Ali Edwards's Blog, page 145

Travel Collection Preview + Online Workshops

I'm excited to share with you a closer look at the new Travel Collection which will be available starting Wednesday, May 23rd at 9am PDT. 

A few things to note: 

Digital Travel Collection products will be available next Friday, June 1st. Shipping Special: Free shipping when you spend $50 in the Travel Collection category for domestic and $10 flat rate shipping for international when purchasing from the Travel Collection category. Use code TRAVELSHIP.Please read below about the two new workshops I'll be offering next month - both are travel related. As this is our first time offering a Travel Collection release we will be monitoring in case things sell out quicker than anticipated. Please use the "Notify Me" button on a specific product if something has sold out and you are interested in purchasing it as that helps us in our re-order decisions. If this goes well we hope to make this an annual travel release. 

This new Travel Collection release includes a kit, album options, and a variety of shop items to help you tell the stories of your adventures. 

Here's a look at what's included with the Travel Kit: 

The Travel Kit comes in a large 6x8 string pouch with a fun geotag pattern - it's great for keeping it all together especially if you do any memory keeping while you are traveling and want to bring along some products. $29.99.

A 3-set Chipboard Bundle. $12.99.

A Dimensional Bundle that includes large cork circles, white acrylic travel icons, and plastic hand-drawn words. $11.99.

A Sticker Bundle that includes five different designs with two of each design. $9.99.

Three new stamp set options. The 4x6 stamps are $15.99 and the 3x4 stamp is $9.99.

A 3x4 Specialty Journal Card Set with gold foil phrases. $7.99.

A Story Card bundle that includes large circles and 2x3 gold foil cards that fit into one of the 3x8 page protector configurations. $6.99.

For this release we are offering two 3x8 album options ($19.99 each): a blue linen with a fun map on the inside and a patterned chipboard that features a travel icon pattern. I know not every travel adventure will fit into this size album, but some of them definitely will. This is a fun opportunity to play around with this size album if you have not done so before. In the Travel Product Play workshop I'll be sharing how I use one of the 3x8 albums to document one of my trips from the past few years. Our hope is to make this an annual release and will consider other album sizes in the future. If you are looking for a larger album we have included my 6x8 Story Books in with the shipping special for this release. 

Here's a video overview of the new Travel Collection: 

TRAVEL WORKSHOPS

Along with this release we are opening registration for two brand new workshops and bringing back an old favorite. 

Stories Of Travel is a three-week workshop focusing on universal ideas for telling the stories of your travels. My main goal with this workshop is to dive into the topic with you and take a closer look at different ways you can get the stories of your travels completed. Travel means different things for different people and the processes I'll share with you will take that into consideration. The three weeks of content will be broken down into the following categories: (1) before travel, (2) during travel, and (3) after travel. In addition I'll share video walkthroughs of all my completed travel projects along with a walkthrough of some of the ones I haven't completed with details about how I'm organizing them and making plans to "deal" with them. Join me for another in-depth story-centered workshop to grow your memory keeping skills.

Registration opens on Wednesday, May 23rd at 9am PDT and class will begin Tuesday, June 26th. $49.

Join me and four of my Creative Team members - Ingunn Markiewicz, Amy Gretchen, Lisa Varshine, and Pam Baldwin - as we each create a 3x8 travel album using products from the new Travel Collection. No matter whether your trip is near or far, from last week or many years ago, the new Travel Collection products can be used to help get your travel stories told. In this workshop focus will be on ideas for using the products included in the Main Travel Kit to document our adventures in a 3x8 album.

Registration opens on Wednesday, May 23rd at 9am PDT  and class will begin Tuesday, June 26th. $20. 

The "old favorite" workshop we are bringing back from the archives is Scrapbook On The Road. No new content has been added to this workshop but the general idea + process of putting together a minibook before you venture out on a trip is remains valuable. I will touch on this idea in the new Stories Of Travel workshop but it will not be as in-depth as I went in this original workshop. This is a self-paced, technique-based workshop that will walk you through the steps of creating a minibook to use to tell your stories while you are traveling. You will have immediate access to all the content as soon as you sign up. 

This workshop includes a 45-minute presentation video plus 4 additional videos including a painting tutorial, creating fabric pattern pages, transparent pages with printable quotes, and a bringing it all together video. 

Registration will open tomorrow morning Wednesday, May 23rd at 9am PDT and the content will be available at that time. $10. 

Thanks so much for being a part of this storytelling community!

Week In The Life™ 2018 | Completed Album

Man, I love photos. That's basically what I was thinking to myself the entire time I was printing out the rest of my photos for this project. 

I'm super excited to wrap up this project for another year and today I'll share my end result with you along with a process video about how I brought the rest of my content together into my album. 

First, a very warm and wholehearted thank you to all of you who participated in Week In The Life™ this year whether this was your first adventure or your 10th. 

A few things to note before you take a closer look at my completed album for 2018: 

This year I decided to print photos specifically for the pockets I had available. I started with the enlargements followed by the 4x6 images and then moved to the 3x4 photos. I did this using here at home and you can read more about what printers I use here: My Current Printers. 
Printing to the pockets meant that I didn't use every single photo I took over the course of the week. I took less photos overall knowing that I didn't need to capture every single detail to tell a story about the week and that I didn't want to end up with tons of excess (or not enough). When selecting photos for the page protector pockets I made choices to fit the overall story I wanted to tell - ones that I felt worked together to tell the story of our week. I think it's important to remember and to learn that you don't have to use every single photo you took to tell the story of your week. 
I love that the words tell a story and the photos tell a story. Separating them enables them to each tell their own individual stories but also allows them to come together to tell a bigger story when taken in the context of the album as a whole. I don't approach every project this way (and I don't always use this approach in this project) but this time it felt right. Please remember that what feels right to you might be totally different and that is awesome - you tell your own story. 
As you will see in the video and photos below I used a "light touch" in terms of adding embellishments to my photos. In the video you'll hear me talk more about that and you can see my process as I work through adding a few things here and there as the last step in my process of finishing the album. 
I still love this project. After all these years, this in-depth look at life for seven days once a year continues to be one of my favorite projects. 

Questions? Please let me know in the comments below. 

Here are a look at all the spreads in my album with a few notes sprinkled in along with the images: 

I added the "our story" puffy sticker (from the Main Kit) to the circle embellishments on my intro page. 

MONDAY

I decided to just print photos for the number of pockets I had available to me in this album (following my own advice that I don't have to use every single photo to tell the story of our week). I left one of the 3x4 pockets empty each day and then added a plastic circle or a wood veneer piece to those pockets when I added embellishments. 

I used the 3x4 day of the week cards from the Main Kit to hold additional photos from the day vs. more journaling (I repeated this idea for each day of the week). I added the date with a rolling date stamp. 

For Monday through Friday I included a sheet from the Today's Details notepad. You'll also see that I added embellishments (chipboard, stickers, etc) to many of the photos as the last piece in my process of putting this album together. 

On the back of the 3x8 Today's Details pages (included with the Main Kit) I adhered a photo. Along the outside edge I added a day of the week tab sticker.

The cork banner stickers are from the Dimensional Adhesive Bundle. 

TUESDAY

You can read more about my process of getting the words into this album here. 

Totally love letting the photos tell their own stories. 

All the cork numbers were stapled in place on the transparencies using this long reach stapler. 

WEDNESDAY

I loved having these long narrow photos mixed in with the others. 

I added the chipboard days of the week to each day - either on a 3x4 or 4x6 photo. 

THURSDAY

On Thursday I added in the wood veneer fork + knife and stapled it in place inside the pocket. 

FRIDAY

Love that long sticker from the clear sticker sheet in the Sticker Bundle. 

SATURDAY

Love how that chipboard circle piece fit right inside the sunshine wood veneer. 

SUNDAY

I am so happy with how this album turned out. I love the focus on the words and photos. I love bringing it all together. I love having another Week In The Life™ documented. 

I'm working on another post to share how I'm documenting this week in my Project Life® album and will share that here soon. 

As always, thank you for being a part of this community and I hope you'll participate in this project along with me again next year. 

PS // Just a heads up that I will be doing a Facebook Live over on my business page tomorrow to do a preview of the new travel collection that will be available on Wednesday, May 23rd at 9am PST. 

You are invited to share a link to your completed album in the comments below.

Week In The Life™ 2018 | Dealing With The Words

One of the ways I have learned to complete Week In The Life™ over the years is by doing the "making" portion of the album in batches. 

Yesterday I shared the start of my process where I created daily title pages, an opening page, and a reason why page. The next part in my process usually involves dealing with the journaling. 

As you saw during the documenting week, I spend time at the end of each day typing up my journaling and posting it here to my blog. Now that it's time to get those words into my album I follow a simple process of copying and pasting my text into Illustrator (you could do this in Photoshop or Word ) where I format it based on the page size in my album. For this year's project I decided to "text wrap" my words around embellishments. This means that I measured the size of the embellishments I wanted to use, drew those shapes in Illustrator, and used the "text wrap" function (Object/Text Wrap) to have my words flow around that space on the page. 

To learn how to do a text wrap in Photoshop go here and in Word go here. 

I went back and forth between the rubber ovals from the Main Kit and the Thankful For This Day Circle Stamp as you'll see in the video below: 

Here's a look at each of the journal pages so far in my album: 

Monday had two additional journaling pages that I put into the full page 6x8 page protector. 

Here's the second page: 

The "everyday stuff" plastic circle is from the Week In The Life™ Die Cut Bundle.

And the third page for Monday: 

Here's Tuesday (Tuesday also has a second page that I'll share when I finish it up): 

Here's Wednesday (also has a second page that I'll share later): 

Here's Thursday: 

Here's Friday: 

Here's Saturday: 

Here's Sunday: 

Next up I will finish adding photos to some of the second pages of journaling and print out the additional full page 6x8 photos. 

SUPPLIES
Thankful For This Day Stamp Set Columbia Ink Round Acrylic Block Rolling Date Stamp 6-Hole Punch Scotch Rolling Adhesive2018 Week In The Life™ Main KitWeek In The Life™ Die Cut Bundle

Week In The Life™ 2018 | Getting Started Bringing It All Together

Phase Two of Week In The Life™ is underway around here. 

Yesterday I started the process by printing out my intro photo, a reason why page, and each of my daily title pages. 

Here's a video overview of what I've done so far: 

And a look at how I use the 6x8 Layered Templates for my daily title pages: 

And here are a few photos for a closer look: 

I started by printing out daily title pages that are the same size as the page protectors (6.75 inches x. 8.25 inches). I used this 6-hole punch to be able to add it to my album. 

As you saw in the video above I left off the day of the week from the layered template set and instead used the plastic hand-drawn word art from the Main Kit.

I created a page just like this for each day of the week and am currently planning to add a page of journaling to the back of each of these title pages. 

In addition to each of those daily title pages I printed out a 6x8 photo for the opening page of my album. On top of the photo I added a circle from the Story Card Bundle and a plastic circle from the Die Cut Bundle.

On the back side of the opening page I wrote out my "reason why" for this project which simply states a bit about what life looks like around here right now. 

On the top of the journaling I played with the plastic hexagons and pattern cards from the Main Kit. I used the plastic hexagon as a template to cut additional hexagons from the patterned journal cards. 

I'm feeling super excited to have this part of the project underway. I'll be back soon with another update as I work through the process. 

SUPPLIES

2018 Week In The Life™ Main Kit
Week In The Life™ 6x8 Layered Templates Vol. 5
6x8 Week In The Life™ Album
6x8 Transparency Dividers
Week In The Life™ Die Cut Bundle
6-Hole Punch
Long Reach Stapler

Around The Yard | May 2018

All kinds of goodness happening around my yard this past month. The lilacs and the wisteria are especially awesome right now. 

Here's a video overview: 

Definitely loving my new chair set + table from Target for the back porch. 

You can also view this video on my YouTube channel. 

Week In The Life™ 2018 | Sunday Words + Photos

A big wholehearted thank you to everyone who played along documenting and sharing their stories this past week for Week In The Life™. 

Here's a look at my Sunday: 

Today happened to be Mother's Day here in the United States. What I really wanted to do was go on a short hike and then spend time in the afternoon at the pool. After some schedule adjustments it ended up that everyone went along on this adventure. 

We drove about an hour outside of Eugene, right near a town called Mapleton (on your way to Florence on the coast). 

From there we drove about 10 miles out a road until we hit Sweet Creek Trail that leads to Sweet Creek Falls. I had looked for a fun, easy and waterfall-centered hike. 

It was SUPER busy today mainly because it was 85 degrees + Mother's Day - not a normal occurrence around here. 

The kids loved it. So many places to climb. I definitely want to take them back again in the summer. 

I also asked if we could get a photo all together. Around here girls smile and show their teeth. Ha. 

Love how much he loves the outdoors. 

After a stop for lunch and a quick stop at home we headed to our favorite local outdoor pool that opened May 1. They all swam for a couple of hours while Aaron napped and I read my book. 

And then we pretty much all felt this way when we got home. We did simple tuna sandwiches or tuna with nori for dinner and then a few kids had some homework they needed to take care of before tomorrow morning. 

It's been a full week. I'm excited to move on to the next phase of the project. I usually take a few days off and will start working on my album later this week. I hope you enjoyed the process of documenting your life right now. 

You are invited to share a link to your Sunday words + photos in the comments below.

Grow Story Kit™ + June Stories By The Month™

In the 
Story Classroom this month we are focusing on stories related to the theme of Grow. 

Here are a few thoughts about this particular theme: 

Our lives are a “constant journey of growing and refining who we are.” I love that quote and I love this month’s theme: grow. Join us as we tell stories about the things we grow, the ways we’ve grown, and what we are cultivating in our lives right now.

Initial story ideas for the Grow theme include: 

What are you growing right now?

Who or what do you love watching grow?

Tell a story about growing up and some of the lessons you learned along the way.

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.

STORY KIT™

Here's a look at
the
Story Kit™ contents for Grow:

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 Grow
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:

STORY STAMP™

The Grow 
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 Grow: 
Digital Story Kit™ subscribers also have four Add-On options available (if you subscribe to both the Story Kit™ and the Story Stamp™ these should also be available to you for purchase): 

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™

Last December I introduced a brand new subscription called Stories By The Month™. Each 
Stories By The Month™ kit includes chipboard, 3x4 and 4x6 cards, and a 3x4 stamp. These are all based on the designs we offered digitally each month throughout 2017. 

Here is a full look at the kit for June: 

This month we are beginning to offer new Add On options (vs. shop products) for Stories By The Month™ subscribers. Here's a look at the options this month: 

The hard-to-see product on the left side are white transparent days of the week in an uppercase typewriter font. 

And a video overview: 

The response to this kit has been far beyond our initial estimates and we are increasing quantities each month. Stories By The Month™ is currently on a Waiting List. Sign up on the Waiting List to be able to receive the first available kit. 

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. 

Week In The Life™ 2018 | Saturday Words + Photos

Weekends when they kids are here tend to be full - of activities, of friends, of the noise that comes from five (or more) kids between ages 9 and 16. 

Saturday was a good, solid day. 

I've gotten a couple questions about the camera I've been using this week which is a Canon G7X. I am totally loving this little camera - it takes great photos just on Auto - which is what I've been using all this past week. I love it for video especially (I've been taking some here and there) but continue to be impressed with the photo quality as well. 

Here's a look at my Saturday: 

Today included an early morning yoga class for me. I got there earl before the room filled up to take at least one shot. 

Today included Isaac making waffles for the whole crew. 

Today included Simon playing a new Lego Worlds video game. 

Today included dinner menu planning for next week (you can see my post here) that includes recipes we ate this past week. For the last two days I've been drinking this Mushroom Coffee that I really like. This week I'm using recipes from The Healing Kitchen and Nom Nom Paelo's Ready Or Not. 

Today the girls were thankful that Isaac cooked waffles. 

Today included some time for me to work outside weeding and cleaning things up. 

Today included Simon vacuuming the car. 

Today included some reading time and a quick nap on the couch. Currently reading The Mars Room. 

Today was the last game of the season for the Soccer Chocolate Kittens where the two third grade teams play each other. Anna's school includes two 3rd grade classrooms and enough girls enjoy playing soccer that we have two teams. They practice tougher throughout the season and then play each other for the last game - affectionately known as the Soccer Chocolate Kitten Bowl. 

After the game we always have a get together at someone's house to celebrate the season. 

This time the coach had one parent from each girl stand up and tell what they were proud of about their daughter for this season. So great. 

Really the community surrounding these girls that has developed because of soccer (and school of course) is so awesome. 

Today even included smores at the party. 

I'm calling it a day and heading to rest and read for the remainder of the evening. Looking forward to Sunday and to wrapping up this phase of the project. 

You are invited to share a link to your Saturday words + photos in the comments below.

Menu Planning | Week Of May 14th, 2018

Happy close-to-the-end of Week In The Life™. 

Here's a look at what I'm planning to cook for dinners this week - this is a week where kids will be in and out vs. all here for the majority of the week: 

Monday // Chipotle (one of the kids' schools is having a fundraiser on this night) Tuesday // Roasted salmon + broccoli using Nom Nom Paleo's Sesame Ginger Sauce from Ready Or Not (planning to use any extra to make her Asian Zoodle Salad with the leftover salmon + zucchini noodles for lunch) Wednesday // TBA Thursday // Sheet Pan Thai Salad from Shape magazine Friday // Garlicky Greek Lamb Skillet from The Healing Kitchen

Reviews from new recipes last week: 

Meatloaf Meatballs from Meals Made Simple // The meatballs + sauce were a total hit but the mash not so much (did a turnip + parsnip mash). Would totally make the meatballs agin.  Instant Pot Mexican Chicken Soup from Against All Grain // Very decent reviews from the crew for this soup. Elliot and Aaron and I loved it and the rest of the kids ate it with prompting. A couple felt like it was too spicy.  Dairy Free Spaghetti Squash Chicken Alfredo // Simon, Aaron and I ate this and it was really good. Simon gobbled it up. Definitely a comfort-feeling food that would be great in the winter months.  One-Pan Kielbasa Veggie Bake With Potatoes // Super hit around here. Everyone loved this and next time I'll need to double the recipe. I used chicken sausage with spinach. 

Have an awesome week! 

Week In The Life™ 2018 | Friday Words + Photos

Fri-yay for sure around here today. 

I found myself finding my groove with this project today where it started to feel seamless. We'll see how tomorrow goes. 

Here's a look at my Friday:  

Fridays are for laundry. Lots of laundry. 

Fridays are for smiling on the way to school. As I mentioned on my Instagram post, Simon said you can tell he is smiling by his eyes. 

Fridays are for Barre3 or a yoga class. I like to get there early to take shots like this. Such a great way to start my weekend. 

Fridays are for filling up. 

Fridays are for laundry ALL DAY LONG.

Fridays are for finances. I often do my reconciling on Fridays (per an idea that came from Tonya Dalton) and love having one day of the week designated for that task. I also worked on video editing. 

Fridays (well everyday really - ha) are for reading in the car while waiting to pick up kids. Working my way through The Mars Room right now. 

Fridays are for taking meals to friends. I have a friend who had a knee replacement last week so I took her dinner and her daughter spent the night with us. 

Fridays are for having friends over and stopping at Jamba Juice on our way home. 

Fridays are often for pizza dinners. 

Fridays are for fun. Simon ate his pizza in the car on the way to a dance at a local Autism support organization. He was excited.

Fridays are for dressing up a bit with a sport coat and hat for dancing. 

Fridays are for friends and extra time on devices. Listening to their chatter as they play games is awesome. 

Fridays are for hanging out between kid activity drop off and pick ups. 

I think this was my favorite day this week so far. Loving Fridays recently even more than ever because the pace really changes as we move from weekday to weekend. I love that feeling. 

Have an awesome weekend and last two days of Week In The Life™. 

You are invited to share a link to your Friday words + photos in the comments below.