Ali Edwards's Blog, page 40

Part 02 | Ali's "Halloween Through The Years" Scrapbook

Welcome to a quick update on my Halloween Through The Years Scrapbook. 

In this video I'm showing you what my album looks like after getting all my photos printed, all my journaling complete, and all my pages adhered back to back. I love setting up a strong foundation that focuses on the words + photos and now I'll move on to the fun part of the process: embellishing!

Check out Part 01 of this series (including a freebie layered Photoshop template) here. 

SUPPLIES

Halloween Kit 2022
Halloween Kit 2023
Black+ White Remember This 6x8 Album 
3 pocket, 6x8 page protectors
Epson XP15000 PrinterRolling Adhesive 

Yes/No Story Kit + November 2023 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 Yes/No.

Throughout the course of our lives we say yes to a lot of things and no to a lot of other things. Sometimes we start off saying yes and end up wishing we had said no. Sometimes we say no and wish we would have said yes. Sometimes YES is all you can say when you are super excited about a turn of events. Sometimes it's simply a big wholehearted NO. This month we are coming together to document stories of saying yes and saying no. 

Initial story ideas for this theme include:

What are you saying yes to right now? What are you saying no to right now?  When was the last time you were so happy to say YES to something immediately?  Think of a story from your life where you might have said both yes and no. What were the circumstances and how did it unfold? 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 now 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 #7

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 video of Ali using this: 

In Case You Missed It | October 6

Happy Friday, friends! Welcome to the latest
In Case You Missed It. Just a reminder that this is a quick post that will happen every Friday afternoon with all the updates and links that have happened throughout the week. So, let's get to it:

HALLOWEEN THROUGH THE YEARS
Ali is over on the blog with part one of her new Halloween Through The Years album. In her post, Ali is sharing her process for starting compilation albums. She is using pieces from both our 2022 + 2023 Halloween kits, available in the shop now. Don't forget that if you are a monthly physical kit subscriber you'll be able to add either or both Halloween kits as an Add On to your monthly shipment on reveal day, Tuesday the 10th and 11th of this month. If you aren't a subscriber you can order the kits through our regular shopping process. Head to the blog for Ali's post.

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.

ORDER ISSUES

If you experienced any issues at checkout, or have questions about the release please reach out to our Customer Service team and they will be happy to help you! Contacting them ensures we are keeping track of these questions and answering them in a timely manner. It's difficult for our team to keep track of all of the questions left on multiple threads/posts on social media with all the excitement-- we are doing our best and we want to make sure your questions get answered! Click here to start a new conversation. 

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!

Part 01 : Ali's "Halloween Through The Years" Album Project | How To Part One

The next album project I'm embarking on over here is a compilation of past Halloween's. 

Over the last year I've enjoyed making a few different compilation albums - albums that combine the same event or activity over a span of years. It started with the Stories Of Christmas Past kit that included a class on how to build a Christmas Past album. Currently that class is available with the purchase of the kit (at some point in the future we will likely offer it as a stand alone class). In that album I combined Christmas photos from my childhood along with any and all other years from the time I've been taking photos. I loved the end result so much. 

Earlier this year I created another compilation album for our Start To Finish Travel Workshop. The album I put together for that class brought together photos and stories from all my travel adventures to see Dave Matthews Band. It's definitely a personal favorite album now. 

Last year I didn't have a chance to create anything with our 2022 Halloween kit so I decided to combine last year's kit with this year's kit to build an album of Halloween stories. NOTE: Heads up that if you are monthly physical kit subscriber you'll be able to add either/or/both Halloween kits (from 2022 + 2023) as an Add On to your monthly shipment on the 10th and 11th of this month. If you aren't a subscriber you can order the kits through our regular shopping process.

Rather than offer this album process as a class I decided I wanted to share it here on the blog (videos will also be posted to YouTube). 

Today's post is a look at my starting place, including the three things I focus on when I'm embarking on a compilation album project: (1) collecting + organizing photos, (2) establishing a foundation design that can be repeated throughout the album, and (3) printing my photos and journaling. The beginning process for me is always about establishing some kind of structure to hold my stories. My own particular brain wants to have the photos + words organized before playing around with the rest of the fun stuff. This does two things for me: (1) it keeps the primary focus on the words + photos and (2) it gives me a base to build on top of (with embellishments, stamps, etc). 

Right now I'm in the photo + journaling printing process. I'll be back to share more once I have this phase complete. 

Here's a video overview of my starting place:

STEP ONE | FIND + ORGANIZE PHOTOS

For a project like this I begin by going through my Photos and older Aperture archives to locate the photos that fit the theme. I've never set myself up for success by using tags or other methods of organizing so I most often search by month. In the case of Halloween I was able to search by dates. I drag and drop the images I may want to use from Photos into a folder organized by year on my desktop. This folder will be deleted once I'm done printing out my photos (I can still access the photos via Photos or Aperture if I need them again in the future). 

This simple folder method has worked well for me for a number of past projects. For this album I knew that I wasn't going to be using a ton of photos (some years I have more and other years I have less) because I already know that I'll be spanning a number of years and I don't need to include every photo I took during any of our Halloween adventures. 

STEP TWO | ESTABLISH A DESIGN FORMULA FOR THE ALBUM

As many of you are already aware, I'm a big believer in creating a simple design foundation and sticking with it as a way to simplify the entire process especially when you are working on an album that combines a number of years together. If you'd like to see + hear me take a deep dive into design forumulas for memory keeping check out my Start Here workshop that came out a couple months ago. 

For this one I'm going with a full page photo (7 inches x 8.25 inches) + a pocket page protector insert for additional photos and play + a full page pattern paper background from the 2022 or 2023 kit with a photo/journaling layered template added to the top. 

This same basic foundation will be repeated throughout the album for each year I'm featuring. 

Currently I've been adding in this 3 pocket page protector but I might mix that up and use a different one (maybe the 2x2 pockets) for years when I have more photos or I feel like have more pockets for play. 

I saved my Photoshop layered template for those of you who might want to use a similar design formula for a compilation project. The template itself isn't specific to Halloween and could be used in any memory keeping project. The template is sized 5 inches x 5 inches because that was the size I wanted to use on top of the pattern papers. 

If you need a refresher on working with layered templates in Photoshop here's a past post that walks you through those steps. 

Download the layered PSD file.

STEP THREE | PRINT PHOTOS + JOURNALING

Once I've got all my photos collected and I've established my design formula I'm ready to start printing. This is where I'm at in the process right now. I was able to find a couple childhood Halloween photos so I'm excited to be adding those to the beginning of my album with some random Halloween memories from when I was a kid. 

I'm printing here at home using an Epson XP15000 printer. 

At the same time I'm printing both the full page photos and any smaller photos I might want to include, I'm also inputting a story and photo into the layered template. My journaling for this project will be a mixture of things I can remember (when I can remember anything) paired with feelings when I look back at these memories. In one case already I transferred journaling I'd done on a traditional scrapbook page into the layered template so it will have a home in this project. 

This is the kind of storytelling project that's really filling me up right now! I'll be back again - most likely sometime next week - with my next steps in the process. 

SUPPLIES
Halloween Kit 2022 Halloween Kit 2023 Black+ White Remember This 6x8 Album  3 pocket, 6x8 page protectorsEpson XP15000 Printer

Ali's "Halloween Through The Years" Album Project | How To Part One

The next album project I'm embarking on over here is a compilation of past Halloween's. 

Over the last year I've enjoyed making a few different compilation albums - albums that combine the same event or activity over a span of years. It started with the Stories Of Christmas Past kit that included a class on how to build a Christmas Past album. Currently that class is available with the purchase of the kit (at some point in the future we will likely offer it as a stand alone class). In that album I combined Christmas photos from my childhood along with any and all other years from the time I've been taking photos. I loved the end result so much. 

Earlier this year I created another compilation album for our Start To Finish Travel Workshop. The album I put together for that class brought together photos and stories from all my travel adventures to see Dave Matthews Band. It's definitely a personal favorite album now. 

Last year I didn't have a chance to create anything with our 2022 Halloween kit so I decided to combine last year's kit with this year's kit to build an album of Halloween stories. NOTE: Heads up that if you are monthly physical kit subscriber you'll be able to add either/or/both Halloween kits (from 2022 + 2023) as an Add On to your monthly shipment on the 10th and 11th of this month. If you aren't a subscriber you can order the kits through our regular shopping process.

Rather than offer this album process as a class I decided I wanted to share it here on the blog (videos will also be posted to YouTube). 

Today's post is a look at my starting place, including the three things I focus on when I'm embarking on a compilation album project: (1) collecting + organizing photos, (2) establishing a foundation design that can be repeated throughout the album, and (3) printing my photos and journaling. The beginning process for me is always about establishing some kind of structure to hold my stories. My own particular brain wants to have the photos + words organized before playing around with the rest of the fun stuff. This does two things for me: (1) it keeps the primary focus on the words + photos and (2) it gives me a base to build on top of (with embellishments, stamps, etc). 

Right now I'm in the photo + journaling printing process. I'll be back to share more once I have this phase complete. 

Here's a video overview of my starting place:

STEP ONE | FIND + ORGANIZE PHOTOS

For a project like this I begin by going through my Photos and older Aperture archives to locate the photos that fit the theme. I've never set myself up for success by using tags or other methods of organizing so I most often search by month. In the case of Halloween I was able to search by dates. I drag and drop the images I may want to use from Photos into a folder organized by year on my desktop. This folder will be deleted once I'm done printing out my photos (I can still access the photos via Photos or Aperture if I need them again in the future). 

This simple folder method has worked well for me for a number of past projects. For this album I knew that I wasn't going to be using a ton of photos (some years I have more and other years I have less) because I already know that I'll be spanning a number of years and I don't need to include every photo I took during any of our Halloween adventures. 

STEP TWO | ESTABLISH A DESIGN FORMULA FOR THE ALBUM

As many of you are already aware, I'm a big believer in creating a simple design foundation and sticking with it as a way to simplify the entire process especially when you are working on an album that combines a number of years together. If you'd like to see + hear me take a deep dive into design forumulas for memory keeping check out my Start Here workshop that came out a couple months ago. 

For this one I'm going with a full page photo (7 inches x 8.25 inches) + a pocket page protector insert for additional photos and play + a full page pattern paper background from the 2022 or 2023 kit with a photo/journaling layered template added to the top. 

This same basic foundation will be repeated throughout the album for each year I'm featuring. 

Currently I've been adding in this 3 pocket page protector but I might mix that up and use a different one (maybe the 2x2 pockets) for years when I have more photos or I feel like have more pockets for play. 

I saved my Photoshop layered template for those of you who might want to use a similar design formula for a compilation project. The template itself isn't specific to Halloween and could be used in any memory keeping project. The template is sized 5 inches x 5 inches because that was the size I wanted to use on top of the pattern papers. 

If you need a refresher on working with layered templates in Photoshop here's a past post that walks you through those steps. 

Download the layered PSD file.

STEP THREE | PRINT PHOTOS + JOURNALING

Once I've got all my photos collected and I've established my design formula I'm ready to start printing. This is where I'm at in the process right now. I was able to find a couple childhood Halloween photos so I'm excited to be adding those to the beginning of my album with some random Halloween memories from when I was a kid. 

I'm printing here at home using an Epson XP15000 printer. 

At the same time I'm printing both the full page photos and any smaller photos I might want to include, I'm also inputting a story and photo into the layered template. My journaling for this project will be a mixture of things I can remember (when I can remember anything) paired with feelings when I look back at these memories. In one case already I transferred journaling I'd done on a traditional scrapbook page into the layered template so it will have a home in this project. 

This is the kind of storytelling project that's really filling me up right now! I'll be back again - most likely sometime next week - with my next steps in the process. 

SUPPLIES

Halloween Kit 2022
Halloween Kit 2023
Black+ White Remember This 6x8 Album 
3 pocket, 6x8 page protectorsEpson XP15000 Printer

In Case You Missed It | September 29

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:

FINAL DAYS TO ADD TO YOUR BOX
Only a few days left before the December Daily® boxing period closes TOMORROW, September 30th. This is your last chance to add any remaining items to your wish list. Low quantity alert! We are down to our final few Main Kits. Have you added yours to your box? Boxes begin shipping October 2nd. Shop the collection here.

STORY PLAY | FACTS + FEELINGS

All this week Ali has been sharing her thoughts, ideas and examples using the Facts + Feelings kit to celebrate storytelling through the combination of facts and feelings.⁠ Check out Ali's posts here.

LET'S PLAY SERIES 

Plan + Play Monday will be led by Linda Jordan, creative team alum, Story Planning contributor, and the instructor behind Plan, Prep, and Play. Linda will be sharing how to set yourself up for success with the project focusing primarily on the main kit. She'll have planning and organizational tips and tools, guidance on selecting your format, streamlining your stash, finding inspiration, and more. Find her posts here.
Paint + Play Wednesday will be led by Jill Drangsholt, a creative team alum and frequent class contributor. Jill will be sharing her expertise as a mixed media artist, offering tips and inspiration on using stencils, silkscreens, acrylic paint, and more. Jill's posts will include fun ideas that can translate directly to our December Daily® spreads. Find her posts here.
Paper Play Friday will be led by Pam Baldwin, another creative team alum, frequent class contributor, and the instructor behind Playing With Paper. Pam will be doing what she does best: working her magic with products from this year's collection. She'll be demonstrating creative ideas for fun, easy, DIY and interactive elements. Find her posts here.

30% OFF SELECT DIGITALS + CLASSES 

Calling all hybrid scrapbookers! We’re offering select digitals and classes at 30% off all month long. This sale is designed to support the members of our community who enjoy telling stories in the digital or hybrid format. From now until September 30th at 11:59pm ET use promo code FALL30 and get 30% off most digitals in the shop. Excludes December Daily® digitals + classes and the Start Here workshop.

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.

PRODUCT Q+ A WITH ALI ON INSTAGRAM

Ali has been answering a wide range of questions, sharing creative product ideas, and more over on our December Daily® Instagram account. All of her content has been saved as a highlight on that account to be enjoyed at your convenience. Find it here.

ORDER ISSUES

If you experienced any issues at checkout, or have questions about the release please reach out to our Customer Service team and they will be happy to help you! Contacting them ensures we are keeping track of these questions and answering them in a timely manner. It's difficult for our team to keep track of all of the questions left on multiple threads/posts on social media with all the excitement-- we are doing our best and we want to make sure your questions get answered! Click here to start a new conversation. 

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 | Paper Play with Pam 04

Hello friends!! Welcome to our last Paper Play Friday December Daily 2023 post 😊 This week, I’m working with many of the shop items that can be added to your box. Quick reminder that the boxing period ends at 11:59 pm September 30th (just one more day!). I’m so excited to share that I FINISHED MY ALBUM!! Lots to share with you in this post, so we’ll jump right in.

Project #1

I believe I shared with you last week that I hit the maximum capacity of my first 2010 album and started moving things into a second volume. I settled on a title page for volume 2 using the 6x8 wreath transparency and gold puffy stickers from the main kit.

Supplies: 

6x8 transparenciesDecember Daily Main Kit (gold puffy sticker numbers, chipboard stars)

My story for day 15 was about grocery shopping for my baking ingredients. Baking is a big deal for me around the holidays. My baked goods list is long and my shopping list is MUCH longer! I happened to have the original list saved in my ephemera pile and I thought it would be fun to include in my album. Ephemera + pockets makes for an easy page design.

One of my favourite shop items every year is the 3x8 journaling card and transparency pack. I had a few ideas to get a bit more playful with those transparencies. For this layout, I printed an enlarged photo of my ingredients all layed out on the counter as a background. I then stitched one of the transparencies to the bottom of the photo to create a pocket that holds my shopping list.

Supplies: 

3x8 transparency and journaling card packwood veneer starsribbonDecember Daily Main Kit (dimensional star stickers, gold puffy number stickers)tiny attacher

The second thing I wanted to try with the transparencies was to make a matchbook mini-book. This idea originates from one of the products Heidi Swapp offered in the past, and man is it fun!! I attached it to the outside of the pocket with adhesive Velcro circles so it stays in place but can easily be removed for anyone who wants to take a closer look.

I cut down one of the transparencies to create a cover for my mini book, stacked together my journaling and a few photos of my baked goods, then stapled them inside the cover. The bottom flap keeps the cover closed.

Happy to share the process video for how this came together.

Project #1 (Part 2)

There is a little bit more to this story that I wanted to include in my album. Liam “helped” with the shopping, and I had a few cute photos to work with. 

Supplies: 

Large Plastic heartsPlastic tag setMerry and Bright 4x6 Stamp SetRedwoods Crafters InkDecember Daily Main Kit (chipboard stars, chipboard phrases) ribbon cardstock tag

I may be a little pocket obsessed right now, but I knew right away that I wanted to turn one of those big plastic hearts into a pocket. I stitched around the left and right edges with my sewing machine and it worked really well!

I stashed a tag inside the pocket with some stamping on the front and a short note on the back. I was really hoping to get a layered look of embellishments to hang off the top of the tag, but I think I could use some more practice with this part.

Process video below!

Project #2

Wrapping presents! It’s a story I include pretty much every year! I always love it when the design of a layout actively contributes to the story I’m trying to tell. I wanted to play with the idea of peeling back “wrapping paper” for this one, so I used one of my favourite 3x8 journaling cards from the 3x8 transparency and journaling card set, printed my journaling on the back of the card and positioned it to be able to peel down one corner.

Supplies: 

3x8 transparency and journaling card setdie cut labels Ali’s Christmas phrases 4x6 stamp set Red and white trim packDecember Daily Main Kit (patterned vellum, chipboard stars)Project #3

I love December AND it’s a lot of work! Every year, I end up with at least one project that keeps me up into the early hours of the next morning. In 2010, it was these cupcakes I made for my Dad’s work party. (worth it! They turned out so good!). This was the story for day 17.

I wanted a way to include the journaling without covering up the photo I loved so much, so I used one of the chipboard polaroid frames to create a journaling insert along with one of the 3x4 journaling cards from the Paislee Press Mini Kit. This is held in the album with some of the 4x6 attacher stickers.

I decided to keep the back of the journaling spot fun and simple, using a 3x4 vellum card from the Holiday 3x4 and 4x6 specialty journal card set, and a plastic ornament from the December Daily Main Kit.

I added a transparent overlay from the Holiday 3x4 and 4x6 specialty journal card set on top of my photo and included a very fitting 4x6 kraft card from the same set in the bottom pocket. Also kind of obsessed with the chipboard stars in the December Daily Main Kit. I used every. Single. One in this album.

Supplies: 

Polaroid chipboard framesRed plastic numbers 4x6 attacher stickers Holiday 3x4 and 4x6 specialty journal card set Paislee Press Mini Kit (journaling card) December Daily Main Kit (plastic ornament, chipboard stars)Project #4

Not many photos in my library from December 21st, but I did have this one of my favourite candies! I also pieced together that with this being just 4 days before Christmas, there were lots of preparations happening around here. With that in mind, and the very cute “days until Christmas” stamp, I decided to craft a countdown pocket.

Supplies: 

Die cut labels, Red plastic numbers Ali’s Christmas phrases 4x6 stamp set 4x6 attacher stickers December Daily Main Kit (patterned paper, gold puffy number stickers, chipboard stars, gold rimmed quote labels, felt trees) Paislee Press Mini Kit (jouranling card)

The slider pocket is constructed from patterned paper, sized 4” x 6.25”. I made a cardstock template first so I could play with the dimensions and figure out how much room I had to work with. Each numbered note is approximately 2 cm tall, so I was able to fit 4 of them on the 3x4 card that sits inside the pocket. 

I added an attacher sticker to the top of the 3x4 card to make it easier to pull from the pocket. It is a little bit snug when it’s inside the page protector, but definitely still functional.

Process video!

Project #5

Playing with transparencies as pockets again! (I really got a LOT of use out of the 3x8 journaling card and transparency pack, but don’t forget that you could repeat these strategies with ANY transparencies you happen to have.)

I also cut out the J-O-Y letters from the main kit vellum, definitely inspired by Linda! I wanted to preserve a bit section of the vellum to be able to use on a future project, so I intentionally cut out the letters at the edges of the page and arranged them on top of the pocket to continue running off the edges. But I think the real fun was discovering that the clear stickers are a perfect fit with these letters!

I ran the 4x6 journaling card through my printer to add the text, and all that was left to do was tuck it inside the pocket for safe keeping. The functionality of the see through elements in this layout make me so happy! I love the look of the stars layered on top of the Christmas lights in the background!

Supplies: 

3x8 transparency and journaling card set Holiday phrases 6x8 large clear sticker sheet December Daily Main Kit (4x6 journaling card, chipboard stars)

Process video below!

Project #6

Christmas Eve! It’s usually a toss up which day will have more photos, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Either way, I’m usually looking for a solution or strategy to include lots of photos into my album on these days. For Christmas Eve, I decided to use a 2x2 pocket page protector and the Holiday plastic tag set.

I also had a full 7x8.25 blank spot on the left that I needed to figure out. I decided to play a bit with this space. I cut the punched edge off one of the die cut insert pages for a giant title. I added my journaling inside one of the polaroid chipboard frames, and used the lovely star patterned paper from the Paislee Press mini kit for a background. 

Those tags look so great all together in the 2x2 pockets! I used some clear/invisible tape to attach them to a series of photos that were cut in the same shape as the tags.

Each tag lifts to reveal a photo underneath. They are just a little bit loose inside the pockets. Still thinking if there’s another way to secure them inside the pockets to prevent them from sliding around. But they really do look great!

Supplies: 

Holiday plastic tag set Red Plastic numbers Large die cut paper inserts Chipboard polaroid frames Paislee Press Mini Kit (patterned paper, chipboard, vellum stars)

Process video below!

Project #7

Christmas Day! I don’t know if I’ve seen this somewhere before, but I honestly don’t remember ever realizing that the 12 pockets of the 2x2 page protector have the exact right number of squares to spell out “Christmas Eve” OR “Christmas Day”. Sometimes figuring out what will go on the back of all those pockets feels a bit tricky. There are so many tags in the holiday plastic tag set that I had more than enough to fill the front and back of the page protector and still had leftovers! 

I continued my Christmas Day story with an enlarged photo, die cut wreath and big felt numbers + a chipboard phrase from the main kit.

This was another photo heavy day, and I think what I really wanted out of this design was to let the photos do the heavy lifting on their own. I printed 6 – 4x6 photos and simply added them to the page protectors. They really bring me joy just as they are.

Supplies:

Holiday plastic tag set Gold puffy alpha stickers Large felt numbers 3x8 journaling card and transparency set wood veneer stars Holiday 3x4 and 4x6 specialty journaling card set December Daily Main Kit (chipboard phrases, wreath vellum, die cut wreath)  Paislee Press mini kit (4x6 chipboard frame, 4x6 journaling card) pom pom trim

Normally I’d finish my album on December 25th, but on this year we had a bit of an extended Christmas running into the 26th. I kept things super simple with just one photo and a bit of journaling. And that brings us to the end of my album!

Here’s a quick walk through video of my completed 2010 December Daily album(s). **Note: Days 1-4 were not included as part of this series, but you’ll definitely see them in the video below! These pages were made with supplies from past December Daily releases, you just might have some of them in your stash too!

Just want to say a sincere, whole hearted thank you for being here and cheering me on! I so appreciate your comments and kind words. Please feel free to leave your questions below, and Happy December Daily Season!

Story Play | Facts + Feelings 05

Welcome back to the final post in our Story Play | Facts + Feelings series. I'll be back with the final series this year "Little Moments" during the week of November 13th. 

In today's video + post I'm walking you through how I used the 3x4 journaling cards from the 
Facts + Feelings Mini Kit. 

Today I'm also joined by Nolana Lynch who is sharing how she used the cards in this kit for documenting some of her stories. 

Let's dive into the video:

And here are additional images and details: 

PROJECT 

START HERE: 3x4 Pocket Page Foundation 

If you like this idea you can easily create something similar if you are grouping your Story Play projects in their own album this year. I'm doing that for most of my projects but for this one I decided to go 9x12.

SUPPLIES

Facts + Feelings Mini Kit
Facts + Feelings Stamp Set
Columbia Ink, Olympia Ink, Deschutes Ink, Redwoods Ink
Tiny Attacher
Word Phrase Stickers from January, August, and September Stories By The Month™ kits
9x12 Album
9x12 Page ProtectorsNOLANA'S PROJECT

Connect with Nolana via Instagram!

Thank you so much for joining in this series! I hope it helps you get more of your stories told! 

Story Play | Facts + Feelings 04

Welcome back to Story Play | Facts + Feelings. 

In this video + post I'm walking you through how I use the prompted pages in the Facts + Feelings kit to get more of both into my storytelling. 

Let's dive into the video (includes both projects): 

Here's a closer look at both projects: 

PROJECT ONE

START HERE :  Full page photo + circle trail + full page journaling. 

PROJECT TWO

START HERE: Full page photo + full page journaling. 

SUPPLIES
Facts + Feelings Mini Kit Number Stamp Columbia Ink 2 Inch Circle Punch Tiny Attacher Rolling Adhesive  6 Hole Punch 

December Daily® 2023 | Paint + Play with Jill 04

Welcome back to Paint + Play with Jill! This week I am sharing a bunch of foundation pages I made using the mixed media supplies! I have finally decided on my album for this year and that has freed me up to actually get started in it. 

After seeing both the red Good Tidings 10x8 and the white Star 6x8 next to my previous albums, I have decided to go with the 6x8 stars album because it looks way better next to last year's album (the FALALA 6x8 from the 2021 collection). Something about having two text based albums next to each other wasn't working for me. I'm glad to finally have found a way to decide because I love both the red and the white star equally! 

One thing I noticed when looking back at my 2022 6x8 album was that I had included so many pockets for my journaling that I either put on transparencies or patterned papers. And because I'm still loving pockets, and Ali has created even more pocket options for us this year, I am leaning into that and creating a handful of foundation pages with pocket journaling. 

But first, I wanted to make a bunch of monochrome papers using the stencils and stamps for my projects. I love having a bunch of more subtle patterned papers in my stash because they allow my embellishments and photos to really shine! 

Here is a photo of all of the patterns I created plus close ups of my two favorites! You can also check out my intro video for more of my thoughts and a closer look at the patterns. But be sure to keep scrolling to see what I created with them!

For my first two foundation pages, I used white on white patterns to allow the stitched pockets from this year's collection to pop on my page. 

Stitched Tag Pockets

I attached the stitched pocket tags to the vellum sheet with white snowflakes that I created in week one. I will either attach more tags to the back side or attach the vellum to a white cardstock base for the white on white look. My intention is to create a "4 things I'm loving in December" page inspired by the text on two of the tags, with inserts created from labels from this year's label pack.

Ornament Stitched Pockets

For this second white on white page, I used white texture paste on top of white paper to create a really fun page that is both subtle and also allows the pattern to really pop. It may be just me, but this background gives me an old fashioned wallpaper vibe that pairs great with the old fashioned ornaments! On top of each ornament I attached a white felt star to go with the star background, and to create more texture while staying subtle. For the inserts in the pockets, you can either trace the ornament and cut an extra 1/8 inch or so off the edge, or you can use the stencil which is already a bit smaller than these pockets. 

Reason Why Joy Page

While I created this page with the intention of it being my opening "reason why" page, it could also easily be a journaling spot later in my album if I change my mind! I really loved the circle pocket "reason why" I did last year (inspired by Ali) and also love this Joy vellum from the main kit, so I was excited when I realized I could combine them! This bright green striped circle pocket is from the Hobbies story kit, which is still available at the time this blog post goes live. The circle insert I used is from the die cut bundle. To add even more interest (and use my mixed media supplies!), I stenciled some white snowflakes right on top of the vellum on the pocket. Check out the video to see how I did that. 

Tree Pocket Page

I decided to make my stamped tree paper into a pocket page with a transparency on top so that I could still see the whole pattern. My inspiration for this page was the pocket I made last year to hold a giant tag with a long story about my fake Christmas tree. I plan for this year's pocket to simply be a space for one or more tags to hold a longer story that is not necessarily about my tree. For the transparency on top, I chose the gold dot from the specialty paper pack because it allowed the pattern beneath to be seen. I cut the original 10x8 transparency down to an outside the page protector 6x8 size to use another time and the leftover scrap was the perfect size for my pocket! I will sew the transparency on later so that I have the flexibility for whether it is the front or back side of a page.  

Black & White Tag Pocket Page

I was inspired by my black silk screened tag to lean into a black and white color scheme with pops of red and gold. I could have done a lot of fun things with this tag, but I like to have some simple pocket pages sprinkled into my album so I went that direction instead. I pulled a white felt star, red ribbon from the trim pack, the LOVE card from the Paislee Press kit, the gold foil "moments" 4x6 transparency, and a red plastic number.  Then, I finished the page with a line of red stitching along the top of the 3x4 card to create a visual triangle of red. I love the simple colors in this one... especially with a black and white photo!

Transparency Wreath Page

My last foundation page is a double sided transparency with another circle pocket from the Hobbies story kit on one side and a large wreath die cut on the other side with a circle journaling spot in the centy. I wanted to use some of my tone on tone papers and also have a see through element. So I hand cut my papers to create a circular frame to do around my center journal spots and chose a transparency from the 6x8 pack. I liked this one because I could use the gold foil circle to frame my circle pocket. To adhere my papers to the transparency, I stitched the white side directly on with white thread. For the red side, I stitched them before putting them onto my page for a faux stitched look before adhering them with red line tape. I did it this way because I wasn't sure if my sewing machine could handle two thick cardstocks and a transparency page. Then I attached the wreath and circle pocket with washi tape to give me flexibility later. If you watch the video of me putting these pages together, you will notice that I switched out the green striped circle pocket for the blue one because it thought it worked better with the snowflake vibe my white paper was giving. I'm thinking I may need to add some silver stars or something like that to this page to give it an extra something. But I like it as a foundation for a future story. 

I hope my projects this week inspired you to go create some of your own papers and then make a few simple foundation pages! I am not much of a foundation page person but I do appreciate having these 6 flexible journaling spots to work with when December comes! 

Let me know if you have any questions and be sure to follow me on Instagram if you would like to see my album progress in December! You can find me on Instagram as @jill.drangsholt

SUPPLIESStitched Tag PocketsDie Cut LabelsWhite Felt StarsA Very Merry Christmas Silkscreen PackHoliday Stencil PackPaint PackTrees 6x8 Stamp SetSpecialty 10x8 Paper PackBlack Stazon Ink2.75" Round Acrylic Stamp Block2022 Stories of Christmas Pasts Kit (black tags)Paislee Press Mini Kit (3x4 love card)Specialty Journal Card SetRed Small Plastic NumbersRed & White Trim PackMain Kit (ornament stitched pockets, joy vellum paper, wreath)Holiday Variety Die Cut Bundle (circle journal cards)Hobbies Story Kit (stitched circle pocket)December Joys 6x8 Transparency PackStar 6x8 Chipboard Album