Ali Edwards's Blog, page 195

31 More Things | Registration Open

Registration is now open for 31 More Things - the follow-up to 31 Things (which first ran in 2012 and is now available in a self-paced format).

31 More Things begins September 1, 2015 and will run for 31 days (you'll have access after the fact of course as well just as you do with all my other workshops so you can come back to the content at any time). Each day you'll receive an email reminder to click over to the classroom to view the new prompt. Each prompt begins with a single word (plus a couple of phrases this time) to spark a story. Included with the prompt are a daily writing tip, suggestions on how to go deeper, and the encouragement to tell more. Some of the topics include: home, passion, color, cook, paper, and mess. 

I'll be combining these new stories in my original 31 Things 12 inch x 12 inch album. Each story will have a home on a 6 inch x 12 inch page (templates provided in class for either full digital scrapbooking or for writing and printing via journal templates sized to fit) and you can choose to add two together to create a full 12 inch x 12 inch page (that's my plan as you'll see below). You also have the option of simply use the prompts as jumping off points for blog posts, personal journaling, Project Life® inserts, etc.

I know someone will ask if they have to participate every single day. Definitely not - but it's one way to approach the workshop as an opportunity for a daily writing practice. One way to tackle the workshop is to work only on the writing each day and make that the focus during the 31 days, leaving the actual building of the album for the end (or for when you have more time to bring a bunch of pages together). There will be a number of people who do it at their own pace, working their way through the materials as time permits. Do what works best for you - keeping in mid that the way to develop your writing voice is to practice writing.

For those of you who might want to purchase both 31 Things and 31 More Things we have a bundle option available. You can check that out here.  

This time we're also offering a simple kit to go along with the workshop. Included in the kit are 31 grey title strips, 31+ 6-inch strips of washi tape (6 sheets with the same colors and patterns repeated which looks really nice in the album), and a 3 inch x 4 inch alphabet stamp set. 

31 More Things will include the printable strips and digital layered templates and journal templates for Word and Photoshop just like the original 31 Things. 

In addition to the kit I'm using a few strips of pattern paper to go along the bottom this time and some Grey Flannel Memento Luxe Ink. 

I'm currently working my way through the prompts and I'm loving the process of simply responding to each one through the process of finding/taking a photo, writing out the story, and then bringing it together simply with just a few supplies. 

This workshop is an awesome opportunity to focus on practicing your writing skills and is a great way to develop a daily or more regular writing practice. 

31 Things is recommended but not required before taking 31 More Things. 

Let's tell more stories together! Hope to see you in class. 

What Stories Will You Tell?

I've been thinking a whole heck of a lot lately about words.

It's not really something new, but something that keeps popping up as I work through current projects, plan future ones, and think about what matters most to me. 

With Week In The Life™ coming up in the next couple of weeks I thought this would be a good time for a little pep-talk when it comes to including actual words in your projects. Last year one of my main Week In The Life™ goals was to simply include more words. I did just that (mainly by making time at the end of each day to write it all out in the form of a blog post) and I love, love, love the result. I'm planning to include that same emphasis on the words again this year. 

I remember, many years ago, teaching a class to scrapbook retailers at a trade show. The whole "meat" of my presentation was that we, as people working in this scrapbooking/memory keeping industry, need to not only teach people how to work with the products, we need to teach them how to tell stories with words.

Writing your stories transcends products. It transcends trends. It's an activity that lives on long beyond foam stamps (still love) and mists and stickers and layout sizes and owls and pineapples.

You can add words to scrapbook layouts whether you use a ton of product or just a little, whether you use Project Life® or traditional layouts or digital pages or an art journal. There is room for words on your projects. 

I think most of us scrapbook because we have something to say and something to celebrate and something to learn about ourselves in the process. We say it through our photos, through the products we select, through the way we craft stuff together, and through the words we choose.

The thing about writing is it doesn't have to be perfect. Repeat that to yourself again and again. It doesn't have to be grammatically correct. It doesn't have to happen in paragraphs. It simply needs to come from your heart. 

Tell me more. Tell me the reason why. Tell my why this photo is meaningful to you. Tell me something I can't know by looking at the photos. Tell me why you are taking the time to record this moment, this day, this period of time, this photo. Tell me what and who you're thankful for and who makes you laugh best of all.     

Sometimes it might be messy and sometimes it might be pointed and sharp. Sometimes it's conversational and easy. Sometimes it's super clear and other times we might need to work through it a couple times to make our intentions clear. Sometimes it's a list of words, or paragraphs or a single word that encapsulates the whole thing.

I think we're often afraid to put those words down because they are the most personal piece of the combination of elements. We fear judgement, we fear getting it wrong, we fear it not mattering. We leave it to the last thing in our process of memory keeping and then don't do it at all. 

You can do this.

Write how you feel. Write what you love. Write what you see. Write what you hear. Write how you've changed and write how you're still the same. Write about that juicy piece of fruit and Thanksgiving and that awesome bargain you got yesterday. Write about what hurts and what heals. Write using that awesome combination I talk about again and again of both facts & feelings. 

As most of you know, I'm someone who includes both long and short stories in my memory keeping adventures. It's just what I do. But I've also been practicing and embracing and working to simplify and get to the heart of the matter for a long time. I like the balance of the two because sometimes I want to tell a long story and other times I just want to add a bit more beyond what you might see in the photo. 

Truth be told, it's the longer stories paired with a photo or two and an embellishment or two that captivate me most and give me the most long-term happiness.

You can do this.

All that my friends, to encourage you to include a few more words in your projects. Put the words first. Think about your Grandparents or parents or someone you love and imagine what you wish you knew about one week in their lives. Let those details guide you in telling your own story today. Start with an extra sentence or sentiment here and there. Add a list next time. Start with some facts and then add some feelings. For Week In The Life™, tell me the mundane stuff and the stuff that makes your life your life. 

Let's tell stories together. 

Celebrating Memories Of Week In The Life™ | Pepper Creations

Today I'm sharing #WITLmemories from Pepper Creations. 

#WITLmemories is all about sharing the Week In The Life™ love. It's about re-visitng our past projects (to reflect and learn and get inspired), sharing ways of telling the story of our daily lives, and creating a community of people around this popular project to support and encourage one another. 

You're invited to share your own personal favorite 
#WITLmemories via Instagram, Facebook or your blog. What do you love about the project? What do your past albums mean to you now? Feel free to share a link to your blog post in the comments below. 

Here's a look at Pepper's past projects:

MONDAY

Monday 20th October 2014

4pm - We dragged SH along to meet A and WJ at Novena. They went to buy KFC while me and YJ waited for them at the busstop. We took the train and on the train we took lots of selfies and sang songs together. I admire how well WJ and SH can sing :) and hearing them sing makes me feel happy.

6pm At Duke's Bakery, where we sampled alot of bread. Due to SH's influence, I now feel that their bread are really soft and chewy. My favourite ones are yam, potato, hokkaido red bean bun (which I bought eventually).

TUESDAY

Tuesday 21st October 2014

7.30am - Prepared myself to attend the training session. My kind neighbour parents, kindly volunteer to fetch me and J to the MRT station since we both has to attent the session...

12nn Lunch break. Still feeling full from the breakfast, we decide to only order some vege from the vegetarian stall. I wanted to grab a cup of coffee and went to Bravery which is unfortunately closed. So my poor friends have to walk furtherdown with me to CSHH for the coffee, but it's totally worth the walk! 

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday 22 October 2014

1pm - I had lunch and watched "I Hear Your Voice" together with my sister. In every show, I try to learn something. Soo Ha had been through alot, which makes him a mature character. He said this "I accept all of your evil thoughts, in future, no matter which side of you I see, I will never be disappointed. Therefore, you need not hide..." Very sweet indeed .

2pm - Sister's friends came. I started watching photoshop video tutorial on Vimeo. It is very time consuming and I realise I spend the entire day on photoshop tutorial and watching drama and editing photos. Time spent with the computer flies pass so quickly and unknowingly.

THURSDAY

23 October 2014 Thursday

9am - Woke up late and took a quick shower. Changed to an outfit I like and went off to a cafe. Thomson has been a place I frequent since there are direct buses. Going to work in cafes has been a norm for me now. 

FRIDAY

24th October 2014 Friday

10.30am - The last lesson with Dr Ho ended. The 7 of us decided to take a picture with him after the lesson but he was not in his office. Eventually we went off to a cafe to prepare for our Calculus test.

At around 2.30pm SH and JS arrive as well. I enjoyed discussing Maths questions with these people. I also enjoy explaining coffee to them. SH ordered Macchiato and was shocked to be served with a tiny cup with espresso and a little cream on top. I even draw diagram to explain the types of coffee to them. We definitely had lots of fun! 

For more information about Week In The Life™ check out my projects page and pre-order your kit that makes it easy to focus on capturing and celebrating your words and photos with a fun, story-focused intentional embellishments. Week In The Life™ 2015 will begin August 17th if you'd like to record along with me during the same week. If you want to dive even deeper you can also check out my archive of past Week In The Life™ blog posts. 

Project Life® 2015 | Week Nine

Continuing my quest to document our weeks-at-a-glance via Project Life®. Fitting it in here and there. 

Here's a look at Week Nine: 

This week I had fun playing with my Sans Serif Alpha Stamp: 

I like it - definitely one I'll be reaching for again and again. 

The white letter stickers used on the top right photo are included with the OLW Mini Kit that some of you might have picked up at the beginning of the year. We've got more of those available here. 

That fun little metal face clip is from a Freckled Fawn embellishment kit. 

I've also now got some branded pens in my shop - that's the silver one on the photo of Simon. Works awesome on the Epson PictureMate Show paper that comes with the ink cartridges for the printer. 

I like the idea of stamping single words as the title for each journal card and repeating that. Inks used include Color Theory Clean Slate, Memento Luxe Pistachio, and Memento Luxe Danube Blue.

For the journaling I write first and then underline. 

SUPPLIES
AE Sans Serif Alpha StampInks: Color Theory Clean Slate, Memento Luxe Pistachio, Memento Luxe Danube Blue, Memento Luxe Angel PinkDesign A Project Life® Page ProtectorsAE Silver Medium Metallic MarkerRolling Date StampFreckled Fawn Carnival Embellishment KitEpson PictureMate Show Printer

Give Sunday | 30

This year, in honor of my 2015
One Little Word® "give," I'm sharing a hand-drawn quote each Sunday here on my blog.

Click here to read my initial post and download the #givesunday word art title and checklist for helping you to give a little something today. You can also view all the past #givesunday quotes via the archives. 

Click here to download the #givesunday 30 quote. Please note: If you are reading this post via email you need to click through to the actual blog post to download the file. 

You're invited to join me. What will you
give today?

Have a wonderful Sunday. 

Week In The Life™ Kit Video Overview

It's been so great seeing all the 
Week In The Life™ images of people being excited popping up on Instagram (using the hashtag #weekinthelife). I love this project (this is my 10th year I believe) and I'm super excited for it to happen again. In case you missed it I'll be documenting my week starting on August 17th. 

There are still some 
Week In The Life™ kits available for purchase. The pre-order period for this Week In The Life™ kit ends in early August. Don't delay if you want to take advantage of free domestic shipping and $8 international shipping. All kits ordered after the pre-order period will be subject to regular shipping fees. 

Here's a look at what's included with this kit: 

JOIN THE COMMUNITY

We've got two different ways available to chat with others about this project - feel free to join either or both: 

ONE | Please join us in the free Week In The Life™ Community here on my site. We've got a message board and gallery set up for sharing your work and chatting with others as you document and bring your album together. Please remember that the Week In The Life™ Community is not a workshop where you'll be receiving lessons and handouts. I'll be freely sharing my process here on my blog as I collect my photos and words during the week and then I'll share my process for dealing with all that content in the following weeks. 

TWO | In addition to the community here we've started a Week In The Life™ Facebook group. This is an open group that anyone can join to chat and support each other through the process of documenting and creating your project. 

For more information about Week In The Life™ check out my projects page and order your kit that makes it easy to focus on capturing and celebrating your words and photos with a fun, story-focused intentional embellishments. Week In The Life™ 2015 will begin August 17th if you'd like to record along with me during the same week. If you want to dive even deeper you can also check out my archive of past Week In The Life™ blog posts. 

New Mini Class Bundle

Happy Tuesday! Today I'm happy to announce the release of the first of three mini-classes coming to my shop. 

These are the classes I taught in person during the first half of the year and we've adapted them to bring them to you wherever you may be in the world (added presentation and process videos). In addition to purchasing each mini class individually I'm also offering a bundle option for those of you who are interested in purchasing all three - the bundle is $10 less than purchasing all three workshops individually.  

The mini classes are each available for $18 when they go live for sale or 
choose the Bundle option for $44. Mini-classes included in the bundle are Day In The Life™ (now available), Love You Because (coming mid-August), and I Am Tag Book (coming mid-October). You can see a short description and images of each project on the Bundle page here as well as below.  

We've added many of the recommended supplies to my shop for those of you who are interested in using some of the same things (additional supplies are being added for Love You Because and I Am Tag Book as it gets closer to their release dates). You are also always encouraged to substitute what you might already have on hand. 

Here's a look at each of the mini classes:

Day In The Life™ | Over the course of a single day what do you do? Where do you go? What do you eat? Who do you talk to? What time do you get up and what time do you fall asleep? The beauty of this project is in capturing the mundane everyday details. These are the things we often don't pay much attention to. Day In The Life™ is an opportunity to shed light on your routines – the magical part coming after you've done it a few times are actually able to literally see your life through your words and photos. 

Before this workshop you will need to actually document a day in your life. Pick one day and take photos from when you wake up until you fall into bed. Along the way keep notes of times and what’s actually happening. In class we will bring these words and photos together into a 4x4 album. 

Workshop includes a 60-minute presentation, a 30-minute process video showing me working through the album, a 13-page PDF handout with images from two albums (2014 and 2015), message board, and gallery for sharing your projects. Please note: This workshop includes a re-do of this 4x4 album I shared on my blog in 2014. It was re-created to make it applicable for an in-person workshop. In addition to the 2014 album images included in the handout, I took my 2015 Day In The Life™ content and recorded myself putting the album together which became the process video (images are also included in the handout).  

Topics Covered | Everyday life scrapbooking. Not making things more complicated than they need to be. Embracing imperfection. Lessons learned from past Day In The Life™ adventures. Repetition.

Available | Now. Full details here.

Love You Because | When was the last time you wrote out the many reasons, from silly to serious, why you love someone? Often we go through our lives thinking things in our heads - maybe about how much we love some one, or how much they have impacted our lives, or how much you love it when they put their hand on your face just so - and we might just forget to share that information with the person we love (or we might not be able to if they have passed on). In this workshop you will create a 6x8 horizontal mini-album to hold those reasons why.

Topics Covered | Scrapbooking as an opportunity for communicating love. Mini-book design including repetition as a design tool. Working with transparencies and see-through pockets. Not making things more complicated than they need to be.

Available | Mid-August.  

I AM Tag Book | As memory keepers, many of us focus on telling the stories of other people in our lives first and foremost. It’s time to get yourself in the story my friends. Join me for an artistic exploration into who we are right now using “I am” statements and fun mixed media tags.

Topics Covered | Personal storytelling. Stamping. Misting. Painting. Stencils. Embracing imperfection. 

Available | Mid-October. 

These Days Are For | Scrapbook & Cards Today Summer 2015 Article

The Summer issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine is now available and my article this time is all about the concept of "these days are for..." We've updated my column for 2015 and it's now called Spark Your Story and each article includes a specific Story Spark to get your storytelling mojo going.

In this issue my article is focused on using the day of the week or the time of day as the lens through which you detail a story. 

One of the reasons I do Week In The Life™ year after year is to answer the question what are my days for at this time in my life? What are Saturday's for (it's changed from year to year)? What are Monday's for? Meaning, what do we do and where do we go and what's important this year? I used this prompt specifically last year on Saturday and started each portion of my storytelling with the phrase, "Saturdays are for..." You can see my words and photos approach here. 

As you'll see below, this idea is easily translated to similar ideas such as "afternoons are for..." and "On Mondays..."

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 my full article that includes 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). 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: 

Saturdays Are For

Here's the journaling: 

Saturdays are for trips to the library to replenish our basket of books. Simon always wants to check out a movie too - usually one he remembers from when he was a little kid (like Sesame Street). Anna pulls book after book from the shelf until the basket is overflowing and I can barely carry it out. I love it. Saturdays are for taking that big basket home and reading together on the couch. Anna is really starting to be a good reader these days - it's so great to see it all coming together for her. Saturdays are for uninterrupted lego building. Simon can still play legos for hours. Recently he has gotten back into creating stop motion videos with the lego characters. Saturdays are for getting together with friends from near and far. We don't do this enough, but when we do it's really good for all of us. Love having people here for dinner or for the night. Saturdays are for time with the McKercher's. When both Aaron and I "have kids" we often get together at our house or their house for dinner or hang out time. Saturdays are for sometimes going to the movies - it's still one of our favorite things to do together. 

We've now made the These Days Are For digital set into a traditional stamp set. Pick up a stamp set here or the digital set here. 

On Mondays We Begin Again

Here's the journaling:

Mondays are for fresh starts and new beginnings. I love that about Mondays. The starting over, the new chance for an awesome week no matter what came before. Mondays are for back to the routines of work and school and the regular rhythm of the week. Mondays are for next chances. Mondays are for settling back into our jobs. Mondays are for long hugs after school and sometimes movie nights. I love Mondays. 

Letter stickers available here. Life Documented Stamp available here. 

Afternoons Are For

Here's the journaling: 

Afternoons are for horse lessons for Simon at RideAble on Thursdays. // Afternoons are for riding bikes around the cul-de-sac. // Afternoons are for homework and projects for both kids around the table. // Afternoons are for gymnastics for Anna on Tuesday & Thursdays. // Afternoons are for soccer practice for Anna on Tuesday & Thursdays. 

In general, I'm a fan of schedules. I like to have things lined out for all our expectations and plans. That said, I'm not a fan of packed schedules. I like scheduled down/free time when none of us have obligations or practices or work. Right now each kid has 1-2 activities and I try to keep it to one per day usually (even though Anna has two things on T/TH right now). I want them to have time to read and pretend and play and just be along with awesome fun activities. 

Big thanks to Scrapbook & Cards Today for being so great to work with! 

Give Sunday | 29

This year, in honor of my 2015
One Little Word® "give," I'm sharing a hand-drawn quote each Sunday here on my blog.

One of my favorite sites for meaningful life inspiration is Marc & Angel Hack Life. Today's quote came from a tweet a few weeks back and I wrote it out to remember it. So often I write to remember. 

Click here to read my initial post and download the #givesunday word art title and checklist for helping you to give a little something today. You can also view all the past #givesunday quotes via the archives. 

Click here to download the #givesunday 29 quote. Please note: If you are reading this post via email you need to click through to the actual blog post to download the file. 

You're invited to join me. What will you
give today?

Have a wonderful Sunday. 

Project Life® 2015 | Week Eight

I've slowly but surely been making my way through my 2015 Project Life® album. I've included a few spreads/weeks in recent Story classrooms, as well as in the Type workshop, as examples related to the content. 

Making it happen. That's what it's all about. 

Most of these weeks already have some content when I start them - might have photos already printed, might have yellow sticky notes with story reminders, might have journal cards already completed or something else along those lines. The bottom line is usually there's something in the pockets for each week already because I'm adding bits and pieces here and there as life is happening. 

When going back in time I tend to keep it even simpler. Words + photos + some intentional embellishments - okay, that's how I usually like it but it feels even simpler. Maybe that's because I call it "good enough" quicker, knowing there's more to do. Either way, I still love this project and am happy to spend time on these overviews of our weeks. 

Here's a look at Week Eight: 

One thing I've found myself doing when going back a few months is relying some on what I've posted on Instagram to jog my memory of what was happening. It tends to be a combination of that + my personal calendar + my photos. 

New bed = a whole lot of excitement of course. 

Still loving using Anna's artwork for the date cards. 

I did a layout for the Magic Story Kit™ telling the story of our adventure to Toronto. Because I already told the longer story in a traditional layout this can be more highlights/overview (which is how I view this album anyway). 

Love that cork world from Freckled Fawn's Wanderlust Kit.

The gratefulness card + the yellow heart circle on top are both from my Roots Story Kit™ (currently available to begin your subscription at the time of this posting). 

SUPPLIES
Roots Story Kit™Go Story Kit™AM/PM Story Kit™Freckled Fawn Wanderlust KitAE Deschutes Alpha Stickers (Navy) OLW Mini Kit (star stamp)AE Photos Stamp Set ("love this")Rolling Date StampEpson PictureMate Show Printer (for all my 4x6 and smaller images)