Ali Edwards's Blog, page 123
November 8, 2019
AE Creative Team | WATCH Story Kit™
This month's theme has been about documenting the ways that we watch and observe in our lives, and as always, our Creative Team has created inspiring projects to tell their stories. And just as a reminder,Tuesday, November 12th, is the last day to subscribe to the Story Kit™ and receive the WATCH theme.
As always, we are so grateful to our awesome team for sharing their stories and creative inspiration with all of us!
November 1, 2019
Stories Revisited Returns On 11/4/19
The Stories Revisited Sale will start on Monday, November 4th at 7am Pacific and runs through 11/12/19 at 9:59pm Pacific.
Twice a year we offer a Stories Revisited event where we bring back any inventory we have available from past Story Kits™, Story Stamps™, Stories By The Month™ kits, Add Ons, and kit components (
excludes the past three kit themes). Quantities are limited because we are simply bringing back products that were originally offered to subscribers. In addition we make all past Digital Story Kits™ and Digital Add Ons available (that means all the way back to the beginning - close to 60 different themes). ⠀
This is a great time to grab something you missed, something you might want more of, or give my products a try if you've never purchased anything and wonder what the kits are all about. My goal in product design is to create intentional products that invite and encourage you to tell your stories. ⠀
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During this event we also make available a bundle of past Story Kit™ Classrooms. This time the classroom bundle includes the following themes:
Details, Best, Love, Time, and Give. Each classroom includes 4 process videos where I take you step by step through my process of creating projects, a presentation video where I talk through story ideas, and a PDF handout with those story ideas and step by step project directions. Please note that no products are included with the purchase of the classroom bundle but you could always pick up the Digital Kits during this event. ⠀
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For more information on my subscriptions click here:
Story Kit™, Story Stamp™, Stories By The Month™, and Story Class (this includes the kit classroom + the digital kit).
To check out images of past kits go here.
Past Story Kits™ Available:
Journey Move Listen Breathe Design Pieces Habit Joy Rest Seasons Learn Light Tech Up
Past Story Stamps™ available:
Journey Move Listen Breathe Design Pieces Habit Joy Rest Seasons Learn Light Tech Grow Type Fabric Up
Stories By The Month™ Kits available:
April May June July
October 30, 2019
December Daily® 2019 | Foundation Pages
For December Daily® this year I decided to mix things up and go with the smaller sized 4x6 album.
I used that size back in 2012 and felt ready to revisit it again. After working through my foundation pages I am so, so excited to be working with this size. It totally feels just right for what I'm wanting this year.
As you'll see, my album is already full and now just waiting for me to add my photos and stories in December.
Many of the pages I'm sharing below are part of this year's December Daily® Product Play 3 workshop which begins on November 5th. I designed nine specific pages using hexagons, wreaths, and numbers for that class which includes video tutorials and additional information on how I created those pages. That workshop also includes projects from contributors so you can see how other people are playing with the products and a digital package.
Most of the products I'm using this year are from my December Daily® collection. The Main Kit + some albums are still available here if you are just learning about this project or if you decide you'd like to have those to help you get your stories told this holiday season. I've also added a couple things from from other collections as I do every year. I also generally incorporate a variety of random basic supplies which are listed at the bottom of this post.
If you are brand new to December Daily® I highly recommend checking out my Storytelling With December Daily® workshop. It will absolutely help you get to the heart of the matter + the project for yourself and help you get your head and your heart aligned for how you want to approach this project.
General yearly reminders:
I tell one story per day from December 1 through December 25. Just one. One is more than enough for me. Some days it's something meaningful and other days it's something silly and other days it's just something really random. Remember that the beauty in this project is that it's the sum of all the days coming together vs. any individual story that is most awesome.
YOU DO YOU. Your stories, your motivation, your enjoyment, your time constraints, your products might be totally different than mine and that is awesome. Don't feel like you have to be something you are not in this project - there's generally enough of those kinds of feelings already in the world. This is a project for you. This is not a competition or an invitation/permission to figure out a way to feel bad about yourself. Make the process and your stories work for you and your own life right now.
In looking at what I did so far it feels like I did even more prep than past years. I'm excited to be able to focus on the words and photos in December.
As always, I will more than likely move some things around. What I love about doing Foundation Pages is that the process gives me a starting place. I've done a bunch of work already which allows me to focus more on the stories and the photos in December itself. I will be sharing my pages daily here on my blog just as I've done in years past.
Let's dive in!
Inside the front cover of my album this year I used two of the large white wooden numbers. On top of those numbers I embossed gold stars using the star stamp from this set + gold embossing powder. I trimmed off some of the top of the two and the bottom of the five and where they meet together under the star. On top of the numbers I added the large red rubber star. I adhered it all down with red line tape adhesive.
At first I considered adding these numbers to the front of the album but ended up preferring it on the inside cover.
To start my pages I selected a gold glitter dot transparency and placed one of the Pleather Circle Embellishments on top. I wanted to make sure I used this one since it includes the year on the embellishment itself.
To punch holes for any of the pages in this album I used a Power Punch.
On the other side I added another one of the Pleather Embellishments. Those were definitely one of my favorite products we offered this year + we hope to make more of this style for future releases.
This year I decided to combine Day 1 and my reason why. It's just what felt right to me. In past years these have been separate pages with much longer writing but this year I felt like being very specific and pairing it with my Day 1 story which will include a yet-to-be-taken family photo (that's what I asked for on my birthday last year and I'm planning on doing that again).
To create this first page I used the white star 3x8 transparency + a red glitter "one" that was cut with my Silhouette Cameo for Day 10 (red glitter paper was purchased at a craft store) + the gold alpha from the Main Kit + a border strip I created that includes my reason why for 2019. I used tape to temporarily adhere the star transparency to my reason why strip and then ran it through my sewing machine to literally stitch the two pieces together.
Along the top and connected to a white piece of cardstock I used some washi tape to create a flip up. The idea here is that the piece that includes the "one" lives outside the page protector and the white 4x6 goes inside the page protector.
On the back side of the flip up I added some pattern paper from the Main Kit. I plan to add our family photo here for Day One.
Details on Day 2 will be found in December Daily® Product Play 3. I used the 6x8 Number Stamp + gold embossing powder + a star transparency.
Day 3 includes one of the 2-pocket page protectors. Inside I've slipped one of the rubber tags from the Main Kit + a white plastic three from the Main Kit + a small Tim Holtz Christmas Token + the "enjoy" card from the Main Kit. I also added some red + white twine through the circle of the tag.
On the back of the rubber tag I added "four" using the Main Kit gold alphabet onto the outside of the page protector.
Details on this hexagon page will be included in the Product Play 3 Workshop (it's an interactive element). Products include a large tag and hexagon embellishment from the Main Kit (tag is trimmed to fit) and ribbon (Prima Peppermint Trim) placed through the hole of the tag.
I'll likely staple the trim down after I add a photo/story to the back of the tag for the following day.
For Day 6 I cut up one of the 6x8, 2 inch pocket page protectors to fit into this album.
Right now I've just added one of the small tags from the Die Cut Bundle and I used the gold alphabet from the Main Kit on top of a small piece of transparency to spell "six."
For Day 7 I cut the half-circle pattern paper from the Die Cut Page Insert pack to fit (trimmed off the top and bottom). I love having that rounded page edge.
For Day 8 I was super excited to add in this wood veneer number. I embossed using the small star on the Merry Everything Stamp Set and gold embossing powder.
It takes a bit of time to do this one stamp at a time but I love the messy pattern result.
To hold the pleather embellishment in place I cut a clear plastic page and adhered the circle on top. My plan is to most likely cut a photo into a circle to add to the back once I establish my story.
I also see that that "eight" could totally be a snowman.
Details on Day 9 are included in the Product Play 3 Workshop. The page is built on a plastic sheet cut to the same size as a page protector and features circle fabric embellishments and a custom number circle.
Chipboard pieces from the Main Kit are included on the back.
Day 10 is also featured in the Product Play 3 Workshop (cut file and "loving" page are included in the class digital package).
Small circle numbers are included on the Main Kit chipboard.
Day 11 currently features a Specialty Journal Card (digital option available here) and a single pocket page protector (I cut off the second pocket). Along the outside edge I've added an Avery Index Tab. Today card is from the Main Kit.
Details on Day 12 are included in Product Play 3.
For Day 13 so far I've added one of the 4x6 journal cards from the Main Kit. I love that I can just punch holes and add them to the album.
Day 14 is included in Product Play 3 and is also built on a sheet of clear plastic using Chipboard Bundle 1 + hexagon punch + pattens from the Main Kit + fabric stars from the Variety Sticker Bundle + gold stars from the Main Kit.
For Day 15 I cut down the 6x8 Star Transparency from the 6x8 Bundle + the gold chipboard numbers + a white plastic number from the Main Kit.
Day 16 features a 3x4 card from the Main Kit + one of the Transparency Phrases.
Day 17 right now just includes the gold alpha letters on top of a clear plastic page (cut down to the size of the page protector).
Day 18 details are included in Product Play 3.
Day 19 currently includes the gold dot transparency + the transparent wreath from the Main Kit + a Tim Holtz Christmas Words Adornment.
I cut another page protector for the following day.
Day 22 features large vellum numbers. Details will be included in Product Play 3.
The Santa transparency is showing up for Day 23. I cut that down from 6x8 to 4x6 and slipped it into the pocket. I also added the white plastic 23 and one of the plastic embellishments from the Main Kit (right now these are just hanging out in there waiting for the story).
Planning to use this shipping tag as either part of the Santa story or on its own.
I slipped another of the rubber tags from the Main Kit into a 3x4 pocket and paired it with the together card.
For either Day 24 or Day 25 I'm going with this multi-page flip out and up page (details are in Product Play 3).
My plan is to add a bunch of photos from either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
I'm so excited to add my photos and stories to this album soon!
December Daily® 2019 Main Kit
December Daily® 2019 Wood Veneer Numbers
December Daily® 2019 Large Rubber Shapes
Red Line Tape Adhesive
Maggie Holmes Crate Paper Heritage Glitter On Acetate (intro page)
December Daily® 2019 3x8 Transparency Bundle
Gold Star Transparency
Pebbles Merry Little Christmas Washi Tape
Mini Gold Star Brads (similar to the ones I used)
December Daily® 2019 Numbers 6x8 Stamp
Red + White Twine
Red Glitter Paper (I picked this up at a local craft store)
Silhouette Cameo
Prima Peppermint Lane Christmas Trim
Grafix Clear Craft Plastic
December Daily® Die Cut Page Inserts
December Daily® 2019 Fabric Embellishments
December Daily® 2019 Chipboard Bundle 1
December Daily® 2019 6x8 Transparency Bundle
Brother Sewing Machine XL2600i
Tim Holtz Christmas Tokens
December Daily® Variety Sticker Bundle
December Daily® Gold Foil Chipboard Numbers
Hexagon Punch
Tim Holtz Christmas Adornments
December Daily® 2019 4x6 Shipping Tags
Versamark Embossing InkTiny Attacher
Heat Gun
Ranger Gold Embossing Powder
Snappy Tray
Power Punch
Avery Index Tabs
Registration is now open for our first ever 12 Hours | December Daily® Online Prep Day. Join us for a fun day filled with ideas and inspiration and live video check-ins between 8am and 7pm. Grab all the details here. Videos will be saved for later viewing in case you are unable to participate on this specific day.
October 28, 2019
AE Creative Team | October 2019 Stories By The Month™ Digital Kit
Happy Friday friends! As we approach the end of October, we wanted to share with you the creative projects made by our Creative Team using the October 2019 Stories By the Month™ Digital Kit.
There are so many ways to use the digital elements in these kits - from big titles, to repeated shapes, to filling up the pockets in your pages. And as always, a huge thanks to our awesome team for sharing their creative inspiration with all of us!
October 25, 2019
On My Walk
So much beauty right out my front door on a recent walk.
I have a three mile loop that I like to walk. My ankle is healing from a summer injury and I'm just now getting back to being able to take these walks and I'm so thankful to be outside.
Today I was struck by how many different kinds of leaves I encountered. The shapes. The colors. Some soft, some crunchy. Many wet from a massive downpour earlier the day.
While I was walking I thought about how much I love taking photos and how awesome it is that our phones can be such a fantastic tool for capturing the world around us. I also thought about how these were the kinds of things I would have posted on my blog in past years. Remember that? These days, most of these kinds of images and stories show up on one of my Instagram accounts and in my memory keeping projects but not generally here on my blog.
So today I'm sharing here. To encourage you to get outside. To encourage you to pay attention. To encourage you to document the everyday stuff. To encourage you to give thanks for the beauty that is right outside your front door and it may look totally different than the beauty I find right now and that's part of the magic of it all.
Here's what I saw through the lens of my iPhone on my walk:
And sometimes I look up:
I love, love, love witnessing the light coming through the trees. The layers in this one stopped me in my tracks.
And when I got home I saw this gingko in all it's glory, showing off in my backyard.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
October 24, 2019
2020 AE Creative Team Call
2020 is fast approaching and with that comes time to select a new
Creative Team.
We are super thankful for all the hard work the
2019 team put into their projects this year. We wish them all the best as they continue to craft the stories of their lives.
For 2020 we are looking for a small group of memory keepers who are interested in using my
new products on their projects to be part of my Creative Team. You can be digital or hybrid or traditional - or a mixture of all three - but the most important thing is that you have a passionate commitment to telling your story.
If you are competent, comfortable, and creative using digital and physical products, photographing and recording/editing videos of your projects and are interested in having your work seen on aliedwards.com in blog posts, as in-use product examples, and on the Ali Edwards Design Inc (AED) social media channels please email Katie (
katie@aliedwards.com) the following:
2-3 project examples
Links to your blog and any social media outlets your currently use
A list of any other design teams you are currently on
Please put
"AE Creative Team" in the subject of the email.
Deadline to submit is Friday, November 15, 2019.
You can check out all my new digital products here.
October 23, 2019
Read Collection 2019
New in the shop today is the fun new Read Collection all about documenting and telling the stories of how + why + when + where +. how you read.
We are offering this collection as a kit/bundle AND as individual products for you to pick + choose what works best for telling your own stories.
Let's take a look at what's available (video overview below):
As I mentioned above you can choose to purchase all the products together in the kit/bundle and the above image shows you what is included.
Also available, but not included with the Kit/Bundle are the following 4x6 stamp sets:
ONCE UPON A TIME 4x6 STAMP
This was a past Story Kit™ Stamp that we are re-releasing with this collection:
Here's a video overview of this collection:
Questions? Let me know in the comments below.
October 16, 2019
AE Creative Team | November 2019 Stories By The Month™ Physical Kit
Hello friends! We are delighted to bring you another round of creative inspiration from our awesome Creative Team! Today we are sharing the projects they created using the
November 2019 Stories By The Month™ Physical Kit.
As always we are so grateful to our Creative Team for sharing their projects and the stories of their lives!
AE Creative Team | October 2019 Stories By The Month™ Physical Kit
Hello friends! We are delighted to bring you another round of creative inspiration from our awesome Creative Team! Today we are sharing the projects they created using the
November 2019 Stories By The Month™ Physical Kit.
As always we are so grateful to our Creative Team for sharing their projects and the stories of their lives!
October 13, 2019
Watch Story Kit™ + November Stories By The Month
In the
Story Classroom this month we are focusing on stories related to the theme of Watch.
Here are a few thoughts about this particular theme:
We watch. We observe. We see. We watch ourselves, we watch others, and we watch stuff on screens (most of us anyway). Life is full of watching and this month we are going to take a closer look at stories that have to do with all the things we watch.
Initial story ideas for the Watch theme include:
What are you currently watching? Movies, TV shows, etc? Make a list of what you are into right now. Use the prompt “I watch…” and write a story about what you see around your home.
What did you watch when you were a kid? Tell the story of the difference between the ways you watch things now vs. when you were growing up (so much has changed).STORY KIT™
Here's a look at
the
Story Kit™ contents for Watch:
Here's a video overview of the
Story Kit™ and Add-On options this month:
STORY STAMP™
The Watch Stamp Set:
Here's a video overview of the Story Stamp:
DIGITAL STORY KIT™ (Included with the STORY CLASS)
Your digital kit and the classroom and any Add-Ons purchased will be available to you on the 15th once your card has been charged for the month.
Here's a look at what's included in the Digital Story Kit™ for Watch:
And a couple peeks at the layouts I created with the kits this month in addition to the one featured at the top of this post (
full details, including process videos and how-to handout, are included with subscription):
Again, thanks so much for subscribing and/or considering my
Story Subscription program! If you have any questions about this program please let me know below in the comments.
Stories By The Month™ kits include 4x6 chipboard, 3x4 and 4x6 cards, a 3x4 stamp, a sticker sheet, and an embellishment (wood veneer, cork, etc). Stories By The Month™ Kits are all based on the designs we offered digitally each month throughout 2018.
Here is a full look at the kit for November:
And a video overview:
AE_SBTM19_NOV from Ali Edwards on Vimeo.
This subscription is a great option for those who are looking to tell more calendar/everyday life sorts of stories.
Add On options are available to all Story Kit™, Story Stamp™, and Stories By The Month™ subscribers
(this excludes Digital Story Kit/Story Class subscribers since you don't have any part of your subscription shipped already). Please note that the Crafters Ink pad option will only be available to Story Stamp™ subscribers.
Current and new subscribers can select + purchase Add-On's via your new drop-down menu access under your user name in the top right corner of the site. If you subscribe to more than one you will have a Box for each subscription and the ability to purchase Add-On's for each one. Depending on product availability subscribers may be able to purchase the Add-On's after the Add-On period has ended and regular shop shipping rates will apply because they will ship separately from the kit.
Check out
this post for more information about this new subscription, including differences between the subscription options offered.
