Ali Edwards's Blog, page 55

December Daily® 2022 | Story 24 + Story 25

And that's a wrap on my 2022 
December Daily® project. 

I love embarking on this one + I love finishing it all up and moving on to the next project. I seriously had the best time working on my album this year in particular - I'm not sure what was different (life, my process, etc) but I enjoyed all of it. 

No matter when you end up telling your December stories I hope you enjoy the process. There isn't a right or wrong and it can come together in a million beautiful ways. 

Here's a look at how these last few stories came together: 

Here are additional images: 

I decided to use the pocket stockings I created for
Prep Day this year to hold my 24th and 25th story which basically encompass Christmas Eve + Christmas Day. These stockings were so fun to create pre-December and I looked forward to using them to hold a story all month. 

For a title on top of the front of the stockings I used one of the chipboard circles from the Main Kit, a wreath from one of the 
6x8 transparencies, puffy number stickers, a small stitch, and a tab sticker along the outside edge. I adhered this whole thing with foam adhesive squares.  

The stockings were made with vellum on the back in order to be able to see through to the contents. I added the chipboard 25 onto the middle stocking. 

To tell my stories I collected images I wanted to use to make tags and wrote up a story about our "eve" and our "day." Titles for those were made using the 
red foam alphabet stickers. Each of these tags also has a photo on the back. 

These photos/journal blocks were sized to 2.75 inches x 6.5 inches. 

On the back of one of the photos I added pattern paper + 
the joy glitter cardstock word + a small gold glitter star. 

I love how these tags turned out and how I was able to include a few different scenes from our celebration. 

All those tags are then tucked into the pockets of the stockings after adding ribbon + twine to the top.

I had two additional photo enlargements I wanted to add. The first was a photo of four of the five kids hanging out in the living room. On top of the photo I added the last of the felt 1/2 circle pockets and one of the 2x2 circles on top. 

I printed out my journaling on a transparency and then used the circle journal card to cut off the excess transparency. I stitched the transparency on top. 

My final story in my album this year is about hanging a sign over our fence to wish our new neighbors Merry Christmas. It's a story I shared on Instagram 
here. 

I'll be back in a few days with a full walk-through of my completed project. Thank you so much for coming along on this journey + for sharing your own stories along the way. 

SUPPLIES
December Daily® Main Kit (digital available) December Daily® 10x8 Santa Album Epson XP15000 Printer We R Memory Keepers Hole Punch Tiny Attacher Red Line Tape Corner Rounder Red + White Twine Glitter Cardstock Phrases Red Foam Alpha Stickers 6x8 Transparencies Corner RounderSTOCKING SUPPLIES
Patterned Paper from Main Kit + Add On Paper Pack (digital available) Patterned Vellum (don't forget that you could print patterns on vellum using digital designs from home too) Large Star Stencil Page Attacher Stickers 6x8 Merry + Bright Stencil (digital available - learn how to make your own stencils here) Versamark Embossing Ink White Embossing Powder Texture Paste Black Acrylic Paint Washi Tape (Main Kit + red candy cane stripe (similar one to what I used)) Sewing Machine Glitter Paper (shown but not used) We R Memory Keepers Hole Punch  Red Line Tape

December Daily® 2022 | Story 23

One of the stories I knew I wanted to include this year was a little more about the things we didn't do based on the season of life we are in right now. Some things were the same but many things were different this year and let go of - not out of exhaustion or an attempt to do less this season - but simply because it was a good reflection of us in our own particular season. There was no clinging to the way things have always been but rather a shedding of things in all the best possible ways for our family. 

This is one of the big reasons I love this project. I get to see the evolution of our family over time: through the highs + the lows + the chapters in between and through the traditions that last and the ones we let go of for any number of reasons. 

It felt like a "just right" Christmas. I'll take that any day. 

And if next year all the kids say they want Advent calendars again I'll be totally down with that too. 

Here's a look at the process: 

Here are some still images of the completed story: 

Today's story is built on the back of our Christmas card which was used in Story 22. 

I printed a photo of our stockings (5 inches x 7 inches) and used red line tape to adhere it to three sides in order to create a pocket to hold my written story. 

On the backside of my journaling is one of the 3x8 journal cards - this is the one that includes the checklist. Looking back over the checklist + seeing the things I didn't check off for this year became the jumping off point for my story. 

The red + white ribbon was on a gift from a friend. 

Attached to the journaling tag is a collection of embellishments including a Santa from the Die Cut Bundle + a plastic star + a wood star from a past kit + a metal number from Tim Holtz. 

On top of the photo I added one of the messy circles from the Main Kit. 

I loved looking at this through the lens of the evolution of our family story. 

I measured the journal card once I cut off the sides and a bit from the top and bottom and then set that up in Photoshop and wrote my story. 

I used a corner rounder to round the edges. 

I really love how this one came together + taking the time to write down my feelings from this particular December.  

SUPPLIES

December Daily® Main Kit (digital available)
December Daily® 10x8 Santa Album
Epson XP15000 Printer
We R Memory Keepers Hole Punch
3x8 Journal Card + Transparencies
Tiny Attacher
Red Line Tape
Corner Rounder
Tim Holtz Metal Number Tag
Red + White Twine

December Daily® 2022 | Story 21 + Story 22

I hope you had a lovely holiday! We had a simple family-centered time and I'm so thankful for a little break for all of us. 

I'm back today with stories 21 and 22 in my 2022 December Daily® project. 

I'm sharing these two together because they came together at the same time as I was planning out Story 21. 

Also, in case you missed it, we are currently running an end of year sale with all kinds of past kits and kit components brought back + on sale! 
Check out all the options here. Subscribers save an extra 10% off sale prices with code VIP10. Terms: Offer valid on orders from the End of Year Sale 2022 category for subscribers only. Code valid thru 01/03/2023 at 11:59pm EST. Must enter code at checkout to receive offer. Refunds will not be issued for forgotten or misused promo codes. Code not valid on previous purchases. Offer is subject to change. Not valid on gift cards.

Let's dive in: 

Here are some still images: 

I took this photo earlier in the month and have been waiting to add it in to my project. While I love seeing trees lit up and twinkling I also really like seeing them in the daylight.

I decided to pair this full page photo with a 
3x8 transparency + the tree die cut. 

Along the outside edge I added some washi tape from my stash to cover up the fact that this photo was a bit smaller than the previous page. 

I love having journaling that talks about basic details of the season like this - I will totally enjoy reading this back again to myself next year. 

To go along with my full page photo I used one of the 3x8 transparencies as a home for story 21 and for story 22 on the back. I sized my text boxes to 2.25 inches x 6.5 inches tall which left some room to peek through the transparency to the next page. 

At the top of my journaling I added a 
canvas strip with a red stitch on top. 

I cut off the holes from the tree die cut and then ran it through my sewing machine to attach the tree to the transparency. Along the outside edge I added a tab sticker and then adhered the chipboard 21 using rolling adhesive. 

STORY 22

Before stitching the tree to the transparency I added the photo to the back and trimmed it out to the same shape. The photo I printed was 3 inches wide x 8.25 inches tall. 

Along with the journaling I added the "22" using numbers from the Main Kit and hole punched our Christmas card to add it to the album. 

I also added another one of those plastic glitter stars from my stash. 

SUPPLIES

December Daily® Main Kit (digital available)
December Daily® 10x8 Santa Album
Epson XP15000 Printer
We R Memory Keepers Hole Punch
3x8 Journal Card + Transparencies
December Daily® Die Cut Page Inserts
December Daily® Canvas Phrases
Tiny Attacher
Red Line Tape

December Daily® 2022 | Story 20

Story 20 in my 2022 December Daily® album is about a super fun night out with some dear friends. 

I'm using the tag pattern paper from the Main Kit as the foundation for my photos + words. This is such a fun paper to build on 

Let's dive in: 

Here are additional photos + details: 

When I was putting my foundation pages together I created this full page shaker using the die cut paper. I knew I would be able to pair it with a story at some point during the month and I can't think of a better story than this. I ended up adding a chipboard 20 on top along with another canvas phrase. 

You can see more about how I created this full page shaker here. 

I seriously love seeing all those sequins next to this page full of photos! 

For this tag page I ended up printing two sheets of the same photos so that I could have a photo to put on top of each tag. I sized my photos 3.75 inches x 2.25 inches and put them all on a 8.5x11 canvas before printing. 

Need help getting multiple photos on one sheet in Photoshop? Check out this post. 

In addition to the photos I also printed out journaling tags using the same dimensions. The journaling tags are layered underneath the three vellum star tags and the joy tag. The journaling was taken from text messages from my friends that I received the next morning + a little write up I did about the event overall. 

I cut the black joy tag from the pattern paper using a craft knife in order to make that a movable embellishment. It's layered on top of a photo and journaling as well. 

I attached all three pieces together using gold brads and added a plastic star on top with a Tiny Attacher. 

Along the edge of three photo tags + the joy tag I added a sticker tab. 

This one took awhile to get right and I re-printed my journaling a few times in order to get it in the right place on the tag. It was totally worth the effort in the end. 

Such a fun night and a fun way to tell the story. 

SUPPLIES
December Daily® Main Kit (digital available) December Daily® 10x8 Santa Album Epson XP15000 Printer December Daily® Plastic Stars (digital) Gold Brads We R Memory Keepers Hole Punch 

December Daily® 2022 | Story 19

Story 19 in my 2022 December Daily® project is about a coffee meeting with Chris + Simon. 

Included in the video is a walkthrough of how I set up my photo and journaling to fit the heart die cut page. 

Let's dive in: 

Here are some still photos of today's story: 

In my foundation pages I had set aside the die cut heart (digital available) and the one + nine from the felt numbers. I love how the "1" is shorter than the "9" and can be tucked right in next to it. So fun. 

I also added one of the cardstock glitter words to the back of the large felt pocket for Story 18. 

I adhered the felt numbers using red line tape and also added some red embroidery thread before adhering the numbers on the heart. 

When Chris and Simon and I had coffee and breakfast together I snapped one shot during our discussion. It was a great meeting/check in with Simon about how he's feeling going into 2023. 

I used Photoshop to mask my photo + journaling into the digital heart shape. Full details on how I did that are included in the video above. 

On top of the photo/journaling I added one of the plastic stars + added embroidery thread again. 

SUPPLIES

December Daily® Main Kit (digital available)
December Daily® 10x8 Santa Album
Epson XP15000 Printer: https://amzn.to/3H33k9T
December Daily® Die Cut Paper (digital available)
December Daily® Plastic Stars (digital)
December Daily® Felt Numbers (digital)
December Daily® Cardstock Glitter Words

December Daily® 2022 | Story 18

Today's December Daily® story is a foundation page I put together with some fun "would you rather" tags we gave away during our $5 Prep Day earlier this season. 

I love including some sort of interview tag in this project most years and this was a fun twist on that tradition. 

Let's dive into the video: 

Here's a look via images: 

For Prep Day I used two pieces of felt to create a large pocket to hold these fun "would you rather" Christmas tags. Along the front I also machine stitched the "fa la la" and "merry" plastic titles from the Main Kit along with the 18 chipboard. 

I printed all the tags and used a 4 inch circle punch to add pattern papers to the top. 

I decided to add photos to the back of each tag and sent out a text message to my people inviting them to send me a photo they love of themselves from this past year. This was such a fun way to bring in their own unique voices and I loved seeing the photos that they chose. 

The best part is honoring them for who they are. 

So far Aaron, Anna, and I have filled them out (I'm working on this first thing in the morning so the rest will fill these out later). I'm happy to report that Aaron was totally on board for filling this one out - it was a pretty easy ask when all you have to do is circle one or the other or both. 

I especially love seeing whether they like one large present or five small presents. 

Seriously so fun. Loved putting this one together. 

SUPPLIES

December Daily® 2022 Main Kit Papers + Plastic Words
Various Ribbons: 1.5 Inch Black + Cream, 1.5 Inch Green + White, .25 Inch Cream + Red, .75 Inch Red Chevron
Sewing Machine 
We R Memory Keepers Hole Punch
4 Inch Circle Punch 
Felt
December Daily® Chipboard Numbers
Epson Ultra Premium Matte Presentation Paper
Epson XP15000 Printer
Page Attacher

December Daily® 2022 | Story 17

Winter Break is underway over here and the house is full of kids lounging + finding cozy ways to hang out and I love it so much!

Today I'm sharing Story 17 in my 2022 December Daily® album and it's a story about cutting holly at a friends farm. 

Let's dive in to the process video: 

Here's a look via images: 

Today's story is built on the back of the tag from Story 16 and includes a full page photo + pattern paper cut down the middle to create an opening. 

Pattern paper is from the Main Kit. 

I used the holly die cut from the die cut bundle to create the "opener" and paired it with a canvas phrase + a glitter star from last year + a metal number brad from Tim Holtz.

Washi tape from the Main Kit is used along the left edge to create a hinge. The other half is added into the album using the rings and isn't attached to the tag. 

And of course I used a bit of embroidery floss to add a bit more red to the canvas phrase. 

On the inside is a fun photo of my friend and I collecting the holly from her amazing holly trees at her family farm. 

On the inside of the flaps I added more pattern paper. 

To tell the story I took a screenshot of our text conversation and sized it to fit. I love telling a story this way - it's a great way to bring in other voices and a bit of technology. 

Along the top I added a tab sticker and another gold star. 

On the other flap I added a circle punched photo of the bundles Kim made to give away to her neighbors. I added a gold star and I also used gold embossing powder on the back of the die cut holly to finish it off. 

SO FUN. 

Merry, merry my friends. 

SUPPLIES

December Daily® Main Kit (digital available)
December Daily® 10x8 Santa Album
Epson XP15000 Printer
Tab Stickers (digital available)
Tiny Attacher
Tim Holtz Number Brads
Glitter Stars
December Daily® Canvas Words
Versamark Embossing Ink
Gold Embossing Powder

One Little Word® | A Conversation with The Team

Last week Ali and our #onelittleword team came together for a conversation about how they go about choosing a word for the year and how that impacts their choice for 2023. It's a wholehearted dialog that we hope will encourage you + help you as you consider a word that is your own to live with in 2023. We are sharing this video here and in both the 2022 + 2023 classrooms. 

A big thank you to our team @lucrecer, @lizelayne, @felicitasmayer, @krystal_idunate,
@victoriamariescraps, and @azzarijarrett for sharing of themselves.

Our year-long One Little Word® workshop is open for registration now. Sign up before 12/31 and receive $5 off. Learn more here. 

December Daily® 2022 | Story 16

Story 16 in my 2022 December Daily® album is about celebrating Elliott's + Audrey's December birthdays. 

Let's dive in to the process video: 

Here's a look at my story via images: 

In the video for this story I mention how much I love full page photos and how once I start bringing them in it's almost hard to stop. I love them so much. 

For today's story I selected a photo I took after our birthday dinner celebration as we were all saying goodbye before going our separate ways. I had turned around and saw everyone interacting with one another and I snapped one photo - this was what I got. This is so us and I love capturing the interactions and am 100% here for imperfect photos. 

I paired the full page photo with a fun, festive tag page. 

On top of my full page photo I added one of the felt circle pockets. On top of the journaling circle I stapled a 1 and 6 from the Numbers Scrapbook Kit. I also added another sticker tab along the outside edge to encourage the reader to pull out the circle. 

I added a vellum quote strip to the top of the vellum pocket in the same way I did on my Reason Why page. 

On the back of the circle I added our selfie shot. That circle is 3 inches wide. Based on the way we were situated on the photo I added a bit of text on black along the edge. 

On the second page - one of the die cut papers - I had added the rubber tags and a puffy Santa when I was creating my foundation pages. To that initial design I cut out the wreath circles from one of the 6x8 transparent pages and added journaling circles on top that are 1.5 inches. 

I love the look of pairing those tag shapes with the wreath circles. 

I added a red/white ribbon to the tag page (the ribbon was on a gift from a friend so I don't have a source for it). 

SUPPLIES
December Daily® Main Kit (digital available)December Daily® 10x8 Santa AlbumEpson XP15000 PrinterTab Stickers (digital available)Rubber TagsPuffy Santas6x8 Transparencies3 Inch Circle Punch1.5 Inch Circle PunchTiny Attacher

December Daily® 2022 | Story 15

I'm back today with story 15 in my 2022 December Daily® album. 

Today's story is about an overnight adventure to visit my parents on the coast. 

Let's dive right in to the video: 

Here's a closer look via images: 

Today's story is told using one of the transparencies from the Specialty Paper Pack paired with a full page photo of my Mom and Simon dancing. 

I started this one by collecting all the photos I wanted to add onto the grid transparency and cropping them to 2.25 inches x 1.75 inches. I added them all to one canvas in Photoshop and printed it out. Want to learn how to resize photos like this? Check out this video tutorial.

Along with my rectangle photos I also told my story on rectangles. In Photoshop I created the black boxes and then added my text on top and made the color white. I did six of these to tell the story of our coastal overnight. 

I trimmed the grid transparency to fit the number of photos + journaling rectangles I wanted to use. I also love how leaving one of the center spaces blank allows us to peek through to the full page photo and my Mom behind it. 

In addition to the photos and words I added another one of the puffy circles from the Main Kit and I added "15" to one of the foiled circle label stickers. 

On the back I added another puffy circle sticker and another circle label sticker with Tim Holtz Rub ons on top + a small star brad. I also added a glitter acrylic star from my stash (2 more were added to the full page photo). 

I went through all kinds of variations on this one before just sticking some things down and calling it good! I really like how it turned out. 

On the full page photo I added two more of those acrylic stars and one word phrase sticker that says "love is all around." 

SUPPLIES

December Daily® Main Kit (digital available)
December Daily® 10x8 Santa Album
Epson XP15000 Printer
Circle Label StickersGlitter Acrylic StarsDecember Daily® Word/Phrase StickersDecember Daily® Tab Stickers