December Daily 2010 | Q&A (the questions)
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I know lots of you out there have started putting together your album foundations for December Daily. I'd like to try and answer any questions you might have at this point in the process (knowing that some of you haven't started yet and some may already have albums all put together). Feel free to leave questions here and I'll answer them in a new compilation post later this week.
For a full list of 2010 December Daily posts click here.
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121 comments
I've always used purchased albums. I prefer 3-ring binders such as We-R-Memories. I'm curious, why you use self-made albums. I'm assuming that it has to do with bulk.
I guess that simple step is the only thing holding me back. Is it as sturdy? Will it survive lots of handling? Etc.?
Love your talents Ali!!!
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I have done two DD albums in the past, and they both (as well as my one for this year) are bound with rings the way Ali's are. What I like about creating my own album rather than using a purchased one is that I can decide what size I want it to be, both in height and width as well as thickness. Have lots of stuff?, just get bigger rings. As far as being handled, mine are put out every holiday season and have stood up well. Don't let this little detail hold you back. My DD albums are among my favorites.
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My question is for all of you. Do you have a blog or facebook page that you can share what you are making? I know Ali does a flicker account but I like to actually see more details than just a picture. If you do can you please share it?
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I have posted at Ali's December Daily flickr site in the past, but I also post on my blog and then link that to Facebook. (That way I or someone else can provide more details/Q&A's than just photos of the project. I've seen others post at Two Peas in A Bucket and other scrapbooking sites where there are galleries and forums.
HTH.
Hi Terri, In answer to Dawn's question above about covers, I included the website of my blog to show what I am doing for my cover. You can also check out my December Daily from last year. My blog address is terriporter.typepad.com. Last year, I wanted to do a 6x12 album and just used chipboard for the covers and back-to-back cardstock or printed cardstock for the pages and bound it with rings. My DD this year will pretty much follow Ali's except for a few modifications and my cover. I agree, it always helps (especially if you're doing this project for the first time) to see what other people are doing.
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After reviewing your 2010 December Daily templates, I was having trouble visualizing how you plan to add/attach your journaling to your hybrid project. Are you going to insert your templates directly into your printer and print on your already prepared pages? If so, please explain how you set up your printer to print on nonstandard size pages. Or, are you going to print your journaling on other paper, trim it,and then attach it to your template or transparent pages?
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This is my first year doing the Dec Daily...to say I am a newbie is not even coming close. What is the best way to determine where I should be punching my holes for the rings....I bought the templates from DD...I have a feeling I might thinking too hard!!
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Liz, this was my question as well. I'm very new to scrapping aside from a bit of card making and it's my first DD too. We can do this!!! :)
Ali, like Liz I'm wondering about hole placement. Did you have a measurement posted somewhere I missed?
This is my first year too. I'm starting to put things together, have my pages and overlays cut but don't know about hole placement?
Also, what size rings, I have what I think are 1 1/2. Do I need larger? The pages already look thick.
I'm an absolute beginner too but love the idea of the December Daily and have also persuaded two friends to do it as well :)
I was wondering about the holes as well, as I noticed on Ali's that the holes are punched through the photo and I'm not sure I would like that, or would rather have a margin.
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Hi Ali, Thank you! I enjoy your blog! I did DD for the first time last year. I just finished it last month! Partly that was because I found you doing it in Dec and started then with creating the foundation and doing pages at the same time so that I was way behind by the end of Dec but I gathered photos and ephemera as I went along so I could finish it later. The other partly was because you make it look so easy! ;) This year my foundation is going to be much simpler. I'm going to use only 4x6 photos. I am using your daily templates and page size of 6x8 but I used PSE and pushed the left side of the template in so that the ring holes are outside the rectangle and the rectangle is now a good frame for a 4x6 photo. I've got to make it quick to put together so I can finish in Dec this year! My question is about the back of the template page. Are you thinking the back goes with the date on the front or the date on the next page? Thanks! This is fun!
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Really excited about doing this - am doing a white cover and found a rice type paper with gold flecks in it and will add stars on the cover. Loved the idea of the door that someone else posted! I purchased the bazill cream colored 12 x 12 paper at my LSS and now am sorry I went that route - wasn't thinking as I will have to cut it down when I print them and will have too much waste. Wasn't thinking -I wouldn't have been able to get two out of it anyway.
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jackie,
fortunately cardstock is so handy to have around! The scraps you'll have left will make great tags or small cards. I had to get 12X12 as well since my local shop was out of the smaller
My scrapbook store was out of the color I wanted in 8-1/2 x 11 and so I bought 12x12 and was glad I did. I was able to get two templates printed on one sheet with less waste and a 12x12 sheet is less expensive than two 8-1/2 x 11s. I have a wide format printer and was able to print before cutting them to size, but I think you could cut the paper in half first and then print if you don't have a wide-format printer.
You can cut a 12x12 sheet down to 8.5x12 and print 2 sideways on each sheet.
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Bless your sweet heart Ali, I don't know how you do it all! I know you've been working on a source for your white cover paper, but have you found anything similar? I really love the simple look of it. I'm thinking about using a messy look circle stamp and clear embossing as an alternative. thank you thank you for all you do!!!
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Hi Erica I did my cover with circles and it is much the same ad Ali's just not white. Mine is red rice type paper and I stamped a paint circle on it by getting an old toilet paper roll and dipping the round end in paint then "stamping" it on the paper in a line. I love how it turned out! It is different each time and has texture because the circles aren't always the same as the paint is thick in some sections and not in other sections. The cover feels rough as you can feel the texture of the paint. I don't have a blog but can put it into the DD flickr if you would like to have a look.
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at the risk of totally hogging the q&a (sorry guys) I forgot I had one more question. I noticed that you used each of your transparency designs twice. Since I'm trying to learn as much as I can about design as I go, I wondered if this had a design purpose? Does it help the album flow or tie together or something, or just handy being able to get two pages from a sheet? It looks great by the way, just curious:)
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Since the transparencies come 12x12, I'm assuming there are two of each design because you can get two out of one sheet. That's what I did.
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Hi Ali!!
I e-mailed you this question.. not sure if you received it or not but i'll ask it here anyways. I was just wondering if you were planning on putting the album in some kind of box or anything after it's all completed- to keep it nice and dust free?
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How often are you finishing a layout/page? Do you set aside time each day to complete a page? Even with a pre-assemble/template, I had a hard time keeping up with my DD last year --I've already decided to do a better job of writing daily notes/journaling, but I'm worried about getting backlogged again. (I don't have a photo printer at home.) Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
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I plan on doing a 31 day December Daily. I downloaded the #25 but was wondering if you have a 31 that I could use for the front cover. Thanks:)
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Ali, Love the idea of a December Daily. I made one last year and it was so much fun. I think its wonderful you made a very simple album this year to encourage people to "just get started". However I found out when I sat down to start my album, the main reason why I liked the Dec december daily is the fun I got from playing with ALL my stuff. To me this album is so liberating. I can play as much as I want! I don't really try to work around the pictures BECAUSE I don't have any yet! It's an opportunity for me to be totally free. Thanks for making me feel that whatever I do, is the right thing for me! Okay, the question. I was looking for pictures from previous years. I think for your DEc 2007 album, the pictures are linked to the CK website and the links are no longer there. Is that album anyplace else?
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Ali - I love this project, and may actually try to do it this year! (Maybe I should finish April's Week in the Life first!) 31 days, or even 25 seems kind of overwhelming to me, and I'm afraid I wouldn't finish it. Have you seen anyone do 12 days, or Christmas week, or any other version? Or, have you seen people title their project something other than December Daily?
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I did a "12 Days of Christmas" album a few years ago and it was very doable. The past two years I have done the first 25 days of December and, while it does require a commitment, I love those albums so much that I plan to do one every year.
Since my Project 365 turned into Project 143 Sticky Notes, I share your concern. I've decided to jump in anyhow, create the pages in advance 1-25 and then take it as it comes, so some days will have a "daily" picture and journaling and others will have random lists of things I love about this time of year or favorite holiday movies and traditions, memories from Christmas past, and cards that we got in the mail that day. I figure, there's no way to do it wrong and whatever I do, I'll enjoy looking back on it!
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Hi Ali - I have a question regarding taking indoor photos. I’m currently on day 2 of my Week in the Life project and will be participating in December Daily (just about completed my book). An issue that I’m running into that I know will come up in December is my indoor photos being yellow and grainy. My house is on the dim side to begin with so some of this is to be expected and using the flash on my Nikon D80 only washes out the subject in the foreground and darkens the areas in the background. I’ve been playing around with different settings and use a tripod at times but have not found anything that works. My questions: 1) Is there a setting, ISO, etc. that you use when taking indoor photos w/o a flash? Your photos always look quite a bit less yellow and grainy. 2) I understand that you sometime use an external flash, which one do you use or what is you advise for searching for a good external flash? Thanks Ali!
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Obviously I'm not Ali but what I do is first, turn on as many lights as I can. Then I set my ISO as high as I can, on my camera that is 1600. I shoot mostly in aperture priority (Av on my camera), and set the aperture as wide open as I can go (4.5 down to 1.8, depending the lens I'm using at the time). Finally, after I upload, I use Auto Correct or Auto Level in PSE to adjust the color if I need to.
I don't have any good suggestions about camera flashes since I try to avoid ever using one (and I only have the built-in on my camera too). I would think it would depend on what brand your camera is.
Hope this helps! :)
I also try to avoid using my flash when at all possible, using some of the same techniques that Heather uses. If I absolutely HAVE to use my flash, I use a diffuser which keeps you from getting that "blown out" look of too much flash. Ask at your camera store what type of diffuser will work with your camera. I got mine (for my Canon 40D) from garyfong.com. It's called a Puffer and it works really well.
Hi Heather & Terri, thanks for the suggestions. Heather, I adjusted my ISO and aperture last night per your specifications and it was a HUGE difference. The improvement is amazing. I'm also going to try a diffuser for when a flash is necessary. Thanks again!!!
Hi Leah the ISO change does make a huge difference... just a bit of friendly advice from someone who has made the "mistake" ISO 1600 photos when blown up too big can look grainy too especially if you are taking them in daylight if you forget to change the ISO back when outside :-)... I took a lot of photos of my daughter during the day outside in full light that were beautiful but taken on ISO 1600 because I forgot to change it back. They were ok but were grainy when I got them printed and got more grainy the bigger I went with the photo's. Just thought this may save you a bit of heartache.
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Do you have any favorite Christmas scrapbook products this year?
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I would really like to try this project, but I struggle because I have one Christmas with my family the day after Thanksgiving, and a second with just my husband and kids on Christmas Day. It is too big of a time slot to do November and December for me, so I am not sure how to handle the album. Any thoughts?
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Hi Sorry to butt in but maybe do just a Christmas 2010 Album and don't have timeframes/days just document your preparation for each event. What things to do you different for each event, baking for each, Santa visits, presents for different family members etc... traditions for each that sort of thing. The Christmas we have with my Family is very different to the Christmas we have with my Husbands family but it seems to work well. Hope this helps :-)
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This is my first December Daily! I'm super excited and hope i can stick to it! I wasn't really planning on ordering an album to put my pages in, so do you have a specific album that you recommend that is available at Hobby Lobby or Michael's?
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i am wondering about the size of photos to use for the baseball card page protectors. i have bought several different types in the past and haven't had luck printing out my photos to get them to fit. i usually have to crop them too much or mat them on cardstock. what size do you print them out at? thanks!
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I've used the baseball card pages in my past two DD albums as well as this year and the size picture that fits in them is 2-1/2 x 3-1/2.
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Any tips for keeping the albums durable, yet light enough for little ones to handle easily? My toddler loves photos, but I worry about failing adhesives and fragile papers.
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My question isn't so technical: Once your foundation is done, how do you cope with not being able to work on it anymore for the entire month of November? I am dying for December to get here so I can start taking pictures already!! LOL
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I'm right there with you, Heather! Every time I go into my scrapbook room I longingly look at my DD album all ready and waiting for me to start filling it. One thing I am doing to help with the wait is taking Ali's new Halloween Mini Album class that she just announced. I had a ton of Halloween pics, so this is the perfect thing to do to keep me busy until December comes. Check it out!
Terri, I decided I should work on trying to finish up my Week in the Life album... you know, the one from last April!!! LOL
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