened on December 2. Tell the story you want to tell when you want to tell it. 

For my longer journaling I took one of the sheets from the Log Book (included with the Main Kit purchase during the pre-order period), cut off the photo portion on the bottom, folded part of it up, and added one of Jasmine Jones Mini Kit cards + one of her die-cut words on top. I love how this turned out. On the bottom of the fold-up I added a 2-inch Avery Index Tab. 

Real life journaling about the things I'm working on right now. These are the stories that matter to me. 

Here's a look at the spread outside the album: 

DAY 03 | STEP BY STEP



SUPPLIES

Please note that some supplies are not linked below for pieces that were created previously but can be found via my Foundation Pages post.

December Daily® 2015 Main Kit
Cheer Story Kit™ (small rubber speech bubble)
December Daily® Jasmine Jones Mini Kit
December Daily® Icon Stamp Set
December Daily® Holiday Circles Stamp Set
Epson PictureMate PM400 printer
1 Inch Circle Punch
Metal Rimmed Circle Tags
2-Inch Avery Index Label Tab
Versamark Embossing Ink
Heat Gun
Ranger/Tim Holtz Gold Tinsel Embossing Powder
Tim Holtz Scissors
Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher
Inks: Black Staz On, Memento Pistachio
Rolling Date Stamp
Gatherings Story Kit™ (no longer available)

SHARE YOUR DAY 03

I'd love to have you share a link to your Day 03 album pages below. Please link directly to your post vs. a general blog link.