Ali Edwards's Blog, page 37

Story Play | Going Big With Little Moments

Welcome back to our Little Moments Story Play series. 

Don't forget to join me for our live community zoom tomorrow (November 17th) at 10am Pacific. You can find the link details in this post. If you can't make it to the live call it will be recorded and shared on the blog after the call is complete. If you have specific questions you'd like addressed in the call please leave them in the comment section below. 

In the first post in this series I wrote about how elevating a little moment happens when we choose to document it. Today I want to encourage you to look for an opportunity to go big with a little moment. 

Going big with a little moment can mean a couple things: 

Literally enlarging a "little moment" photo to be bigger (such as a full page photo). The other projects I've shared this week have focused on bringing images of little moments together to tell a story. Today I want to invite you to go big with one little moment photo.In addition to going physically bigger with your photo (or title or journaling) you are invited to go deeper to see how many stories you can actually pull from that one little moment. In my example below I took a photo of the moment when I'm letting Betty back into the house after she had gone out into the backyard. From that one photo I pulled six micro stories that reflect pieces of life right now. Another option would be to take your "little moment" photo and tell a much longer story about one piece of the photo (something you see, something you feel, something you remember, something you are reminded of as you look at the photo). PROMPT

Look through your photo archives (or take a new photo) for a "little moment" style of photo. Print that photo to a full size page (whatever size you want) and then pair it with either a longer story or a series of short stories that are pulled from your photo. This is a fun exercise that helps to excavate more of the stories and teach you that little moments often have layers of stories (also check out this blog post from our Facts + Feelings week that focused on the concept of photos having layers of stories). 

Let's see what that looks like in practice:

Here are images of my project: 

In keeping with my simple theme in this series for this project I paired a full page photo with a full page of pattern paper. On top of my photo I added three of the chipboard circles in a vertical trail down the middle and I created custom journaling blocks that feature six details pulled from this "little moment" photo. 

My journaling blocks were 1.5 inches x 3 inches and adhered with foam adhesive squares that lifts them up a bit off the back of the page. I loved looking at my "little moment" photo and pulling out this variety of stories reflective of my life right now. 

SUPPLIESStory Play Little Moments Mini KitBasics supplies can be found in my Amazon Storefront (trimmer, 6 hole punch, foam adhesive, etc)

Story Play | Little Moments Prompt: In My Hands

Welcome back to our Little Moments Story Play series. 

As I was thinking of prompts to share this week I started thinking about all the little things I hold in my hands and the stories those pieces represent about my life right now. 

STORY PROMPT

Document things you hold in your hands over the course of the day or a few days. I loved having this concept in my back pocket over the past week and finding things to capture. I loved becoming more aware of the things I hold in my hands - the things I grab, the things I eat, the things I use, the things that are annoying to have in my hands, etc. 

What do you hold in your hands in this season of life? 

Here's how my project came together: 

For this prompt I put together a little digital package if you want to follow along with my design formula. I've included a 3x4 layered PSD file with a spot for your photo and journaling along with a title card as a jpg and as a png word art file. 

Download the digital package here. 

Here's a look at my project: 

I used the PSD file in the freebie digital package (download above) to organize my words and photos before printing. 

I printed out the jpg title card from the digital freebie and added it to the pocket after using a rolling date stamp on top. 

Along the tops of each of my photos I added a tab sticker from the kit using a Tiny Attacher stapler. 

You can do this! It's a simple and fun story about little things in your life right now. 

SUPPLIES
Story Play Little Moments Mini Kit 6x8 Page ProtectorsTiny AttacherRolling Date Stamp Check out my Amazon storefront for more basic supplies (trimmer, printers, etc)

Story Play | Little Moments Prompt: Around The House

Welcome back to our Story Play Little Moments series! 

As I was thinking about what story I'd like to tell with the Little Moments pattern paper I decided to take a walk around my house and capture some little moments.

I knew I wanted to keep my projects fairly simple for this series and I love having pattern papers that guide me through the process of getting my story told. We do have a few of the Story Play Mini Kit bundles available if you want the physical version of this kit and we also have the digital version available. 

I stood in my office and started taking photos of little areas, views I enjoy, little things that have been clustered together in the cocoon of my office. They are pieces of my own "whole" around here - little (and big) corners that I live with all the time but may or may not actively recognize as something I love about my environment. My goal was to simply capture some of the things that exist in my spaces. Read below for other ideas of little things (categories) you might want to document around your house.

PROMPT

Grab your camera and walk around your home. Take photos of the little things that are important to you. Use the pattern paper from the Mini Kit or create your own grid of photos to document this story. You might find you want to do this for each room in your house or some other sub category - maybe choose a color to focus on or things from your childhood or things that include text, etc. Have fun! Let yourself be an explorer in your own space.

Some things to think about: 

What is your house have you never taken a photo of but maybe you look at every single day? 
What are the little corners you love? 
What are the patterns or colors you love in your house? 
Are there little treasures around your house that are meaningful only to you? 
Focus on documenting + celebrating what is already in your house vs. focusing on what you wish it looked like or wish you had. This can be one of those added benefits of memory keeping that shifts our perspective for the better. 

Here's today's video which includes a look at how I crop + edit my photos for this kind of project: 

Now let's move on to the images of this project: 

My photos were cropped to 1.75 inches x 1.5 inches (to fit into the white spaces on the pattern paper) and adhered using foam adhesive. 

I paired my full page of photos with the floral vellum from the kit. To hold my journaling I created a flip open card using cardstock and red line tape and an extra sentiment card from my stash. I added yellow scalloped washi tape along the outside edge. 

I added one of the "details" chipboard pieces to the top of my journal card and ran that through my sewing machine. I love the added texture and the pop of yellow color. 

Sometimes it's the simplest projects are the ones I love most. I love how this page turned out and the photos I collected and the colors and the repeated shapes. 

Have fun with this one!

SUPPLIES

Story Play Little Moments Mini Kit 
Foam Adhesive
Uniball Vision Elite Pen 
Scalloped Washi Tape
Basic supplies in my Amazon storefront (adhesive, trimmer, printer, photo paper, etc)

Story Play | Little Moments Kick Off

Welcome to the last Story Play week for 2023!

You can check out our previous Story Play weeks from this year here. Story Play will return in 2024 with the themes of Day In The Life™, Love Story, Food, and Read. Look for details at the beginning of the year. 

For the last Story Play this year we are focusing on the lens of Little Moments/Little Things.  

The little moments are the tiny pieces of good stuff in our lives. Sometimes they are things, experiences, moments that other people might dismiss or not recognize as a gift. As memory keepers we are given the opportunity to be the people that both pay attention and document the little moments that all come together to make up the actual bulk of our lives.

As I started thinking about what I'd like to share this week related to little moments I kept coming back to the concepts of recognizing, elevating, and documenting/celebrating the details of everyday life. Many of you reading this right now are already adept and practiced at both looking for and capturing these pieces of your story and to others of you this might be a newer concept. 

(1) Recognize + Elevate: The first step in this process is deciding that you want little moments to be a part of your memory keeping. Once you set that as an intention you can begin the practice of paying attention. The more you start to recognize little stories happening around you the more you will be able to add these to your scrapbooking adventures. When you start identifying the little moments you are immediately elevating them from a mundane/ordinary piece of your day to a recognition that these are the things that make up the bulk of our lives. 

(2) Document/Celebrate: To me, documenting a little moment is the act of celebrating it. We are making something that might have happened in an instant concrete through the act of photographing or writing it down. You might add little moments to your weekly pocket scrapbooking or you might create an entire layout around one little moment or you might take photos of a bunch of little moments/things and bring them all together on one page. 

Little moments/things might be: 

a thought (one that sticks around or one that is fleeting)
a feeling (one that sticks around or one that is fleeting)
an overheard conversation
a note from a friend
text messagesfoods you like or dislikeroutines/daily rhythmswhat you are reading, watching or listening toa tree outside your windowwalking your dog or snuggling with your grouchy cathow you wake upthe way you take coffee

So much of capturing and documenting little moments is about rooting yourself in the present moment. It's about living with your eyes and your heart wide open in order to be a witness to this glorious event called life with all the highs and lows and moments in between.

This week we are documenting + celebrating little moments. For the next three days I'll be sharing a prompt a day here on the blog to encourage you to document some little moments in your life right now. On Friday you are invited to join me for a community zoom call. Details below. 

JOIN ME ON FRIDAY FOR A ZOOM CALL

Join me on Friday, November 17th at 10am Pacific for a community zoom call. This call will be recorded + archived on a blog post. 

Topic: Little Moments Zoom Meeting
Time: Nov 17, 2023 10:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada)Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82563694148... ID: 825 6369 4148
Passcode: 529367Find your local number: https://us06web.zoom.us/u/khH3te2KVLO... AT LITTLE MOMENTS DOCUMENTED

To kick off this week I decided to do a couple walkthroughs of past compilation albums and talk about the little moments: 

LITTLE MOMENTS IDEAS FROM THE COMMUNITY

Last week our team surveyed our Craft The Story Facebook Group with two questions: 

Do you have a favorite "little moment" or a list of little moments/little things you love to document?Why do you think it's important for you to capture/document the little things in your life? 

I decided to share all the comments here because I loved reading what people had to say. Feel free to respond to those questions in the comments if you'd like to share!

LINDA: Sunsets, clouds, drinking cup of coffee in a.m., flowers seen on my walk, wildlife in yard.

LISA: I know Susan @littlethingsbigdays takes photos of her passenger seat from time to time to show her errands etc. I love taking photos of my feet in different places because it tells a story of where I have been during the week.

AMBER: I love how one memory can make you think of lots of little moments over the years. They all add up to a full life.

SHANNON: For me it’s important to document the little things for two reasons: because things change so quickly, even things that I wouldn’t expect to change; and because when I am having hard days, or big things in my life are difficult, there are still ALWAYS little things to be grateful for and to remind me of all the seen and unseen good in my life.

STACY: I document the little moments when my kids and grand kids : 1. draw me on their magma doodles or iPads as I like to see how they see me or their selves 2. Bedtime / story times or bath times to see them grow. 3. Baking / cooking nights … and how we interact 4. Family game nights 5. Movie nights . 6. Playing with them and their favorite toys - it’s so funny when I look back with my grandkids and even my adult kids and see how much these things change … toys turn to coffee hot coco dates. These are just a few of the little moments I capture on the random as they change with the seasons and I like to go back and see how they change and they grow .

KIRSTEN: Talk time with the kids in the car // things that happen on the stairs // walks in the neighbourhood // season changes // weather // tv series // a song

MORGAN: Overheard conversations (esp with talkative littles!), text messages, lists (e.g., to dos, grocery lists, etc), "glimmers" (opposite of triggers, small things that spark joy/peace).

SHARON: I document my dozens of orchids when they bloom. It’s fun watching how each one blooms the same time of year as the previous years. As they grow they usually have more blooms than the year before. It’s so much fun getting to know each orchid by documenting them.

PATTY: Our daily trip to the dog park. We see the same people and dogs and it’s such a nice start to our day.

PAT: I love to find random toys in my house after my grandkids go home and take photos of them. I especially like to catch them when they are lined up in a row or sitting around like they are in a deep conversation

JENNIFER: My favorite little moments are funny conversations between myself and my husband. I like to write them like a screenplay and add bits and pieces like facial expressions or how he Stomps into a room. When I go back and read them I always laugh and I don't always remember that moment unless I write it down. By writing it in that way I can almost transport myself back to that moment and relive it. And laugh.

AMY: When my kitty chooses to come sleep on my lap. When hubby looks at me and I KNOW we are thinking the same thing and will discuss it later. When I notice nature. When that song plays.

LAUREN: Definitely funny and clever things my grandsons say and do. I keep a running list in the Notes on my phone so I can remember. Also, I take a lot of photos and tend to try to capture faces and expressions, but my daughter-in-law is SO good at stepping back and catching moments in time. I love those little captures that tell a story! Her photography style helps me remember to zoom out and look at the bigger picture sometimes. It can really make a difference.

MAGGIE: I love documenting my 3 year old grandson’s “little” things! Like their shoes or their church bow ties or tricycles… even little phrases they say. I’ve learned how fast they grow up and those little things and little stories (memories) are something worth preserving.

PAMELA: I like a retrospective & present moment. I do a "This is me now" layout & use the same 10 statements. i.e. fave song now; how I'm doing physically, emotionally, my weight, fave catch phrase... the little things. The flip through after a few years is really fun & sometimes surprising. It also forces me to use a current photo.

CARLA: What the grandkids are into at the moment- trucks, chickens, farm equipment, etc. Words they mispronounce. Everyday things I find cleaning out my parents' house.

KIM: When I feel a little sad or discomfort and I make a picture of something’s little and I write done a story of it, it helps me to feel better. It could be my animals or a bird, flower or simple a nice cup of tea…Like a therapie.

AMANDA: Interaction with my dog during the day, watching birds at the water bowl, changing seasons are all little moments I like to capture to serve as gratitude for being alive.

HEATHER: I always take pictures of my food. I don’t know why. I guess to help me remember what I ate. But I do it almost every day. I also often take pictures of the books I’m reading. And I take pictures of my kids and dog every day and my parents when I can catch them. Because you just never know.

LISA: Lunchtime walks with my husband during the workweek to get a break from the computers.

CORISSA: The way my kids pronounce or say things. "rainbrella instead of umbrella". Photos of shoes in the pile. And hands: the size, the dirtiness, the sunspots.

TEKA: I often take screenshots to remember a little game or post on social media. Little glimpses into how I spend my little free time.

NADINE: I like to “reverse engineer” what most people consider the BIG moments . . . I know we all want to document our kids opening birthday presents and blowing out the candles on their cake or waiting for the bus on the first day of school. I always told my girls I go behind the scenes to document when I was running from store to store trying to get them the newest Nintendo DS when they were in elementary school. . . or when I was finishing baking the pumpkin and apple pies at 3:00 am on Thanksgiving morning! These are the stories I like to tell them because they are some of my “regular mom duties” that they didn’t witness but are part of our family heritage. I also want them to learn to pay attention to “the little things” because they are often some of the sweetest moments of our lives. . . Like listening to them giggle while all three were in the bathtub together or when we were trying to assemble a shoebox diorama (boy, that’s an old word!) and couldn’t get the glue to stick!

AMBER: Commute to work. Daily cup of coffee. Soft slippers. Fresh cut flowers. A rainy day. A stack of books.

JANET: Seeing a rainbow after a storm; unexpected hugs from my grandchildren; watching a chipmunk or groundhog pop it’s head up; a phone call or text from a friend; a beautiful sunset; It’s important to document these moments as time passes so quickly and things never remain the same. Documented memories have the ability to take you right back to that time and to evoke a lot of emotions.

LAURA: Since my recent hip replacement my “little things” are putting on my own socks, taking a shower without an audience, walking, picking something up off the floor, depending on others for rides to my therapy, not being able to go to the grocery store and pick out my own groceries, being at the mercy of others for my meals, while I am thankful for all the people in my life that helped me out I hate the fact that I have taken all those “little things “ for granted.

KATE: What’s in my purse, my granddaughter getting bangs, my Starbucks runs.

SASCHA: I really often document little moments about my dog. I always have a lot of pictures of her, but generally not big stories. So the little moments are her enjoying a play in the dog park with a 3.5 month old pup and being pooped out after, her new agility tunnel to play in or how I found a local farm that sells eggs and meat for her food that we make ourselves.

KATINA: I read once that when you stop and notice something beautiful or something that you’re grateful for they’re known as glimmer, which are the opposite of triggers. So if you struggle with different things, and you find that we are triggered the best way to combat that is by stopping and taking in the little moments. Such as noticing a beautiful tree, in the fall, or a beautiful sunset, or being grateful for the rain. Something as little as taking an extra moment to pause while you take your first sip of coffee and enjoying it. All of those things are glimmer, and those will combat the triggers, and you will have more ways to overcome. I loved the way this was put… I am in love with little moments. I think they are so much better than big moments. I feel like it’s the little moments that shaped so much of our lives. Since I read that I am much more vocal about the little moments. If I’m driving in the car with my kids, I will vocalize a glimmer that I’m having. So that they are able to see those and gravitate towards the glimmer !!!!!

NOLANA: New words and conversations with my 2 year old. That moment when I make my first coffee of the day after drop-offs. Morning solo walks or runs - that first breath of fresh, crisp air. Pure laughter. A meal that hits your soul at its core. Dancing to music that you're hearing for the first time and have fallen in love with it. Moments of bursting in to song.

JOELLE: Family dinners…We are so busy we don’t always have them. Cherished when we do. Sitting and waiting while kids are in activities. Grocery shopping. Quiet evenings at home. Lazy days. Everyone just doing own thing around the house. Yard work.

CYNTHIA: Thanks to Week in the Life, I take pictures of “ambience” like a screenshot of what I’m listening to on my phone, or the piles on the stairs, or what’s on our kitchen counter. I love those little windows of our daily life that don’t usually merit a photo. It’s something you see everyday but don’t notice. So it helps shift your perspective. It can also take you right back to the moment. Amy Poehler in her book Yes Please said something like I believe I can time travel and then described experiencing a flash to the future looking at her kid’s face, or a flash to the past when she sees an echo of something her kid used to do years ago. I believe I can time travel when I see my ambience photos from years ago.

SONIA: The little things matter and are most likely the ones I’ll forget therefore important for me to snap and document as often as possible.

DONNA: I try to capture my husband in action-doing what he does to make our home a home - mowing the lawn, raking the leaves, cooking, doing dishes, etc. I also love photos of him walking the grandkids to school (shot from behind). These shots remind me to be grateful for the little things in life.

DEEVONNA: My 5 year old grandson recently passed away from brain cancer, and I have so many pictures of the little messes, I call them “signs of Ezra Blue.” His tub toys and baby soap, little shoes by the door, medical tape, a pile of folded clothes. Those things I’ve documented as “little moments” that are actually monumental moments.

MEGAN: Because life is mostly a series of little moments only occasionally punctuated with big moments. If we only look for the big moments, we miss out on a lot of tiny magical moments and ordinary moments that are really the fabric of life.

LAURA: Random things that make me smile. Like right now I’m looking at my 15 year old daughter who just found out she likes reading - a lot - in the last year. I’d probably sneak a pic of her sitting in the chair reading. Any time my kids are laughing. Weird things I find around the house - like why is there something in the bathroom that clearly doesn’t belong there. Sunrises and sunsets. All day every day. I could probably make an album of all the times I’ve taken those types of photos. Pets doing snuggles with each other or humans. Cool flowers. Every time my dad comes to his grandkids games or events. I always take a photo of that.

In Case You Missed It | November 10

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 REVEAL IS LIVE

It's the 10th of the month which means that today we are revealing a new Story Kit™ theme: COMFORT! Comfort is defined as a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint, and the easing or alleviation of a person's feelings of grief or distress. This month we are exploring stories of comfort in our lives and the people, places, things, and thoughts that bring us comfort in the various seasons of life. 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 newest Scrapbook Kit. Head to the blog for Ali's post with all the details about this month's release.

BUY MORE, SAVE MORE

We are starting our holiday sales early. ✨ Spend $75 in the shop and save $15 from now until November 12th at 11:59 pm. Don't forget that subscribers save more! Subscribers, use code SAVE25 to save even more. Spend $75 in the shop and subscribers will save $25. If you're not a subscriber, you can join at any point during the sale to redeem the deepest discount. Sale excludes 2023 December Daily" products. Use code SAVE15 and enjoy.⁠ Subscriber Terms: Valid thru 11/12/2023 until 11:59pm ET. Promo code must be entered at checkout. Some exclusions may apply. Cannot be combined with other codes. Not valid on previous purchase. Not valid on December Daily® 2023 Classes or December Daily® products released in 2023. Not valid on gift card purchases. Not responsible for forgotten or misused promo codes. Offer subject to change. Code is only valid for Subscribers. Cart Subtotal must be $75+.⁠
⁠
Non Subscriber Terms: Valid thru 11/12/2023 until 11:59pm ET. Promo code must be entered at checkout. Some exclusions may apply. Cannot be combined with other codes. Not valid on previous purchase. Not valid on December Daily® 2023 Classes or December Daily® products released in 2023. Not valid on gift card purchases. Not responsible for forgotten or misused promo codes. Offer subject to change. Cart Subtotal must be $75+.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS | STORY PLAY LITTLE MOMENTS 

Mark your calendars! Next week, beginning Monday, November 13th, Ali will be leading our final Story Play week for 2023: Little Moments. For the last Story Play week of the year we are focusing on the lens of Little Moments while we seek out the seemingly insignificant moments that are often overlooked, or dismissed. ⁠ ⁠Looking for products to support your storytelling next week? The individual Little Moments Kit is currently sold out, but it can be found in the Story Play Mini Kit Bundle of 3, or in the digital version. Now is a great time to grab the bundle during our spend more, save more event. Spend $75 in the shop and save $15 from now until November 12th at 11:59 pm. Use code SAVE15 and enjoy.⁠ Don't forget that subscribers save more! Subscribers, use code SAVE25 to save even more. Spend $75 in the shop and subscribers will save $25. If you're not a subscriber, you can join at any point during the sale to redeem the deepest discount. Sale excludes 2023 December Daily" products.⁠

DECEMBER DAILY® PRODUCT PLAY IS HAPPENING NOW 

Class has started in the December Daily® Product Play classroom. It's not too late to sign up! 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. Register here.

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!

Comfort Story Kit, December 2023 Stories By The Month, Daily Scrapbook 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 Comfort.

Comfort is defined as a state of physical ease and freedom from pain or constraint, and the easing or alleviation of a person's feelings of grief or distress. This month we are exploring stories of comfort in our lives and the people, places, things, and thoughts that bring us comfort in the various seasons of life. 

Initial story ideas for this theme include:

What are the things that are you bringing you the most comfort right now? When was a time you chose to be uncomfortable knowing that it could be a path to more comfort in the future? Who is your comfort person or pet? Tell that story. 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 video overview of the Story Stamp:

STORY CLASS // INCLUDES DIGITAL STORY KIT

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. 

STORIES BY THE MONTH™

Here is a full look at the kit this month: 

The kit includes a sheet of vellum or transparency (sized outside the page protector in a 6 inch x 8 inch album), a pattern paper, a 3 inch x 8 inch (outside the page protector) journal card with the month at the top which will be repeated each month, a 3 inch x 4 inch stamp set, chipboard, 4, 3 inch x 4 inch journal cards, 3, 4 inch x 6 inch journal cards and an embellishment. 

And a video overview:

This subscription is a great option for those who are looking to tell more calendar/everyday life sorts of stories. 

INSPIRATION BY THE MONTH (DIGITAL STORIES BY THE MONTH)

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.

ALPHAS ARE AWESOME #8

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.

Here's a look at how Ali used this stamp set in her One Little Word® album: 

QUARTERLY SCRAPBOOK KIT | DAILY

This month we are also releasing our last Quarterly Scrapbook Kit for 2023 with the theme of Daily. Our Quarterly Scrapbook Kit will return again next year with the themes of Alphabet, Frames, Punctuation, and Watercolors. 

Here's an overview video:

Our Quarterly Scrapbook Kit also includes the digital kit for free: 

December Daily® | Special Guest Nolana Lynch

Hi Everyone! 

How are you doing? This is Nolana (@nehlan.has.a.plan on Instagram) and I am so very happy to be here with you today to share my process as I prepare to document December Daily.

This is my absolute favourite time of year and full disclosure, I begin thinking about December Daily by the time Christmas in July comes around. 

I start by reviewing last year's notes and taking note (pins, saves, photos) of things I'd like to try this year, whether it's a new mixed media technique or a new interactive feature. In going through my notes from last year, I see if there were any sketches I made or ideas I jotted down that I didn't get to include in my album, and suss out if I'd like to try it this year. 

To be honest, these first few months of making foundation pages are all about HAVING FUN! Here are some foundation pages I created between August and September, that I've always wanted to include in my album!

I've always wanted to create a floating gifts page and I'm so so happy I finally did it! This is one of the December Daily Pages that I worked on for my Big Picture Class "Pockets of Fun".

I also always wanted to do a 3x4 tag page - simple I know- but since this is currently my favourite page protector orientation, I just had to pay homage that! 

Without further ado, here's a Flip Through of where I'm currently at with my 2023 Foundation Pages. My goal every year is to have as many foundation pages as possible going in to December, as this makes the documenting process super easy for me. Find my video on YouTube here.

So where to next? When I get to this point in my foundation pages, I want to make sure that I am 1. Not over making foundation pages and that I am staying on track with the stories I love to tell and want to tell. To help with this, I love looking through my past albums and seeing which stories I DO in fact tell each year. 

Here's a quick flip through of my albums from last year. It brought me so much joy going through these to see what I loved. There were also a few Foundation pages that I didn't get around to using, which I may try to use this year. I also listed the events which are happening again this year, like Christmas parties, Santa visits and so forth, that I am yet to make pages for, and I jot down any ideas for layouts that spring from looking through this. Find my video on YouTube here.

I love revisiting the stories I told in previous years, as well as look for any new stories I'd like to tell this year. For example, last year I wanted to go to a wreath making workshop, so I most certainly booked one for this year and I'm so excited to include it in my album! I also love looking for new age appropriate Holiday activities for my toddler. This year I've found a Kids Holiday Cooking class, and a Christmas Messy Play activity, we also made some abstract art painted ornaments for his teachers and I'm so happy to be adding these new stories in to my album this year.

Here's my December Daily planner with a quick list of the stories I'd like to tell this year:

Once my stories are listed, and I do a stock take of the pages I've made, I begin to envision layouts for the additional stories. I look through my stash to see which things I love and I'm still holding on to. I pull these out and organise them on my desk. 

Sometimes it may be a colour scheme I haven't tried before - this year, I wanted to try creating some black, white and gold layouts - so I pulled these out!

Another thing I like to do is work through my mixed media pages early. You're welcome to check out my Instagram feed, but from the end of July, I began testing out and playing with some mixed media techniques to try this year for my album.

I enjoy compiling notes, photos, pins and saves that are really inspiring to me and choosing a few for my December Daily album. I will do a follow up blog post which focusses solely on the mixed media projects I have embarked on this year. 

So what's next, each week in November, I note which tasks I'd like to work on to bring me closer to my goal of completing foundation pages. 

This week, I'll be working on pages for the events that occur every year, like Christmas Parties, Santa's visits and so forth and I look forward to sharing them with you next week! 

Until then, happy December Daily Prepping! If you'd like to work along with me in preparing pages, feel free to DM me on Instagram- I'd love to connect with you!

December Daily® Storytelling | Special Guest Alexa Gill

Hey Everyone! 

Alexa here. I am so excited to celebrate the season with you via the Daily December project. 

This will be my 7th year participating in December Daily. My style and approach to the project has evolved over the years. I am a big fan of foundation pages as they help to set me up for success to finish the project and to get in the spirit of the season. I like to prep some directed stories in advance which can be a real gift on days in December that I am finding it more difficult to pinpoint a story. I especially like to make at least a couple of pages that can be 'no photo' stories. This eases a bit of pressure during December when I might not feel like taking photos every day. A lot of the stories that I like to tell are based on prompts that could be used any time of the year.

For me, planning for December Daily starts really early. When I see the product previews I often have ideas sparked instantly, so I write them down. I have a little notebook in which I sketch my page ideas down in. I usually have more ideas once I have the product in my hands too. Additionally I jot down ideas for stories when they come to me. I use a calendar to note any plans I might have in December that I know I will want to document. During December I like to use Evernote for note taking & journaling. 

Here are some of the stories that I love to tell in my December Daily project:  

December Stuff 

I always set up a 2x2 page protector for this story. Sometimes I end up cutting the page protector down, depending how much I have to fill the pockets with. Throughout the month I gather paper products which I cut into 2x2 squares and pop into the page protector. Sometimes I even start to gather things before December. For example I usually plant an Amaryllis in October/November and I like to use the packaging from that.

This is a great 'filler' idea. It requires no photos or words from you yet it still tells a story of your December. Through the years I have had some things that make a regular appearance and some new things materialise.  

'ING words'  

An 'ing word' is any word ending in ing. This is one of my favourite directed story telling ideas and one I like to prepare in advance since I always use stamps for this prompt. These words are a great jumping off point for journaling but you could also just use photos!

Thankful for  

This is another page I like to prepare in advance so that it's ready to go for me to write down things I'm grateful for throughout the month. It helps me to pause and look for the good in a season that can feel very rushed. The first year I moved into my home I picked out things I was grateful for specifically about my flat & I repeated this again a couple of years later once I had made the flat more my own. I love comparing the two pages. 

Loving/Joy  

This prompt helps me to look a little closer at my life to think about what is making me happy in this season. For me this can be anything from snuggles with my cat to a TV show to a scented candle. 

Traditions new & old  

Some of my favourite traditions are: opening an advent calendar, decorating my tree, sending cards, growing an amaryllis, watching Christmas films, doing a Christmas themed puzzle. All worthy of documenting!

I also go to brunch with a couple of my girlfriends every year which has become a great way to celebrate the season together. 

Cinema is a big love of mine and something I document each December. It's fun to look back at what I saw in past years, but it also allows me the opportunity to document what I love about going to the cinema and how important it is to me. 

Including other voices in my project
I live on my own with my beloved cat Luna, but I like to include input from my immediate family in my album. How I've done this is to give each family member a tag and asked them to write a few words for me. I will give them a directed prompt to make it easier for them. Prompt's in the past have been 'your favourite memory from this year', 'wishlist' and 'thankful for'. 

Cards  

Giving and receiving cards is a way I love to celebrate the season. I usually have a page set up, wether it be an envelope or a pocket, to include a few cards from friends & family. I have to be selective so it's not too bulky. But these are a real treasure to look back on.

Some years I've photographed the cards I'm sending. And one year I took a picture of myself writing my cards out. My journaling was about why I love the process of sending cards and how it connects me to others. 

I hope this has given you some inspiration for stories to tell during December. Thank you so much for joining me today! Find me on Instagram here. 

December Daily® Storytelling | Special Guest Kelly Ishmael

Hi friends. My name is Kelly Ishmael, and I am delighted and honored to be here with you today to share my insights and experience with December Daily® storytelling as an empty-nester. 

As I was going back through previous projects in preparation for this blog post, it dawned on me that I didn’t start documenting December stories until after my daughter went to college. I have been a memory-keeper for over 25 years with dozens of scrapbooks that have multitudes of layouts devoted to the holidays, but my only December Daily® projects have been as an empty-nester. 

My first foray into December documenting was in 2012 with a DIY mini-album, and I can still recall the absolute joy I felt while making it.

At the time, it was my way of affirming that there were still plenty of things to document and plenty of joy to be found during the holidays even while my daughter was away at college. Something I had struggled with in prior years.

Spoiler Alert…There was then and there still is now.

Fast forward 11 years and December Daily® has become one of my favorite memory-keeping projects. And today I wanted to share a couple of the big “a-ha” moments that have helped me with my approach to this project and inspired me to see the month of December in a new light.

Insight #1 | It’s Not The End

There is a meme you might have seen along the lines of “You only have 18 Summers (or in this case Christmases) with your kids living at home.” I think the idea behind this sentiment is to encourage us to be present with our children and to cherish the moments we have with them. The problem that I have with this way of thinking is that it can put undue pressure on parents or cause even more anxiety about being an empty-nester. 

The other issue I have with this notion is that it assumes that these 18 years are the only time that we’ll have to make special memories with our children. Which is just total nonsense and also completely untrue. The simple fact of the matter is that some of my favorite December memories have been with my daughter in the years after she left home.

Now admittedly, it’s a different experience having an adult child, but in some ways, it is even more special because of the way it documents how our relationship has grown and evolved over the years. 

In addition to the memories we share together, one of the other special things about this season of life is being a witness to the story my daughter is writing for herself. I love including photos and stories that Kelsey shares with me about the holiday memories she is making or including stories about some of the big moments in her life during the month of December. 

Insight #2 | My December Story

One of the biggest shifts in my December Daily® documenting came from something Ali said in one of her classes, and that is “I am the main character in my story.” What that meant for me was changing my internal narrative from that of “I am preserving my family’s holiday memories” to “I am telling my December story.”

As supporting characters, my family is a very big part of my story, so obviously they are a big part of my December Daily® albums. But in addition to more family-oriented stories, I love including stories that document little moments of delight and joy as I go about my December days. 

These days I tend to approach December Daily® as documenting and celebrating everyday life with the holidays as the background or setting to my stories. This mindset has taken the pressure off of looking for or creating holiday stories, and instead allows me to simply be present to the beauty, magic, and wonder of the season in whatever shape that takes.

If you are an empty-nester (or if your empty-nest is looming off in the distance), my hope is that this post encourages you and inspires you to see the holiday season and this season of your life in a new way. I promise you that there is so much good stuff in store, and there are so many awesome new stories waiting to be told.

Thank you so much for allowing me to share my stories with you. You can see more of my December Daily® photos and stories on Instagram and my website. 

Finally, a huge thank you to Ali for creating this special project. Her advocacy for personal storytelling has been a huge inspiration to me these past several years.

Love, Kelly

P.S. If you are an empty-nester (or soon to be empty-nester) who is struggling with this big life transition, a few years ago, I created a class on Ali's site called Empty Nest + New Stories. The goal of this workshop is to help you to acknowledge your feelings + emotions, to encourage you to be brave and ask yourself the hard questions, and to inspire you to embrace and enjoy this new chapter of your life.

December Daily® Storytelling | Special Guest Kristin Tweedale

Hi friends! I’m Kristin (aka rukristin: Feminist Scrapbooker) and I'm here to share my unique twist on the December Daily project for 2023. This year, I'm combining my love for December Daily with my everyday creative habit -- Daily Pages. 

Daily Pages is a creative project that I’ve been doing and sharing for the last several years (you can see Ali’s Daily Pages here) and even more pages at #alpdailypages. Daily Pages, more than anything, have helped me integrate creativity into my everyday life. With that in mind, this year’s project is something I'm calling the December Daily Pages Art Journal.

Why I’m Taking a New Approach: 

I believe in tweaking traditions to make them more joyful and manageable. That’s why December Daily and Daily Pages are a great combo. It’s not just a fun twist on either project, it's an easy commitment to make each day in December count creatively. 

This year, I’ve already got a bunch of foundation pages ready. This is one of the ways I’m definitely still going the traditional route. By setting up a lot of my pages in advance, I’ve got the freedom to include lots of mixed media elements. Foundation pages mean I can take my time and let each layer dry thoroughly, which is essential when working with wet media -- and not possible in a single 20-30 minute time frame. 

The Construction of My Art Journal:

I crafted the covers from last year’s December Daily packaging, adding a cool touch to this year’s album. The covers are slightly larger than the 4"x6" interior pages, leaving room for tabs and decorative edges. 

For inside covers, I attached black felt to the inside of the covers for a tactile, cozy element. The album will be held together using a 6 ring binder system, starting with 1.5" rings, though we might need to upgrade to 2" as the project grows.

Inside the Album: 

Already this season, I’ve prepared a bunch of different foundation pages, more of which you can see in today’s video. It's a sneak peek into my process, including fun and interesting supplies for this year.

The small page size is strategic; it encourages me to create during my regular Daily Pages routine, and makes this project very do-able for me, without ever feeling overwhelming. It’s also perfectly suited for the mini printer I just got for some of my recent travels.

See inside the full album set up in this video: rukristin's December Daily Pages Art Journal.

The Format’s Advantages: 

This compact size doesn’t just make stories easier, it invites stories that may have been otherwise overlooked. Smaller pages challenge me to distill stories into their essence. 

Plus, this year is all about the play—experimenting with paints, stamps, stencils, silkscreens, and more. This album’s format is a playground for mixed media exploration. I love that I can mix and match the various supplies to both play around and learn about what I like and what might not be for me. 

Setting Up for Success: 

For me, success is one two-page for each day in December, filled in any way that speaks to the moment. My goal is a completed album that holds a part of each day, no matter how simple or intricate the entry. I would love to make some intricate and interactive pages along the way -- but if I just wind up adding a few things to my foundation pages throughout the month; that’s great too.

To make sure this project is as successful as possible throughout the busy month of December, I’ve organized my supplies on a rolling cart, with clear dividers to make each of my cool little bits, bobs, and embellishments easily accessible. This makes it easy to pull out what I need and put it back so I can still see it all when needed. 

Past Projects Informing the Present: 

Small-format albums have been a hit for me in the past, notably in 2017 and 2020. They were among my favorite December Daily projects, giving me the confidence for this year's book. Returning to this format, my biggest goals are to just jump into the fun, creative process and enjoy every moment. 

Here are a few pages from those albums, and what I hope to bring forward into this year’s project. 

2017 December Daily

For my 2017 project, I used the same 4x6” size that I’ve got this year, also with the six binder rings. It’s such a cute, chunky, little album, and I can’t wait to play around in the same size again this year.  

I’m also looking forward to using little photos in this year’s album. Having a small format printer makes it so easy to print little pictures in just a few minutes, right from my phone -- no need to head over to the computer and go through the whole photo process.  

One of the coolest things from my 2017 album is how simple I let it be. This made it so easy to work on each day, even days when I had really bad headaches. This size felt doable, even on the hardest of December days. 

This is still one of my favorite DIY albums I’ve ever created. It’s an early prototype of what my Daily Pages project would come to look like. 

2020 December Daily

My 2020 album is 3x8”. This was also an incredibly fun size to play around with. This book has a lot more interactive pages and has a little bit more of a scrapbook feel than my 2017 album. 

This size lends itself really well to journaling. There’s just a great amount of vertical space to fill up, and writing out your story feels very natural. 

I also loved creating pages that weren’t exactly 3x8 sized. In my 2017 album, every page was exactly 4x6”. With this book I was able to experiment more with size and in-between pages. Both of which I hope to bring into my 2023 book.  

Another fun thing in the 2020 album are all the interactive pages I was able to create. This page here has a pull-tab, letting me show off even more pictures of my cute succulents. It was so much easier to come up with creative ways of being interactive with these pages because I already decided on the small format, and this was just one simple way to step outside the box.

I can’t wait to create more interactive pages in this year’s December Daily Pages Art Journal. Flips, folds, pulls, and more. Playing in this album is going to be so much fun. 

Join Me on This Creative Adventure: 

I’ll be documenting my progress and sharing behind-the-scenes peeks on Instagram at @rukristin. For further inspiration, you can also check out my lesson (and everyone else’s lessons) in the December Daily Product Play class. 

I encourage you to make your December Daily practice work for you and your life right now -- and most importantly, have fun with it!

Let's make this December one full of stories, creativity, and personal success.