Ali Edwards's Blog, page 19
September 13, 2024
December Daily® 2024 | Special Guest Jen Wong
Hello, friends! I’m thrilled to share some fun ideas for creating a December Daily album for kids, using the new vertical 4x6 album.
My daughter, who’s 9, has been dabbling in holiday journaling for a couple of years now and has seen me work on my own album every December with interest. Last year, I was touched when I found her
flipping through my past albums. She loved seeing photos of herself when she was younger and reading the stories from those past years. She loves drawing and writing and I know she will love doing the project. I’ve already mentioned it to her and she’s super excited!
My ApproachWith a shorter attention span and limited time, I want to make this project fun and easy for her. There’s no pressure to create intricate pages or spend hours working on it. For this reason, I’m doing something I don’t normally do for myself – preparing foundation pages. These premade layouts will make it simple for her to add a photo, drawing, or a quick journal entry. She might even finish her album in December… unlike her mom, LOL!
I’ve made her a mini album in the past, where I created all the pages ahead of time, and then she filled them in. It worked really well, and she especially loved the interactive pages. I plan to make some interactive pages again here, but also mix in some simple ones. I’ve created a prompt list to get started. Although it’s early in the year, I already know a few events happening this December. Planning the album is a bit similar to how I prepare for my own December Daily album, jotting down story ideas and traditions we do every year, like writing to Santa, watching holiday movies, or baking together. I put together all the ideas I had onto a page which can be found here.
My plan is to create pages based on these prompts, with a mix of simple and interactive elements.
I started with a few interactive pages and wanted to share these ideas, because they could work for any album, kid's or not!
Idea 01: Letter to Santa String-Tie Envelope
Other: string, 2 eyelets, corner rounder (optional)
My daughter writes a letter to Santa every year and I thought it would be fun to make a decorative mailing envelope to hold some writing or even a photo of her letter to Santa. Using one of the papers from the Merry Merry 10x8 Paper pack, I designed the envelope so it would measure 4” x 6” and would go into the album with page attachers. As I said in the video, originally I thought I would make the envelope the full size of the page protector so that I could directly punch holes into it, but I realized that the 10x8 paper was too short to make this work, given the measurements I was using.
To construct the envelope, I scored the paper horizontally at 0.5”, 4.5”, and 8.5” and then vertically at 1.5” and 7.5”. Here is a diagram that I made which shows the measurements.
I then cut out the grayed out portions of the paper. I folded along the score lines to make the envelope, eventually glueing together with adhesive. To create the tie anchors I started by punching two 1” circles with a circle punch. Then, using an eyelet setter, I punched holes into the circle, inserted the eyelet, and set it with the tool.
Then it was time to decorate the front of the envelope! I created two postage stamps using the Paislee Press stamp and stamped “Santa” inn the center. I wrote “north pole” underneath. After the decoration was done, I added adhesive to the envelope bottom and sides to put it all together.
You can see the steps I took to make this in the video below.
Idea 02: Transparent Pocket with Custom Tags
Other: various trim
This idea is an easy one, but one I almost always do in my albums. I’m always looking for ways to include more into smaller albums and pockets is one way to do so! I love this green tree pattern from the Merry Merry 10x8 paper and starting with this, I cut the base of the pocket to 5” x 6.25” so that it would be the same size as a page protector. I made the tags next. Using the yellow-rimmed tag from the main kit, I traced the tag outline onto the 3” x 8” paper that reads “oh my heart” on top. I cut the height of this tag to 5” tall and trimmed off the ends so it would look like a tag. I then added various trim to the ntops of the tags.
I love the way a transparent pocket looks so I used the gold start transparency from the 3” x 8” paper pack for the pocket. I trimmed this to 5” wide and cut off the hole punches on the edge. Then, with my tags inside the transparency, I used my sewing machine to stitch the pocket. I always try to add the items that will be in the pocket before sewing so as not to make the pocket too tight! You can hear my thought process, see what other options I considered, and watch the project come together in the video below.
I love how these turned out! Pockets are a great way to stuff in more journaling, photos, or ephemera.
Idea 03: Interactive Slider Flip-up Card
Other: 1” circle punch, foam adhesive, washi tape, penny
I loved the styled look of the gold star against the colorful vellum piece and knew I wanted to use this somewhere in an album. I thought I could use this circle as a sliding element to highlight some text underneath a track. To make the sliding element, I started with two front pieces that I cut using a file I made in Silhouette Studio. (I am not able to convert the file to an SVG but if anyone would like the studio3 file, just let me know). Turning over the back piece with the decorative side face down, I lined up the word phrase along the track so it would be visible from the front. I still can’t decide if the bottom part of the track should read from left to right or right to left as it goes down, but it was easier to cut the words reading them left to right! If you watch the video, you’ll see that my initial idea was to use two 1” circle pieces and a brad as the slider element but I found it didn’t slide very well. I ended up changing this to use a penny beneath with foam adhesive attached to a 1” circle on the front. The front and back pieces of the scalloped front are held together with two layers of foam adhesive. To make the page backing, I cut a 5” x 6.25” piece from the dark green Merry paper, which is the same size as a page protector. The slider front is joined to the back with some washi tape.
You can see how this came together in the video below.
As I said in the video, there is no real reason for making a slider, except it’s fun! The word phrase serves as a prompt for journaling or a photo beneath. By the way, most of these ideas will translate to a 6x8 or 10x8 album! You might need to tweak a few things, like scaling some of the measurements, but the concepts will still work beautifully! The rest of the pages I’ve put together so far have been much simpler. While I could easily make every page elaborate and interactive, I know I’ll quickly run out of space if I do that, and I don’t need my daughter to have two albums for her first real December Daily! I used some cards just as they are and added a thing or two on others.
Here’s a look at how the album is looking right now.
I've included a few photos of the foundation pages below.
I love having a transparent element as an opening page and this gold heart cut down perfectly.
It's fun to include different size pages even in this smaller album. Some items like these 4" x 4" scalloped cards can be punched and added directly into the album.
Those gold chipboard words really pop in the 4" x 6" album and not much else is needed except a pretty pattern behind them. My daughter saw some of the sticky notes as a reminder for photos, so she's added her own illustrative examples. :)
The chipboard frames are perfect for adding in a photo, a drawing, or even some journaling. I love pairing them with transparency or vellum.
You can cut down a 2x2 page protector into 4x4 like I did here, or even 2x4. I hope I was able to share some inspiration with you. Are any of you planning to make an album for your kids? I’d love to hear about it! If you have any questions at all, please feel free to comment below. You can find me also on Instagram @circleplusarrow or YouTube @circleplusarrow. Until next time, friends!
September 12, 2024
December Daily® 2024 | Merry, Shiny + Bright with Nolana Lynch
Hello Everyone!
It’s the MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR! December Daily season is upon us and I couldn’t be more jolly to share some of my ideas for the 2024 collection!
I kicked things off with my Title Page and Reason Why for this year. The colourful plastic trees from the Main Kit immediately caught my eye, and I knew they had to be my title page! The ideas began flowing for colourful Christmas trees and I loved where it all landed.
Last year, I used a lot of sequins, and during the year, I have been in my confetti era, so I decided to try rhinestones for my title page. I picked up a bunch from my local craft store and began clustering them from the base of the plastic trees and staggering them upwards.
Earlier this week, I did a Live Crafting session in the December Daily group. Today, I am sharing two process videos; the first is my preparation for the live which shows how I started the rhinestone trees, creating the vellum using the silkscreens, and creating the vellum hearts and confetti for my title and reason why.
The second video is the remainder of the process - putting the page together during this week’s Merry, Shiny and Bright Live Crafting session in the December Daily Facebook Group. Here’s the video:-
I love the transparency pack and initially thought I’d used the “Christmas Time is Here” for my title page, but then the “Twenty Twenty Four” heart framed the trees so nicely, I had to use it! This was the jumping-off point to create two dangling heart ornaments - the front with the “Twenty Twenty Four” title and the back with my Reason Why.
I used the digital from the transparency pack to get the shape of the heart for my journaling for my Reason Why. I printed this on tracing paper using my laser printer and foiled it with my Minc machine. Then, I traced the heart from the transparency pack onto it and cut it out. I left about a quarter inch all around to stitch them together. I created some white patterned vellum using the Stars from the silkscreen pack and using circle/dotted stencils from my stash. I then used my confetti punch to fill the hearts with vellum confetti of colors that matched the trees, and I put them all together.
I then decided to work on my Table of Contents. I wanted to feature the gorgeous plastic phrases. The term “Holly Jolly Contents” felt like an accurate representation of the contents in my December Daily album! Here’s the video of how it all came together:-
I do feel like the plastic phrases need white space so that they stand out, so I thought of ways to cut and create a window for the piece. This could have easily been a rectangle, or a banner or any shape really, but in the end I decided to use the shape of the Holly Jolly and add a rectangle below for the word “contents”. I thought of tracing the shape and cutting it out with a scissors, but then I used my Cricut instead - either way would work just fine.
Following this, I worked on creating a page to mount my banners on using a transparency from the 10x8 pack. I love these fine word transparencies and elements in this year’s collection, and I used some baker’s twine and eyelets to create this page. I would then glue the banners on to the twine, and add in bits and pieces from each page during the month of December to bring it all together
I’ve really enjoyed putting the first few pages of my 2024 December Daily album together! OH WHAT FUN! Thank you so much for being here. As always, feel free to comment below, I’d love to hear from you! If you’d like to see more of my work you can check me out on Instagram or YouTube.
Wishing you a wonderful rest of the year and December Daily prep season!
SuppliesMain Kit Gold Puffy Alphas 10x8 Transparency Pack Large Plastic PhrasesSeptember 11, 2024
December Daily® 2024 | Special Guest Pam Baldwin
Hi friends! I’m so happy to be back with you for the 2024 December Daily season! My plan for the 2024 season looks a little different from what I’ve done in the past. This year my hope is to work on my album IN the month of December, so I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about what will help me be successful in COMPLETING my album in (or very near) December. First of all, I’m downsizing from 6x8 to 4x6 (and I have to tell you, after preparing some pages for this post, I have no regrets about this decision at all! It has been a JOY to work with!). Secondly, I want to head into this documenting season not feeling like I need to reinvent the wheel for every spread. That means simple foundations that can be repeated throughout.
In this post, I’m focusing on the 2024 Main kit. This kit is AMAZING!! One of the things I so appreciate is how there are multiple elements that allow for repeated design formulas. I’ve picked out 7 of these elements (plus a bonus page protector orientation) and worked out 3 different ideas for how each of these elements could be used. This is like a menu, and the level of difficulty is generally pretty low. For example, putting 3x4 cards into a 3x4 pocket, lol. If you were to pick 1 strategy for each item and repeat it 3 times, you’ve got yourself 24 pages to hold your stories. Also, for many of the kit items, there is enough to repeat more than 3 times OR enough to use the item in multiple ways.
A couple of things I’d like to mention before we jump in.
You’ll clearly hear me say in the intro video that I am not making completed pages/spreads for the purpose of this post, because my intention was to make “foundation pages”. I did print photos from a past December to better demonstrate how the spread might work, but these are not “completed” spreads or pages. And you can definitely use plain white cardstock as placeholders, or even sticky notes for ones you want to try. I’ll narrow down my final foundation pages in November and I look forward to using these strategies in December! The “journaling” in these pages is printed on transparency with song lyrics just to illustrate how the spaces might look with text. My journaling cards are still pretty much intact and ready for December documenting! While the scale of my projects may take some tinkering to translate nicely into a 6x8 or 10x8 format, the ideas can definitely be used for any size album. Most of the supplies in these pages are from the Main kit, but there are a few shop items that snuck in there. 2 of my favourites from the stamp collection: Holiday Icons 6x8 stamp and the Gingerbread Men 4x6 stamp set.
Okay, let’s dive in!
Item 1: 3x4 journaling cards
Fill the pockets. The 4x6 album comes with 10 divided page protectors that has 2 – 4x3 pockets. Pair a journaling card with a 4x3 photo and add your story, extra photos, or small pieces of ephemera.
Use page protectors from your stash to make extra pockets that can be added onto full page photos (5x6.25 for this 4x6 album) or background papers. Add journaling or additional photos to the white space of the journaling card.
Turn the 3x4 card into a mini booklet (interactive element) to hold additional photos and journaling.
Item 2: 10x8 patterned paper
Feature a patterned paper across a 2 page spread. (This is also a great strategy for some of the awesome designs in the 10x8 extra paper pack and 10x8 specialty paper.)
Cut out some of the fun designs for extra embellishments. I started with the bows; the doves and ornaments are also great choices!
Use the paper to create interactive elements. The “present” could be repeated with any of the patterned papers. The letters in the “MERRY” text pattern are approximately 2x2 and would look great in 2x2 pockets as well.
Keep it simple. Add the 4x4 card onto a patterned paper background.
Use a large photo as your background and turn the 4x4 card into a pocket for additional photos, journaling or ephemera.
Use the 4x4 card as an insert. Add it to your album by punching holes directly into the card OR use a plastic attacher.
Item 4: Scalloped tag pockets
These pockets are so beautiful!! They speak for themselves and really don’t need any extra frills. This whole category falls under “keep it simple”. Add it to some background paper.
Or a photo.
Or turn it into it’s own insert (just like the 4x4 scalloped cards)
Item 5: Gold chipboard words
There are 7 of these beautiful pieces in total. 2 of them fit horizontally in the 4x6 format, the other 5 work best when they’re turned on their side. You can expand the size of your page to 8x6.25 and fold in the over hang. These chipboard pieces make a really cool decorative edge.
Turn your chipboard word into a tab to pull out hidden journaling or photos. When added to a transparency, the chipboard piece appears to be “floating” for an extra bit of magic.
Use the chipboard as a decorative title on the edge of a photo or journaling spot. The gold on kraft combo looks even better in real life!
Item 6: 4x6 journaling cards
Some of the 4x6 cards are designed as story prompts and they are PERFECT, just as they are! So tuck those ones into some 4x6 page protectors and let the prompts be your story telling guide.
Pockets that hold extra photos and journaling and ephemera are a fun, tactile way to get more stories in your album. These pockets can be made with 4x6 cards and some patterned paper! (I haven’t punched holes in my custom pockets yet, waiting to figure out where they’ll land in my album this year)
Don’t be afraid to cut up your journal cards to make them work for you!
Item 7: 2x2 Pocket pagesI love the option of adding in a 3rd style of page protector in the 4x6 album! All this requires is a few extra 6x8 page protectors with a 2x2 pocket design that you’re willing to cut up. These can be used exactly as they are intended (as a pocket page!) as shown above with the cut up journaling card.
I also shared the idea of using these extra pockets as “flip outs” from photos or patterned paper. This technique can be done with any of the page protectors that fit in the 4x6 album, it doesn’t have to be just the 2x2’s (but they are an awful lot of fun!)
The 2x2 pockets really are the perfect home for the plastic scallop edged 2x2 pieces in this year’s collection. I love the idea of using a skinny column (quite certain this idea was shared by Lesley aka. @scrapandtell on Instagram recently!).
Item 8: Cardstock framesThe 4 gold foil card stock frames is this kit have my heart!! In the video, you’ll see how they fit so beautifully into the page protectors. I’m thinking the largest one may be my intro page this year (along with a family photo if luck is on my side). They would also look pretty great floating on top of a transparency (on my to-do list!).
I said I wasn’t going to cut the frame in my video, but I couldn’t help it! These frames are lovely as journaling spots, and I’m always especially fond of items like this running right off the page.
They can also be turned into little interactive elements. I discussed my plan for the 2nd largest frame in my video but didn’t actually record the part where I put it together. I did in fact use one of the heavy plastic attachers to get it into the album. This piece opens into a booklet that’s just waiting for some journaling to capture the rest of this story.
Okay friends, 7 (+1) different items from the main kit, 3 different strategies each, that’s 24 options (+) to start planning your foundation pages. Keep it simple. Find a technique that you like and repeat!! Thank you so very much for being here today. I’m looking forward to sharing some more ideas for the 4x6 album with you soon (think transparencies and pockets!)!
September 10, 2024
School Story Kit + October 2024 Stories By The Month + OLW Mini Kit + Halloween Kit
Today's the 10th of the month and that means a new
Story Kit, Story Stamp, and Stories By The Month kit.
This month we are focusing on stories related to the theme of
School.
Everyone has a story about school. Most of us probably have more than one from all the years sitting in a classroom (or maybe your experience was totally different - that's a story too). This month we are coming together to tell stories about education and school experiences over the course of our lives (stories could be about you or someone you care about).
Story ideas for this theme include:
What is your favorite memory about school growing up (you could even break this down into elementary, middle, high, and college)?When you think back, what teacher made the biggest impression on you? What did you love about school and what did you not love about school? STORY KIT™
The Story Kit™ includes:
Here's a video overview of the Story Kit™ and Add-On options this month:
STORY STAMP™
The Stamp Set:
Here's a look at what's included in the Digital Story Kit™:
Your digital kit and the classroom and any Add-Ons purchased will be available to you on the 12th once your card has been charged for the month.
This kit is also available to physical kit subscribers as an Add On each month.
Here are a few project samples from Ali:
Again, thanks so much for subscribing and/or considering our
Story Subscription program! If you have any questions about this program please let us know below in the comments.
Here is a full look at the kit this month:
And a video overview:
This subscription is a great option for those who are looking to tell more calendar/everyday life sorts of stories.
Our Digital Stories By The Month™ kit is now called Inspiration By The Month™. With this subscription you receive access to the Inspiration By The Month™ classroom and the digital kit.
This kit is also available to physical Stories By The Month™ kit subscribers as an Add On each month.
This 6x8 stamp set is available to subscribers to add to their box during the Add On period and
also offered in the shop for anyone else.
*Waiting for this to arrive at my house so no samples at this time.
ONE LITTLE WORD® MINI KIT
Here's a video overview:
HALLOWEEN KIT + DIE CUT PACK + STAMPS
Subscribers will be able to add the Halloween Kit, Die Cut Pack, and stamps to their box during the Add On period. This is also now available in the shop for non-subscribers.
Here's a closer look at the kit:
And the die cuts:
And two stamp options including 4x6 phrases:
And 6x8:
Here'a a video walkthrough:
December Daily® 2024 | Special Guest Jill Drangsholt
Hello again! I'm excited to be back on the blog today with some ideas for ways to use the Scalloped Die Cut Tags. I always use a ton of tags in my December Daily projects, so this product (found in the embellishments section) was really fun for me to play with!
But before we get to that, I wanted to show you an example using last year's album of how cute they look when you simply slip them in a pocket. I love the contrast between the scalloped edges and the straight edges, and the little peek at the next page it gives you!
I have two projects for you today. One where I alter the tags themselves and another where I create cute pockets for them using the 3x8 vellum envelope.
PROJECT ONEMy first idea was to actually cut down the tags so that I could fit four on a 6x8 page. I love the look of just a hint of a scallop on the bottom of each tag. Watch the process video below to see how they come together and then check out a few photos of the project in process as well as the final layout.
I really wanted to fit 4 tags on this layout, so I decided to cut down the tags to make them smaller. I cut off the scallops on both sides and cut the top off right below the hole. I love how they now have just a hint of scallop!
To further transform my tags, I added a .75 inch strip of patterned paper at the top. I chose to cut down this plaid 3x4 card from the mini kit because it had a small scale pattern and I love how colorful it is.
Then I used another tag as a template to cut down the corners, punched new holes at the top, and embellished with gold numbers a a pink ribbon.
I adhered my tags lightly to the background paper to give me flexibility later if I want to switch up the patterned paper or decide to put the tags on 3x4 cards instead.
I'm excited to fill these cute tags with a story!
PROJECT TWOFor my second project, I really wanted to find or make a pocket for the scallops to peek out of. The only pocket I could find in this year's collection that fit this tag is the 3x8 vellum pocket from the envelope bundle. While these tags are way too short for that pocket, I really loved how they looked inside, so I decided to make it work by transforming it into two pockets!
Watch the process video below to see how I made that happen and then check out more photos of the process and the final project.
First, I cut off the bottom of the pocket right where I wanted the tag to peek out (left), then I trimmed off the top of the pocket to cut off the notch (right) and make it the same measurement above the hole punches as the other one. I used the text on the pattern as my guide because they are in the same location above both sets of hole punches.
Then I used washi tape to give myself a guide to stitch along the bottom of the top pocket and then trimmed off the excess. I ended up also stitching along the bottom of the other pocket just to make them match.
I embellished the pockets with some wood veneer stars, gold glitter stars, and a white puffy number. I also added a pop of bright green ribbon.
I hope these two projects got you inspired to play with these tags and all of the other fun scallops in this year's collection!
I will see you again next week and in the meantime, you can find me on Instagram at @jill.drangsholt if you want to follow my December Daily journey and my other crafty adventures.
September 9, 2024
December Daily® 2024 | Denine Zielinski
Hey friends! It’s Denine here once again, and I am excited to be back on the blog this week to do more December Daily stamping with you. There are so many awesome stamp sets with this year’s release, and it was so hard to decide which ones to work with first. Last week, we had some fun with the Holiday Trees 6x8 Stamp Set, and this week we will be playing around with a couple new sets. Let’s start out with the Holiday Tag 6x8 Stamp Set. This one is so super versatile and would be great for making your own personalized gifts tags this year. I, however, had other plans for this one.
A part of my December Daily for the past couple years has been to document my creative journey either through the past year or with the DD project itself. Last year, I did the entire year, and this year I will be just doing my December Daily story (I’m trying to keep it slim this year).
I chose the scalloped circle tag for this project, and I stamped it several times on a few scrap papers from last year as well as one of the papers from this year’s Paislee Press Mini Kit. I chose neutral tones and paired them with kraft scalloped circles. I wanted to just have pops of color. This would also look super cute using the scalloped square stamp and mixing it with the plastic scalloped squares!
One thing that was so much fun was using a paper crimper on the kraft cardstock before using the scalloped circle punch. I haven’t crimped paper in ages!
I created a pocket using one of the papers from the Merry Merry 10×8 Paper Pack and the 10x8 Tis The Season transparency. I made a line of circles across the middle of the transparency and ran it through my sewing machine. I then cut the transparency down to make the pocket and sewed it to the background paper. I added some colorful circles, a few Gold Foil Die Cut Circle Labels, and the Make More Merry scalloped plastic square (punched into a 1 ½ inch circle). I did a bit more stamping on two of the Gold Foil Die Cut Circle Labels using the Our Merry Era 4×6 Stamp Set by Paislee Press. I left the last one blank to add the story number when it makes it into my album.
You can see how this page came together in the video below.
Here is how the page will look once it is in my album. You can see that it’s not in the rings yet as I did not punch the holes. Since I’m not sure where this will end up in my album, I will wait to punch the holes depending upon what side of the album it falls on.
Oh yes….I almost forget to mention that I also added a little label to the lower right-hand corner of the pocket after I recorded my process video. I was dying to do something with the Alpha and Numbers 4×6 Stamp Set. I love all of the different letter styles! This stamp set will make its way into my album A LOT this year!
The large tags inside of the pocket were created by using Photoshop Elements to resize some of the cards + papers from the Main Kit. I may end up adding some other fun die cuts or plastic pieces to my pocket, as well.
Next up is the absolutely adorable Gingerbread Men 4×6 Stamp Set. If building our own gingerbread-folk isn’t the most fun ever, I don’t know what is! I had a blast just stamping the afternoon away. I seriously had to stop myself because it was getting out of hand. I created so many little gingerbread men, yet I barely hit the tip of the iceberg. The different iterations are seemingly endless!
The above photo shows some of the gingerbread folk that I created, and this isn’t even all of them! I had to narrow it down somehow!
I did not create a foundation page with these guys because I really couldn’t decide which idea to go with. Instead, I just pulled out some of the journaling cards + papers from the release and gave you some of the ideas that were floating around in my head.
Here is a close-up of a few things that you could do with these little guys.
In the photo below, I added 7/8-inch circles (stamped with numbers from the Number 4×6 Stamp Set) to the gingerbread folk and then mounted them on top of some of the Scalloped Plastic Squares. I slipped them into the pockets of a 6x8 page protector. In the open spaces, you could add photos and/or journaling. You could also staple the Scalloped Plastic Squares to the outsides of the pockets and have your journaling underneath. That would leave room for more photos, and the journaling would peek through the plastic pieces which always makes me happy!
The gingerbread folk also fit perfectly inside of the stamp shaped rectangles on this 4x6 card from the Paislee Press Mini Kt.
In the photo below, I added one on top of the Fa La La 3x4 card from the Paislee Press Mini Kit. I also cut down a toothpick and added a 7/8-inch circle to make it look like he’s holding a sign!
I did the same thing below but stood him in front of the colorful trees die cut piece.
Here they are on top of one another holding little hearts with numbers for a numbered list.
Here is one of the gingerbread folk hanging out inside the “0” in 2024.
Below is one of my absolute favorites for this little guy. I hung him from the felt nine using a gold miniature ornament hook. Gosh, he’s just the cutest ever!
Last, but not least, here is the Scalloped Boxes 10x8 paper from the Main Kit all decked out with a few gingerbread folk + some other goodies.
The video below has a whole bunch of other ways that you can add these little gingerbread folk into your December Daily album.
Stamping – 0:00 – 5:48
Creative Ideas – 5:51 – 11:53
One more thing before I go…you DO NOT have to fussy cut these little guys out. I just like doing that. You can totally 100% just stamp them directly onto your paper, journal card or project. A lot of the ideas that I showed you here would work beautifully without having to cut the gingerbread folk out. I know that not everybody is a fan of fussy cutting like myself, and that is fine. This stamp set is still for you!
As always, this was so much fun, and I thank you all for being here with me today. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below. You can also see more of my work on Instagram @denine2 and YouTube @Denine2. Happy Storytelling + Happy December Daily! See you all very soon!
Friendly reminder that we are following the same process as last year for securing your stamp orders. In order to meet the high demand for stamps this year, we are asking you to add the stamp sets you would like to receive in your box by 9/9 at 11:59pm ET to guarantee your order for shipping with your box in early October. We will be ordering a limited amount of each design in addition to stamps sets secured by customers that will be available after 9/9. If you do not secure the stamps you would like by 9/9 at 11:59pm we cannot guarantee we will have enough quantity to fulfill demand and they may sell out. Find them here.
September 6, 2024
In Case You Missed It | September 6
Happy Friday, friends! Welcome to the latest
In Case You Missed It. Just a reminder that this is a quick post that will happen every Friday afternoon with all the updates and links that have happened throughout the week. So, let's get to it:
2024 DECEMBER DAILY® PRODUCTS
The 2024 December Daily boxing period is currently live. From now until September 30th 11:59pm ET you are able to add items to your box for a single shipping charge. Order will ship the first week of October. Due to manufacturing constraints, sold out items will not be reordered. Our 2024 Collection Preview Post is available here. We also shared a How It Works post for all of the information you need to know to prepare for the boxing period launch on Tuesday, August 27th at 10am Eastern. Not signed up for our newsletter? Head to www.aliedwards.com and sign-up in the footer of our site. Be sure to follow us over at @decemberdaily, our official account for all things December Daily®. We also invite you to join us in the December Daily® Facebook group for more merriment. Find additional resources and inspiration, including Ali's completed albums, on the blog via the December Daily hashtag. Learn more about the project here.
2024 DECEMBER DAILY CLASSES
December Daily® Product Play | This + This + This workshop registration is open and available at an intro price of $20 during the Order Selection Period. After that time it will move to the official price of $25. More details on this year's workshop can be found at the bottom of this post (workshop begins November 5th). December Daily® Hybrid Product Play workshop will open on Tuesday August 27th (DD launch Day) and will be available at an intro price of $12 during the Order Selection Period. After that time it will move to the official price of $15. Read below for more details (workshop begins on October 11th to correspond with our December Daily® Digitals release the same day). December Daily® Prep Day is happening this year on Sunday, November 3rd starting at 10am ET. You can sign up for this $5 online event on Tuesday August 27th during Order Selection Period as well.
AUGUST REVEAL
Only a few days left to subscribe and receive the Story Kit™ theme: QUIET! Ah, quiet. Sometimes it's elusive and sometimes it's oppressive and sometimes it's the exact relief we need. This month we are telling stories about being quiet, searching for quiet, embracing quiet, and generally reflecting on how we feel when things are quiet in our lives. In addition to our new Story Kit™ theme, we also have a brand new Stories By The Month™ kit, the next edition in our Alphas Are Awesome series, and our most recent Quarterly Scrapbook Kit (alphabet-theme). Head to the blog for Ali's post with all the details about this month’s release.
AUGUST DIGITALS
The first Friday of every month we have a new digital release available in the shop. Play with scale, recolor objects, add journaling, print multiples…the sky is the limit when playing with digitals. Shop digitals here.
2024 PROJECTS + PRODUCTS SCHEDULE
As we continuing easing into 2024 we put together an overview of our schedule of projects + product releases for the upcoming year. We are sharing this as a way for you to plan, think about what you might want to participate in this year, and simply share some of the things we have coming up to help support + inspire storytelling. For the last few years we've followed a fairly similar cadence for our releases and our major projects will follow that release schedule again this year. Please note that, as you might imagine, this schedule is subject to change throughout the year based on a variety of variables. Find the post here.
As always, we’re so grateful to have you all as members of this community! Thanks for joining me today and have a great weekend!
December Daily® 2024 | 4x6 Album Idea
Hello everyone. It's Kelly Ishmael here and today I am sharing some ideas for using the Vertical Floral 4x6 Album and the Cover Cards from the 2024 Advent Calendar.
The original inspiration for these ideas came from a question asked during one of Ali's Q&A's on Instagram recently. The question was if the cover card from the advent calendar would fit inside the page protector of the 4x6 album.
Note:Just to add some context to the question, each envelope in the advent calendar comes with a cardstock cover card to conceal the surprise inside.
We loved this idea so much and thought it would fun to play around with other ideas for using these cover cards.
Idea #1 | Inside the page protector
The cover cards measure 4x6 inches and fit perfectly inside the full-size page protector. This would be a fun, simple way to use the cards to document the month with a streamlined formula!
Idea #2 | Outside the page protector
My next idea was to punch holes in the side of the cover card to use it outside the page protector. I love that it is slightly narrower than the page protector and that it is a perfect spot for using a tab sticker along the edge.
Another simple idea is to trim the top and bottom of the cover card to use inside one of the 4x3 pockets. There are 10 of these 3x4 two pocket page protectors included with the album and I think this makes for a really cute pocket card.
Idea #4 | Flip-up card
For this idea I cut down a piece of patterned paper that measures 5x6.25 inches as a base (this is the full size of the page protector). I then lined up the cover card along the top and left a small margin along the left side for the holes. I created a flip up by adding a piece of the color block wash tape along the top and then folding it over the back side of my patterned paper. I added a second piece of the words pattern washi tape to give it a little more interest.
I ended up trimming about a 1/4" along the right side to match the width of the cover card. Under the flip you could add photos or journaling or other embellishment. This tag + pocket from the main kit are just the right size for this darling album.
Another simple idea for the cover cards is to punch out the number with a circle punch. I cut down a piece of transparency from my stash to 5x6.25 inches and added the circle on top. On the back side of the circle I added one of the fun color block circles from the main kit, but you could add a photo or journaling too.
Idea #6 | Scalloped edges
Anyone have some of these scalloped edge scissors in their stash?? I adore all of the scalloped edge details included in the this year's product release, and I remembered that I still had my pair from WAAAAYYYY back in the day (lol). I thought it might be fun to add that edge treatment to a cover card. I started by cutting one inch from the top and bottom to create a 4 inch square. Next I trimmed along the edge with my scissors. (Pro tip! make sure you have them turned the right direction lol.)
It turned out really cute and it's a fun way to include that design element in other ways in your project. If you don't have scalloped edge scissors, you could use a scalloped edge craft die (scrapbook.com has quite a few options) or a square paper punch (here's one from Amazon).
You can watch my process for each of these ideas in the video below.
Thank you for joining me today. I hope this post has given you some ideas for working with the 4x6 album and the advent calendar cover cards. Sound off with your ideas in the comments below!
September 5, 2024
December Daily® 2024 | Special Guest Jill Drangsholt
Hi friends! I'm so excited to be back with you this year to share ideas using the 2024 December Daily collection! You may remember that last year I did a whole series on mixed media ideas using the DD products. This year I will not be focusing primarily on mixed media, so if you would like more in depth tips on how to use the stencils, silkscreens, or using paint with the stamps, you can find my series on the blog (search paint + play with Jill).
I know I just said I wouldn't be doing mixed media, but today I do have a project using the silk screens because they are so great for adding patterns onto some of the products in the collection. For this project, I was inspired to play around with everyone's favorite large vellum red cup and add a fun pattern on it using the silkscreens. I also wanted to try turning it into a pocket that I can insert into my album using the page attacher stickers. For a bonus project, I used the same silkscreen technique to jazz up the large vellum Santa hat. But first, the red cup....
PROJECT 1: RED CUP POCKETI have broken this project into 2 videos: the silkscreening and making the cup into a pocket. Watch my process video below for the best instructions on how to do the masking and silkscreening. However, I will also include a few process photos below the video.
To mask this red cup, I used a rectangular sticky note across the top and then used a spare piece of vellum to help me cut out a circular mask to cover the gold circle in the middle. Lay the scrap of vellum on top of the red cup and trace the circle in pencil.
Roughly cut out your traced circle, tape it onto a sticky note with washi tape, and cut around both at the same time. Make sure you are cutting a portion of the sticky note that has the sticky backing! Lay your new circular mask on the red cup and you are ready for silkscreening!
Gently take the silkscreen off of the backing, and smooth it over your red cup. Make sure it is stuck on there firmly. Then scrape a small amount of paint over your silkscreen using either an old gift card or a pallet knife. Make sure to cover the entire image with a thin layer of paint. Gently lift the silkscreen from your red cup.
I love these silkscreens. I also love stencils for messy mixed media stuff, but if you want a pattern or image that is more crisp, I recommend trying silkscreens instead. As long as you make sure they are stuck really well onto your surface and you scrape thin layers of paint on them, they will turn out great every time.
And don't forget to wash and dry them after EVERY time you use them to maintain that crisp image.
Now let's make our red cup into a pocket!!!
Enjoy this bonus project using the Santa hat vellum piece and silkscreens for a flip up that I plan to use to tell a story about my dog Samson trying his very best to be a good boy this Christmas. I won't tell Santa about the 5am wake up calls or occasional "presents" Samson left on the floor. LOL
I hope these two projects inspired you to try out the silkscreens to add some flair to your products or to create more pockets and flip ups from other products in the collection!
I will see you again next week and in the meantime, you can find me on Instagram at @jill.drangsholt if you want to follow my December Daily journey and my other crafty adventures.
September 4, 2024
December Daily® 2024 | Special Guest Linda Jordan
Hi everyone, it’s Linda and I’m so excited that it’s December Daily season again! Even though we still have a few months until the actual project, there is still a lot you can do now to get ready for December. Here are my top 10 tips to do before December rolls around to make this a fun + manageable project (plus to dig in when you’re so excited from the release!).
10 THINGS TO GET READY FOR DECEMBER DAILY
One of my favorite tips for this time of year, is to pull out your old albums and flip through them. Not only is it fun looking through the memories and a great way to get you in the mood for the season, looking back on your old albums can give you tons of ideas for the upcoming season.
When looking through your albums think about the stories + photos + products that worked for you in the past. What would you like to bring into this year’s album? What didn’t work for you in the past that you want to move on from?
Last year I shared a detailed look through some of my old albums + thoughts. I encourage you to check out that post for more ideas in looking through your albums, you can find it here.
December Daily is one of my absolute favorite projects, but it is very time consuming and pretty much takes over my crafting during the month of December (and maybe a little of November and January too!). As scrapbookers, we often have other projects that we like to work on so now is a great time to focus on making extra space for December Daily by finishing up those other projects.
This might look like: finishing old December Daily albums (check out the hashtag #donebydecember for lots of inspiration!), catching up on Project Life, working through travel albums, or putting together story kit projects to clear up space on your desk.
For me, I am going to work on putting together a travel album for my recent summer adventure, finishing a few of the recent story kits + being all caught up on Project Life so that, going into December, I can prioritize this project.
Now is a great time to stock up on basic supplies + other things that you will use for this project. For me, this means making sure I have enough photo paper + ink for my printer (I print my photos at home), adhesives, and pens.
Typewriter. I have a typewriter that I have used in the past in many of my projects. I like to decide in advance if I’m going to use this in my album so that I can use it on a few pages to create a more uniform style across the album. Stamped alphas. I am obsessed with stamping words in my albums + I love all the alphas are awesome stamps for this. If you also want to stamp in your album, I highly recommend selecting a few alpha stamps in advance. That will cut down on your options during the month of December and help create a cohesive album. And don’t forget to pick up ink!
December Daily is a time to play with products! This is the time of the year that I see the most inspiring creations using all sorts of fancy tools. I want to disclaimer this post by saying, please do not go out and buy all these expensive tools for this project! You don’t need them! Take this time to watch the inspiration that is out there and consider what tools you might want to invest in in the future.
But, I know lots of us have invested in tools over the years, whether it’s a Cricut, a sewing machine, or a Minc, and then we haven’t used them because they do take time to learn! So, if that is you, take this as a push to go figure out how to use what you have BEFORE December rolls around so you are ready to use these supplies in your album. Maybe make a few embellishments or foundation pages to use during December, or just learn the basics of your tools so that when December is here you can easily pull it out and play.
I also wanted to mention that some of these tools can be a good way to use the digitals from the December Daily collection. You can use a silhouette or cricut to cut out the die cuts or use a foil quill or minc to add gold to printed out digitals. There is also so much to do with digital products in various programs such as Photoshop or Procreate. Depending on what tools you have, you might want to consider picking up digitals when they go on sale and creating your own physical versions of the products.
I have had a lot of fun in the past with my silhouette, my foil quill, my sewing machine, my typewriter, heat embossing, and using my apple pencil in procreate in my album. These are all so much fun! But, they are time consuming to learn and to use, and they can be expensive, so I highly recommend that you pick just ONE new thing to add to your toolbox for this year.
Many of us already placed our orders, but most of the albums are still available in the shop + you might have a selected more than one (or have some in your stash) and are still deciding which album is the “right” one for you this year.
After a lot of debate, I decided to go with the red 6x8 album for this year. I have done various sizes in the past from 4x6 to 10x8 and they all have pros/cons. You might have your own list/considerations, but here are a few thoughts I had when considering what album size to use.
I have used this size many times, and am going to use it again this year. Here were my observations that could help you decide if this is the right size for you.
Good For:
Lots of Inspiration. This feels like the most common size in the community (at least from those who share online) and has been around the longest, so there is a lot of inspiration out there for using this size. Page protector variety. Although there is a new page protector style of 10x8 this year, and a few fun ones for 4x6, 6x8 albums have been around for awhile so there are lots of configurations out there if you like to mix it up and work inside of page protectors. Best for 3x4 cards. If you like to use a lot of 3x4 cards in pockets, this is the best size for you because 6x8 divides evenly by 3x4, so you can fit these cards in many of the page protector styles. Vertical photos. If you take a lot of vertical photos, this album is great because you can print those as a full 6x8 to take up a page. Printing at home. Unless you have an oversized photo printer, this album is a good size where you can easily print at home on a standard size photo printer, or even a smaller one.Bad For:
Uniqueness. 6x8 albums are most common, which means that your album will look more similar to others. Also, if you’ve been doing this project for a long time, your albums can start to look the same over time if you always use this size (but, you might also love that uniformity!). A ton of content. If you struggle to narrow down your photos + stories, you might have trouble fitting everything into one 6x8 album.Bottom Line: 6x8 is a perfect middle of the road album. It’s big enough to fit most embellishments + give you a lot of options, but doesn’t feel overwhelming with choice. It’s a good album for newbies.
I used a 10x8 album in 2021 and I had a lot of fun with it. Here were my observations that could help you decide if this is the right size for you.
Good For:
Large HORIZONTAL photos. If you are someone who takes a lot of horizontal photos and likes to blow your photos up (and has the ability to print that size easily), this is a great album. Including a lot of photos. You just have more space in this size, so you can easily include a lot of photos in one spread, especially if you use layered templates, divided page protectors, or flip ups. Large scale supplies/embellishments. Do you like the super bold statements? Huge text? Large die cuts + pieces? This album is great for those larger scale supplies. Lots of supplies. If you have a lot of supplies you want to use, having a larger album just gives you more real estate to include more stuff. Lots of text. If you want to include some longer stories, you can really fit A TON in one spread in the 10x8 size. Varied page sizes. Just because the album is 10x8, doesn't mean all your pages need to be! You can include a range of page sizes which gives you a lot more options when creating your spread.Bad For:
More time consuming. Because the pages are bigger, it just takes more time to put an album of this size together. Consider if you have the time/bandwidth for this prior to diving into 10x8. More options. Yes, this is listed in the pros above, but more options can also be a bad thing. You have more options for page size/style and can include more photos, more supplies, and more words, all of which means more choices. If you struggle with narrowing down your choices, this might not be the album for you. Vertical photo takers. I am someone who takes 90% of my photos vertically because I am addicted to Instagram stories. This shape just doesn’t work great for the 10x8 format. Yes, you can include some 6x8 pages to add in vertical photos, but if those are all of your photos, it becomes a little more difficult.Bottom Line: 10x8 is perfect if you want to include all the photos + words + products and have extra space to play and get crafty!
This is a super fun, mini size and I was so excited to see Ali offer this as an option this year. I used a vertical 4x6 in 2022 and used a horizontal 4x6 in 2017.
Good For:
Quick. A smaller album, means less choices + less “work” to put it together. If you find yourself pressed for time this season or worried you won’t finish, this is a great option to make this project really manageable. One photo per day. If you struggle to take a lot of photos or have photos that you love, this size is perfect for including only one photo (or no photos!) on a spread. Specific orientation. If you work in a vertical 4x6 album (like the one in this year’s collection) this album is great for vertical photos, if you work in a horizontal 4x6 album, then it is great for horizontal photos. Minimalist design. If you want to work from less products or keep a very minimalist style, this album size works great. Printing at home. If you don’t have a large size printer, this album size is great for printing small.Bad for:
Lots of photos/stories. If you struggle to narrow down your photos/content per day, this album size might be difficult to work with. Larger embellishments. Some of the products in the collection this year are big + bold! Many of those can be fit into this album if you get creative, but a few of them just won’t work. It’s important to keep that in mind when selecting products to work with a smaller album. Lots of stash. If you have a large stash of products or picked up a lot from this year’s collection, this might not be the best album for you because you just won’t be able to fit as much into this album as you would in a larger size.Bottom Line: 4x6 is perfect if you want to include only a few photos + supplies and get this project done quicker.
OtherAlthough only the above sizes are part of this year’s collection, there are endless types of albums out there! You could use a different size, include your December Daily project within a larger project (like project life), or use something else entirely, such as a traveler’s notebook, a journal or an altered book. The possibilities are endless.
Bottom Line: Doing something else is perfect if you want to mix it up + get creative + think outside of the box!
If you have done December Daily in the past, you most likely have some supplies from older years. Now is a good time to pull out those supplies and go through them. Decide what will coordinate with the supplies you picked up this year + what supplies will fit with your album selection.
Now is a great time to purge those older supplies that are no longer your style or you know you’re never going to use. It’s also a great time to take stock of what you have and what you might want more of (or what you definitely don’t need more of!).
In addition to December Daily supplies, consider supplies that are not December Daily focused but might work for this project.
Once your supplies arrive, dive in and organize them! Getting everything set up in a format where you can see what you have and access it during the month is key to keeping up with this project. For me, I like to keep my products out on my desk in an organized tray during the month of December. In the video below, I walk you through setting up my supplies for this year + working in some of my stash products.
Some things to keep in mind when organizing your supplies:Out of sight, out of mind. For most people, if you can’t see it, you forget you have it and you won’t use it. I highly recommend creating a set up where you can see what you have and leave it out, if possible. If this isn’t feasible because you have small children, pets, or your craft space doubles as another space, consider using clear organizers or a tray that can easily be moved. Album size. Hopefully you’ve already chosen an album size (and if not, this could help you commit!). Some supplies just don’t work well with certain album sizes, whereas other supplies really shine. Consider what size album you’re working with and select supplies that will pair nicely with it.
Now is a great time to review all the inspiration for this project! In addition to the new content on the blog this year + the classes that are coming soon, take some time to revisit older December Daily classes + inspiration. There is so much to see here on the blog if you look under the tag December Daily. If you’ve never taken Ali’s older class called Storytelling with December Daily I highly recommend, I look back on it each year. You can purchase it here.
I also love instagram + Pinterest for searching for inspiration. I save projects that I love to refer back to as inspiration for my project. I also love just looking through the products and seeing what ideas are sparked, now is the time to just think of all the ideas!
In addition to looking at other people’s December Daily projects, I like to expand my search to include other things that could inspire my project. Some of the things that I look at: holiday decor, Christmas graphic design, holiday card designs, magazine spreads, or other types of crafts, such as art journal spreads.
Don’t just review inspiration, but come up with a way to collect it. I absolutely love paper, so for me, this means printing out some of my favorite inspirational pieces + making notes/sketches in my craft planner. See above for my collection so far this year! But you could definitely do this digitally. Both instagram + pinterest have great options for saving inspiration.
Also note, though, that my notes don’t include any photos of other people’s projects (although you can definitely include that + I’m sure I will once I start seeing people working with this year’s collection). I have expanded my inspiration to include other types of images + sketched out some notes/ideas that were sparked looking at the products + inspirational content. I also added in a few swatches of washi + of a magazine page + some markers to find my color scheme/help coordinate my style for this year’s album.
If you are someone who frequently screenshots inspiration and find it is just getting lost in your camera roll, consider using Pinterest to catalog it! You can create a private pinterest board (since it won’t link back to original sources) and upload your screenshots to that board to view later. Then, they’ll all be in one place, and you can delete them from your phone!
The last few years I have created and shared a planning calendar here + I am doing it again because it is so helpful to me (and I hope to you too). In the video below I am setting up my calendar for this year + sharing how I use it.
In addition to using this calendar for planning, a lot of you used it last year as part of your album (or kept the planning one with your album) so this year I made it coordinate with the collection. I have created it in sizes for the 3 albums from Ali Edwards 2024 collection + standard letter paper to make it easy to print at home. I also have created a Monday start and a Sunday start for each size.
Note: The calendars are sized to fit OUTSIDE the page protector, but the calendar itself should be small enough if you want to trim the page down to fit it inside the page protector. Please tag me on instagram if you share how you’re using your calendar so I can see + share it with the community!
I hope this post helped get you started in prepping for the upcoming season!! I will be back later this month to share more tips for staying on top of this project during the month of December.
