December Daily™ 2011 | Day Thirteen

Welcome to December Daily™ 2011 | Day Thirteen.

Yesterday as I was working and clicking (you know how that goes right?) I came across Max Ehrmann's Desiderata on Tara Whitney's blog. It's not the first time I've read it - I think the first time was when I was a sophomore in high school. It speaks to me each time I find it again so I decided it would be a nice thing to include in my December Daily™ for today.

I can imagine myself opening up my 2012 December Daily™ in the coming years and seeing this again and having it be just what I need to read.

It's also seemed a nice companion to a photo I took of Anna this morning. I set the camera on the ground, set it to 100 ISO and took a couple shots as she played with her Playmobil between the tree and a couch.

"Be at peace" was added directly onto the photo using American Crafts Hollyday Silver Elf Chipboard and a single line was stitched across the top.

I've seen a couple people in the comments mention the challenge of photographing in low-light. I find, at this time of year specifically with all the twinkle lights, that I actually welcome the low-light. That said, there are times when it works and times when it doesn't. I'm sure I could of adjusted this photo in Photoshop - but this is a pretty good representation of what I saw. Glowing yellow light inside, the blue of the early morning light out the window.

In this case I purposely chose a really low ISO - 100 - and set the camera on the floor so there would be no shake (I actually wanted to see how long the shutter would stay open - it wasn't as long as I thought it would be).

That said, sometimes low light is just really annoying. I googled "tips for shooting in low light" and there are 16,300,000 results. This one was pretty decent.

Along the edge I added a strip of Jillibean paper (stars), a small piece from the Jenni Bowlin paper, and a small kraft star that was cut from a Trader Joes shopping bag.

I repeated another little piece of the Trader Joe's paper on the top. Along the right edge of the first page I added some stars cut with the Silhouette. All those accents include machine stitching.

Here's a look at the pages in my album:

I saved the words as a PDF for you guys in case it means something to you right now. You can download it by clicking here. (2.3 MB)

SUPPLIES | DAY THIRTEEN


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70 thoughts

  1. becky v says…
    12/14/2011

    Ali, I have never read this, I absolutely love it. Thanks for sharing about the photography tip too.

    Reply 0 Replies
  2. Anne T. says…
    12/14/2011

    This is my favorite poem and for years I have had a framed poster of it with handwriting and illustrations by Susan Branch. Currently it lives in my craft room so I can read it all the time and take the words to heart. Thanks for sharing the PDF. Loving your pages everyday. They are really inspiring. For four years now I've assembled the shell of the book and then managed not to fill the insides. Sadly, this year has been no different. I love all my books, but it's depressing that they are empty. Thanks for the words of encouragement in your previous post. Really hoping I can catch up on this one, even if it's after the holidays.

    Reply 0 Replies
  3. missscrap says…
    12/14/2011

    I don't know this poem, but I love it. Thanks for discover it !

    Reply 0 Replies
  4. HeatherC says…
    12/14/2011

    Beautiful page. I made a morning light page last week too -- loved the yellow glow and slight blur of the kids under the tree -- captures the mood and movement of the moment. I got a new camera last year for Christmas and am still learning how to use it -- I have found the use of a little tripod (I think it is a gorilla) is useful and less bulky that our large one.

    Thanks for the daily inspiration -- this is my favorite memory project of the year!

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. HeatherC says…
      12/14/2011

      Forgot to mention that I guess I am going to have to make a trip to Trader Joe's -- I think I need one of those bags! :) Love your use of everyday finds with scrapping materials.

      Thanks for the PDF -- looking forward to reading it.

  5. Estelle says…
    12/14/2011

    Hi there !
    It's four days i can't write a message. Hope this time it ll be OK.
    Love this project, thanks for sharing.
    i love the light in your DD, it seems wonderfull ...
    Kisses from France !

    Reply 0 Replies
  6. Estelle says…
    12/14/2011

    It s posted !!! Youpi !!!

    Reply 0 Replies
  7. laura g. says…
    12/14/2011

    beautiful poem! read it years ago and enjoyed reading it again! i would like to incorporate some religious themes into my book (after all, isn't this the real reason we celebrate Christmas?) have had trouble locating nativity themed paper etc i found a nativity stamp and think i will use it to make my own paper and use ali's 'silent night, holy night'stamp from her 'good cheer' stamp set any one have more ideas? thanks!

    Reply 4 Replies
    1. Ali says…
      12/14/2011

      You could also do a quick google search and print out images online. I do have a set of hand-written Christmas Bible verses available as well: http://www.designerdigitals.com/digital-scrapbooking/supplies/product_info.php/products_id/8711

    2. laura g. says…
      12/14/2011

      thanks ali! just looked at the Bible verses and loved them! i bought some Christmas cards at work with Nativity scenes on them..and found an angel stamp i like and some silver ink at Joann's (luckily there is a Joann's right next to my work!) so i think i am set!

    3. laura g. says…
      12/14/2011

      the best stamp i found was from Close to My Heart am thinking about cutting or punching out images from Christmas cards and making a copy of them onto a page so they don't look pasted on still kicking around some ideas i have some fabric i bought years ago with 'joy to the world' and the images are small so it would be perfect to add to my scrapbook have you come up with some ideas?

    4. caro says…
      12/14/2011

      Last year was the first time there was NO nativity themed wrapping paper to be found around here. Would love to see what you found to make your own design? Tx

  8. Molly says…
    12/14/2011

    perfect! I love this photo too.

    Reply 0 Replies
  9. scrappysue says…
    12/14/2011

    Ali, your pages are just so beautiful and so is the poem, thank you so much for putting it into a pdf. Love that you have a cushion with "light" on it!

    Reply 0 Replies
  10. Fanny says…
    12/14/2011

    It does mean A LOT to me right now. Thanks, Ali! I heard Max Ehrmann's poem while I was in high school too. It spoke to me back then and it does now. Thanks for bringing it back! It will sure be part of my 2011 december daily as well. Thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply 0 Replies
  11. caro says…
    12/14/2011

    That shot is incredible for ISO 100 Ali! You must have a great wide angle lens too to fit all that in. Wish Simon could have taken a shot of you setting the camera up .... :-)
    I'm finding the low light photography class I just did with Karen Russell invaluable this season. Thanks for sharing SO much detail.

    Reply 0 Replies
  12. theresa says…
    12/14/2011

    Hi Ali....Thanks for "Desiderata"...when I printed it from the PDF, it came out as 8 1/2 by 11....Just curious how you printed it to fit your DD? thanks ....Theresa

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Ali says…
      12/14/2011

      It's sized to fit on a 6x8.5 (you need to set "page scaling" to "none" in Adobe Reader - the program to open PDF files) - I printed it on 8.5x11 and then trimmed it down.

  13. Ann says…
    12/14/2011

    Beautiful poem. I'd never heard of it before. I'm definitely going to try to find it in poster form and hang it in the house.
    Ali, where did you get those page separators - the ones that are clear with the sort of quatrefoil pattern on it?

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. Ann says…
      12/14/2011

      Thank you! =)

    2. Ali says…
      12/14/2011

      That's a Hambly overlay - called White Lattice: http://bit.ly/saR6Hf

  14. Anne says…
    12/14/2011

    wow, thanks Ali for the Desiderata, the low light photography tips, and the Trader Joe's star idea. Have I forgotten anything? :-p You are so inspiring.

    Reply 0 Replies
  15. Cecilia Madden says…
    12/14/2011

    I just love this project. I'm quietly following along but didn't have the guts to make my own book this year. Maybe I'll pull something together after the holidays.

    And I love that poem. So appropriate for this season.

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Ali says…
      12/14/2011

      You can do it :).

  16. Deb J says…
    12/14/2011

    I always enjoy your pages. You just have a way of making pages that speak to me.

    Reply 0 Replies
  17. Elaine Bieman says…
    12/14/2011

    really pretty day 13.

    Reply 0 Replies
  18. Sue TR (Your Story 2011) says…
    12/14/2011

    Thanks for the poem...just what I've been needing this season as I'm drowning in errands and chores!

    Reply 0 Replies
  19. Cynthia says…
    12/14/2011

    Desiderata has been part of my life since I first read it in University many years ago - it is so beautiful and meaningful and I found it so calming in times of stress. I love your Day 13. I think what I always find so wonderful/inspiring/breath catching in your work is your ability to convey ambiance and emotion in a such a range of environments.

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Ali says…
      12/14/2011

      Thank you Cynthia - that was really nice.

  20. Jen L says…
    12/14/2011

    I wanted to share a link with you that my friend Heidi posted
    http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/of-kids-and-christmas
    It's pretty awesome, and exactly what we mama's need to hear right about about now.

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. Ali says…
      12/14/2011

      That was lovely.

    2. Stacy Milford says…
      12/14/2011

      Thanks for sharing the blog post! Just what I needed to read...

  21. Cathy says…
    12/14/2011

    Thank you for sharing the poem. It really speaks to me today. A great reminder of what's important.

    Reply 0 Replies
  22. Lorette C says…
    12/14/2011

    LOVE this poem! Thank you for sharing! And that photo is sooo lovely! Will have to try this technique! And I saved a Trader Joe bag last weekend and a treat bag from JoAnns!

    BTW ALI: what are your floors made of? there's not a seam or grout line to be seen on the photo...LOVE that!

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Ali says…
      12/14/2011

      Hi Lorette - I have no idea :). They were here when we moved in - I like them!

  23. jen in pa says…
    12/14/2011

    wonderful poem, and i love anna's "a" shirt. any idea where you got it? it would be perfect for my small people :)

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Ali says…
      12/14/2011

      Amy Tangerine made that shirt - it's Anna's favorite. http://amytangerine.blogspot.com/2010/08/tees.html

  24. Debbi G. says…
    12/14/2011

    Thanks again, Ali, for sharing these pages. They are beautiful :)

    I have a question on the photo...I was a bit surprised your ISO was at 100..so used to being told to "bump it up". What made you try it at 100? The clarity? I guess if your subject isn't moving too much, they won't turn into a ghost..haha

    Reply 1 Reply
    1. Ali says…
      12/14/2011

      I really just wanted to see what would happen - specifically with the Christmas tree and with Anna. I was actually hoping she would be moving a bit more (but the shutter was too quick). What I wanted was a crisp tree and a blurred Anna :).

  25. Vera says…
    12/14/2011

    Beautiful. I also first read Desiderata when I was a highschool sophomore. Loved it since.

    Reply 0 Replies

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