Ali Edwards's Blog, page 176

New Story Theme Now Available | Believe

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

Because believing in something is part of what makes the world go round. Because sometimes it’s hard to believe in something better or greater or simpler. Because we believe in so many big and little things over the course of our lives. Because believing in ourselves is so very important. This month we are exploring stories related to the things we believe in and embracing an opportunity to make love visible. 

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 Believe:

And the Believe 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 Believe (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: 

PLEASE NOTE : In the video I mention two sheets of alpha stickers. I made a mistake - each kit includes ONE sheet of alpha stickers. 

And a couple peeks at the layouts I created with the kits this month (
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!

Supply Organization | Breaking Up My Story Kits™

A week or so ago I responded to a question in the Craft The Story™ Facebook group (open to anyone who wants to chat about my products and memory keeping projects) about organizing my past Story Kits™ and I wanted to share them here as well. 

Lately, these are the two things that I'm focusing on in regards to organization: (1) be the boss of my supplies and (2) have less stuff. I'm of the belief that having more stuff doesn't mean I will tell more stories. Telling stories and celebrating life through the combination of words + photos + some fun products is my goal. Too many choices can sometimes be a barrier to actually using the products to get memories documented. I actually go into more detail about this topic in my Storytelling With Project Life® workshop - I'll run that class again next January but if you really want to take it now you can start a conversation with my Customer Service Team now and they can get you set up. 

Each month in the Story Subscription classroom (included with the subscription) I share a couple layouts and a Project Life® spread using the products. When the month is over I've found that breaking up the kits vs. keeping the leftover products in their cute little envelope works the best for me. 

Here's how I'm organizing those products at this time: 

Each month the kit usually includes a sheet of word/phrase stickers and a sheet of chipboard pieces. I store those together in these small wood boxes (Dragan) from Ikea. They can be found in the bathroom organization section and work great for 3x4 and 4x6 cards. 

Having them out and available on my table makes them easy to flip through and incorporate into my projects. 

4x6 cards are kept in the same boxes and labeled with Index Tabs (now available in my shop). I keep all the Story Kit™ cards in one section. Other sections include other journal card sets from my shop + the Everyday Core Kit.  

3x4 cards are stored in the smaller of the two box sizes. One box for the Everyday Core Kit and one for cards from the Story Kits™ and in my shop.

Extras from the kits (chipboard pieces I've punched out but not used, etc) I'm just storing in the lids of the Dragan boxes at this time. Again, if they are sitting on my table like this I'm more likely to grab one of them to add to a spread. 

You might also notice I store my pens laying down. I've found that they last longer and stay in better working order that way. 

The wire basket you see on my table here is from West Elm. 

I store my Story Stamps™ in a yellow container from West Elm (purchased a few years ago on clearance). I'm in the process of labeling the sides of the stamps using the Index Tabs.

These are generally stored in one of the large drawers of my table (also from Ikea and no longer available - it's actually a kitchen island). You can see more about our Office Projects (tables, etc) here. 

I also store my shop stamps on the top of my table (also in a yellow box) in a yellow basket. I'm in the process of labeling all the edges of these stamps too to make them easier to identify. 

How about you? Are you keeping them together or breaking them up? What's working for you right now? 

AE Digital Creative Team | Read Digital Story Kit™

Happy Wednesday! 

Today I'm sharing awesome layouts made by my
Digital Creative Team using the Read Digital Story Kit™. These layouts are seriously some of my favorites - might be the topic at hand or it might be the way the team has such an awesome way of telling their own stories. I'm so excited to share them with you today. 

Also, 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. We'll be updating it a couple times a month.

This month the team is sharing stories they crafted using the Read Digital Story Kit™ which is available for a few more days (last day to start a subscription is the 14th). 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 my 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). 

These projects make my heart so, so happy. 

Brandi Kincaid // I love how Brandi went BIG with the "the next chapter" circle paired with enlarged "four stars" to document her story about the book Matilda. 

Carol Chastain // Carol did awesome layering here that includes a page from a dictionary, a photo of the books she's reading now, journaling on vellum with "currently reading" stamped on top, a library pocket that holds a printed journal card, and a paper clip with the word books and additional stars underneath. So fun. 

Emma Speller // Emma used "the beginning" + "the middle" + "the end" to document a story about some updates they were making to her house. Love that idea. 

Celine Navarro // Going big for the win. I love the paint splatters too. 

Jen Carlson // Jen used the kit to document what she's reading right now. 

Kelsey McEvoy // Not all stories have to be long and involved. I love this one from Kelsey where she highlighted some reading numbers from last summer. 

Jen Schow (see more photos and a process video here) // This is an awesome interactive layout from Jen about her passion for the Harry Potter series. Yes. Yes. Yes. 

Hope you all have a great rest of the week! 

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

Interested in learning more about working with digtal scrapbooking products? Check out my free series on Getting Started With Digital Scrapbooking here. 

Check out all my digital/printable scrapbooking supplies here

June Digital Release

Happy June!

In February we announced that we were changing up the way we release digital products from weekly to monthly. This month we are releasing 6 brand new products geared towards Summer, reading/books and the digital versions of the past few months of Story Stamps™. We've also brought back over 25 Classic AE 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
June Digital Release. We also created a new 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 MAY

Read Messy Circles Filled
Summer Messy Circles Filled
Book Journal Cards
Summer Memories Journal Cards
Read Digital Story Stamp™
Wild Digital Story Stamp™

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

CLASSIC AE

We have over 25 new
Classic AE products in the shop this month focusing on Summer, Father's Day, journal cards, and everyday memory keeping products.

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

Say Hello To Crafter's Inks

For the last year or so we've been working on a set of inks that are to my liking. I'm excited to announce that it's happened and we are now ready to share them with you. 

We're calling them Crafter's Inks and they are similar to pigment inks in terms of consistency and stamping style (a "wetter" ink). I've recorded a couple videos to share with you below so you can see how they stamp on cardstock and how they stamp on the Epson photo paper I use here at home with the Epson PictureMate PM400 printer. 

The first bundle of five colors are now available for preorder and will ship in late June (your credit card will be charged at the time the ink bundle ships). Once the shipment arrives we will also begin offering the ink pads individually. Ink bundles ships for free domestically and $4 international. 

Also, to celebrate the release of these new inks we are also offering free domestic shipping & $5 flat rate international shipping on all my stamps through the month of June. 

Here's a 6-minute overview about working with these new inks: 

Stamps featured in the video above include Love, Stories of Life, and Sans-Serif Alpha.

And here's a video that talks about stamping with these inks on photos: 

Ali Edwards Design Inc | Crafter's Inks On Photos from Ali Edwards on Vimeo.

Stamps featured in this photo include Seasons, Beach, and Travel. 

Stamp featured in the image above is Love. 

Thanks for the enthusiasm related to these new inks and I look forward to seeing how you guys use them in your projects!

Week In The Life™ 2016 | Completed Album Overview & Final Thoughts

We've reached the end of another Week In The Life™ adventure. 

Some of you are finished, some are finishing, some are in-progress, some have piles, some ordered photos, some are just starting, and some of you are still thinking about starting it someday. No matter where you are in this project I hope you are enjoying it. I hope you are embracing the life you are living right now. I hope that by bringing all the pieces together you are able to celebrate all the good stuff that is vs. wishing for something that isn't. 

There is always so much more to these projects than what you might see on the surface. 

FINAL THOUGHTS

As I wrap up my participation for 2016 here are a few thoughts: 

I can't wait to see what life looks like next year. I'll be doing it around the same time - maybe a bit earlier - but still sometime in the spring. It's a nice time of year for me that's away from December Daily®. Next year Simon will be in high school - that in and of itself will change a whole bunch of things around here (driving, activities, etc). Sometimes the changes from year to year are small and sometimes they are huge - sometimes you know what's coming and other times it takes your breath away. 
I was so happy with the thicker album spine this year. Definitely the right size for this project. I'm still loving the 6x8 size. 
Repetition continues to be one of my most favorite things. This isn't new, as most of you know, but it takes so much thought out of bringing these projects together. I don't have to re-think every single page. I establish a format and I follow it. I hit on that topic again in the video below. I really loved seeing all the sharing this year surrounding this project, particularly on the Facebook group. I love how it motivates people to keep going and I love the sharing of ideas and inspiration from around the world. I've found a decent rhythm for myself with this project that feels now like an old friend. This was my 10th year (if I remember correctly) embarking on this project and there are truly crazy and wonderful things captured in the pages of these albums. I hope you find a similar rhythm in your own project. Next year I'd like to put some kind of workshop together that reviews past albums similar to Storytelling With December Daily® that highlights in a more concrete way the processes, tips, etc that I've gathered over the years. There is so much to learn just from going back and re-examining past projects. 

You can see all my 2016 posts about Week In The Life™ via my archives here. 

Thank you again for being part of this storytelling and memory keeping community!

Week In The Life™ 2016 | Sunday In Album

Finishing up the review of my daily content within my Week In The Life™ album today with a look at Sunday. 

Tomorrow I'll share a full video overview and some final thoughts on finishing up this project. 

Here's how Sunday looks in my album: 

Coffee + paper in bed for the win. That is not a regular thing around here but I love the idea of it. 

As my stories got shorter, my handwritten text got bigger. And Costco on a Sunday - no idea what I was thinking (except that it's easier to go when the kids aren't here and the timing worked out to go with Aaron). 

Again, just like Saturday, I have a 4x6 for journaling + the gold-foil daily card that was able to fit inside the pockets because I had less photos. 

I wrote around the "life is full of adventure" card for a little personalization. 

Super thankful to be wrapping this project up again for this year. I love doing it and then I love putting it away and getting back to my regular projects. I spent some time the other day printing out photos for the last few weeks of Project Life® so I'm excited to get going on that one as well. 

As I mentioned above, tomorrow I'll share a video walk-through and a few final thoughts. 

SUPPLIES
Week In The Life™ 2016 Kit + AlbumWeek In The Life™ 6x8 Layered Templates Vol. 3Days Of The Week Chipboard DividersDays Of The Week Stamp SetAvery Index TabsRed Line Tape 1/4 InchTiny AttacherAED SlickWriter PenGold Chipboard ShapesPast Story Kit™ Word/Phrase Stickers (some are currently available for a limited time/while supplies last via the Stories Revisited sale )1.5 inch Circle PunchCrop-A-Dile

Week In The Life™ 2016 | Saturday In Album

I want to take a minute again today to say thank you for being part of Week In The Life™. It's just one of those projects that is so fun to work on with a community of like-minded memory keepers who all have their own lives and stories to share from around the world. 

Here's a look at my Saturday: 

On weekends when the kids are with Chris I often do a bit of work that helps me have more kid-time flexibility when they are here with me. 

Most years I include a lot more photos of food. This time I had very few - no particular reason just didn't end up taking a lot of photos of what I was eating. I'll probably put that in my notes for next year because I usually enjoy looking back on what's different and the same in terms of what I'm eating. 

Because I had less photos on Saturday and Sunday I changed up the daily gold-foil card + the journaling page. Each of those was able to have it's own home within one of the 4x6 pockets in the page protector. The stamp "the story" is from the 2016 kit. That's really the biggest difference with my weekday and weekend pages. 

As I previously mentioned, these couch photos this year were my favorite. All kinds of stories can be told about who and what and when related to that couch. I think that's one of the things I love about doing this project - seeing themes emerge like that - and giving myself the opportunity to actively look for them during the process (either while taking the photos or while reviewing them at the end). 

That guy is so great. Big, awesome heart. 

SUPPLIES
Week In The Life™ 2016 Kit + Album Week In The Life™ 6x8 Layered Templates Vol. 3 Days Of The Week Chipboard Dividers Days Of The Week Stamp Set Avery Index Tabs Red Line Tape 1/4 Inch Tiny Attacher AED SlickWriter Pen Gold Chipboard Shapes Past Story Kit™ Word/Phrase Stickers (some are currently available for a limited time/while supplies last via the Stories Revisited sale ) 1.5 inch Circle Punch Crop-A-Dile

Week In The Life™ 2016 | Friday In Album

After doing this project year after year I've come to peace with the fact that I often have less words and photos as the week goes along. Part of that is a bit of burnout by the end and part of it is just the change in routine from weekdays to weekends. 

This year is no exception but it worked out just fine and I still had enough words + photos to fill the pockets.

Here's a look at my Friday: 

I do love that this week was the week that my peonies started blooming. I love that I was able to capture that story mixed in with the other pieces of my life (the "whole" concept again). 

Friday's have started getting a little more relaxed around here. I usually work 1/2 - 3/4 of the day and give myself some space to do something else that's not work related (at least that is part of my self-care goals for myself). It might be going to an early movie, it might be working outside (I enjoy), it might be getting together with friends - something that contributes to getting a life (and fully living the length and the width). 

This Friday included work + laundry + flower picking + time at the pool with Aaron & the kids. My favorite kind of day. 

That big peony photo fit just right under my journaling. 

On this day, when the kids were with Chris, I intentionally took photos of their rooms as they are right now. 

Adding just the simple chipboard embellishment right to the middle of the photos felt like just enough. 

Again, cutting up the journal cards worked really well for me this time in terms of creating more small word-based embellishments to add to my photos. 

Hope you are having a great weekend!

SUPPLIES

Week In The Life™ 2016 Kit + Album
Week In The Life™ 6x8 Layered Templates Vol. 3
Days Of The Week Chipboard Dividers
Days Of The Week Stamp Set
Avery Index Tabs
Red Line Tape 1/4 Inch
Tiny Attacher
AED SlickWriter Pen
Gold Chipboard Shapes
Past Story Kit™ Word/Phrase Stickers (some are currently available for a limited time/while supplies last via the Stories Revisited sale )
1.5 inch Circle Punch
Crop-A-Dile

Week In The Life™ 2016 | Thursday In Album

Happy weekend! 

I'm hoping that sharing these days individually are helpful as you bring your own words and photos together into your own album. I follow the same structure from day to day which makes it super simple to get done (well at least it limits some of the choices I have to make along the way). 

Here's a look at Thursday from my 2016 Week In The Life™ album:

I made sure to get some photos of the cats during the week. They are inside and outside and have ridiculous personalities. Thankful for both of them. 

My goal this year, by picking a week that my kids were gone 1/2 of the time, was to document more of the "whole" of my life. I didn't record every single detail, but I feel pretty decent about what I did document. 

Added a photo to the back of the journaling page to cover up the blank space. Used a circle punch to punch out the "awesome memory" messy circle from one of the journal cards. 

Words written directly on the photos of cats in the office. When I'm picking photos to include in the album (I don't include every single picture) I often look for themes or similarities or images I can bring together that tells a story within the story of the week. 

I added the "6" here as a nod to our 6pm girl's night gathering. 

Hope you have an awesome weekend and a chance to work on your album if that's your wish!

SUPPLIES Week In The Life™ 2016 Kit + AlbumWeek In The Life™ 6x8 Layered Templates Vol. 3Days Of The Week Chipboard DividersDays Of The Week Stamp SetAvery Index TabsRed Line Tape 1/4 InchTiny AttacherAED SlickWriter PenGold Chipboard ShapesPast Story Kit™ Word/Phrase Stickers (some are currently available for a limited time/while supplies last via the Stories Revisited sale )1.5 inch Circle PunchCrop-A-Dile