Ali Edwards's Blog, page 167

Project Life® 2017 | Week Four

Today I'm sharing my Project Life® spread for Week 04 of 2017. 

As I've worked through my stories over the last few weeks I've definitely been aware of the fact that I historically start off strong with this project and then other projects, work, life, travel get in the way of the getting this done. It's a thing. I'm hopeful as ever that keeping it simple and keeping it routine and low key will help me keep up. And, in case you were wondering, the reason I really want to keep up is because I I really like this project and I love seeing my/our weeks documented in these pockets.

For those of you who are waiting for Storytelling With Project Life® workshop registration, that should open in just a few days.  

Here's a look at Week Four:

I was intentional again this week about filling in the pockets as the week went along vs. leaving it all for the end. I'm just leaving it out on a table here in my office and making an effort to identify a story each day and get it recorded. Today I marched myself right into my office right after waking up to write up a story about how great it was to wake up, walk out of my bedroom door, and hear the voices of 5 happy kids downstairs making their own breakfast and doing their morning jobs. As you can imagine they are not all happy every morning and I wanted to make sure I wrote that down before the rest of the day unfolded. You'll see that card next week. 

I'm sticking with the weekly gratitude card from my gratitude pad + cards from the Project 52 Fresh Core Kit (anything with rounded corners) + the number labels from the Numbers Story Kit™ (available until November 14th) + cards from past Story Kits™. I also added a really fun pattern paper (cut to 4x6) for the bottom left pocket that was included with the Roman Holiday Scrapbook Kit. 

The title card is from a sold out set of gold foil quote cards that were included in my initial One Little Word® product options this year. We don't have plans to reorder those at this time but we do have a digital set available that you can print on your own or use a Minc machine to add your own foil. 

The white pen I used to write "girls night out at belly" was the Posca (see my review of white pens here). 

I'm keeping my eye out for things around that house that I could add into my album. This week I added a study sheet that Simon used for a quiz he had last week. What I love about it is that it includes my handwriting and his handwriting together (I wrote the etymons and he wrote the meanings). 

I have to say that I really did love using those number labels repeatedly throughout the month - such a fun way to link it all together. 

SUPPLIES USED REGULARLYProject Life Design A Page ProtectorsProject 52 Fresh Core Kit (anything with rounded corners)Past Story Kits™Rolling Date Stamp12x12 Project Life® / Heidi Swapp / Black & White Album

Weekends Are For

This past weekend was a stay-at-home-and-take-care-of-the-stuff-of-life weekend and it was wonderful. 

It was just Aaron and Simon and Anna and me from Friday to Sunday. Definitely a little quieter as we moved through the days while the other kids were off on a skiing adventure with their Mom. 

As our weekend started on Saturday morning I decided to intentionally take more photos with my DSLR after noticing/feeling that I haven't been taking many lately. Here's a look at some of the pieces of our weekend: 

Lounging on Saturday morning. He is taller than both Aaron and me now and is almost as tall as Chris who is 6'1. 

Creating at Katie's desk. I've been trying to stay out of my offie most weekends and that's been a good choice for me. To the left of this image you might be able to catch a glimpse of the new built-in shelves for my albums that were able to go in during the remodel. They should get painted this week and that will wrap up all the work needed to be done in my office and I can reposition things around once again. 

Cleaning out and refilling hummingbird feeders + bird feeders. I read an article in our local paper recently about the native "Anna" hummingbirds and wanted to make sure they know we have an open invitation in our yard. 

Putting Christmas away. Some onto shelves in the garage, some into a storage closet. This took up most of our morning on Saturday and I definitely feel good to have that task crossed off the list. 

Rotating through about 8 loads of laundry: bedding and towels and kids clothes and my clothes. Having everything cleaned and put away to start the week is a really great feeling.  

Adventuring to Target (the four of us) with a list that included things like new towels for all the kids (one color for each kid), Soft Scrub, and cereal. 

Sitting with Simon while he was catching up on some classwork from the past week. I spent a few hours on both Saturday and Sunday listening to Simon read Night for his Language Arts class and talking with him as he read it and answered some study guide questions. We had a big IEP meeting for him last week that went well and I'm thankful for the frank discussions and opportunities to communicate about how he's doing and the ways in which we can all help him be successful in his own way. He also spent some time Sunday evening with Chris working no learning some new knots for Boy Scouts. 

Day-dreaming about my yard/garden plans for 2017 during breaks in the fog and grey. Thinking about what I want to make sure to plant this year - right now I really want to grow some Hollyhocks (haven't done that before) and I'd also like to plant some Eden Roses. Love Pinterest for these kinds of ideas + other outdoor home inspiration (you can check out what's inspiring me in this area on my Pinterest board). Day-dreaming lead me to take some action and go outside to see what was actually happening around my yard. I found a few things to cut and bring inside which makes me so happy. 

Even in the middle of winter there are things to bring the outside inside. 

These are now in a glass on my kitchen windowsill. 

As some of you who follow me on Instagram know, we've been underway with a remodel on our home for a number of months now. The structural work is done - we took a part of my office and a room just outside it to create a larger bedroom and a new hallway into my office (I'll share more images of this soon). Carpet will be laid in that new bedroom next month (took us a long time to make that decision) and then we will be replacing the carpet in the rest of the upstairs room by room which will give us time to paint each room and move the kids around (girls are moving into the new room, one of the boys is moving out of their current shared room downstairs so that each of the boys will have their own room). A couple weeks back Aaron painted the upstairs hallway (bring on the white) and all the doors and replaced all the hardware with an oil-rubbed bronze that basically looks black. 

We held off on working on Aaron's room at the far end of the extended garage (the framing is done) while the work on the inside upstairs was happening. Now that the main part is wrapping up his room has come back up to the top of the list and we are hoping to get the drywall and a few other structural things done in the next few weeks. 

Giving thanks for this special kind of slow, intentional, connecting weekend. 

Project Life® 2017 | Week Three & White Pen Video Overview

Week Three of 2017 my friends, Week Three. For some reason it feels like a lot more time has passed so far in 2017. 

This week I intentionally tried to work on my spread as the week unfolded vs. saving it all for the end of the week. That meant taking the time to print photos every couple days/daily, doing a bit of journaling on the day itself, and really just filling in the pockets. At the end of the week I was able to just take a bit of time to finish it up by adding my last few photos and stories. This is my favorite way to work this project - more in-the-moment - but I totally get that it just doesn't always work out that way for me because life (and projects and deadlines and appointments) happens. 

This week I also took some time to play with a white pen bundle I recently ordered from JetPens.com. Below you'll see my video overview of how those pens worked on my photo paper as well as a quick look via video of my completed week. 

Here's a look at how my week came together in Project Life®: 

I'm continuing to use the number labels from the Numbers Story Kit™ (available until February 14th) on each of my photos this month. I also used the large red hashtag die cut from the kit - more on that below. 

I used the Typecast Typewriter to type directly onto the "love this" journal card. I'm still planning to do a separate post at some point about the typewriter but so far I like it. It's imperfect just like any typewriter should be (otherwise you might as well use your computer) and it takes a bit to get used to (figuring out the line spacing, etc) and I haven't been experiencing issues with the keys sticking (something I've read in other reviews). I think the biggest con is probably the expense - you can absolutely find old manual typewriters at second hand stores for a fraction of the cost that will likely work with a new ribbon (Katie has long been an expert at finding these at second hand stores). 

This week I added a sticker that was on one of the boxes of some of the new light fixtures we added to our stairwell. I always love adding in stuff like this that is a piece of our lives right now. 

I hand-wrote the MLK quote and saved it for you as a 3x4 PNG download here (includes both black with white type & words with a transparent background). 

One of the reasons I wanted to order the Project 52 Fresh Edition Core Kit was because of the weekly cards. I probably won't use them every single week, but I love the option to use them throughout the year. Super love the super clean black & white. 

Let's talk a short diversion away from my spread this week to talk about white pens. 

I recently ordered a White Pen Sampler from JetPens.com to test out a few options again because I like having an option to handwrite onto my darker photos. I feel like I do this every few years after I fall out of love with whatever white pen seems to be working at the moment. In putting this post together it looks like they are currently out of stock of this bundle (and some of the individual pens) so I'll also link to other buying options via Amazon below: 

For this test I used prints on Epson Glossy Photo Paper using my Epson PictureMate PM400 printer.

Along the right side (top to bottom): 

Sakura Glaze (this one might work better on another surface but it wasn't awesome on the glossy photo paper)
Sakura Gelly Roll Classic (available in my shop or Amazon)
Sakura Decorese
Uniball Signo
Pentel Hybrid

Along the left side (top to bottom): 

Sharpie Paint Pen
Uni Posca PC-5M
Uni Posca PC-1M

Here's a video overview of how each of these worked on my photos: 

Back to the spread: 

Simon's 15th birthday was this week so we did some celebrating. He actually spent his actual birthday snow camping with Chris and his Boy Scout troop. 

I ran the red ampersand die-cut from the Numbers Story Kit™ (with the kit you either get an ampersand or this hashtag) through the Typecast Typewriter and then adhered it to an old Bella Blvd pattern transparency (I cut it down to 3x4). I used washi tape to create a flip-up card that reveals journaling about Simon's birthday below: 

Under the hashtag transparency I added a phase from my Word Phrase Sticker Bundle. 

I am deciding to include a gratitude card each week using this pad (includes 75 sheets on the pad). The "Here's The Story" card is from a pad that was included with the Review Story Kit™. 

Hope you have a great week!

Storytelling Stash Update | January 2017

Every so often I like to supplement my current memory keeping products with some new stuff. Not only do I like adding in different designs, I really like supporting other memory keeping designers and companies. 

PS | Products included in these posts are ones that I purchase myself vs. being sent to me for promotion. 

Here's a look at what I picked up this time from Scrapbook.com: 

Direct links to products included in the video above: 

Crate Paper Heart Day Rubber Embellishments Fancy Pants Felt Pennants: Love Life, You Rock, Yay 1 Canoe 2 Butterfly Rub Ons Crate Paper Heart Day Chipboard 1 Canoe 2 12x12 Engraved Wood Carta Bella Petunia Patch Bundle 12x12 Paper Carta Bella Rose Garden Bouquet 12x12 Paper Illustrated Faith Heart A Flutter 12x12 Paper Illustrated Faith Hearts & Kisses 12x12 Paper

In the video I also mentioned that I purchased one of the We R Memory Keepers Typecast Typewriters. I'm just starting to play around with it and will let you know how it goes. 

SELECT STAMPS 25% OFF + NEW INK COLORS AVAILABLE INDIVIDUALLY

Selected stamp sets are 25% off this weekend (ends 1/22/17 at 11:59PM EST - excludes December Daily® 2016 and One Little Word® 2017 Stamp Sets). In addition my new Crafter's Ink colors are now available individually. I think my personal favorite new color is Deschutes - which is a dark navy (and used for the "F" and "t" and "p" in the promo image above). 

Stamp set shown in the image above is my Mixed Alpha set and is available here. 

Some of my other favorites shown in the image above include the Phrases Roller Stamp, Just Thankful, and Sentiment Strips. 

Hope you have a great weekend!

Project Life® 2017 | Week Two

Welcome to Project Life® 2017 | Week Two. 

Where's Week One? I included an overview of my Week One in the Story Classroom for the Numbers Story Theme. Each month in the classroom I include a Project Life® process video showing how I used products from the Story Kit™ to tell a weekly story in my album (sometimes it's a current year spread and sometimes it's from a past year where I'm filling in the gaps).

One of the things I'm hoping to do in my Project Life® album this year is use up some of my personal product stash. You'll see things this week that are products currently available in my shop and ones that are from present and past Story Kits™ and other past projects. I'm still waiting for the Project 52 Fresh Edition Core Kit to arrive and then I will also incorporate some of those cards from week to week. 

Here's a look at Week Two: 

Story Kit™ subscribers will know that I'm using number labels throughout the month of January on each of my photos (the theme this month is numbers and the kit includes 32 number labels). I've never used a consistent design element over the course of a month in Project Life® (that I can remember) so that's a little something different and fun to consider as you tackle your own album and stories. 

One of the things that was going through my mind as I was working on this week was that I really do want to keep it simple and focused on filling the pockets (something I talk a bunch about in Storytelling With Project Life® workshop that will open for registration soon). Even a silly quick story like "got my hair done" is something that can fill a pocket. I'm hoping to get back into a weekly routine to stay a bit more up to date with this project (for me that is always easier in the beginning of the year than the end of the year).  

Along with the number label stickers I added small epoxy day of the week circles from the Review Story Kit™. "Ready Set Go" card is from the January 2016 Digital Kit, the Here's The Story card is from a paper pad (now sold out), and the yellow lined card is from the Read Story Kit™.

The black text pattern paper is from Photo Play Paper (ordered via Scrapbook.com). 

The title card this week is from the Numbers Story Kit™ with a "shine bright" chipboard piece from the Sparks Story Kit™.

The "let's do it" card is from a past Studio Calico Documenter kit. Others are detailed below. 

Gold foil Friday card from the 2016 Week In The Life™ Kit (a few of those kits are still available - they are not year specific). 

I'm also thinking about using one sheet per week from my "Gratitude" 3x4 notepad (notepad includes 72 sheets). I like that idea that one thing would be the same in every spread over most of the weeks - a consistent element throughout the whole of the album. Hard to go wrong with a weekly gratitude practice. 

"Yes" card is from the January 2016 Digital Kit and the Here We Go card is from a paper pad in the Drive Story Kit™.

Thanks again for being part of this community! 

Story Kit™ & Story Stamp™ | Numbers

Today I'm excited to introduce you to the next story theme: Numbers. 

Because our lives are made up of numbers. We count seconds, minutes, hours, days, years. We add things up and we make sense of our lives via numbered lists and street numbers and house numbers and age. This month we are telling all kinds of stories sparked by the numbers in our lives.

If you are already a subscriber to you can now access the content in the classroom (
make sure you are logged in to your account).

If you are new to the Story Subscription program, check out all the details
here. 

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

And the
Numbers Story Stamp™:

We also have a
Digital Story Kit™ subscription available that includes access to the classroom content. Here's a look at what's included for Numbers (which also shows all the designs for the journal cards included in the printed version of the kit): Here's a video overview of the products included in the kits this month: 

Here's a video overview of the products included in the kits this month:

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!

Project Life® 2017 | Title Page

I'm back at Project Life® again for 2017.

In 2016 I completed spreads for January through April + 11 more weeks from May through December. Many of those spreads were shared in the Story Kit™ and other classrooms throughout the year. Three rounds of Day In The Life™ were also added to my albums. I really liked adding my Day In The Life™ documentation to my Project Life® album and will be doing that again this year. 

I hope to share here on my blog with a bit more regularity this year. 

My plan is to keep working though the weeks I haven't completed from 2016 and 2015 when I have a chance. I'm not putting a lot of pressure of myself to get it done this way or that - just when I make time to get it done. Many of my weeks in the second part of the year already have photos printed and in pockets and are just waiting for my words + intentional embellishments. 

I am still feeling like this concept is part of how I want to tell my stories so I'm moving forward once again. 

Also, just a heads up that my 4-week workshop Storytelling With Project Life® is set to re-run again next month (the content will be a repeat of what was offered last year). More details about registration soon. 

What a difference a year can make. The first full year in our new combined family situation calls for a re-do in the way I've been starting my album the last few years (see examples below). Instead of individual people photos I decided to add a couple group shots of the kids + one of me and Aaron + one of me holding my One Little Word® for 2017. I like how the cards I chose include general/overall life intentions: celebrate together, make more magic, adventure. I don't think you can ever go wrong with those three. 

For 2017 I'll be using a mix of Story Kit™ supplies + Project 52 Core Kit (just ordered that yesterday and I usually split this with Katie) + Studio Calico Documenter kits + other random supplies. I create at least one spread per month using products from the Story Kit™ monthly theme and include that content in the classroom (classroom content is included with the subscription). Sometimes those spreads are from past years that I haven't completed and other times they are from the current year. I'm just rolling with it. 

Supplies used on my title page include: 

"Celebrate Together" card from my Celebrate Journal Card Set (the digital version is available here if that's your preference)Design A Page Protectors (I stick with all the same page protectors throughout the year for simplicity)"Life Is Full Of Adventure" Journal Card from the Week In The Life™ Kit"Make More Magic" gold foil card from the Cypress Grove Documenter KitCork Tabs from the Film Club Documenter KitCork Oval from Freckled Fawn Embellishment Kit HomeThe words "twenty-seventeen" were typed onto the card using the Typecast Typewriter from We R Memory KeepersChipboard word phrases from past Story Kits™

Here's a 10-minute video showing how my title page came together along with some additional thoughts on the project: 

The quote cards I mention in the video are available digitally here. 

In terms of albums I'm using this 12x12 album from Heidi/Becky (this is the same as I started using last year):

And just for fun here's a look back at my past title pages - love how each shows the progression of life: 

2016 | More details here.

2015 | This was the year I said I was going to switch things up and started with the above intro pages. Within a few weeks I was back to doing it the same as I had in the past and adjusted my title page to include a combination of things that had originally been on the smaller intro pages. 

2014 | More details here.

2013 | More details here.

2012 | More details here.

2011 | More details here.

If you'd like a more in-depth look at all my past Project Life® albums via video overviews make sure to check out my Storytelling With Project Life® workshop that will open for registration soon. 

January 2017 Digital Release

Happy January!

This year we are switching things up a bit with our digital products and will be releasing one themed digital kit each month. They will be similar to the Digital Story Kits™ in terms of the products included in the package. They will have journal cards, digital chipboard shapes, a stamp set, quote card, and sometimes other elements that will change from month to month. Some months we will have more products released in addition to the monthly digital kit, depending on projects we have going on at that time (Week In The Life™, December Daily®, Day In The Life™, and One Little Word®).

This month's digital kit theme is New Year's & Celebrations. Because tis the season. This digital kit package includes 12 journal cards, a quote card (in both horizontal + vertical orientations), a "stamp" set, and a set of digital chipboard pieces/shapes. 

We're also continuing to release additional Classic AE products each month. These are products from my past collection previously offered at Designer Digitals (Classic AE products are designated with a grey box around the product preview and have their own category here).

Click here to see all new products added as part of the January Digital Release. Check out our new product category in the digital section of our shop that includes all the new (excluding the Classic AE) products for the last couple months, as well a category where you can find all of the previous Digital Story Stamps™. 

NEW PRODUCT BREAKDOWN FOR JANUARYJanuary 2017 Digital Kit Twenty Seventeen Word Art Surprise Digital Story Stamp™One Little Word® 2017 Digital Main Kit (this package is included for free with the purchase of the One Little Word® workshop)One Little Word® 2017 Digital Sticker Bundle One Little Word® 2017 Digital Messy Circles Stamp One Little Word® 2017 Digital Phrase/Icon Stamp One Little Word® 2017 Digital Inspirational Card Set One Little Word® 2017 Digital Action Journal Cards (this package is included for free with the purchase of the One Little Word® workshop)One Little Word® 2017 Digital Reflection Journal Cards (this package is included for free with the purchase of the One Little Word® workshop)

If you are looking for more information on Getting Started With Digital Scrapbooking check out my free series of posts
here.

CLASSIC AE

We also have a new set of Classic AE products in the shop this month. We have brought back a variety of everyday memory keeping products this month. 

Thanks for your support and here's to telling more stories together!

AE Digital Creative Team | Review Digital Story Kit™

Happy Monday!

Today we're sharing the last round of projects created by our awesome 2016 
Digital Creative Team using the Review Digital Story Kit™.

Be sure to check out our Creative Team Gallery where you can go to see how the team crafted their stories in 2016 using AE products - including additional images from the projects we are sharing below.

This month the team is sharing stories they crafted using the
Review Digital Story Kit™. You only have a few days left to start a subscription to receive this current theme. Remember that all subscriptions, including the digital subscription, includes a classroom with specific ideas for working with each theme.

Just a heads up again that most of our team uses the digital kit to create paper projects - meaning they print out the digital pieces and add them to paper layouts/pockets (vs. completely digital projects).

Emma Speller

Jen Carlson

Jen Schow

Pam Baldwin

We want to thank our 2016 team for all of their hard work and dedication to sharing and telling their stories this past year.

Hope you all have a great week!

Check out the Creative Team Gallery for more detailed photos of each members projects.

Spark Your Story | Scrapbook & Cards Today Winter 2016

The new winter issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine is available. It actually became available in December but it was all December Daily® all-the-time around here. 

In 2016 my column included a traditional layout and a Project Life® spread and a digital download (click here to see all the free downloads from this issue) centered around a story spark. 

Today I'm sharing the full images of my layouts from this article here but invite you to
click over and download your own FREE digital copy of the magazine and read the full article that includes much more about the concept and ideas related to each layout. You can also become a subscriber and have it delivered to your home address (awesome) or pick it up at Barnes & Noble. They have even set it up where you can download just a PDF of my article: Spark Your Story.

Here's a look at the pages I created for this issue with a focus on the theme Love You Because.

I also want to take this chance to say a wholehearted thank you to Scrapbook & Cards Today for the opportunity they have given my to share my stories through their publication and for their wonderful friendship. I've decided to simplify some of my processes for 2017 and won't be contributing to the magazine this year. 

First up, a
Project Life® spread that tells the story of the week of May 23-29, 2016: 

Sometimes when I'm approaching a Project Life® week I like to carry a specific theme through all the stories. For this spread I used the "love you because" word art download and the December Daily® Calendar Stamp Set to create five journal cards where I identified five things I love and wrote a little bit about why. You can see more about those below: 

The small "pieces of my life" circle is from the Me Story Stamp™ (available digitally here).

PL2016 | WK21 | SUPPLIES

Project Life® Design A Page Protectors
Cork Flags from Film Club Documenter Kit
December Daily® Calendar Stamp Set (lines along the bottom of the journal cards)Hero Arts Small Alphabet"Once Upon A Time" card from Read Story Kit™Freckled Fawn Transparent HeartMe Story Stamp™ (available digitally here)Love You Because Free Word Art Download 

And my layout: 

A full page, 12x12 photo is the foundation for my story and the sky became home for a fun collection of circle embellishments. 

LOVE YOU BECAUSE | SUPPLIES

Chipboard Circle from my Me Story Kit™Transparent Circles from past Scout Documenter Kit and Scout Scrapbook KitGold Chipboard Alphabet from Lost River KitGold Chipboard StarsLove You Because Free Word Art Download