Ali Edwards's Blog, page 202

Give Sunday | 10

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

I was re-introduced to this quote this past week when someone (thanks Barb) linked to an article via my Facebook page. The phrase listen to your life has been on my mind and heart a lot lately - I included it as one part of my presentation in Story Community (for Story Kit™ and Story Stamp™ subscribers) about the ways in which we find/identify magic in our lives. And it's something I'm always trying to do around here - listening for what is needed for each one of us in my family in this season. 

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 10 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. 

7AM and 7PM

In this month's Story Subscription classroom I invited everyone to document their 7AM and 7PM on March 10th with a couple photos and some words. 

Nothing intense, nothing overly involved - simple and easy. Set your timer, snap a photo, jot down a few words. Real life my friends. 

At 7AM I was already working in my office. My kids were sleeping in because we had a 9AM dentist appointment. After reading The Fringe Hours recently I've really been thinking about how I use little pockets of time. I used that morning time to get my Project Life® spread done that I posted yesterday. 

At 7PM I was helping Anna with her homework. I noted in the journaling that it's easy to help her because she is so excited to be learning and to be showing me what she's learning. Simon was taking a bath during this time. 

Here's the layout I ended up creating with my content: 

This one seemed tough to get the colors right when I photographed it, but I think you get the idea. 

Here's a run down of the process: 

I started with a blank piece of white cardstock (8.5 x 11) and I added just a bit of Heidi Swapp Color Shine spray ink to the top and the bottom (Mint and Mustard).  I cropped and paired each of my photos with the tranasparnet 7AM and 7PM cards (included with the AM/PM Story Kit™) and adhered them onto another piece of white cardstock that I used as a mat and home for the photos and journaling. Where the photos and the transparent squares meet I layered the "day/night" chipboard diamond and the "this is life/hello everyday" chipboard phrase strip.  Below I added "the story of this morning" and "the story of this evening" stamps along with my simple journaling about what was happening around here at those times.  A little strip of star vellum from Crate Paper peeks out from the bottom and I ran the whole thing through my sewing machine to add a stitched border around the main content.  I finished it off by stamping the date in red ink along the top edge.

Big thanks to those of you who played along. Also a big thank you to those of you who have decided to subscribe to either/and the Story Stamps™ or the Story Kits™ - I appreciate you and hope that it's working to help you get more of your stories told!

The AM/PM Story Kit™ and Story Stamp™ is available for just a few more days before the new theme is released on the 15th.

Project Life® 2015 | Week Six

Have I mentioned how freeing it is that I'm not thinking one little bit about whether the corners are round or square? 

It's awesome. 

A quick reminder that the AM/PM Story Kit™ and Story Stamp™ are available for just a few more days if you were hoping to begin a subscription with that theme. The next theme coming up on March 15th is Magic. 

Sharing a look at my 2015 Week Six: 

This was Anna's birthday week so I included a 6x12 insert to hold additional journal cards (printed text) and photos. It was also the weekend that Aaron and I camped in my car at Washburne State Park. I'm adding just 1-2 photos of that here as I'm creating a layout with many more of them and my journaling from this post using the next Story Kit™. 

Let's take a close-up look at the birthday insert first: 

For Anna's birthday story I took journaling directly from this post. I can't tell you enough how much I like writing up those stories, posting them here, and then being able to add those stories to layouts or to Project Life®. Separating the tasks of writing and crafting results in longer stories being told. 

Here's a look at the front and the back of the 6x12 insert: 

That black and white dot card at the top was included with the Cirque Project Life Kit. There was a circle printed on the design (that I think said February) as well but I decided to use a circle punch to cut the photo of Anna blowing out the candles and adhere that on top. 

For the journaling I spilt up the words onto 2, 4x6 cards and printed on photo paper. Right at the top of the first card I stamped a phrase from my Birthday Stamp Set. 

On the back side of the insert I included three more photos - one with a bit of writing directly on the photo. 

The white letter stickers you see throughout this post are from the Cirque Project Life Kit. I also have a similar sets available in my shop here. 

Here's a look at the spread again with the insert turned: 

I really like taking one product from a kit - in this case the letter stickers - and spreading them across the week. 

The left side of the spread: 

A simple go-to that I continue to employ is cutting up journaling cards and placing a portion of them on the photo as a home for journaling. 

Continuing the use of cropped art cards made by Anna for the date. 

Love that the letter stickers include quotation marks. 

The right side of the spread: 

Lots of chipboard hearts and a couple stars. Never enough. 

I loved those chipboard white and pink words from the Far Far Away Project Life Kit. I also love the simple idea of mixing a phrase like that with letter stickers for the final word. 

Yep. Always. 

The other card seen here is from the Studio Calico gold letterpress calendar. I cut it at the end of the month (Feb) and then added a lined journal card below (stitched to keep in place). 

SUPPLIES
Far Far Away Project Life Kit Cirque Project Life Kit Avery 2 Inch Index Tab Brother Sewing Machine Epson PictureMate Show Printer Birthday Stamp SetDesign A Page Protectors6 x 12 Page Protector

Bring On The Adventure

Later this month we, these five kids + me + Aaron, are heading out on an adventure in a RV for Spring Break. 

The photo you see above was our first all-together adventure over two years ago - everyone is quite a bit taller and smarter and sillier and better acquainted. 

We decided, this being our first RV outing, to not go too far. We'll be keeping it within Oregon and hitting up two different state parks on the coast. We've got our spots reserved and have started thinking about meals and snacks and activities. 

Having new experiences is one of my love languages and this has been one we've been talking about for awhile. 

So in the spirit of planning and thinking ahead and organizing and wanting to have some good ideas in place before we head out, I'd love to hear any ideas or tips you might have for traveling with kids in a RV. 

Menu ideas? Craft ideas? Games? Scheduling the day?

Because Choosing Glasses Should Be Fun

Hi, my name is Ali Edwards and I wear glasses. 

Every single day. 

I remember being in grade school and dreaming about how I would love to be able to wear glasses (which of course Anna asks for from time to time now too). When it became a reality I was actually excited but as I've gotten older sometimes they just seem more annoying than anything else. One of the things that has started to make it fun is having more than one pair at a time. For twenty plus years I had one pair at a time. Over the last year, through my partnership with David Kind, owning more than one pair has made it fun because they've become more of an accessory (and you know I don't really do a lot of those either) rather than just picking up the same pair everyday. 

Bring on the "fun" Ali, right? 

Last year I partnered with David Kind to share my process of selecting glasses using their awesome try-on-at-home service. You can read about my experience last time here and here. I have loved going back and forth between the green and black pairs. It usually comes down to which one is sitting next to my bed when I get up in the morning. 

I'm back again with another round of silly photos of me showing the pairs I have to choose from this time. And, as I did last year, I'd love to have your input. I've got a couple pairs I'm leaning towards of course, but it's always fun to have this be a community vote. 

So here's the deal, this time I'm looking to mix things up and was most excited to check out the thick clear pairs. 

I've really enjoyed the process of working with David Kind and the process for receiving and sending back the glasses is super easy. A new thing they have happening now is that rather than having a stylist choose all six pairs for your try-on box, you choose three and the stylist chooses three. 

Happy Monday! I hope you have a great week!

Give Sunday | 09

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

Because we all need this reminder. Because sometimes things can get way too serious. Because Katharine Hepburn rocked. Because we have so much to be thankful for every single day. 

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 09 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. 

Hello Beginning

When Simon finished his first horse session at RideAble today he asked me this question, "Do you think this will be a powerful memory?"

"Of course it will be." I answered as I helped him change out of his boots and back into his tennis shoes. 

"Will it protect me when I encounter Dementors?"

Ah, a very specific Harry Potter reference. 

What he was wondering, this awesome boy of mine, was if this memory would be powerful enough to become his patronus. 

Harry Potter fans will recognize this quickly, others may need an explanation: 

"This ancient and mysterious charm conjures a magical guardian, a projection of all your most positive feelings. The Patronus Charm is difficult, and many witches and wizards are unable to produce a full, corporeal Patronus, a guardian which generally takes the shape of the animal with whom they share the deepest affinity. You may suspect, but you will never truly know what form your Patronus will take until you succeed in conjuring it." (Miranda Goshawk)

An animal with whom they share the deepest affinity. 

The way the Patronus charm works is that the wizard must concentrate, with all their might, on a single, very happy memory to protect themselves in the darkest moments. 

What Simon was telling me, through this short conversation, was that he loved this experience. 

The truth is, he didn't need to tell me. 

I could see it in the way he was paying attention, in the way he was careful and kind, and in the way he smiled at me when he caught my eye. 

Simon was on a horse once before if I remember correctly, many years ago down in Bandon on the Oregon coast. That horse, as Chris and my parents will remember, was named Silver. Today he met Chica and he was smitten. 

We signed him up for these lessons with the hope that it would be something he could get excited about and connect with (to the horses, to the instructors, to the other students, to the experience). 

Today was an awesome beginning. 

Life is for living. And for making memories and learning new things and finding stuff to get excited about and sharing deepest affinities.

#gosimongo

Project Life® 2015 | Week Five

Happy Thursday friends! 

Today I'm sharing Week Five of my 2015 Project Life® album. I had most of the photos printed for this one a week or so ago and was able to get my journaling added yesterday. 

Last weekend I taught a workshop called Storytelling With Project Life®. During the process of putting the education portion of that workshop together I went back though years of Project Life® spreads and again and again the overwhelming thought that kept coming up was that I love looking at ours lives one week at a time. 

The ability to actually "see" our lives in this way is such a gift. 

Here's a look at Week Five: 

One insert this week includes a note from one of Anna's friends at school. 

When I work on these weeks my goal is never to capture every little thing. My goal is to catch some of it - some bits of our lives via conversations, observations, memories, pieces of paper, drawings, and photographs. 

The "Monday" card is from my The Story Of Today 3x4 Card Set. 

Still completely loving adding in Anna's artwork as the date card for each week. I'm simply cutting them up and adding them into the pockets. 

I added in one of my #givesunday quotes from a few weeks back. 

Words, words, words. 

Yes. Bits of life. Stories don't have to be long to tell so much about our lives. 

Writing directly onto my photos continues to be a go-to technique, especially if I've already filled up the 3x4 pockets. Above I used a Staedtler Lumocolor Permanent pen. 

SUPPLIES

Firsts Story Kit™Cirque Project Life® KitThe Story Of Today 3x4 CardsSmall White TagsDesign A Page Protectors6 x 12 Page Protector

The Weekend Lens | Crop & Create Markham

Last Thursday Katie and I flew to Toronto, Ontario Canada for a weekend event called Crop & Create sponsored by Scrapbook & Cards Toady magazine. 

We had the best time. 

Sometimes when we travel to events we are in and out - no time for sightseeing or extra stuff - just take care of business and get back home. This trip we planned in an extra day, mainly to make sure we were able to get there since we were traveling across North America from West to East in the winter. It's just so unpredictable and having that buffer day makes everyone feel a bit better. 

Since we made it safe and sound on our scheduled travel day, and since Catherine was so organized in advance, we were able to drive a few hours from Markham, Ontario to Niagara Falls. 

When we landed Thursday evening in Toronto and it was -15 Celsius (5 Fahrenheit). We call that cold. 

On Friday morning we made the 2-hour or so drive to Niagara Falls with the lovely ladies from Doodlebug Designs and Vicki Boutin (all teachers at the event). We were not disappointed. It was our first time and it was awesome. 

We were on the Canadian side, which people seem to say is the best view. 

So all these photos were taken looking over towards the United States. 

Seeing it in the snow and ice was amazing. We'll definitely have to come back in the warmer months to get a taste for what it's like then as well, but seeing it this way was seriously cool. 

We walked all along a walkway where you can see both sets of falls. 

iPhone pano shot for the win. 

And yes, it was that cold. 

So beautiful. 

We were really thankful for the opportunity to get out and see this place we've only read about and seen on TV or movies. 

The event itself was also really great. Organized. Fun. Happy people, ready and willing to learn and enjoy each other's company. I couldn't have asked for a better group of students. 

You guys rocked. 

We did three classes at this event that seemed to be well received: Day In The Life™, Love You Because, and Storytelling With Project Life®. All include a lecture portion and then hands-on work time. I will be offering these workshops as downloadable classes later this year. You can also check out where else I'll be doing in-person teaching events here. If you are in Paris or surrounding countries we want to see you next month at Version Scrap. 

At the end of the event I got up and said a few things, including a big thank you for all the kindnesses received, and shared a few things I'd written down that I wanted to remember about the weekend (because you know I love repeated prompt journaling): 

I want to remember how cold it was at Niagra Falls and how great the company was.
I want to remember the smiles on so many of your faces as you came into the classroom or greeted me in the hall.
I want to remember how lucky I am to have Katie here with me.
I want to remember how great it is to be in the company of other people who are just as passionate about memory keeping as I am.
I want to remember seeing all the heads down, hands moving in the class this morning as people responded to the writing prompts.
I want you guys to remember that you have everything you need inside of you right now to include more of your words in your projects.
I want you to remember the your voice matters. And the person it should matter to most is YOU. 

Thanks again to Catherine at Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine for inviting me and for running such a smooth event. We've love to come back!

I also wanted to tell you guys that I finally caved and bought a Kindle. I went with the Paperwhite because I want it to be only for reading - no other activities like surfing the web or social media. I also just saw that it's on sale on Amazon right now because it's National Reading Month. Good time to jump in if you've been thinking about it too. 

I sent Aaron a text message and told him it was possible I was in love with the Kindle. 

It was awesome and lightweight and I could read when the lights were out in our hotel room. I started and finished The Girl On The Train on this trip (loved it). I don't think I will be only reading off here from now on, but I definitely will anytime I'm traveling. 

Give Sunday | 08

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

Joan Didion is one of my favorite writers. Raw. To the point. Real. You can listen to an interview with her that aired on Fresh Air back in 2005 - Writing A Story After An Ending - where she talks about her memoir The Year Of Magical Thinking about the time in her life after the death of her husband. In the interview she says, "I don't actually process anything until I write it down." This interview is very much about death and loss - and might be a tough listen for some people depending on your life situation. 

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 08 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.