Documenting December: Stories 17 + 18 of my 2024 December Daily Album
- Kelly Sill
- Jul 22
- 3 min read
Welcome back to Documenting December—my Christmas in July blog series where I’m sharing one story a day from my completed 2024 December Daily album. Each post offers a peek at my digital pages created in Affinity Publisher for iPad, along with tips, techniques, and creative encouragement for finishing your own album.
I’ve also included a link to the corresponding post(s) on Ali Edwards’ blog. I encourage you to open it in a separate window so you can see how my digital pages were inspired by the physical versions she shared.
Today’s post is a two-for-one—two stories, one spread! In past years, I often doubled up on stories within a single layout, so I’m kind of surprised this is the first time it’s happened in my 2024 album!
December Daily Story 17: Rocket Launch
Here is a link to the post on Ali's blog that inspired this spread: Ali's Story 17
Story 17 documents a SpaceX rocket launch. It still amazes me that even from Florida’s Gulf Coast, we can see rockets lifting off from the East Coast—as long as the skies are clear. It’s such a thrill every time.
The red “fa la la” filler card and ornament transparency (from the Specialty Journal Card set) make up the base of the design, with the number 17 (from the 2022 Digital Chipboard Numbers Set) layered on top with a 3D effect for extra dimension.
To highlight the rocket in the photo, I drew a white-outlined star with the shape tool and positioned it right over the orange glow in the sky. The little QR code in the bottom corner links to a short video of the launch, just as it appeared above houses across our canal. So cool!
I repurposed the "Peace on Earth" 10x8 paper by cropping it to fit into a 3x4 space and added my journaling using a custom-drawn shape converted to a text box. I love how the curve of the text mimics the curve of the star garland on the background paper.
Where Ali used a red-and-white ribbon on her physical page, I recreated the look digitally using a red-and-white striped paper from a kit I designed, then added digital stitching using Katie Pertiet’s brushes in the Photo Persona.
December Daily Story 18: Christmas Cards
Here is a link to the post on Ali's blog that inspired this spread:
Story 18 is hands-down the simplest layout in my album so far! I just used the photo I took of Christmas cards we’d received and used it as the background of the page.
To finish it off, I dropped the Holly Jolly Digital Plastic Die Cut right in the center, added a white outline for a little extra pop, and mimicked Ali’s design by placing a gold rim label and a puffy number sticker over the “o” in Jolly. No journaling needed!
Are you working on any past December Daily albums this month? If so, how’s it going? I’d love to hear—drop a comment below!
Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions—I'm always happy to help.
Products used:
Remington Noiseless Font
Katie Pertiet Digital Stitch Brushes
Affinity Publisher for iPad
Affinity Photo for iPad
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