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Post by sleepingbooty on Aug 18, 2023 21:21:56 GMT
WARNING: picture-heavy post! Ali Edwards DD main kitWreath cardstock die-cuts (5 inches across):  Cardstock cards (3x4 + 4x6 - not repeating all the designs you can already see on the December Daily insta page):    Kraft cards (4x6):  Identical design with different titles: "The most wonderful time of the year", "Have a holly jolly Christmas", "The sounds of Christmas", "Treasured holiday traditions", "Making a list & checking it twice", "Spreading Christmas cheer", "The sights of Christmas". These have a "N° 2023" mention on the left edge. Kraft pockets + journaling inserts (4x4 with 3 punched holes to match the album rings):  Total of 3 with different large word designs: joy, Noël, love. Inserts have a gold foil edge finish. The tabs are in three different spaces so you can use them all superposed in one day/story. |
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Post by sleepingbooty on Aug 18, 2023 21:43:19 GMT
WARNING: picture-heavy post! Ali Edwards DD main kitTag set (vellum):        Variety of sizes and shapes. Includes three 3x8 designs and banners going both ways. Some have gold foil finish. Plastic icon die-cuts:  The large nutcracker measures 6 inches for comparison's sake. Stitched pocket ornaments:  The ornament is cardstock but the pocket part (lined design) is vellum. 3.5 inches across. |
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Post by karinec on Aug 18, 2023 21:45:47 GMT
Thanks sleepingbooty for posting these. I missed the live and don’t have the patience to watch it anyway. Main kit is growing on me. I don’t mind the beige-y color. |
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Post by karinec on Aug 18, 2023 21:51:12 GMT
I think the problem with that green floral is, it’s neither woodsy nor Christmas like. It’s just a crowded floral with an identity crisis.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Aug 18, 2023 22:08:17 GMT
WARNING: picture-heavy post. Ali Edwards DD main kitSentiment label set:   Sentiments include quotes and December prompts like "our decorating traditions". Gold foil finish on the edges. Cardstock is thicker tan a journaling card. Chipboard phrase strips (AKA fridge poetry):  My Santa, I have sooo many left of this type from previous Inked Brands kits. No more! Chipboard stars:  Yep, that's gold foil along the red and white. Dimensional stars:  Felt trees:  Gold stitching. Largest: 3 inches. Smallest: 1.25 inches. Cardstock titles/sentiments:  They are approximately 6 inches long. |
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Post by carolynhasacat on Aug 18, 2023 22:16:21 GMT
I can't justify spending one more cent on sentiment strips that say "have yourself a merry little Christmas" and all the other song titles, movie lines, etc. Ugh. The full reveal has really turned me off Ali's very same-y kit this year. I feel like I already own all this product.
Going full Paige this year. At least the colors are different.
Edited to add: I actually started to feel a little sick watching that video - the lack of imagination and innovation is more than disappointing to me. Using the same tag die every year, the same materials, the same colors, with so little change - it feels like no thought was put into this collection at all. I want Ali to be better than this. She needs some new designers. Sorry to those who love this kit, just my opinion doing this project for 10+ years. She was so much more innovative in the early days.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Aug 18, 2023 22:17:37 GMT
WARNING: picture-heavy post. Ali Edwards DD main kit
Gold number puffy stickers (2 sheets):  Numbered circles:  1 through 31. Gold foil finish on the edges. 1.5 inches across.  |
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Post by sleepingbooty on Aug 18, 2023 22:24:56 GMT
Isn't the floral pattern mistletoe? Those white berries? The long oval leaves? (I do not live in a place where mistletoe grows, clearly.  ) |
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Post by honeypea on Aug 18, 2023 22:33:04 GMT
I think the problem with that green floral is, it’s neither woodsy nor Christmas like. It’s just a crowded floral with an identity crisis. Yeah… at first peak I loved it, but it faded quickly. The gold is very blobby. And some of the sprigs are just really strange. It looks really old fashioned to me somehow, and not in a good way. |
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Post by sleepingbooty on Aug 18, 2023 22:34:44 GMT
I actually started to feel a little sick watching that video - the lack of imagination and innovation is more than disappointing to me. Using the same tag die every year, the same materials, the same colors, with so little change - it feels like no thought was put into this collection at all. I want Ali to be better than this. She needs some new designers. Sorry to those who love this kit, just my opinion doing this project for 10+ years. She was so much more innovative in the early days. I think we all hit a point where Ali's products start feeling very repetitive. I just don't see the value in all the elements I have some type of close twin of in my stash already. Most of the journaling prompts are standard Ali available in nearly every single kit she puts out through the year. I know some people rely on this to repeat their go-to anecdotes but I don't. One thing that stood out to me watching the main kit reveal for the first time while taking screenshots and notes was that when they suddenly announced it was the end, I immediately thought to myself: "That's all?" This is a kit that requires buying more to be fully usable if you like to do some embellishing and add cuteness. It only works as a whole, sans other elements, if you're hyper minimalist. It's not a main kit, it's a foundation kit. If you want all the colours to coordinate in your album, you're probably spending another 50-70 bucks on extras in the shop.  |
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Nov 24, 2024 7:59:09 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2023 23:01:53 GMT
For once I liked the papers. Usually I end up disliking more than 1/3 of the kit, that I end up not getting it. This time I didn't dislike anything. Don't love the huge ornaments and the nutcracker, but each individual element is ok. But as a whole together is just meh. Nothing that screams must have. I do feel like for once you could get away with not needing to buy anything else. I'll make a decision once I see the full reveal
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Post by honeypea on Aug 18, 2023 23:07:11 GMT
I can't justify spending one more cent on sentiment strips that say "have yourself a merry little Christmas" and all the other song titles, movie lines, etc. Ugh. The full reveal has really turned me off Ali's very same-y kit this year. I feel like I already own all this product. Going full Paige this year. At least the colors are different. Edited to add: I actually started to feel a little sick watching that video - the lack of imagination and innovation is more than disappointing to me. Using the same tag die every year, the same materials, the same colors, with so little change - it feels like no thought was put into this collection at all. I want Ali to be better than this. She needs some new designers. Sorry to those who love this kit, just my opinion doing this project for 10+ years. She was so much more innovative in the early days. Doesn’t she start designing the next kit almost immediately after Christmas is over? I wonder how much that timeline affects creativity. I’d find myself in a rut real quick with that kind of schedule. |
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Post by groovy on Aug 18, 2023 23:52:14 GMT
I’m looking forward to seeing the Paislee Press Kit next Friday! Also, Liz will be on the live.
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Post by dewryce on Aug 18, 2023 23:56:41 GMT
I think the problem with that green floral is, it’s neither woodsy nor Christmas like. It’s just a crowded floral with an identity crisis. For me I think it’s that the yellow flowers look like blobs, very little definition. ETA: should have kept reading and agreed with honeypea. Thanks for all the screen prints sleepingbooty ! |
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Post by honeypea on Aug 19, 2023 0:49:08 GMT
10x8 paper pack (outside PP-sized so more 11x8.25):  The “JOY” seems really too big. There’s not even one complete word on the whole big sheet? |
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paget
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,117
Jun 25, 2014 21:16:39 GMT
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Post by paget on Aug 19, 2023 0:51:50 GMT
10x8 paper pack (outside PP-sized so more 11x8.25): The “JOY” seems really too big. There’s not even one complete word on the whole big sheet? Agreed. That one is awful. And I love red and joy… but she managed to screw up that paper to be unusable (in my opinion). |
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Post by carolynhasacat on Aug 19, 2023 1:01:42 GMT
I can't justify spending one more cent on sentiment strips that say "have yourself a merry little Christmas" and all the other song titles, movie lines, etc. Ugh. The full reveal has really turned me off Ali's very same-y kit this year. I feel like I already own all this product. Going full Paige this year. At least the colors are different. Edited to add: I actually started to feel a little sick watching that video - the lack of imagination and innovation is more than disappointing to me. Using the same tag die every year, the same materials, the same colors, with so little change - it feels like no thought was put into this collection at all. I want Ali to be better than this. She needs some new designers. Sorry to those who love this kit, just my opinion doing this project for 10+ years. She was so much more innovative in the early days. Doesn’t she start designing the next kit almost immediately after Christmas is over? I wonder how much that timeline affects creativity. I’d find myself in a rut real quick with that kind of schedule. Yes, I think they start working on the next DD right after Christmas, which I agree is challenging. There's a post on FB in the DD group from "Admin" (is that Lisa V?) on January 13th asking for suggestions for next year's kit and it had 189 responses with some good ideas for different sentiments. We haven't seen the full collection yet, but I didn't noticed any of those suggestions making it into the main kit. I'm holding out hope for the shop items. |
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,688
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Aug 19, 2023 1:10:09 GMT
Thanks for sharing all the screenshots. I don't think I have the patience to watch it knowing I'm not going to buy the main kit. I'm keen to see what the Paislee Press one looks like as I am in need of supplies this year.
And apparently it's an unpopular opinion, but I really like the green floral paper. I don't tend to use green in my albums but if I did I'd be more than happy to build a kit around that.
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Post by ghislaine on Aug 19, 2023 2:27:54 GMT
I just went and watched the live too. I dislike too many things for me to want to buy it. I still like the green album. (It looks like mistletoe to me sleepingbooty ) I do like the chipboard phrase strips. The chipboard stars and gold puffy numbers are very usable. The felt trees would be fun too. Using a hole punch to punch out the number on the 31 gold edged circles would make them more versatile for me. I'm pretty meh about everything else. |
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Post by joblackford on Aug 19, 2023 3:49:43 GMT
It’s been a long time since I watched much AE but she’s starting her DD fresh with a new kit every year, both because she’s promoting new product and also because of her personality (I get the sense that she’d be quite happy to trash leftover die cuts at the end of a project). I can see why she’d be happy to repeat the same elements over and over if she’s not carrying product over year to year. It makes sense for ease of production and for new people starting each year but for long timers it’s pretty boring. I haven’t done DD in years but it all looks pretty samey to me. It would drive me crazy to get a new stack of fridge poetry strips every year knowing I’d only use a handful and wouldn’t want to trash the leftovers.
I became more AE in my crochet life. I buy kits for each blanket I make and give away all the leftovers when I’m done. I don’t have the bandwidth or skill to figure out ways to reuse the leftover yarn. It’s very freeing to start fresh for each project and not manage stash.
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Post by lg on Aug 19, 2023 4:11:06 GMT
The sentiment labels are the hugest no due to how they are justified and the size of the text that I have ever seen in my life. They are what I was trying to talk about in my previous post.
I just feel like this is exactly the same as last years kit with nutcrackers instead of Santas. Which I’m a little disappointed by.
Definitely interested in the Liz tamaha kit as a result… and I’ll pick up bits and bobs in next years sales. Cos I just know it’ll still be available which is disappointing.
Same level of disappointment as I had last year with the Christmas past kit 😞
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Ren
Full Member
Posts: 317
Feb 11, 2017 23:49:08 GMT
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Post by Ren on Aug 19, 2023 7:40:20 GMT
Thanks much for sharing the pics. I didn’t have the patience to watch. I like some of it.. but I’ve literally got all my DD stuff out today as I need to cull and also finish three past albums so I’ll be surprised if I really need anything! I’m pretty sold on Paige Evans this year..
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Post by sleepingbooty on Aug 19, 2023 8:07:39 GMT
The sentiment labels are the hugest no due to how they are justified and the size of the text that I have ever seen in my life. They are what I was trying to talk about in my previous post. They can't even justify (ha) this decision by claiming it's because labels are often cut off on one side to tuck right next to a photo or journaling because they'd have mixed up different alignments to use the labels on different sides. I hope Liz's mini comes through and makes a lot of us happy. 🤞 Maybe we can consider doing some basic envelope swaps in this thread? 💌 Between US folks at least? I'm sure someone out there would happily use some unwanted DD kit elements others still have: journaling cards, die-cuts, tags, paper scraps, etc. It's a great way to clean out your unloved thingies while making someone else's day. 🎁 And it's great for the planet (and our wallets). Don't hesitate to post a photo with your give-away loot in here! This discussion is also open to DD RAKs. 😉 |
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Post by sleepingbooty on Aug 19, 2023 8:12:15 GMT
The “JOY” seems really too big. There’s not even one complete word on the whole big sheet? 🎵Oyj to the world, the Dlor is come! 🎶 |
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dawnnikol
Prolific Pea
'A life without books is a life not lived.' Jay Kristoff
Posts: 8,556
Sept 21, 2015 18:39:25 GMT
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Post by dawnnikol on Aug 19, 2023 10:53:42 GMT
The “JOY” seems really too big. There’s not even one complete word on the whole big sheet? OYJ is the new "joy". It stands for "own your joy". /snicker - that is completely unusable and I would've been embarrassed to spotlight it. |
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Post by JavaJones on Aug 19, 2023 12:54:16 GMT
I think the problem with that green floral is, it’s neither woodsy nor Christmas like. It’s just a crowded floral with an identity crisis. Yeah… at first peak I loved it, but it faded quickly. The gold is very blobby. And some of the sprigs are just really strange. It looks really old fashioned to me somehow, and not in a good way. Yes, this is it for me. I loved the floral album last year, almost always love all christmas foliage/botanicals/florals, but this green floral album has too many big blobs of gold, it really detracts from the design for me, and I am also not a huge gold foiling fan to begin with….Now that I see more detail of that design, I may have to rethink my album choice  |
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Post by jeremysgirl on Aug 19, 2023 13:20:27 GMT
It’s been a long time since I watched much AE but she’s starting her DD fresh with a new kit every year, both because she’s promoting new product and also because of her personality (I get the sense that she’d be quite happy to trash leftover die cuts at the end of a project). I can see why she’d be happy to repeat the same elements over and over if she’s not carrying product over year to year. It makes sense for ease of production and for new people starting each year but for long timers it’s pretty boring. I haven’t done DD in years but it all looks pretty samey to me. It would drive me crazy to get a new stack of fridge poetry strips every year knowing I’d only use a handful and wouldn’t want to trash the leftovers. I became more AE in my crochet life. I buy kits for each blanket I make and give away all the leftovers when I’m done. I don’t have the bandwidth or skill to figure out ways to reuse the leftover yarn. It’s very freeing to start fresh for each project and not manage stash. I do the same with my scrapbooking and my crochet. I find more and more often that when I try to save something for future use, I never pull it out it again. So I just buy what I need for a project and then get rid of the rest when I'm done. |
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Post by Citygirl on Aug 19, 2023 13:50:35 GMT
I’ve never bought DD products on release day. What usually sells out first? Albums? Stamps? Trying to come up with a strategy.
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Post by honeypea on Aug 19, 2023 14:14:13 GMT
I’ve never bought DD products on release day. What usually sells out first? Albums? Stamps? Trying to come up with a strategy. Usually there’s random shop items that sell out in minutes. Plastic shape embellishments, last year stencils. Sometimes an album goes fast. It’s hard to predict what will hit. |
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Post by lasteve1 on Aug 19, 2023 14:14:26 GMT
I became more AE in my crochet life. I buy kits for each blanket I make and give away all the leftovers when I’m done. I don’t have the bandwidth or skill to figure out ways to reuse the leftover yarn. It’s very freeing to start fresh for each project and not manage stash. I can't remember if you have a pet... but I use the leftover yarn from kits to make a mini blanket for my cat to have his own to lay on. Mostly because I am not advanced enough of a knitter to knit anything but a blanket and this way he won't steal mine! Ha. But it also uses up scraps and he's small so whatever size it ends up is fine! |
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