Ali Edwards's Blog, page 181

March Digital Release | Day In The Life™ And More

Happy March! 
Last month we announced that we were changing up the way we release digital products from weekly to monthly. Over the last two days Katie has added 20 new products along with 30 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). 

Click here to see all products added as part of the 
March Digital Release. More details below:

NEW PRODUCT BREAKDOWN

New digital products this month focus on:

Day In The Life™:  digital version of the mini kit, a 4x6 layered template set, a 6x12 layered template set, and Day In The Life™ Circles Easter : word art Travel : word art 5 past Digital Story Stamp™ sets : Black & White, Craft, Heart, Old & New, and Sparks Journal Card Sets : Celebrate, Gratitude, This & That (these are all available as printed versions  here )

I'm working on a new tutorial to walk you through working with the new Day In The Life™ templates and hope to share that soon. 

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 30 new
Classic AE products in the shop this month focusing on Winter/Spring, Easter, travel, everyday memory-keeping, as well as previously released Day In The Life™ Layered Templates. 

Here's a layout I made a couple years ago using the 
Easter Blessings 3x4 Journal Cards (printed out and used on a paper layout): 

You can read a blog post about the process of making this layout 
here.

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

Project Life® 2016 | Week Seven

One of the things I love about this project is the opportunity to include the voices of other people who are important to me. This week I've included a couple of text messages from Chris and the kids + a note Anna wrote to Aaron + some math practice Anna did while we were at a restaurant. I am intentionally on the lookout for those kinds of micro-stories to include in my weeks. 

Here's a closer look at Week Seven: 

In terms of design this week one of the things I did after I had all my photos and most of the 3x4 cards/stories in place I used circle journal stickers from Freckled Fawn on top of three photos. It's a way to link the whole spread together + get more words on the page. 

As many of you have heard me say recently in the Storytelling With Project Life® workshop, I also really want to make sure I'm including "stuff of life" in this project. This week I cut up part of some Shopkins packaging and added it to a pocket. 

"Together" is from my AED Celebrate Journal Card Set. The SC Mega Date Stamp was used to get the dates onto the card (click Notify Me to be sent an email when it's back in stock).

To include the text message from Chris I did a screenshot on my computer (you can do it on your phone too) and then I added the "notes" card from the Everyday core kit to the top (cut in half and added to the top and the bottom).

The "Wednesday" card is from the Hello Today Journal Card Set.

The "ampersand" card was included with the Black & White Story Kit™ - I simply wrote "work" over and over again because that's a lot of what was happening. 

The "movies" red puffy stickers are from the SC Savannah Scrapbook Kit. 

SUPPLIESProject Life® Design A Page ProtectorsEveryday Core KitAED Celebrate Journal Card SetAED Hello Today Journal Card SetBlack & White Story Kit™SC Savannah Scrapbook Kit (Red Puffy Letter Stickers + Small Grey Phrase Stickers)Freckled Fawn Embellishment Kit (Circle Label Stickers)AED SlickWriter PenSC Mega Date Stamp (click Notify Me to be sent an email when it's back in stock)

Week In The Life™ 2016 | Kit Now Available For Pre-order

The 2016 Week In The Life™ kit is now available for pre-order. 

A seven-day documentary project, Week In The Life™ began in 2005 as an annual opportunity to capture the simple everyday details of life with photos and words. The albums I've created are some of my most treasured in that they are wonderfully true representations of my family's life at a particular point in time. From the mundane to the profound, it's those simple little everyday moments that I treasure most.

This year I'll be documenting a week in my life in early May. You are welcome to do this project any time or join me in May. I'll be sharing my documentation process and how I work with the kit after my week here on my blog as usual. Kit pre-orders will ship the first week in April.

For support and fun and sharing during this project you're invited to join my free Week In The Life ™ Community here on my website and/or the Week In The Life™ Facebook Group. 

Here's a look at the 2016 kit: 

I love this kit. 

Printed chipboard circles + black chipboard alpha (includes two of each letter) + gold-foil Day of the Week 4x6 cards + 31, 3x4 journal cards (one-sided) + a 3x4 stamp set + wood veneer numbers + rubber rectangle words + acrylic hearts + word/phrase stickers + time washi tape + large plastic day of the week letters. Yes. 

When you choose a kit you have the option of either a black album with a gold label or a printed "stories" album: 

I'm honestly not sure which album I'm going to use yet. As you'll see in the video walk-through below, we sized the black chipboard alpha to fit perfectly on the label on the front of the black album to add an initial for you or your family's name. 

These albums have a 2.5 inch spine. This is larger than the Week In The Life™ album spine last year (this album is the same width as the 2015 December Daily® albums). 

Included with the kit are enough page protectors (24) to follow along with my personal plan for the album. 

If you'd like to order more page protectors those are also available in a variety of designs to add to your box during the pre-order period. 

In addition, while supplies last (or until the pre-order period ends on March 31) you'll receive these chipboard day of the week dividers free with your kit. 

Here's a video walkthrough of the 2016 kit: 

In addition to the kit we've curated a selection of other products you can add to your box during the pre-order period. 

Included with the options are three new stamp sets: 

You can add anything to your box from the Week In The Life™ Pre-Order page between now and March 31st. After that we'll pack it all up and ship it out to you starting the first week ion April. Free shipping for domestic orders. $10 flat rate for international shipping.

New digital layered templates for Week In The Life™  and a digital set of the cards & stamp from this kit will be available closer to May.

Hope you guys have an awesome weekend!

Project Life® 2016 | Week Six

For Week Six in Project Life® 2016 I used cards created with the optional Storytelling Class Kit for my Project Life® workshop along with a few other supplies. The kit is sold out + will not be restocked but the stamp will be available later this year. We also have a digital set of the cards + stamps available here.  

Here's a look at my Week Six: 

In the Storytelling With Project Life® classroom this week I shared my complete process for this spread which included creating all the cards first (cutting many of them up to make homes for stories), stamping the days of the week, and then writing something on each one each day of the week. I love the concept of breaking up the different tasks and having all the "crafty" parts done and all I had to do was add the words and print my photos during the week. 

I also included a 6x8 insert this week to celebrate Anna's birthday. I stamped "birthday" using my Birthday Stamp Set on top of a card from my Celebrate Journal Card Set. I also used that stamp set to stamp "birthday goodness" inside the 2-inch Avery Index tab. 

That #7 tag is from an old Studio Calico set or kit which I don't think is available any more. 

On the back of the insert I included a photo (cut into 2) of her gift list (for sending thank you notes) + the back of the Celebrate card + I cut up one of her personalized cards and wrote her a short note about how awesome she is and how thankful I am to have her in my life. I ordered those personalized cards from Minted (Sanibel Island stripes children's stationery) to encourage the fine art of letter writing and thank-you-noting.

The "everyday story" title card was included in the Spark Story Kit™. 

One thing you might notice about this week is I didn't add any embellishments to my photos. I felt like I had enough going on in my middle row of 3x4 cards + the insert to call it good. Actually, I really love those photos without anything else on them. 

My goal this week, after putting all the cards together, was simply to write down some basic facts on each day. 

I seriously love how this week turned out and I will totally use this approach again another time. 

And in case you are wondering, I write on those journal cards first and then underline them. 

Hope you have  great week! 

SUPPLIESAED Birthday Stamp SetAED Celebrate Journal Card SetTiny Attacher Stapler6x8 Page ProtectorAED Precision PenBlack StazOn InkEpson PM400 Printer (for anything 5x7 and smaller)2-Inch Avery Index TabsSpark Story Kit™

AE Digital Creative Team | February Inspiration

Today I'm super happy to be sharing an awesome collection of projects with you put together by my 
Digital Creative Team.

What I've told this team to do is
make what they want to make and tell the stories they want to tell in the ways which are most authentic to them. I want my products to be purposeful and support their stories or be jumping off points to tell one story or another. These are their stories and their ideas and their reflections on their own lives. I so love reading their words and I'm very thankful to have them here as part of this team. 

I also want to let you know that we are starting the process of loading these projects into the new 
Creative Team Gallery which will allow you to view them all in one place vs. just here on the blog. 

Below you will find samples of projects using the 
February release of digital products. You can read more about how I'm changing up how I release my digital products here. 

Click the links below to visit the designer's blog and/or check out the product links. Most of these projects are hybrid - meaning that the designers are printing out the digital products to use in their projects. 

Brandi Kincaid | Brandi used Encouragement Bubbles and Thick Valentines on her first project. Brandi also made this 4x4 mini album using Messy Love Circles which you can read more about in this post.

Carol Chastain | Carol used Encouragement Bubbles on her first project and Thick Valentines and Messy Love Circles on her second project.

Emma Speller | Emma used Encouragement Bubbles, Messy Love Circles and  Encouragement Journal Cards.

Ginny Hughes | Ginny used Encouragement Bubbles , and a design from the Encouragement Journal Cards on her first project and  Thick Valentines and the Heart This 8.5 Layered Template (watercolored the heart shapes) on her second project.

Ingunn Markiewicz | Ingunn used Enoucragement Bubbles on her first project and Valentine Hearts and Encouragement Journal Cards on her second project. 

Jen Carlson | Jen used the Heart This 8.5x11 Layered Template in her first project and the Valentine Hearts and Journal Cards in her second project 

Kelsey McEvoy | Kelsey used Messy Love Circles , Valentine Hearts and Encouragement Bubbles.

Pam Baldwin | Pam used Encouragement Bubbles as well as Thicker Days on her first project and Valentine Journal Cards on her second project.

Sarah Zayas | Sarah used Messy Love Circles, and Encouragement Journal Cards on her first project and Valentine Hearts and Thick Valentines on her tag project.

Sasha Farina | Sasha used Thick Valentines on her first project and a design from the Valentine Journal Cards on her second project. She also used the Classic AE product You.

Jen Schow | Jen used an enlarged design from Encouragement Journal Cards on her first project and Messy Love Circles and Thick Valentines on her second project

Jen also put together a
video tutorial on how to color the Messy Love Circles like she did in her second layout. 

Celine Navarro | Celine used one side of the Heart This 8.5x11 Layered Template

Project Life® 2016 | Week Five

Trucking-along with Project Life® this year with a renewed passion - not that it ever really went away completely but it wasn't my main project for a variety of reasons. So far it feels different in very good ways and I'm super thankful for that. I'm seriously so happy to be doing this and to be making it happen each week by keeping it simple and making it a priority. And, as I mentioned in the Storytelling With Project Life® class this week, "taking it down a notch" with my own personal expectations and just filling in the pockets is really helping me tell my stories each week. 

Here's a look at Week Five: 

First half of the week features a drawing from Anna + a photo of coming home from Disney + a photo of my feet on one of my close-to-daily walks (my OLW practice for this month) + a picture of a spread in Anna's journal + a McDonald's bag + a random note to remind myself to order cupcakes for Anna's birthday party + two micro-stories (one that talks about my walking practice this month and one that captures something I said to Simon). 

Chipboard embellishments are still my favorite. This one is included with the Craft Story Kit™ this month. 

Anna got this really fun activity book for Christmas: Tear Up This Book. She filled this all out on her own and when Katie and I started reading we were laughing so hard. So awesome Anna. I so love best-guess spelling. (PS - her favorite comic book is The Boy Who Cried Ninja.)

This is the perfect thing, in my humble opinion, to add to Project Life®. 

The second half of the week features another walking feet photo + a photo of Anna and me and our polka dot clothes + a photo of Anna's school auction + a photo from Anna's birthday party. 

On the "So Thankful For All These Good Times" card (from my Gratitude Journal Card Set) I used the day of the week stamps from the Storytelling Class Kit to document a couple facts about the weekend events (the stamp set will be available on it's own later in the year). You can grab the digital version of that stamp set (and the journal cards) here. 

I used one of my AED Silver Metallic Markers and an AED Precision Pen to write directly on my photos. 

The Mumford quote cards included in the Craft Story Kit™ this month. 

SUPPLIESAED Silver Metallic MarkerAED Precision PenAED Journal Card Set: Gratitude (so thankful for all these good times)Craft Story Kit™Past Story Kit™ Chipboard PiecesEveryday Project Life® Core KitFreckled Fawn White "Fun" (from Woodland)Lollipop Guild Scrapbook Kit (black "party" word)

Day In The Life™ 2016 | Mark Your Calendar For March 29th

One of the projects I plan to continue this year is Day In The Life™. 

One single day of in-depth documentation, Day In The Life™ is an awesome opportunity to record your right now - from the time you wake up until the time your head hits the pillow. What do you do, where do you go, who do you see, what's important to you, what are you eating, what are you saying, etc?  

My completed Day In The Life™ projects have come together in a variety of different ways including monthly in Project Life®(did this for about six months in 2014), in minibooks, on traditional layouts, etc. For this next one I'm planning to use pocket pages and most likely include it as an insert in my Project Life® album. 

This year I'm hoping to do quarterly Day In The Life™ projects - with the first date scheduled for Tuesday, March 29th (other dates throughout the year will be announced as we get closer to them). 

What I love about Day In The Life™: 

The invitation to use my "big" camera for the day. It's simply a fun photo project that encourages taking more photos than I usually do on any given day and I always end up with some photos I really love that tell the story of my life right now. 
It tells the complete story of just one day. In Project Life® I'm most often aiming for an overview of the week so I don't capture all the details of every single day (that would be way too much). Day In The Life™ gives me the chance to capture more of a single day: routines, things said, how much time I spend doing this or that, etc. 

There's nothing you need to sign up for - just mark your calendar and I'll post more ideas as we get closer to the actual day in March. 

Check out my archive of past Day In The Life™ documentation here. I also have a Day In The Life™ Mini Class available as well if you are interested in learning more about how I've approached this project in the past and seeing the step-by-step for a simple 4x4 album. 

DAY IN THE LIFE™ MINI KIT

To help you with your intentional storytelling for Day In The Life™ I've put together a small kit of supplies that is available now: 

In addition to the 3x4 & 4x6 cards and the chipboard circles, this kit includes something that I'm super excited about - a rolling time stamp. This is a product I've wanted to find/offer/create for a very long time and I'm super excited to have it to use to document the times of day for this and other memory keeping projects:

Here's a short video overview of what's included in the Day In The Life™ Mini Kit: 

We will be offering a digital version of this set with the cards + circles at the beginning of March. 

WEEK IN THE LIFE™ | COMING SOON

I also want to let you know that the pre-order for the 2016 Week In The Life™ kit will be coming soon. I'll be documenting my week in May 2016. More details to come. 

New Story Theme Now Available | Craft

Just a note as I start sharing the new theme this month to say thank you for all the enthusiasm and sharing that has happened since these kits began. 

The kits + the classroom content + the community are doing just what I hoped they would do - keeping my own love of storytelling and memory keeping alive & giving you guys the tools and supplies to inspire you to tell the stories of your life one layout, one pocket, one journal entry at a time. Thank you for giving me the chance to do what I get to do. 

The theme this month is near and dear to me and will probably resonate with you too: Craft.

Craft the story. Craft a photo. Craft your life. Get crafty. Making stuff. Crafter’s gonna craft. Embrace your craft. Craft it up. Crafted by hand. Crafting a life I love. 

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 Craft:

And the Craft 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 Craft (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: 

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!

Big Love Minibook | Brandi Kincaid

Seeing the stories people tell with my products is something I sincerely enjoy. 

Creative Team member Brandi Kincaid shared this awesome little mini-album which is for her husband - a "guide to her many faces; reference only" - a super fun and clever little gift. 

Brandi's minibook is built using rings and a red acrylic cover from Jamaica Makes. Added to the cover she used a Silhouette to cut out "big love" from my Thick Valentines word art set. You can watch a tutorial on how to open, trace and cut my PNG files using the Silhouette Studio Software  here. 

Here's a few pages from the inside of her project that include products from my Heart Story Kit™ and Messy Love Circles: 

I love the simple addition of her handwriting as an intro to the album paired with the Studio Calico Mega Date Stamp.

Brandi's formula for this minibook includes a photo of herself on the left and a printed Messy Love Circles (recolored before printing in Photoshop) on the left. 

The circle is attached with a brad in the top to create a "turn-up" cover for her journaling. Such a fun way to create an interactive cover-up. See below: 

Brandi's photos were taken using an Fujifilm Instax Camera. You can also print this style of photo from your phone using a Fujifilm Instax Share Printer. 

Chipboard pieces are from the Heart Story Kit™ (available via subscription until this Sunday, February 14th).

I love the playfulness. I love little books like this that you can hold in your hands. This would be awesome to make for a child too.

She also created a flip out of the little Instax photos - using washi tape to hold it together on the other side (I think :)). She'll let me know if it was something different. 

Thanks for sharing with us Brandi! 

Hope you have a great weekend!

Project Life® 2016 | Week Four (And Last Call For Storytelling With Project Life® Workshop)

Welcome to Project Life® 2016 | Week Four. 

Today is the last call for my Storytelling With Project Life® workshop (class started on 2/2/16 and the second week of content went live today - registration will close tonight 2/9/16 ). This workshop will likely run again next year but please remember that all my classes include "ongoing" access as long as my site is up and running (which simply means that there isn't a time limit for how long you can access the content). You can absolutely go at your own pace. Week Two includes a full process video for the layout I'm sharing today + a second process video for a spread from 2014 (I walk you though my process for going back in and filling the pockets of my past Project Life® albums). 

Also, in other news, I recently started a Craft The Story™ With Ali Edwards Facebook Group which is open to anyone interested in memory keeping and connecting with like-minded people and sharing what you are making with my products and classes. You don't have to be a subscriber or a workshop student to participate. Come chat with us!

Here's a look at my story for Week Four: 

Week Four, as you can see, included our "surprise" Disney trip. 

Because of that I included a couple of 6x12 inserts - one for more 4x6 photos and one for a 6x12 enlargement on one side and my journaling from this post on the other side. 

Write it. Blog it. Copy it. Paste it. Print it. Stick it in a pocket. That's how those longer stories get told. 

The green acrylic "story" is from an embellishment kit from Freckled Fawn. I adhered it just using some rolling adhesive onto a 4x6 card from the Project Life® Everyday Core Kit. The giant date stamp is the Mega Date Stamp from Studio Calico. It's currently sold out but if you click on the "Notify Me" button they'll send you an email when it's back in stock. 

Little stories add up to one bigger story later on - I'm saying that a lot in the workshop because it's true. First two journal cards here from my This And That set paired with one from the Everyday Core Kit.  "So Totally Awesome" is the back of a journal card from the previous week and is available with my Celebrate journal card set. 

The little "Super" banner was an embellishment from my Cheer Story Kit™ - it fit just right on this trimmed down journal card that became a home for a short little note to Anna. 

To hold a bunch of the tickets, cards, etc from our Disneyland adventure I punched holes in one of the envelopes that you get each month with the Story Kit™. 

I created an additional home for some journaling by making a flip up card using a cute speech bubble card from Jennifer McGuire's Share Handmade Kindness Challenge.  I used my Stories Washi Tape to attach it to my photo - the flip-up part lives outside the page protector. 

To hold a bunch of small photos of Anna with Disney Characters I used one of Simple Stories SNAP Photo Booklets - these are super cool and they fit right into the page protectors. I adapted it a bit - removing a few of the interior pocket pages + cutting the front piece halfway down to be able to see the first photo + adding some of the word/phrase perforated strips from the Magic Story Kit™ right on top. I also stamped "super love this story" from my Stories Stamp Set right at the top of the tab. 

The package of Simple Stories SNAP Photo Booklets includes both one that fits in a 4x6 pocket and this smaller one. 

Hope you are having a great week!

SUPPLIES | 2016 WEEK FOUR AED Stamp Sets | Stories, Thanks, Just Thankful, PhotosAED Journal Cards | CelebrateAED Journal Card Set | This And ThatAED Stories Stamp SetBlack StazOn InkAED Stories Washi TapeSimple Stories SNAP Photo BookletsProject Life® 6x12 Page Protector | One Pocket, Three PocketsAvery 2-Inch Index TabsStudio Calico Mega Date StampProject Life® Everyday Core KitMagic Story Kit™Go Story Kit™Heart Story Kit™AED Precision PenAED SlickWriter PenRolling Date StampFreckled Fawn "story" acrylic word