Ali Edwards's Blog, page 148
March 27, 2018
AE Creative Team | February 2018 Release
Today we are sharing the projects made by our 2018 Creative Team using the February 2018 Digital Stories By The Month™ kit and the March Physical Stories By The Month™ kit.
We are also super excited to introduce a new feature for these posts. In addition to sharing the Creative Team project image, Ali has also put together a video overview for each kit that highlights tips and ideas from the Creative Team's projects. See these videos below (they are also available on Ali's You Tube Channel).
Please note that the physical Stories By The Month™ list is currently sold out. Click here to join the waitlist.
Be sure to check out our
Creative Team Gallery where you can go to see how the team is crafting their stories using my products - including additional images from the projects we are sharing below.
Here's a video overview from Ali highlighting ideas from the Creative Team projects using this kit:
MARCH 2018 STORIES BY THE MONTH PHYSICAL KIT
Here's an overview from Ali highlighting different pieces of the Creative Team's projects using this kit:
March 26, 2018
Project Life® 2018 | Week Seven
Took some time this past weekend to get a few more stories into my Project Life® 2018 album. I've been pretty good keeping up with printing the photos it's just beena matter finding time to add in the words and the extra stuff. No stress. No worries. Making time when I have time.
Still loving this project as the main record of daily life right now.
For this spread I mainly used a bunch things that were included in the February 2018 Stories By The Month™ (digital version of that kit is available here).
Here's a closer look:
One thing I did in this spread was intentionally go with more pink. I started with the pattern card for the date card and then used that as the jumping off point for my journal cards. Rather than add handwriting onto journal cards this time I just created journal cards in Photoshop with a pink background + white and red text. I also added a few little yellow star stickers to link those pink cards together.
Color is another simple way to create a unified spread even when you are working with photos that include lots of photos.
I used a POSCA Paint Pen to write on the photo of Simon at the Doctor's office and to draw boxes around the red word/phrase stickers.
Label sticker + pattern 4x6 card = easiest way to make a date/title.
I love looking for opportunities to include "white space" in my photos that I can then use to hold words. The folded "love" card was from Aaron's Valentine's gift to me.
Kept it simple by just adding red word/phrase stickers to most of the photos and then repeated the handwriting on another 3x4 photo - this time with a black pen for contrast.
Here's a quick video overview of my process for this week:
Project Life® Design A Page Protectors February Stories By The Month™ ( join the Waiting List here ) Tiny Attacher Stapler Rolling Date Stamp StazOn Ink AED Slickwriter Pen White POSCA Paint Pen
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.
March 24, 2018
Menu Planning | Week Of March 26th, 2018
For the last three weeks I've been menu planning on Saturday mornings and then heading to my local farmers market + a grocery store (usually Trader Joes or Whole Foods) for the rest of the things on my list. For some unknown reason - ha - it's taken me a long time to just start making meal-planning a routine. I seriously love having dinners planned out in advance and prepped when possible (vegetables cut up, etc). It makes my overall day and week so much smoother. I am also really loving spending a bit of time on Saturday mornings - often after yoga - at our local farmers market.
This week it's Spring Break and the kids are all with their other parents which means these meals will just be for me and Aaron.
The three main meals and dessert I'm planning for this week (
planning that we will eat out at least once + eat leftovers on other days):
Korean BBQ Yum Yum Rice Bowls via Pinch Of Yum
Ginger Pork with Cucumber + Herbs via BHG magazine
Brussels Sprouts + Sweet Potato Sausage Hash via Real Food RDs (I made this last week and Aaron and I liked it so much I'm going to make it again)
1-Bowl Vegan Gluten-Free Carrot Cake via Minimalist Baker
Today I also made a
Spiced Carrot + Red Lentil Soup to have for lunches the next few days.
Have a great week!
March 20, 2018
Week In The Life™ 2018 | Product Preview
It's time to start planning for the 2018 Week In The Life™ project.
This year I'll be documenting my week from May 7th through May 13th and you are invited to participate with a world-wide community of memory keepers who are taking photos and writing down their stories during that particular week in time.
You can learn more about this project here.
This post is a product preview for items that will go on sale on Wednesday, March 21st at 10am Pacific and begin shipping in early April at the earilest.
SHIPPING SPECIAL // Place a Week In The Life™ order and receive FREE domestic shipping or $10 International flat rate using the code WITL18SHIP. Your cart must include a minimum of $50 from the Week In The Life™ shop category to qualify.
DIGITAL PRODUCTS // Digital Week In The Life™ products will be released in early April.
MAIN KIT OVERVIEW
Here's a look at what's included with the Main Kit ($29.99) this year:
We listened to the feedback that many of you gave over the last few years and are offering the albums separate from the kit this year for those of you who might already have an album or might want to do this project in a different format. You can see the album options below in the Shop Products section.
Here's a video overview of the products included in the Main Kit:
SHOP PRODUCTS
Choose a 6x8 (with a 2.5 inch spine - $24.99) or a 3x8 album (with a 1.5 inch spine - $19.99). The 6x8 album includes 24 page protectors (variety of pocket configurations) and the 3x8 includes 15 page protectors in three different pocket styles (I'm so excited for you to check those out).
We have both sizes of transparency dividers available this year: 3x8 ($4.99) and 6x8 ($9.99).
Please note that due to a manufacturing error the 3x8 transparencies are listed as "imperfect" and the price has been discounted to reflect that = $4.99. The imperfection is in the printing/cutting of the tabs along the top.
A chipboard bundle that includes three designs ($12.99).
A die cut bundle that includes plastic circles, three large speech bubbles, and paper shapes ($9.99).
A dimensional adhesive bundle that includes one set of cork tabs, one set of puffy stickers, and one set of clear stickers with black ink ($9.99).
A sticker bundle that includes two of each of the following designs: rectangles, tabs, speech bubbles, cream word/phrase stickers, and hearts ($9.99).
A story card bundle that includes circles and story cards - 2x3 that fit into one of the pockets in the 3x8 page protector ($6.99).
Four new stamp sets: Pennant Flag Days Of The Week, Everyday Icon (circles are 1.5 inch), Thankful For This Day, and Loving The Story. These are $15.99 each.
Here's a video overview of the Shop Products:
You can catch a replay of the Facebook Live if you want to check that out over on my YouTube Channel.
I am super excited to embark on this project again in May. Look for more details here on the blog in the coming weeks regarding this project.
March 19, 2018
Day In The Life™ | March 2018 Project + Vlog
A big thanks again to those of you who played along with our first Day In The Life™ project for 2018. We will be doing a second documenting project later this year, along with our 7-day Week In The Life™ project coming in May.
Today I'm sharing how I brought my words and photos together into a simple insert that has been added to my Project Life® album along with a Day In The Life™ vlog I put together to document our day. This was the first time I've played around with video documenting as a way to capture a Day In The Life™ and it was seriously so, so fun. I feel like it added a whole other dimension to the actual story. I'm not someone who has taken a lot of video over the years for a number of reasons so having a bit of a learning curve was actually invigorating. I feel super happy to have captured a slice of our life in this format this time around. Will I do it every time from now on? I have no idea at this point, but I really did enjoy the process both of documenting and of editing it all together.
A couple details about the video: I used a Canon G7X for filming and iMovie for editing. This camera is an awesome compact camera that takes great video and great photos and is so much easier to carry around than my Canon 6D. The smaller camera was recommended to me by Amy Tan when I told her I wanted to start incorporating a bit more video.
During the day I carried around the Canon G7X and my iPhone for taking still photos. I also did some video that I added to my Instagram story for the day. It was definitely a bit of juggling but again my focus this time was more on video and less on still photos. I took enough to be able to fill some pockets to go along with my stories for the day.
Here's a look at the video I put together of my day:
You can also view this video on my YouTube channel here.
In terms of paper documentation I decided to cut off the far column of pockets on a Project Life® Design F page protector to create a home for my words and photos.
My approach with this project this time was quick and easy using the Day In The Life™ kit (a digital version is available here since the physical version has sold out) as the jumping off point for my stories paired with photos cropped to 3x4.
During the day I jotted down notes onto this PDF using the categories included on the journal cards. When I was ready to work with the cards I simply transferred the words over to my cards.
As I was looking at my content (photos + words) I decided to adhere a couple of my photos directly onto the cards vs. writing out a story. These ended up being some of the themes that I didn't have much to write about and the story was able to be told fairly easily with just the photos (ie: I only drove Anna to and from school on this particular day).
Also I didn't have photos for all the themes - such as "move" and "read." For those two I just wrote my story and didn't worry about pairing them with a photo.
On top of the journaling cards I also used some past Story Kit™ word/phrase stickers in the spot next to the "here's the story" section.
On the title card I used some of the plastic circles and die cut paper circles from the kit to create a circle pattern along the bottom of the card. I kept the extras to be used on another project in the future.
On the back I followed a similar process as the front in terms of deciding to add a photo onto the card, just having a card, and also pairing a photo with a full journaling card.
I added another 4x6 pattern card to the back of the page protector and stapled the gold foil heart circle + the plastic "life" circle on top.
As I re-read this post before hitting publish I was thinking about the differences between video and paper. I totally think there is a place for each. Sometimes the stories I tell with words are long and in-depth and sometimes they are shorter and quicker and now maybe sometimes they will be via video where we have this amazing gift of hearing people's voices and seeing them move and smile and go about their day. For me that's all a part of my overall memory keeping archives (mine will live here on my blog and in my hard drives and on YouTube). Having a video to go along with what I'll put into my scrapbooks is a fun way to supplement the story and to see our lives via a different lens - a moving lens.
I think that focusing on video this time actually helped reinvigorate a piece of me that needed a creative challenge. After doing Day In The Life™ projects for a long time via still photos and words on paper it was fun to talk it through - which this time happens to be more in-depth than I went on paper. It's all part of our story.
SUPPLIESDay In The Life™ Kit (digital version available here)Project Life® Design F Page ProtectorTiny AttacherPast Story Kit™ Word + Phrase StickersEpson PictureMate PM400 Printer
March 16, 2018
Week In The Life™ 2018 | Date Annoucements
Hey friends! Just a quick announcement today to let you know of a few things relating to the 2018 Week In The Life™ project.
(1) I will be doing a Facebook Live on my Ali Edwards Design Inc Facebook Page on Tuesday, March 20th at Noon to give you a look at the new products to support this project. That video recording will be added to a blog post here after that live event as well as saved to YouTube in case you've got other stuff going on during that time of the day. I will also be publishing a blog post after the Facebook Live on Tuesday with an overview of all the products so you can see them in advance of the collection going live.
(2) New Week In The Life™ products will be available the next day - Wednesday, March 21st with a time TBA (most likely announced during the Facebook Live). We will have a kit, albums, stamps, and other coordinating shop products available.
(3) Digital products will be available in the beginning of April.
(4) I will be documenting the week of May 7th through the 13th for 2018.
That's it for now! Thanks to everyone who participated in Day In The Life™ yesterday - I'll be working on bringing my words + photos together over the weekend and hope to share the end result here next week.
March 13, 2018
Home Story Kit™ + April Stories By The Month™
In the Story Classroom this month we are focusing on stories related to the theme of Home.
Here are a few thoughts about this particular theme:
Home is one of those things that we all experience in a variety of different ways over the course of our lives. Some of us live in just a couple homes while others have inhabited so many more by circumstance or by choice. The word “home” conjures a bunch of different meanings and stories for each one of us and we’re going to explore all those different angles this month.
Initial story ideas for the Home theme include:
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 Home (this subscription is currently at capacity - please join the waiting list to receive a kit as soon as a spot opens up):
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 Home
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 Home 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 Home:
Digital Story Kit™ subscribers also have two 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.
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 April:
Stories By The Month™ also has Add On options available to subscribers:
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.
March 12, 2018
AE Creative Team | Fabric Digital Story Kit™
Happy Monday!
We're so happy to share the projects created by our awesome Creative Team using the Fabric Digital Story Kit™. Today is the last day left 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!
March 11, 2018
Around The Yard | March 2018
One of the things on my list to create this year are videos sharing more about my yard and what it looks like during different times of the year.
Being out in my yard is a personal passion - I enjoy getting my hands dirty and growing specific kinds of plants. I tend to be a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants gardner but my hope is to learn more specifics about working in my yard (via experimentation, research, etc). I've lived in this house for eight years now and there are so many things I have on my mental yard list that I need to get written down and documented in order to make some of those things a reality.
As some of you might remember we removed a bunch of grass and added in slate to expand the size of the patio last summer. I'm still feeling super happy with that decision and now it's time to focus back on the surrounding beds.
The main thing that's happening in my yard right now are lots of tulip and daffodil bulbs popping up. I put a bunch of bulbs into my raised beds last fall to try a new space and to simply grow more bulbs that I will be able to cut and bring inside. Bringing the outside inside is one of my favorite things. Blubs coming up in my yard currently are from Floret. I am a super fan of Floret and you can read more about my experience visiting there for a workshop back in 2016 here.
You can check out past Around The Yard posts here.
This video tour takes you all around my yard for a full look at what's happening in March 2018:
CAMERA: Canon Powershot G7 X Mark II MUSIC: https://soundstripe.com EDITING: iMovie
You can also view this video on my YouTube Channel here.
March 9, 2018
Day In The Life™ | March 2018 Date Reminder + Project Refresher
The first Day In The Life™ for 2018 is happening next Thursday, March 15th and to get you in the documenting mood I wanted to give you a project refresher.
Day In The Life™ is a one-day documentary project that invites
you to tell the story of one single 24 hour period via photos and words. I
started this project many years ago as a way to really take stock of the life
I’m living at a specific point in time – where I’m going and what I’m doing and
who I’m talking to and what’s happening with my kids and what I’m eating, etc. I love looking back over many
years of this project and seeing the ways in which my life has changed and
sometimes, the ways in which it has stayed the same.
You can see how I've documented this project in a variety of ways over the years via my archives here.
Nothing about this project is rooted in perfection. This
project is about embracing our lives as they are, not how we wish for them to
be. It’s about celebrating the little things and looking for opportunities to
see yourself in your own story. It’s also about having fun and using this
opportunity to take photos you might not otherwise take – these are the ones
that often turn out to be my personal favorites.
Another beautiful piece of this project is the community
that supports it. I love seeing people all over the world documenting the same
day and all the different ways we live our lives.
The most awesome thing is that all you have to do is show up to your own story by being willing to capture it with your camera.
DAY IN THE LIFE™ | MARCH 15th STRATEGYFor this upcoming Day In The Life™ I'm going to focus on the topics included in the 2018 Winter Kit (physical version is sold out // digital version available here). I'll be looking to document something about the following topics over the course of my day: move, chores, clothes, music, read, food, work, play, love, drive, and ugh (because there's always a little of that thrown into almost every day).
DOCUMENTING TIPSI love using Instagram as a record of my day and
including more of the story in my captions. Sometimes I also make story notes
in my phone so I remember the thoughts I want to include to go along with my photos.
Some people like to embark on this project with
a bit of structure rather than as a free for all. Many people have found that
setting alarms on their phone for each hour of the day has helped them to
remember to take photos and is a great way to pause throughout your day to
write down what is happening.
This project can be as in-depth or as simple as
you want it to be. I’ve done it a variety of different ways over the years –
sometimes I include more words and sometimes less words. Sometimes I’ve taken
tons of photos and other times I’ve taken a lot less. There are so many
different ways to approach this in order to get your story told.
Take photos of the things that seem
insignificant. Life changes so fast in so many different ways. Capturing the
little pieces of life right now is a great way to express gratitude for all
that we have.
It doesn’t matter what kind of camera you have.
An iphone works great for this project. It's totally okay to not use all the photos you take over the course of the day in your actual project - sometimes I just love having those to use to tell other stories as well.
Play around with different angles. Shoot from up
high or down low. One of the things I love about this project is that it
encourages me to play around with my photography skills and get out of my
regular shooting routine.
Play around with lighting. Some of my most
favorite shots have come from trial and error related to lighting. I love
taking photos of my kids in their beds at night with just their bedside lamps
lighting the shot.
Get yourself in the picture. Use the timer on
your phone or a remote to make sure that you are included in this story of your
day. Literally seeing myself in my photos helps ground me in the present. I am
the main character of this story.
This post is a great example of the kinds of photos I often take on Day In The Life™ documenting days.
Even if memory keeping in the
traditional crafty sense isn’t your thing you can still play along on Instagram
to share the images you capture of this one single day in your life. Telling
the story of your day via photos and captions is an awesome way to document
your day.
Materials to help you document your story here. Past blog posts with project and photo examples here. Join my Day In The Life™/Week In The Life™ Facebook Group
for more inspiration here.
