Ali Edwards's Blog, page 134
February 19, 2019
AE Creative Team | March 2019 Stories By The Month™ Physical Kit
Happy Tuesday everyone!
We are delighted to bring you another round of creative inspiration from our awesome Creative Team! This week we are sharing the projects they created using the March 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.
February 13, 2019
Pieces Story Kit™ + Story Stamp™ + March Stories By The Month™
In the
Story Classroom this month we are focusing on stories related to the theme of Pieces.
Here are a few thoughts about this particular theme:
Life is made up of moments - slices of life that are pieces of our overall story. This month we are focusing on the theme of pieces - pieces of our lives, our hearts, our story. Join us as we piece our own stories together this month.
Initial story ideas for the Pieces theme include:
Tell a story about the most important pieces of your life right now. List them out.
Recall a time when you tried to force pieces that don’t really fit into your life. What was the result?
What are the bits and pieces of your life right now? Think about the nitty-gritty little details that you might not have yet captured.
If you are new to the Story Subscription program, check out all the details
here.
If you are already a subscriber the content in the classroom will be available to you on the 15th.
Here's a look at
the
Story Kit™ contents for Pieces:
ADD ON OPTIONS | 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.
Here are the optional Add-Ons for subscribers of the Pieces
Story Kit™ theme. All three of these products are exclusive to subscribers at this time (but may be added to the shop in the future).
Here's a video overview of the
Story Kit™ and Add-On options this month:
The Pieces
Stamp Set:
The
Story Stamp™ also has Add-On options available to subscribers:
Here's a video overview of the
Story Stamp™ and Add-On options this month:
DIGITAL STORY KIT™
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 Pieces:
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 chipboard, 3x4 and 4x6 cards, and a 3x4 stamp. These are all based on the designs we offered digitally each month throughout 2018.
Here is a full look at the kit for March:
Here's a look at the Add-On options for Stories By The Month™ subscribers this month
(I was missing the 3x4 card set which is an additional option for subscribers this month):
And a video overview:
This subscription is a great option for those who are looking to tell more calendar/everyday life sorts of stories.
Check out
this post for more information about this new subscription, including differences between the subscription options offered.
February 11, 2019
AE Creative Team | Habit Digital Story Kit™
Happy Monday!
We're so happy to share the projects created by our awesome Creative Team using the Habit Digital Story Kit™. Tomorrow (2/12/2019) is the last day to start a subscription to receive this current theme. A big thank you to our awesome team for sharing the stories of their lives and crafting it so beautifully!
Hope you all have a great week!
February 4, 2019
For The Love Of Books | What I Read In January 2019 + Book Of The Month Selections For February
So happy to get back into a more consistent reading flow this month and totally enjoyed all four of the titles I read. December is always a challenge for me with all the other projects I have happening. January often feels like a breath of fresh air in so many areas of my life.
Just a reminder as you read the rest of this post: I am not a critical book reader. I tend to either "like" the book or "not like" the book and my reviews are really more for my own personal documentation of what I'm reading over the course of the year vs. critical or in-depth reviews.
Here's a look at what I read in January 2019:
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (BOTM / Amazon) | Totally enjoyed this super-fast-to-read thriller. A great way to start out the new year.
There There by Tommy Orange (local book club book for January) | This was a brutal book but an important read in terms of exposing ourselves to different voices - in this case Native Americans. There were lots of places I wished I would have underlined and I might just go back in and read it again for those words. It was a little confusing to follow the characters as it went back and forth - I definitely found myself flipping back to previous chapters to make sure I remembered whose perspective I was reading. Read it.
Verity by Colleen Hoover | Super satisfying thriller. Started it one evening and finished the next morning. Just read it.
The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith | Finally had a chance to start this series (written by JK Rowling under a pen name) and I totally enjoyed it. Detective mystery that kept me interested.
One of my most favorite things each month is getting a book (or two) from Book Of The Month. It is the thing that really launched me back into regular reading a couple years ago. I received it as a gift and have been super happy with it ever since.
This month I selected two books: The Winter Sister and A Woman Is No Man. I am an Ambassador for their program and receive advance selection options.
Also, if you are new to Book Of The Month you can qualify for 12 months of BOTM for only $12.50 per book via this link.
Happy reading!
You can see my 2018 Reading Recap post here
and
what I read in 2017 here.
February 1, 2019
Project Life® 2019 | January
"What is the story/stories I want to tell this month?"
This was the question I came back to again and again over the course of the month and at the end of the month when I carved out time to tell my story from January.
Approaching
Project Life® monthly vs. weekly has been a big mental change for me. I've been doing weekly Project Life® (or at least structuring my albums that way) since 2010. There were times over the month when I felt like I was "supposed" to be thinking about or doing something or keeping up or printing or writing. I did decide to jot down ideas I had during the month, but left all the actual work until the end of the month so I was really working on it just once.
I have to tell you that making this change really made me happy. I loved the process of looking back over my photos from the month and establishing my story that way vs. weekly. I think I was just ready for a change. I have no idea how I will feel at the end of the year. For now, I'm excited and reinvigorated.
I've also got a full process video for you below that includes a bunch of reflections and thoughts about the process.
During the month when I had an idea I wanted to remember or something I might want to write about in my January Project Life® I used my
Story Planner as a holding place. I'm using the Story Idea Notepad and assigning each section a month. I'm not writing out full stories, just ideas that I may or may not use when I actually tell the story for the month.
I am not planning to follow a specific design formula each month. Next month could look totally different than January. I'm welcoming leaving it open. I envision that I will generally include smaller inserts between two full size 9x12 pages to tell my monthly story.
The story I decided to tell for January included a four main things: (1) 12, 3x3 photos, (2) a 6x12 layered template insert with a list of things that happened over the course of the month, (3) a favorite photo enlarged to 6x12, and (4) 3x4 January Details cards for each person in the family (love including all those voices/points of view).
Here's a look at how I tackled my January storytelling:
I counted up the 3x3 squares that are on the back of my 2019 cover page and then printed out 12 images. These correspond to the writing I did for my "Jan Stories" 6x12 page.
As you can see, I used my 6x12 Words + Photos Layered Template Vol. 2 for the bulk of my journaling this month. I decided to use simple list style journaling to cover some of the basics of what happened in January. I also replaced the original word art that was included on this layered template and replaced it with the Monthly Stories digital word art.
I used my new rolling date stamp (my old one stopped in 2018 - this one is a bit bigger) to add the date of each of the 12 photos I selected to add to the 3x3 pockets. I also added stickers/chipboard from past Story Kits on top of the photos.
Here's what I added to the layered template in Photoshop for my journaling:
I am a fan of January. For the switch from Christmas to New year. For the freshness. For the closure and the beginning again. Here are some of the things that happened this month:
1. I embarked on a 30 days of yoga program with Yoga With Adrienne on YouTube. I did it most evenings throughout the month and there were a few times that Aaron joined me and Anna joined me once. I had a completely different experience this year vs. last year when I did most of the daily practices in my office in the morning. This year I did most of them in my bedroom in the evening. It has definitely become one of my favorite ways to begin the year and it’s directly in alignment with my desire to do yoga more days than less in 2019.
2. The kids were in and out over the course of the month as always. There was quite a bit of playing with stuff from Christmas.
3. Aaron set up his Christmas present to me which was a ceiling mount for my camera in the office. That one thing set off a whole series of other purchases - lights, etc. - so I can up my video game. These are things that have been on my list for a long time - totally happy to be making it happen. I love how it is making me feel reinvigorated in my work.
4. I drove up to Portland to meet with Robyn and go to a book signing for Danielle Walker. I love any opportunity to connect with online friends in real life.
5. Anna’s classroom was in charge of the Epiphany Mass at her school and I got to go see her. Loved her sense of pride in the planning.
6. Aaron and I binge watched a whole bunch of shows when the kids were away. These included both the Fyre documentaries, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Ted Bundy Tapes, Bodyguard, You, restarted The Sopranos, BirdBox, and some Black Mirror episodes.
7. We celebrated Simon’s 17th birthday. He had Silas, Seiji, and Emma come over for a movie, video games, and pizza. I loved watching him be a host to his friends. I love that they all have a long term connection. Simon also cooked dinner for the whole family one night this month as part of his Cooking Merit Badge.
8. Katie and I traveled to Nashville/Bowling Green for a couple days of meetings (we do this every 6 months). We do two intense days of planning for the coming year and it’s so worth the trip for the face to face brainstorming. I love traveling with Katie - we have our methods down and she’s really such a great companion.
9. Activity-wise right now Isaac is doing taekwondo and a photography club. He’s also totally into graphic design. Anna is playing club volleyball. Simon is doing Boy Scouts and wanting to practice driving. Elliott is playing basketball and growing what feels like inches every time I see him. Audrey is also playing basketball and totally into playing legos with Anna anytime they are here together.
10. I read four books this month: The Silent Patient, There There, Verity, and The Cuckoo’s Calling. I enjoyed all of them.
If you are interested in learning more about using digital products for paper projects like this layered template, check out my Hybrid workshop.
Behind the 6x12 layered template I printed a 6x12 photo of Simon and I reading in his room. This was definitely one of my most favorite images from the month.
On top of the photo I added cork speech bubbles, a rubber circle, and a quote from Kramer (Seinfeld) that says "We have to do it. It's part of our lifestyle...it's like shaving." This seemed like the perfect Kramer quote to add to a photo of Simon and I reading together in his bedroom under his Kramer poster.
Both the speech bubbles and the rubber circle were from past Story Kits™ or Add On's.
The last page in my January story include the 3x4 January Details cards and pattern cards from the January 2019 Stories By The Month™ Kit. The digital version of that card/kit is available here.
I used four inks - including a yellow - that will be released in March with the Week In The Life™ products. The small alpha stamp set was included with the Type Story Kit™.
Sometimes with prompt cards like this I'll have my people handwrite their responses. This time I texted them and then simply copied and pasted their answers onto the cards before printing.
Here's a complete video of my process this month:
SUPPLIES
January 2019 Stories By The Month™ (digital version available here )
6x12 Words + Photos Layered Template Set Vol. 2
9x12 Black Pleather Album
9x12 Page Protectors: 3x3 pockets, 3x4 pockets
6x12 Page Protector
Monthly Stories Stamp Digital
Story Planner Story Idea Notepad
Story Planner Album (new options coming soon)
Alpha Stamp from past Story Kit™
AED Inks: Pendleton, Willamette, Deschutes (yellow coming in March with the 2019 Week In The Life™ release)
Past subscription pieces
Epson SureColor P400 Printer
13x19 Epson Photo Paper
Epson PictureMate PM400
Rolling Date Stamp (this is the new one I'm using)
Black StazOn
You can see all my past Project Life® blog posts here. For more information about my overall process make sure to check out my self-paced Storytelling With Project Life® workshop.
January 28, 2019
Day In The Life™ 2019 Products
The first
Day In The Life™ for 2019 is scheduled for Tuesday, February 26th.
This year I'm planning to do
Day In The Life™ documentation twice using a new 3x8 album and kit we've designed and which is available today.
When we did product planning for 2019 I knew I wanted to change up something about how I was approaching this project. After years of different formats, I decided that I actually wanted it to be more of a "project" this year and today's release is what we came up with.
For the first documentation day I'll be using the structure of
"morning, afternoon, and evening" and the second structure will be hourly (maybe with some focus like "gratitude" that we did last year). To create that structure we've included transparent dividers with the 3x8 album and are offering it all together as a bundle that also includes label stickers for adding your own hours along the outside of the transparencies. You may end up wanting more page protectors for your documentation day (15 are included with the album in a mix of styles) - that's really going to be up to you and how you want to put your album together in the end.
To go along with the album bundle we put together a Day In The Life™ kit that includes 3x4 journal cards for the February documentation (morning, afternoon, and evening) and 3x8 journal cards for the fall documentation. In addition to those cards you'll get a 3x4 stamp set that includes numbers so you can stamp the time on the 3x8 journal cards, a chipboard set, plastic circles, a word/phrase sticker sheet, and two small sheets of word stickers. We are also separately offering white acrylic stars, cork hearts, and a 3x8 timeline notepad.
I am seriously so excited with how this came together. When I talk about creating intentional products this is what I mean. I'm so looking forward to playing with this format with you this year.
Here's a video overview of what's included with the album bundle, the kit, and the extra products available with this release:
I hope you can join me in documenting our days together.
You can see all my past Day In The Life™ posts here.
January 22, 2019
Memory Keeping When You Might Not Feel Motivated
Aaron and I had a chat recently about lulls in creativity. As a musician he was mentioning that he's currently finding himself lacking motivation to create new songs. I commiserated, because this is a true and valid feeling for everyone, and then told him what I have learned after years and years of embarking on creative adventures:
It always comes back. Always.
He laughed and shrugged and I said, "No, really, it comes back."
My suggestion to him, which is what I generally do when I find myself lacking creative motivation, is to do some of the other tasks on his list that are related to his creative pursuits.
No one is creative all the time. No one is "in the groove" all the time. There are waves and seasons and reasons. Embrace that time and use it to your advantage by tackling tasks that are related to your creative endeavor or hobby.
For memory keepers doing something else (outside of working on a project) might include:
ORGANIZING PHOTOS: I open up my photo management program and delete photos that are duplicates or generally update my organizational structure. This generally motivates me because I "see" new stories as I go through my photos and I often find myself grabbing my Story Planner and jotting down notes for when I'm ready to actually tell the stories. Sometimes I even print out enlargements at that time using my Epson SureColor P400 printer or my Canon MG7720 printer so that the photos will be ready when I'm feeling creative. PURGING PRODUCTS OR CLEANING OFF YOUR WORK SPACE: Going through the products I have on hand and donating the ones that don't inspire me any longer motivates me as I remember cool things I've collected that I'd forgotten about and this task also usually sparks stories as I go through the products. Be careful with this one as organizing your products can end up being one of those tasks that starts to be the only thing you do related to memory keeping. Ask yourself what's your reason why for wanting to tell stories and work on getting back to that core value. TELLING STORIES VIA ANOTHER AVENUE UNTIL YOU ARE READY TO BRING IT ALL TOGETHER: Don't forget that Instagram is a great memory keeping tool for holding stories until you have the time/energy/motivation to put them into a project. You can also adopt my philosophy of "starting with story" and literally just write out some of the stories that you might want to later incorporate into a layout or other project. If privacy is a concern you can always have keep a private account just for holding your stories. PRINTING PHOTOS: As you might remember, I often print my photos for Project Life® in batches. I sit at my computer with my album in front of me and print as many weeks as I can and slip into the pockets right then (this process will look a little different for 2019 - more on that later this month). Printing a bunch of photos at once that are going directly into my album allows me to be working on a piece of the overall process even if I'm not really into the creative part of finishing up the week at a certain time (this also works great if you are crunched for time - it's actually amazing what can be done in 10-15 minute chunks of time).These tips are also great suggestions for coming back into the habit of memory keeping. The hope is that by participating in these kinds of supporting activities you'll eventually get motivated to get back to putting the projects/layouts/etc together. If you don't find yourself motivated, don't despair. You might want to take some time to look at your entire process and see which piece is actually frustrating you the most and brainstorm ways to adjust that in order to bring back the fun and the love of the overall process.
Remember that memory keeping, like many things we undertake, is a practice. It's a practice of paying attention, of capturing stories from the past and the present, of taking photos, of listening to your life, and of doing the work by bringing it all together into something you can hold in your hands.
Or just take a complete break.
There are also defintiely times when I just take a break from it all and do something else entirely that I enjoy. For me that often includes reading, working in my yard, taking a shower or bath, getting together with friends - essentially inhabiting my life. Those kinds of complete breaks are essential for our creative spirits as it offers us an opportunity to think about other things. It's often when thinking about completely different subjects when ideas may pop to mind and all of a sudden you'll find yourself excited about memory keeping again.
You've got this.
January 18, 2019
January Evenings / 6:51pm
The other day I shared this quote on my Instagram Story from Victoria Erickson (you can follow her on IG here: https://www.instagram.com/victoriaericksonwriter/):
I've been thinking a lot again lately about being in the season you are in and this quote really hits home. Rather than fighting against it, I'm embracing the winter darkness, the desire to hibernate and rest, the coziness. I know the light will come back again - the past teaches me that it always does.
What is your evening story for this time of year?
The other night, around 6:51pm on a Tuesday, I picked up my phone camera and took a walk around the house to capture what everyone who was here was up to and tell that story.
We had eaten dinner early, around 5:30pm, which is always my preference whenever possible. On this particular evening only one of the kids had a later activity and Aaron was off picking him up. Some nights are more full of people coming in and out at different times or there's driving around picking up and dropping off. It's the season we are in with this awesome group. Other nights, as you might know, are just me and Aaron. Sometimes he does music late into the evening and I read or work and other evenings we watch a show or go out to dinner.
This is our now.
I found the girls playing legos. This is their activity of choice right now outside of screen time (they get an hour a day on week days) and it's so fun to see and hear them play together. They've been the beneficiary of three older brothers legos along with lots of their own.
I found Simon at the kitchen table researching good and evil references for a Star Wars book he's reading called Tarkin. I love how he uses the internet to learn and research and get answers to questions he has about all kinds of things. I love that he wants to tell me about what he learns. The ways he makes connections between things (movies, etc) is so, so awesome.
Later on this evening he came to my room and we sat together on the couch in my bedroom and read our respective books (I'm currently reading There There).
I was so happy and asked him if I could take a photo of us together and he said yes.
I found Elliott in the music room practicing and recording. He plays drums, trumpet, guitar, piano and he sings. He loves Ed Sheehan.
As for me, I was just starting my yoga practice for the evening. I've been doing Yoga With Adrienne's 30 Days Of Yoga Dedicate series. It's so good. Last year when I did her 30 day series in January I did it most days before I started work in my office. This year I've found myself doing it in the evening in my bedroom. Showing up. Rolling out the mat. Making it happen.
Look for the stories my friends. They are always there, waiting for you, to photograph and write down.
January 16, 2019
New 6x8 Albums, 3x8 Album, and Essentials Kit
Today I'm happy to share that we have a couple fun new products available in the shop.
First up is an Essentials Kit. This kit was designed for Story Camp attendees (we used it at the one last October and will be using it for future events) and is a great kit of basic supplies for you to use in your storytelling adventures that feature a bunch of my favorites.
Here's a look at what's included in the kit:
This is the first time we've offered any 12x12 papers for my brand. In addition to the 12x12 pattern papers you'll get a large white alpha, small alphas, cork numbers, three word/phrase sticker sets, a chipboard set, plastic shapes, yellow star stickers, a 3x4 stamp, wood veneer words, a "details" white acrylic word, a white number sticker sheet, five sheets of 12x12 cardstock, and a set of 10, 4x8 tags.
Here's a video walkthrough of what's included in this kit:
In addition to the Essentials kit we also have three new albums available.
We've got a pleather Navy 6x8 album (this was the color voted on in the Craft The Story™ Facebook Group), a grey dot chipboard 6x8 album, and a multi-colored dot 3x8 album.
Here's a quick video overview of these:
As always, thanks for being a part of this storytelling community and I hope these products help you tell your stories.
January 14, 2019
10 Awesome Quotes About Storytelling
As an advocate for encouraging personal storytelling, I love quotes about stories.
Last week I collected some of my favorites to share via Instagram over the coming weeks and decided to bring them all into one post here as well.
Feel free to share these but please tag me @aliedwards on Instagram or link back to this post.
Enjoy!
