Ali Edwards's Blog, page 34
December 13, 2023
December Daily® 2023 | Story 12
Welcome to Story 12 in my 2023
December Daily® album.
Today I'm telling the story of our colorful tree and how it came to be. In addition I'm trying out a
Fine Tip Freestyle Foil Quill Pen for adding foil onto photos, embellishments, etc, and playing with sticker paper for getting my journaling onto my journal card. Today's video also includes a tutorial about how I extended this image to fit a full page outside the page protector (it was originally a vertical image).
Here's the post that includes the
how-to for creating the stamped forest.
Let's dive in:
Full page photos forever and ever! This look is called "bokeh."
Here's a tutorial you can watch on how to do it with an iPhone. If you don't have an iPhone just google "bokeh" and whatever camera you are using.
I especially love it paired with a super crafty little forest of
stamped trees + my story about our colorful tree this year.
Originally I had a tree die cut insert paired with my little forest of stamped trees above my journal card. As I worked through this page I decided to take that out and just have it be the full page photo + the journaling and tree combo.
I tried out the
Freestyle Foil Quill pen for the first time today and it was GREAT!
I have the fine tip version but now I definitely want to get the other ones. Such a fun way to add handwritten foil especially directly onto a photo. Above it I added the number 12 with the puffy numbers from the Main Kit and below I added a gold foil chipboard phrase.
Looks like they have a cordless version of the Freestyle Pen too.
As I was working through my story one of the things I decided I wanted to do was try to get some of the colors from the photo onto my little stamped + embossed forest.
The way I decided to do that was by printing a second bokeh photo and using a hole punch to punch out some of the circles. This worked out really well as a way to bring the colors from my photo onto my journaling card gathering.
The other thing I wanted to try today was printing my journaling on
Maco Sticker Paper and then adding it to my journal card. I measured out my journaling space and then set that up on my computer and printed it out. It also worked great!
December Daily® 2023 Main Kit (digital available)
December Daily® Sticker Advent Calendar
Attacher stickers
Fine Tip Freestyle Foil Quill Pen
Maco Sticker Paper
Scrapbook.com Blue Tape
We R Memory Keepers Hole Punch
December Daily® 10x8 Album
December Daily® Specialty Journal Card Pack (digital available)
6x8 Tree Stamp
Gold Embossing Powder
Red Embossing Powder
Versamark Embossing Ink
AED Inks: McKenzie (dark green), Willamette (light green), Redwoods (red), Rose Garden (pink), Honeyman (yellow)
Vellum
Attacher Stickers
AED Paint Pack
December Daily® Silkscreen
Red Line Tape
(restock coming November 4th)
December 12, 2023
December Daily® 2023 | Story 11
Welcome to Story 11 in my 2023 December Daily® project.
One of the notes I had to myself to try this month was to create something with
the velvet ribbon I ordered from Amazon this year for our tree. I was originally thinking I'd do strips on a full page (potentially interspersed with journaling), but when I started looking at the back of this triangle I knew this would work great as a home for my ribbon.
Even if you don't have ribbon on your tree you can use this idea to highlight a number of things from this season:
Wrapping paper A variety of ribbons Fabrics from your family Pattern papers or cardstock or vellum or specialty papers Photos (you can make them any height you want)
Let's dive in to the process video:
Today's Table Of Contnents pen was a Slick Writer:
Here's a look at this spread in my album:
Today's story - to go along with my colorful velvet ribbon tree - is about my annual Book Club Christmas gathering.
The spread started off with the back of the triangle from Story 10 and flows into a "mainly" digital page with a little bit of wrapping paper along the bottom.
For this page I simply cut strips of the velvet ribbon and then added a chipboard piece from the
Hobby Story Kit and two fabric number ones and a chipboard star.
Along the outside edges I repeated the same
washi tape from Story 10.
For the second page of my spread I created a custom page in Photoshop using a photo of my gifts + a photo of our Book Club + journaling. I left a little space below my journaling in order to cut out the trees from wrapping paper from one of my friends. You can find the "treasured holiday traditions" on a journal card in the Main Kit and it's also included in the
10x8 Layered Template Set.
I added a line of zig zag stitching across the trees and added two chipboard stars to this page to go along with the one between the number ones on the triangle.
I made my own wrapping paper this year using some craft paper and one of my
brush pens. I hand-stitched the initial tags and used the foil quill to make the Book Club Christmas tags. I seriously had the best time - it's such a fun way to personalize gifts.
I made a little video of the process here:
SO FUN.
So thankful for these friends.
Also just so thankful for the colorful festive fun this season.
December Daily® 10x8 Layered Template Set ("treasured holiday") Velvet Ribbons "So Much Joy" chipboard from Hobby Story Kit Black + White Fabric Numbers December Daily® 10x8 Album Merry Little Christmas Washi Tape Epson XP15000 Printer 6 Hole Punch Slick Writer
December 11, 2023
December Daily® 2023 | Story 10
Welcome to Story 10 in my 2023 December Daily® album.
Today's story is about Audrey traveling to New York this month with her friend + family. She's been sending us photos along with way and it was so fun to incorporate them into my storytelling this year. The foundation page for today is one I put together for our December Daily® Product Play workshop (that lesson includes a cut file for the 10x8 and 6x8 sizes).
Here's the video that takes you through my ideas for this one:
Today's Table Of Contents pen is the Micron:
And here's a look at the full spread.
At first I was thinking that I would leave the back of Story 09 blank but those squares presented an opportunity for me to include a bunch of the photos that Audrey has been texting. I could have saved this story for later in my album but decided, with the help of all those spaces on the back, to use it for today. I used the same layered template that I shared in the Story 09 post.
In one of the rectangles I added a bit of journaling for context about the basics of her trip.
I considered adding word phrase stickers or some embellishments to the photos but decided they were great without anything added.
There are so many different things you could do with this triangle as your base! You might want to put a photo or memory behind each photo or count up something around your house. I loved making this when I put it together for the workshop.
Rather than using each of those circles as a home for one piece of content I decided instead to pick one of those photos that Audrey has sent and go big with it to fit the triangle shape.
This is our friend Rowan. She's one of the cool teenagers we get to have around in this season of life. She gives great hugs.
To create the flip open I cut and folded a piece of cardstock. It ended up being about 1 inch x 9 inches and then I trimmed it at the end after adhering it with red line tape.
On the underneath of the die cut triangle I ended up adding a piece of Grafix Plastic cut to the triangle shape. Doing that keeps the hanging circles on the front side of the triangle. You could also use that plastic piece as a base and add embellishments on top for the front or the back (and still end up using an enlarged photo).
I used red line tape to get all these pieces stuck together and then covered up that tape with pattern washi tape.
Along the bottom edge I used one of the labels for a NYC title using gold puffy letters and chipboard stars.
So fun!
DD23 Canvas Circles (digital also available)
DD23 Main Kit Pattern Paper
DD23 Pattern Paper Pack (digital available)
DD23 Specialty Paper Pack (digital available)
1.5 Inch Circle Punch
Small Gold Eyelets
We R Memory Keepers Hole Punch
Crop A Dile (for setting the eyelets)
Embroidery Floss
Merry Little Christmas Black + White Washi Tape
Silhouette Machine
Gold Puffy NumbersRed Line TapeGrafix Plastic Other basics via my Amazon Storefront
December 10, 2023
Present Story Kit™ + January 2024 Stories By The Month
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 Present.
As we wrap up another trip around the sun, focusing on the dual meanings of the word present feels like a wonderful storytelling invitation. This time of year is often full of presents - the gifts we give and receive AND there's so much to be gained from grounding ourselves in the present moment. This month we are telling stories of gifts - things, moments, memories - and what it means for each one of us to be living in the present moment in our own season of life.
Initial story ideas for this theme include:
What is the best present you've ever received and why?
How are you practicing being present in your life right now? What does that mean for you?
Use "this moment" as a repeated phrase to jumpstart journaling about a specific event. STORY KIT
The
Story Kit™ includes:
Here's a video overview of the
Story Kit™ and Add-On options this month:
The
Stamp Set:
Here's a video overview of the Story Stamp:
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.
We are changing things up with our Stories By The Month™ subscription for 2024 and you can read all the details here.
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 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.
Ali used it in one of her projects here:
ADD ONS
New Add-on's this month include a 6x8 paper pack (7 inches x 8.25 inches including vellum and transparency) and a 3x4 January stamp. Subscribers will also be able to add a variety of other items listed in the Add On category under My Subscriptions.
December Daily® 2023 | Story 09
Welcome to Story 09 in my 2023 December Daily® album.
Today's foundation page was one I created for our $5 Prep Day this year (includes 10 hours of content with page ideas + inspiration). Originally I thought I would document individual colors around the house but decided instead to simply take and print photos that showed some of the different colorful things happening around here this year.
Here's the video of how this one came together:
Table Of Contents today was written with a Kuretake Brush Pen:
Let's take a look at the finished page:
On the back of the tag from Story 08 I added a daytime photo of our tree. I'm planning a longer story about the tree for an upcoming page later in the album so I loved being able to simply document colors here.
In addition to the photo added to the tag, this page also includes a large die cut title and a vellum grid page with gold embossed numbers on top using this stamp set.
On top of the photo of the tree I added one of the labels from the Main Kit and ran a little bit of pink embroidery floss through the top.
As you'll see in the video, I had planned to add another color of floss to the die cut title but I didn't think that through all the way before I dove in. To cover up my mistake I added a metal number token from Tim Holtz that has the pink embroidery floss ran through the upper hole.
To document some of the colors I went around the house and took some additional photos of colorful "moments" around the house in this season.
I created a template in Photoshop for the images - with the white border they are 1.5 inches x 2.25 inches.
Download the Photoshop Layered Template for the photos with the white border here.
December Daily® 10x8 AlbumDecember Daily® Main Kit (digital available)Tim Holtz Metal Number TokenDecember Daily® Specialty Paper Pack (digital available)
Silhouette Machine
Glitter Paper
Embroidery Floss
Texture Paste
Tim Holtz Dot Stencil
Versamark (Embossing Ink)
Gold Embossing Powder
Number Stamps
December Daily® Tab Stickers
December 9, 2023
December Daily® 2023 | Story 08
Welcome to Story 08 in my 2023 December Daily® project.
Today I'm using the die cut tag insert with -ing words as the jumping off point for my story. I've been working on content for our next Story Kit (theme = present) and including a photo of that project felt like a fun representation of what I'm currently "making." I also loved, loved, loved continuing to play with a few different pens/pen weights to document the pieces of my story on the tag page.
Let's jump in to today's video:
I used a Slick Writer for today's Table Of Contents entry:
I knew I wanted to pair a photo with the -ing tag words. I considered taking a photo of myself while I was working but instead I decided to include an image of one of my projects for the "present" story theme (coming out on December 10th). I loved the colors and the grid design and the brush pen on the story cards. That influenced my choice to use all three pens I've been using for the Table Of Contents on my tag.
Super fun colors in the next kit and I also used the newest Alphas Are Awesome to stamp "thanksgiving."
It's fun to take a photo of a project and add it in to this project!
I think my favorite thing with this story was using the different pens all together. I love that I can use the thicker brush pen for shorter responses and thinner pens for the longer responses. I love how it makes the whole page feel fun.
SUPPLIES
December Daily® Die Cut Insert Set (digital available)
Past December Daily® Felt Number
Brush Pen
Miron Pen
Slick Writer Pen
POSCA Paint Pen
May Arts Ribbon
Scrapbook.com Rolling Adhesive
Red Line Tape
December 8, 2023
In Case You Missed It | December 8
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:
CHANGES TO OUR 2024 SBTM SUBSCRIPTION
Earlier this week we announced changes to our 2024 Stories By The Month™ subscription, beginning on the 10th of this month with the January-themed kit. Find all of the details on the blog here.
DECEMBER DAILY® IS HAPPENING NOW
December Daily® is a December mini-album project that documents the 25 days leading up to Christmas. The simple goal is to capture the spirit of December via one story per day. Ali and Lisa have been chatting about various topics related to the project over the past few weeks. Community member Linda Jordan was live today talking about story ideas. Find those recordings on Instagram. Ali is sharing her stories in the same way she has in years past, almost-daily blog posts and videos. Find all of those on the blog, as well. Thank you all for making this project so incredibly special.
DECEMBER DAILY® DIGITALS
The 2023 December Daily® Digitals are here! Kits, Stamps, Paper, and Embellishments...the same fun & festive designs as the physical @decemberdaily products, only in digital format. We love to see how this incredibly creative community plays with digitals! Resizing elements and cards, adding journaling to papers, creating cut files, transforming files into transparencies, the sky is the limit with digital files. Want to learn more about creating with digital files? Our newest class December Daily® Hybrid Product Play is live and available to watch at your convenience.We have incredible content from six amazing contributors ready to explore at your convenience. Shop digitals here.
NEW CLASSES
2023 DECEMBER DAILY® PREP DAY. Join the December Daily® community for a fun online December Daily® prep day on Saturday, November 18th, 2023. Use this opportunity to finish past December Daily® projects or start working on your project for 2023. The first live video will start on Saturday, November 18th at 10:00 am Eastern. Cost is $5.
DECEMBER DAILY® PRODUCT PLAY | TRY THIS. December Daily® Product Play is all about ideas and inspiration for working with physical products from the December Daily® Collection. For 30 days in November, you'll receive one idea per day from the contributors to this class (includes Ali). Ideas in this workshop will focus on physical products from our 2023 December Daily® collection. Whether you are preparing to document 2023 or finishing up telling stories from past years, we hope these fun, creative ideas help you use your products to get your stories told.
2023 DECEMBER DAILY® HYBRID PRODUCT PLAY. Hybrid scrapbooking combines digital products with physical supplies to create paper (or printed) memory-keeping projects. For this class, our contributors will share with fun, creative ideas and inspiration for working with these digital products from the 2023 December Daily® Collection.
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® 2023 | Story 07
Story 07 in my 2023 December Daily® album is titled merry + bright + anxiety. It's what's real.
I'm loving the fact that I got our house all merry + bright really early this year AND I'm also feeling general anxiety related to "adulting" responsibilities. I know I'm not alone.
Let's dive right in:
For my Table Of Contents today I used a Micron pen along with a POSCA Paint Pen:
Here's a look at the finished page in my album:
For Story 07 I was working off a foundation page that features the chipboard frames from this year's collection. When working on my foundation pages earlier this year I stitched these all together with my sewing machine. I originally had a different card from the Main Kit for my title card but ended up switching it out for this one because it fit my story better.
Before typing up my journaling I went around the house and took a few photos of the merry + bright areas of our home. I paired those photos with journaling that documents some adulting anxiety I've felt this past week. Along the top I added the "captured" sticker tab.
In addition to my words and photos I also decided to create a little shaker on top of the merry + bright card. I added a chipboard phrase "embrace the chaos" and more sequins from The Diary Of Belle Rose. Originally I envisioned I'd add one of the red plastic letters here too but I forgot and simply ended up adding puffy numbers on top of the plastic piece that creates the shaker.
I used red line tape around the edge of the frame and added a 3x4 plastic piece on top.
I love combining shapes together to create homes for my words and photos. In the video I mention that you could create something like this without the chipboard frames simply by laying out the elements in a grid.
SUPPLIESDecember Daily® 10x8 Album
December Daily® Main Kit (journal card, chipboard phrase) (digital available)
December Daily® Chipboard Frames
December Daily® Tab Stickers
Grafix Plastic Sheet
POSCA Paint Pen
Micron Pen
Sewing Machine
Mystery Typewriter Font
Pom Trim
Basic Supplies via my Amazon Storefront
December 7, 2023
December Daily® 2023 | Story 06
Welcome to Story 06 in my December Daily® 2023 album.
In Story 05 I documented what the kids are loving so today I decided to document three things from me, Aaron, and our dog Betty using the ornament pattern paper and some of the ornament pockets from the Main Kit.
Let's dive in to the process video:
For today's Table Of Contents entry I used a Brush Pen:
And here's how this page looks via images:
The foundation for this story is the ornament pattern paper and three of the ornament pockets from the Main Kit. Inside each of the pockets I added one of the plastic tags and a printed tag with what I'm loving, what Aaron is loving, and what Betty is loving.
I used ribbon from this year's Trim Pack to hold the plastic tag and my printed journaling together. I use a small glue dot to hold both sides of the ribbon together.
On top of the ornaments around the outside edges I used POSCA Paint Pens to add the dots. I did individual colors and spread them around the page but you could also do multi-color dots which would have been really fun!
The little tag sets fit right into the pockets and I added puffy alphas on the top of the pockets for our initials.
I ran these through the Minc Machine to add the gold foil on top of the text.
It was fun to think of what Betty might be loving right now. Ha.
After considering a few different ideas for the other two large ornaments I decided to create a custom title that says "currently loving." I printed that on transparency with a laser printer and then ran it through the Minc Machine to add the gold foil. I used one of the other pocket ornaments as a guide to cut out the ornament shape.
Download the Currently Loving word art here.
I ended up running that section through the sewing machine but the gold brad works just fine.
For the story number I cut out one of the white ornaments from the 10x8 transparency paper and stitched it along the top. I also added brads to the top of any ornament visible on the page. On top of the transparency I added gold puffy numbers from the Main Kit.
December Daily® 10x8 Album
December Daily® Main Kit (digital available)
December Daily® Plastic Tag Set (digital available)
December Daily® Specialty Paper Pack (digital available)
December Daily® 6x8 Tag Stamp Set
POSCA Paint Pens
December Daily® Red + White Trim Pack
AED Puffy Alpha Stickers
Minc Machine
Laser Printer
Minc Gold Foil
Laser Transparency
Sewing Machine
Gold Brads
Brush Pen
December 6, 2023
December Daily® 2023 | Story 05
I've known since I worked on kit designs last year that I'd be using this paper for Story 05 in my December Daily® album in 2023. What I didn't know is that I'd be using it as an opportunity to bring in my family's voices into the project. I often do a list of what I'm loving/into in this project (and I might still do one for myself later in the month) but I decided to send a text to our kids and ask them to tell me three things they are each loving in their own lives right now. Super happy with how this turned out!
STORY IDEA: Write out five things you are loving right now and/or invite friends/family to participate.
PROJECT IDEA: Alpha stamp your story.
Here's a look at how this story came together:
For today's Table Of Contents entry I used a brush pen:
And here's a look at the completed story spread:
I am a huge fan of filling up a page with alpha stamping. For today's story I had a lot of space to work with including two 4x6 pockets, the back of the transparency from yesterday, and the full page "loving" pattern paper from the Main Kit.
I've been hanging on to these vellum numbers (they were originally offered in the Numbers Scrapbook Kit - we do have a few of those available) knowing that I would love to incorporate one or more into this particular project. I ended up stapling it to the back of the ornament transpareny.
After stamping out the kids responses I felt like what I most wanted to do in this pocket was stamp a title. I chose to stamp on one of the 4x6 vellum cards using Staz On ink. I ended up turning it into a shaker (to get a little more color on this side of the spread) by adding some sequins and stitching across the pocket to close it up.
The biggest piece of today's story are the responses I got from the kids. I used this stamp set for their initials and then used an older typewriter alpha for their responses. In between their initials and their response I added chipboard stars. I loved pairing the colors from the paper with the colors of ink for each kid.
Seriously so fun.
SUPPLIESAlphas Are Awesome Stamps Uppercase Alpha Stamp Illustrated Faith Jill's Typewriter Stamp December Daily® Main Kit (digital paperpack available) December Daily® 4x6 Specialty Card Pack (digital available) Redwoods AED Ink Rose Garden AED Ink Olympia AED Ink Willamette AED Ink McKenzie AED Ink Staz On Ink Circle Stamp Block 6 Hole Punch Numbers Scrapbook Kit Vellum Numbers Sewing Machine
