December Daily® 2014 | Day Eight

Welcome to  December Daily® 2014 | Day Eight. 

Many of your know I'm a fan of keeping it real in my memory keeping projects. That doesn't mean I include every negative thought and feeling and experience I encounter in my life but it does mean that I often include documentation about the challenges I'm facing or the things I'm wrestling with in my mind and heart.  

The holidays stir up lots of emotions in people and I'm no different. 

How can we treat each other with even more tender loving kindness during these days of dark and light? Smile at people as we walk by. Open our hearts a little more than we are comfortable with. Forgive. Put ourself in someone else's shoes. Take a broader view of an issue or a closer look at someone else's thoughts/feelings. Take the next step. Write it out. 

For Day Eight I decided to write a bit about the emotions and thoughts I was experiencing last night. I paired that journaling with a fun little pocket of goodies and my list of things I want for Christmas. It's simply how life goes - a crazy combination of silly and serious, light and dark, hard times and good times. 

My journaling for today: 

"Ah, seasons. I was thinking a lot about seasons last night as I sat in Aaron’s living room and watched his kids decorate their tree. I thought about our families and the ways in which we have come together. I thought about Simon and Anna and how they were probably decorating the tree over at Chris’ house and how I hoped they were enjoying it and being in the moment vs. longing for something else (I want this for me too). I thought about the ways in which we move forward and the ways in which we are held back. I thought about giving and receiving and letting go. I thought about traditions new and old and the ways in which my family celebrated the holidays when I was a kid. I thought about imperfections and magic and finding/making my own joy. I thought about expanding hearts. I thought about the seasons of change - how we resist and how we become more flexible through all the days of our lives. I thought about how much I love the season of twinkle lights and how I hope I can bring that joy to the most special people in my life."

Here's to more light than darkness for each and every one of us. 

Here's a look at Day Eight: 

Day Eight pairs a full page 6x8 pattern paper + a pocket holding the large gold 8 and tissue paper circles and the word twinkle + my Christmas list + some thoughts on seasons. 

In Photoshop I opened up this photo, made it horizontal vs. vertical (see video tutorial below), added the word "season" from this set, and then added my story. 

I also added the gold glitter star along the top using a glue dot (and I embossed the back using the white embossing powder). 

Here's a short video that shows you how to make a 4x6 horizontal photo from a vertical photo using the clone tool in Photoshop. 

December Daily® 2014 | Using The Clone Stamp Tool To Transform A Vertical Image To Horizontal from Ali Edwards on Vimeo.

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions about that in the comments. 

The pockets are a fun place for adding those extra little embellishments. I just ran the pocket through  my sewing machine to keep it closed. 

In addition to my thought-filled journaling I love the idea of adding in what I want for Christmas. My kids will be doing their letter to Santa soon (probably this week) and that usually finds its way into my album as well. On the card I used the number stamps from the kit with gray ink. 

Here's a look at the whole thing again:

SUPPLIES


TODAY'S POST SPONSORED BY | SCRAPROOM

How much are your photos and time worth? If you said more than $89, keep reading. ScrapRoom Software is the only all-in-one photo software created specifically for scrapbookers, by a scrapbooker. Organize and search the way you want, then find your photos when you need them so that you can get creative when you’re ready. And for Ali’s readers, ScrapRoom is just $89 through 12/31/14, using code: DD2014 at our website. Click HERE to learn more and to watch videos using ScrapRoom with December Daily. Mac and PC.


SHARE YOUR DAY EIGHT

I'd love to have you share a link to your Day Eight pages below. Please link directly to your post vs. a general blog link.

Related Posts

Sign in or sign up to comment.

36 thoughts

  1. Llynx59 says…
    12/11/2014

    You are such a wonderful writer and always inspire me. You have a gentle and open/honest heart. Is there a video somewhere I can view that shows how to add text to a photo? I have PSE and need to learn how to use it but am so anxious to learn *this* part right away! :)

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. AliEdwards says…
      12/11/2014

      Hi - I'm not sure if you were able to watch the video in the above post? I show just a quick thing about adding text using the T (type tool). Essentially you draw a box with the T tool and then start typing away :). Other than that I have a variety of different tutorials on my Getting Started With Digital Scrapbooking page that might help as well: http://aliedwards.com/2010/01/getting-started-digital-scrapbooking

    2. Llynx59 says…
      12/11/2014

      Thanks Ali!

  2. Lmesserli says…
    12/13/2014

    I bought the NOEL digital set because it's amazing and then when I imported it into Photoshop it is black lettering--how do I convert it to white lettering? Thank you!!!

    Reply 2 Replies
    1. AliEdwards says…
      12/13/2014

      Hi - here's a link to a tutorial that can show you how to recolor a PNG file in Photoshop: http://aliedwards.com/2010/01/scrapbooking-with-your-computer-opening-recoloring-adding-to-a-photo-loading-brushes

    2. Lmesserli says…
      12/13/2014

      Thank you!!