Ali Edwards's Blog, page 2

December Daily® 2025 | Special Guest Nolana Lynch

Hi Everyone!

I am beyond excited to share my initial unboxing of the 2025 December Daily Main Kit and sketch out some of my ideas with you!

I felt like a kid in a candy shop when I opened up a package and the beautiful red FALALA box was staring back at me! SOOO EXCITED! The best kind of happy mail.

Here’s the video of me opening it up live in the December Daily Facebook group and sharing some of my ideas with you:

This was one of my favourite ideas from that session - creating a word tree on acetate or vellum, perhaps including a photo of my family around the Christmas tree behind with the both our Christmas tree falling behind the word tree! Oh what Fun!

All in all, I can’t wait for all of the December Daily crafting and bringing my foundation pages together before the start of December!

Happy Unboxing!

Nolana

instagram.com/nehlan.has.a.plan

youtube.com/@nolanalynch

Color Storyteller Kit | Special Guest Jen Wong

Hi, friends! I’m happy to be here in the classroom sharing another project I made using the Colors Storyteller Kit. I don’t typically scrap 12” x 12” layouts but I wanted a way to use more of these papers in a project so I decided to use several of them to make a 6” x 8” mini album. Summer is my favorite season and for the last couple of years, I’ve been highlighting summer stories in some kind of mini book. I loved that I got to use these colorful papers to make this year’s album!

To make my mini album, I used the following 12 x 12 papers from the kit:

Sun vellum paper
Love Life 4x6 card paper
Live In Color 4x6 card paper
Sunshine/White Circle pattern paper
Blue floral pattern paper
Love Life 3x4 card paper

I also used 2 pieces of legal copy paper (8.5” x 14”) which will be used to hold smaller patterned papers or full-size photos. I’m trying to make it easy for myself to fill in the pages, either by directly writing or adding photos to the finished pages.

The papers were cut to the following sizes and arranged in this order:

Sun vellum paper (cut to 8” x 12”)
Legal copy paper (cut to 8” x 12”)
Love Life 4x6 card paper (cut to 8” x 12”)
Sunshine/White Circle pattern paper (cut to ~8” diameter circle)
Live In Color 4x6 card paper (cut to 8” x 12”)
Blue floral pattern paper (cut to 8” x 12”)
Legal copy paper (cut to 8” x 12”)
Love Life 3x4 card paper (cut to 4”  x 12”)

I scored each of the papers down the middle, and then using an awl and thread, I sewed the pages together with a saddle stitch. This binds the book together. 

You can watch all of the exact steps to make the mini book in the video below.

At the end of the video, you’ll see I added a digital version of one of the 7” x 8.25” papers to the front so it peeks through the vellum.

I couldn’t just leave the new mini album empty! Of course I had to include at least one summer story!

I made a set of pages to go into the first page with the blue floral pattern. I just loved all of the colorful die cuts in the kit and used several of these to make a grid on the left side, with some kraft cardstock as the base. I used cardstock because I knew I wanted to sew on the pages, and I didn’t want the stitching to show on the other side. On the right, I paired it with a simple full-page photo and a chipboard piece.

Here’s a look at how this page came together.

If you watch the video, you’ll see I added the first project I made with the Colors Storyteller Kit to the mini book as well! 

Here’s what all of the pages in order of the finished album look like so far.

I forgot to take a photo of the page between these two, but it has a blank page on the left, and the poppies pattern paper on the right.

I love how this little booklet turned out and can’t wait to fill it up with more stories from this summer! Please let me know if you have any questions and I can’t wait to see what you make. Feel free to tag me (IG: @circleplusarrow) and share your projects!

Color Storyteller Kit | Special Guest Jill Drangsholt

Hi friends! I was inspired by all of Ali's flower photos to document my collection of daylilies. They are one of the few flowers that I have found to flourish in my patio garden that only gets 3-4 hours of sun a day, and I have loved them so much that I have planted even more colors in my HOA managed front yard whenever something up there dies (shhhhh... don't tell my HOA!). So now I have over 10 varieties of these flowers and had so much fun putting these photos of them all in one place! 

I will also show you how to fix the typo on one of the papers in the kit. 

I fell in love with the sun birst paper and vellum and decided that it would be fun to layer them on top of one another! 

For my flower photos, I printed them at 2.75 inches and cut those out with a 3 inch circle punch to give them a white border. I also added in 3 of the circular paper die cuts to fill in some of the extra spaces. I also stitched the edge of a page protector to one side of my vellum so that I could attach it directly into my album. Because I am using a 3 hole album, Ali's page attachers wouldn't work, but this was a great solution! 

On the front of the vellum, I cut out a large oval from the paper with the blue handwritten pattern border and added one of my flower photos inside. I then stitched around this with white thread to adhere it onto the vellum. 

On the back of the vellum, I wanted to use the phrase from the "let us lay in the sun" paper on top of the sunburst. There is a typo on that paper (two i's in things), but I was easily able to fix that by cutting the phrase into long strips, and then cutting the "thing we" strip in half right between the two i's. I was then able to overlap those to hide the second i. You can't even tell!

To add some journaling for my project, I just used a 4x6 card from the kit and paired it with a quote card from my stash. 

You can check out my process video below to see how this project came together! 

I hope you enjoyed my lesson! Let me know if you have any questions and you can follow along with my other crafting adventures on Instagram (@jill.drangsholt).

In Case You Missed It | October 3

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:

DAY IN THE LIFE IS COMING

Save the Date ✨️ Who's excited for our Day In The Life Story Play documenting week beginning Monday, October 13th? Ali will be documenting her actual day on Friday, October 17th and sharing more about her set up early the following week. *Please note date change for the actual documenting day! Throughout the week we'll be sharing completed Day In The Life projects from some of our talented community members using this year's products. Looking for products to support your storytelling? The individual kit is sold out, but we still have a few Story Play Bundles left in the shop. We also have a digital version of the kit available now.

DECEMBER DAILY® 2025 BOXING PERIOD EXTENDED

This year's boxing period is happening now! Order selection is similar to last year with opportunities to add to your order with lifestyle, apparel and sale items throughout the boxing period. Check back frequently for new additions. We also have a packed schedule of Instagram lives and inspiration, head to our official December Daily® Instagram account for all the details.  Shipping of December Daily® items this year is anticipated to begin in mid-October - which is about a week later than in past years. As always we will prioritize shipping international orders first. Given this timeline shift, December Daily® boxes will remain open through 11:59pm ET on October 7th, 2025.

SEPTEMBER KITS AVAILABLE 

Final days to subscribe to our September kits! Earlier this month we revealed our newest kits and stamps.  In addition to our color-themed Storyteller and Stamps Are Fun Kits, we also have a brand new Stories By The Month™ kit and the next edition in our Alphas Are Awesome series. ⁠We also have a brand new Halloween Kit and stamps in the shop now. Head to the blog for Ali’s post with all the details about this month’s release.

2025 STORY PLAY DOCUMENTING WEEKS | CHANGE TO Day In The Life™

Story Play update! We're excited to share our community documenting weeks for our 2025 Story Play collection: ⁠

⁠Dogs + Cats: the week of August 4th⁠ 
Watching + Listening: the week of September 8th⁠ 
Day In The Life™: the week of October 13th (Friday the 17th will be our official documenting day, with supporting content planned throughout the week.) ⁠ 
Gratitude: the week of November 3rd⁠

TENTATIVE 2025 PROJECT + PRODUCT SCHEDULE NOW AVAILABLE

Earlier this year on the blog Ali shared our 2025 project schedule. Recently we've been encountering some unexpected delays in manufacturing which is inviting us to be more fluid in our release/project scheduling (the reason why we've been holding off on sharing a more concrete schedule). Head there now for our rough schedule and a few general notes. We’re excited about the year ahead! we do not have any information for 2026 as of yet! We will share those dates as soon as we have them. 

OCTOBER DIGITALS 

The first Friday of every month we have a new digital release available in the shop. That mean's travel digitals are available now!  Play with scale, recolor objects, add journaling, print multiples…the sky is the limit when playing with digitals. Shop digitals here. December Daily digitals are scheduled to release on October 10th. 

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® 2025 | Ali's Reason Why

Welcome to the beginning of my December Daily® storytelling posts for 2025! 

Before we dive in to what I created for my Reason Why this year here are a couple reminders: 

Shipping updates can be found here.  Boxing period has been extended through October 7th.  Don't forget to sign up for our 2025 December Daily® workshops (these happen in October and November) and Prep Day (happening November 2nd). 

Let's dive in to the process video: 

Let's check out the images of the completed elements in my album: 

I'm back in a 10x8 album this year and really looking forward to it! I used a 10x8 in 2022 and 2023 (click on those links to see completed walkthroughs of those projects). 

For my Reason Why entry this year I decided to create a little shaker booklet that lives inside one of the envelopes in the Cardstock Envelope Bundle. 

The next page in my album will be the Table Of Contents page from the Cardstock Prompt Paper Pack.

I cut a circle from the green envelope (using my red line tape roll as a template) and added a piece of Grafix Plastic on the inside to create the window (you could also use a pattern transparency here). 

I finally took a little time to learn how to do a print and cut using my Silhouette and it was so much easier than I thought it would be. I printed the digital wreath via the Silhouette software which adds registration marks to the printed page. I then ran the wreath through my Minc Machine to add the champagne foil on top. Next I ran the printed/foiled page through the Silhouette and it cut it out using the cut lines established in the software. 

You can download the Silhouette file I set up (and the wreath as a PNG) here.

To keep the envelope closed I used small magnets with mini glue dots to get them in the correct location. 

The little ribbon on top is included in the 2025 Advent Calendar. 

I had so much fun creating this little shaker booklet using a combination of elements from our collection this year. 

For the outside of my shaker booklet I used one of the frames from the Decorative Cardstock Frame set (you could also use one from the Main Kit). I used the 2025 transparency from the Specialty Journal Card Pack as the main window. On top of that I added two plastic stars from the Main Kit and ran it through my sewing machine. On top of the stitching I added the mini label from Cardstock Label Pack and stamped "2025 December Daily®" using the Label Maker Stamp Set. 

I added a bunch of sequins from The Diary Of Belle Rose on the inside. 

I used another label + the same stamp set to add Peace On Earth on the inside piece of plastic. I used a large roll of foam tap in between the front frame/transparency and the back transparency to create space for the sequins. 

On top of the foam tape you could add another frame or do what I do and turn over the scalloped die cuts and run them through the sewing machine before adhering them on top. 

I used a digital version of the label and added my Reason Why before printing on sticker paper.

I used a folded piece of cardstock to create the hinge between the shaker frame and the second page of pattern paper. I wrapped some of the Main Kit washi around the outside edge. 

I used a few of the little banners from the Main Kit to create hang tags (adhered back to back) that were added to a loop pin and tied using extra thread from stitching that I didn't cut off earlier. 

Hope is my Reason Why this year. 

On the back of the booklet I added a gold foil pattern from the 3x8 Journal Card + Transparency Pack. 

SUPPLIES
December Daily® Main Kit 2025 December Daily® Advent Calendar (fabric bow) Green Stripes 10x8 Album Decorative Cardstock Frames Cardstock Scallop Borders Cardstock Label Pack Specialty Journal Card Pack  Cardstock Envelope Bundle Label Maker 4x6 Stamp Set Magnets Small Glue Dots Tim Holtz Loop Pin Diary Of Belle Rose Sequins Foam Tape Grafix Transparency Silhouette Machine Minc Machine  Champagne Minc Foil  Koala Sticker Photo Paper 

In Case You Missed It | September 26

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:

DECEMBER DAILY® 2025 BOXING PERIOD

This year's boxing period is happening now! Order selection is similar to last year with opportunities to add to your order with lifestyle, apparel and sale items throughout the boxing period. Check back frequently for new additions. We also have a packed schedule of Instagram lives and inspiration, head to our official December Daily® Instagram account for all the details. 

SEPTEMBER KITS AVAILABLE 

Our September kits are here! Earlier this month we revealed our newest kits and stamps.  In addition to our color-themed Storyteller and Stamps Are Fun Kits, we also have a brand new Stories By The Month™ kit and the next edition in our Alphas Are Awesome series. ⁠We also have a brand new Halloween Kit and stamps in the shop now. Head to the blog for Ali’s post with all the details about this month’s release.

2025 STORY PLAY DOCUMENTING WEEKS | CHANGE TO Day In The Life™

Story Play update! We're excited to share our community documenting weeks for our 2025 Story Play collection: ⁠

⁠Dogs + Cats: the week of August 4th⁠ 
Watching + Listening: the week of September 8th⁠ 
Day In The Life™: the week of October 13th (Friday the 17th will be our official documenting day, with supporting content planned throughout the week.) ⁠ 
Gratitude: the week of November 3rd⁠

TENTATIVE 2025 PROJECT + PRODUCT SCHEDULE NOW AVAILABLE

Earlier this year on the blog Ali shared our 2025 project schedule. Recently we've been encountering some unexpected delays in manufacturing which is inviting us to be more fluid in our release/project scheduling (the reason why we've been holding off on sharing a more concrete schedule). Head there now for our rough schedule and a few general notes. We’re excited about the year ahead! we do not have any information for 2026 as of yet! We will share those dates as soon as we have them. 

SEPTEMBER DIGITALS 

The first Friday of every month we have a new digital release available in the shop. That mean's travel digitals are available now!  Play with scale, recolor objects, add journaling, print multiples…the sky is the limit when playing with digitals. Shop digitals 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!

Halloween Kit + Stamps 2025 | A Few Ideas

Ali had fun playing around with elements from our new Halloween Kit and the two stamp sets. 

Her favorite thing she put together was a little hang tag for her Halloween Memories album that she created a few years ago. She's got three posts about that album that you can access below: 

Halloween Through The Years Part One Halloween Through The Years Part TwoHalloween Through The Years Part Three

Here's a look at the hanging tag gathering she added to the outside of her album: 

It's a mixture of embellishments from this year's Halloween Kit and both stamp sets. She used a circle punch to punch the circles and ran them through her sewing machine to create the banner. 

Here's a look at this year's kit: 

And the stamps: 

She used jump rings and a loop pin to attach the elements together: 

Those plastic pieces from the kit look especially fun hanging there. 

Another fun idea is adhering the chipboard pieces back to back and then adding a jump ring or loop pin. 

Have fun telling your Halloween stories! 

SUPPLIESHalloween KitHalloween Stamp 6x8Halloween Stamp 4x6Tim Holtz Loop PinsTim Holtz Jump RingsAED Willamette InkAED Tillamook InkAED Columbia Ink 

Project Life® 2024 | August Through December

I'm so happy to share that I've wrapped up my 2024 weekly Project Life album. 

Here's your reminder that it's never too late to document your stories!

You can see January through April 2024 flip-through here. You can see May, June, and July 2024 flip-through here. Complete Project Life archives here. YouTube Project Life archive here.

If you are interested in checking out how I've been doing my ongoing documenting in 2025 you can check that out here: 

January + February 2025 in 10x8March + April 2025 in 10x8

In Case You Missed It | September 19

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:

DECEMBER DAILY® 2025 BOXING PERIOD

This year's boxing period is happening now! Order selection is similar to last year with opportunities to add to your order with lifestyle, apparel and sale items throughout the boxing period. Check back frequently for new additions. We also have a packed schedule of Instagram lives and inspiration, head to our official December Daily® Instagram account for all the details. 

SEPTEMBER KITS AVAILABLE 

Our September kits are here! Earlier this month we revealed our newest kits and stamps.  In addition to our color-themed Storyteller and Stamps Are Fun Kits, we also have a brand new Stories By The Month™ kit and the next edition in our Alphas Are Awesome series. ⁠We also have a brand new Halloween Kit and stamps in the shop now. Head to the blog for Ali’s post with all the details about this month’s release.

2025 STORY PLAY DOCUMENTING WEEKS | CHANGE TO Day In The Life™

Story Play update! We're excited to share our community documenting weeks for our 2025 Story Play collection: ⁠

⁠Dogs + Cats: the week of August 4th⁠ 
Watching + Listening: the week of September 8th⁠ 
Day In The Life™: the week of October 13th (Friday the 17th will be our official documenting day, with supporting content planned throughout the week.) ⁠ 
Gratitude: the week of November 3rd⁠

TENTATIVE 2025 PROJECT + PRODUCT SCHEDULE NOW AVAILABLE

Earlier this year on the blog Ali shared our 2025 project schedule. Recently we've been encountering some unexpected delays in manufacturing which is inviting us to be more fluid in our release/project scheduling (the reason why we've been holding off on sharing a more concrete schedule). Head there now for our rough schedule and a few general notes. We’re excited about the year ahead! we do not have any information for 2026 as of yet! We will share those dates as soon as we have them. 

SEPTEMBER DIGITALS 

The first Friday of every month we have a new digital release available in the shop. That mean's travel digitals are available now!  Play with scale, recolor objects, add journaling, print multiples…the sky is the limit when playing with digitals. Shop digitals 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® 2025 | Paislee Press Kit Ideas

Happy Wednesday! Today we're thrilled to share a mini dose of inspiration using our 2025 December Daily® Paislee Press Mini Kit featuring photography from Kelly. Let's dive in! 

All of the pieces from Liz's kit are designed to flow seamlessly with the colors and fonts from throughout this year's collection, while still maintaining her signature minimalist style.