Ali Edwards's Blog, page 205

One Little Word® 2015

My One Little Word® for 2015 is give. 

The process of choosing a word, or letting it choose me as is often the case, is always interesting. For me it often starts around October - words begin popping up here and there via reading or conversations or overhearing something on the radio. I tend to do a lot of listening and thinking and trying each one on for a minute or two or a couple days or longer. 

I know there is no perfect word, there's only choices and paths and possibilities. 

This year the word give showed up in October if I remember correctly. It came in more like a whisper - some years my words have been so loud as if they were making it so they couldn't be ignored. 

Give began with the idea of giving to others and the question of what is it that I currently give. I'm pretty sure it was sparked by my trip to Washington DC to attend the ONE Campaign's AYA Girls And Women's Summit. There was a shift in my thoughts and a vivid reminder that it's not just about me and my own stuff - it was such a powerful opportunity to reflect on my place in the larger world and become educated on some of the issues facing girls and women in Africa. 

Over the last few months since it first made itself known, my thoughts about the word give and what I want to focus on in 2015 has evolved which is something I always welcome as I choose a new word. Give, for me, is so much more than the process of "handing something over."

Give love. Give kindness. Give time. Give patience. Give to others. Give to myself. 

On a certain level, the word give for me is rooted in connection and openness and awareness and willingness. What do the people around me need? How can I connect with them through the process of giving of myself? Over the last year I've lost some of myself in work and the transitions and I want more than anything to reconnect to the things/people/places I most value. 

Another level/definition of the word give is the idea of bending and being flexible. It's a nod to living in the gray areas and working on lessening my constant grip on the black and whiteness of things. My ability to be black and white is at the same time very much a strength in some areas and a weakness in others. Discerning the difference between when to give and when to hold firm is something I'd like to explore this year. 

The third level of give for me is in giving to myself. Giving time to myself. Giving patience to myself. Giving kindness to myself. Giving love to myself. I like the combination of the connection with others and the connection with myself. It's an opportunity to fine tune and get clear and make choices that align with what I care about most. 

I'm also interested in exploring give up, give away, and give in - all three of which I see as positive steps/ideas vs. the negative way they could be taken. 

I'm looking forward to experiencing a new journey with a new word in 2015.  

PS | That awesome little whole heart pocket talisman is from my dear friend Liz Lameroux's shop Soul Mantras. Check out all her lovely offerings here. 

PSS | Listen to  Elise Cripe  and I chat about One Little Word® on her latest podcast episode  here . 

SHARE YOUR WORD THE COMMENTS 

I’d love to read what word you’ve chosen or are considering for 2015. In the comments feel free to simply leave your word as your comment or write a bit about why you are choosing this word. Next week I’ll combine all the words into a single post – it's become tradition and super inspiring to see all the words in one place.

If you’re new to the concept of One Little Word®, you can read some of my previous posts here: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.

JOIN ME

To help keep your One Little Word® more visible throughout the year I offer a year-long workshop featuring one creative prompt per month. Read all the details and sign up here. Registration is $5 off until December 31.

December Daily® 2014 | Day Twenty-Four And Twenty-Five

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2014 | Days Twenty-Four and Twenty-Five. 

Thank you for joining me on this adventure again this year. I'm always excited to begin and I'm always excited to wrap it up and move on to the new year - most often moving on to think about my new 
One Little Word® (I'll share my new word tomorrow). 

I hope this project helped you to connect with joy in your own life this December. I know for many people, December can be an emotionally challenging month for a million different reasons. My hope with this project is that it's used as an opportunity to connect with what's real and beautiful even in the middle of struggles (both big and small). It's definitely been something that has helped me as I've experienced changes in my family over the last few years. I'm ending my album this year with a strong sense that this was really a very happy Christmas for me - it was full of old traditions and family and open hearts and new beginnings (
regardless of what comes next). If this holiday season was hard for you, I'm sorry. I hope that working on this album was a path to joy for you - a way to literally see the things that are good and true and awesome. 

If I've learned anything over the last few years it's that those things exist even in the middle of pain if you are willing to look. 

Here's a look at my Days 24 and 25: 

Christmas Eve for me this year included waking up to the biggest storm I ever remember experiencing on the coast, a long-lunch with Aaron before leaving the beach, stopping at a grocery store on the way home when I decided I had to cook pot roast on Christmas Day, driving home to Eugene, wrapping all the presents, heading back over to Aaron's and spending the rest of the evening with him while he wrapped presents and we got ready to see the rest of our families on Christmas Day. 

It was a year of new experiences, of changing traditions, of being open to what it is right now and being thankful. 

For Christmas Eve documentation I decided to use the photo of it storming at the beach and hand-write the journaling directly on the photo. 

I adhered the large gold 24 and then stitched the plastic "December" on top. 

In between the 24th and the start of the 25th (which spans a few pages) I included the printed transparency with the tab from my 
foundation pages. 

For the beginning of my story of the 25th (spans a few pages) I printed out a 6x8 photo of my tree the way it looked before Anna and Simon arrived home. 

I cut the top off of the photo to reveal the red and white pattern paper from the back of the next page in the album. I tucked one of the gold foil circles in between the two and then added the 25 chipboard circle on top. I also added three red plastic hearts using silver mini-brads directly to my tree photo. 

That gold foil 25 page was waiting all month to be used. I knew I wanted to use it here. 

On top of the 25 I layered the plastic heart + the tree + a red star + a silver mini-brad. 

The words repeated over and over in my head on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were
give love and as I was putting this page together I knew I wanted to include them in a big way. 

I used my 
Silhouette to cut the words "give love" from vellum. I laid them on top of a 6x8 transparent sheet (cut from these 12x12) and then slipped the sheet inside the pocket. Over the top I stitched two lines to keep everything in place. 

Behind the transparent page are two photos from Christmas Day + gold foil labels + plastic stars. 

This photo was really, really bad in terms of color and overexposure. I used 
RadLab to convert it to black and white before printing. 

For the last spread in my album I added another photo with all the kids included and wrote out the story of the day. 

#chooselove and #givelove

Bring on 2015. 

SUPPLIES

SHARE YOUR DAY 24 AND/OR DAY 25

December Daily® 2014 | Day Twenty-Two And Twenty-Three

Today I'm combining my Day 22 and Day 23 of my 
December Daily® album into one post partly because they feel like they go together and partly just to get them up here on my site. I'm working on the last two days today and hope to share them soon as well. 

Days 22 and 23 for me were at the beach with my parents. Aaron joined us on the night of the 22nd and then we drove back home on the 24th. Here's a look at those two days in my album: 

Mom and I went to see 
Wild on the 22nd. We had both read the book and were looking forward to seeing the story played out in the movie. I think I wrote about it before on here but maybe I didn't - I had a bit of a hard time getting through the book because the main character made me so mad (who the heck walks the PCT without preparation and planning ahead). And then I kept getting mad at myself because I was being so judgmental. Sometimes we just have to set out without knowing how the story is going to end. Duh. I think the reality is that there are themes in the story that hit close to home for me in recent years - not literally but more figuratively - walking a new unknown path, letting go of control, loosing and looking for and discovering yourself, fear, loneliness, the evolution of our own personal story, etc. 

Bottom line. I liked the movie. 

That photo of my Dad on the bottom shows him cutting up meat for Shabu Shabu (a traditional Japanese dish that I love having with my parents). It's so him. It's actually one of those photos I think I'll treasure for a very long time. I find myself keenly aware of the fragility of life as I myself get older and I'm doing all that I can to really treasure and celebrate my parents while we are here together on earth. They are such
real people - imperfect and awesome and I'm so thankful that they are mine. Getting to go and spend time with them by myself is such a huge gift to me. Our conversations - so often rooted in family stuff and our own histories and future and the things we let go of and hold on to - are so important to me even when we disagree. 

My parents are awesome examples of love and forgiveness and forward movement. 

Visits with my parents always include at least one walk on the beach, pretty much always with camera in hand. 

I love listening to them tell stories about this beach and I love watching them as they look through the lens of their camera to document the changes they see from a storm or things they want to show their elderly neighbors or just something they think is beautiful. I love how they notice things and want to document them. 

Yeah, not a lot of questions about where that comes from for me.   

In those top pockets I included the movie tickets and then a collection of stars - punched and other ones that were on my desk. Those glitter chipboard pieces totally got used this year. 

Definitely want to frame that photo of me and my Mom. Thanks Dad. 

Just a bit of writing on my photos for Day 22 - simple and easy. 

After our beach walk and after Aaron arrived we went out to see the lights. 

That top left photo includes silhouetted profiles of Aaron and my parents. On Instagram I added a caption that mentioned yesterday and today. That spot is a favorite for me to capture - in this one I also love that just off the center to the left are two hibiscus blooms that decided to bloom on the days we were there. 

On the 23rd we took Aaron to the Sheep Ranch which is a private section of 
Bandon Dunes (the short story is my Dad worked out there at one time). We hit balls and walked around and had putting competitions and marveled at the view of the Pacific Ocean.  

It was a really great few days with my parents and Aaron. 

I also wanted to share a shot of my workspace from when I was at my parents. I took a big basket down with me that included my 
December Daily® kit, my lap top and my Epson PictureMate Show printer. I shared this photo on Instagram and got a bunch of questions about the printer. It's the same one I've been using for a few years now and I love it. I use it here at home for printing all my 4x6 photos and smaller. Usually it's just hooked up to my desktop computer but it also travels pretty well. Highly recommended if you are looking for an at-home printer. 

SUPPLIES

SHARE YOUR DAY 22 AND/OR 23

December Daily® 2014 | Day Twenty-One

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2014 | Day Twenty-One. 

Today the story I'm sharing is some of the things we did yesterday here at the beach. It's basically a simple accounting of the day which is a nice way to add details to my album. When I look back through this album one of the things I'm drawn to is the combination of days that have a lot of words and days that have just a few. I like both and both contribute to the overall story of this holiday season. Remember, it's not all or nothing. 

Here's a look at my photo and my story and my page: 

I hooked up my laptop to my Mom's ink jet printer (
HP Photosmart Premium C310) to print out this 5.5 inch x 6.25 inch photo. 

Here it is in the album: 

That photo of the ornament was taken with my DSLR. My Dad had hung some ornaments around the outside of the house - they were red originally but the stormy weather has wiped away most of the red. Have you captured yourself this holiday season? Make sure to include a self-portrait if you can in your documentation. You are a big part of the story. 

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SHARE YOUR DAY TWENTY-ONE

Week In The Life™ 2014 | Sunday In Album

Wrapping up Week In The Life™ today by sharing what Sunday ended up looking like in my album. 

What I want to tell you about this album is that I really love it. As I close it up and put it on my shelf, I love the Monday through Sunday look at my life over this one particular week in 2014. I love the depth. I love the focus on the words and photos. I love, love, love that I really went for it with the words this year. I know it will be something I will look back on and be thankful for in the years to come, just like the last nine or so years of doing this project. It makes my heart happy. 

You can check out my words and photos from Sunday here. 

Here's a look at what I ended up with: 

Another variation for the 3x8 page protector - all typed words. I ran this one through my printer like I did on Wednesday, but this time I went with smaller text and a collection of words that tell the story of the photos I didn't take (included in my blog post). "Today" is from the stamp set. 

I also just wanted to mention that I love the enlarged photo I started Sunday with - it's such a great representation of this day. People in my kitchen is something that has my heart - my Dad, my sister, Aaron and Woody the dog. They are all doing stuff, chatting, fixing food - in action. These are the kinds of photos I personally love as they really showcase real life in action - my people in action. 

On the back of the 3x8 pocket I included a photo of dishes in the sink. 

Today I actually ended up with 2, 3x8 inserts - the second one was created by cutting a 4-pocket page protector in half. The main reason I did this is because I didn't have any other photos I felt like including. The gold seven is stapled in the pocket. I added a second 2-inch plastic tab along the edge. I always like adding something like that for these insert-style pages. "Life documented" stamp is from my Photos stamp set. 

On the back of this second insert I added the "Sunday" card + a blue star. 

On the next page I've got two, 4x6 photos. One I added text directly to the photo and on the other I added a label with stamp and hand-written journaling.

That photo of hand holding is special to me.  

I ended my album with a 12-pocket (2x2) page protector. I printed out my 6 inch x 8 inch photo and then cut it up into 2-inch squares. I used the circle stamp + the "this is my life" stamp in the top center square and then added the white circle rub ons onto various other squares. 

Thank you so much for joining me on this project this year. I appreciate your support and my main hope is that you got some of your own everyday life stories documented through the process. 

Check out my other completed Week In The Life™ 2014 days here: Monday // Tuesday // Wednesday // Thursday // Friday // Saturday // Sunday

SUPPLIES

Introducing Story Kits™

Many months ago when we started talking about what this 
kit subscription would look like I had a very clear idea that I wanted it to be first and foremost about the stories. I wanted to design and offer products in a kit format that were jumping off points to encourage people to include more of the stories of their lives in their scrapbook albums, regardless of the system used to hold those stories.

In addition to the intentional products, what I most wanted was to offer kits that included an 
education component - a chance to present, open up, and focus on the reason why, to address different ideas for documenting stories related to specific themes (and to investigate all the different paths one theme can take), and for encouraging people to tell more. 

The result is the Story Stamp™ and Story Kit™ and Digital Story Kit™ subscriptions. 

Each subscription option includes full access to the Story Community Classroom - each monthly theme has it's own classroom. Inside each classroom you'll first find a theme video presentation that addresses the topic and storytelling ideas to go along with it. Under the Lessons tab you'll find (1) a full-color multi-page PDF that includes thoughts from the video presentation + storytelling ideas + how to's for the layouts I've completed that month and (2) a video that walks you through the process of creating one or more of the layouts I completed for the theme and (3) a product overview video (I'm sharing this video in this post below). 

In addition there is a message board and gallery for sharing your work and ideas with this community of memory keepers. 

Starting on January 1st, I'll welcome my first Guest Storytellers who will add their own take on working with the products and sharing their own stories (the guest storyteller content will be available in the classroom each month on the 1st). This month features Cathy Zielske and Pam Garrison. 

Here's a closer look at each subscription: 

The Story Stamp™ subscription is a 4x6 stamp set that includes, on average, around 25 individual stamps. 

The Story Kit™ subscription includes 3x4 and 4x6 cards that can be used in pocket pages or on traditional layouts. In addition each kit will include some combination of letter stickers, word/phrase stickers, a plastic word, and other intentional products/embellishments designed with the specific theme in mind. Check out the Theme page for a full list of what is included this month.

 If you subscribe to both the Story Stamp™ and the Story Kit™ you will receive the Digital Story Kit™ for FREE. 

The Digital Story Kit™ subscription includes many of the products from the Story Kit™ as PNG files (not always every product because there are simply some things that don't translate to digital products) plus the Story Stamps™ designs as PNG files. Check out the Theme page for a full list of what is included this month. 

For additional information check out the How It Works page here. 

Thank you to those of you who have jumped on board and trusted me with your time and money. I appreciate that support and I appreciate your interest in story-focused kits. 

POSITIVE REVIEWS

I also wanted to take this opportunity to share with you some of the positive messages that have been shared in the
Story Community Classroom the past few months: 

J | Ali honestly I am blown away by this subscription. I am only into month two and it has by far enriched my life SO very much more than I could have ever imagined. I find myself listening each month and taking notes and highlighting and just generally going about my life and day differently and more mindfully and watching more for the daily stories which make up my life and for that I thank you!

C | I would like to send a personal, very heartfelt THANK YOU for taking a huge risk, changing your business around and embracing your amazing talent to share with us all! At first I thought, I don't really do stamps and don't really "need" any physical products BUT this months prompt & the introduction video had me writing notes, sketching ideas and letting the tears fall! This project is So SO much more than stamps!!!! 

S | I think that one of the reasons I love taking Ali's courses is the fact that they always - pretty much without fail - prompt me to really stop and think deeply about my life and my stories. The stories are stuck in there, just waiting to be drawn out. I'm so looking forward to giving myself permission to play with these stamps and products as a way to tease out those buried stories.

J | The classroom material is awesome this month, as always. This was the first month that I really didn't think I would use the theme, but thanks to the classroom content I already have some ideas.

PRODUCT VIDEO OVERVIEW FOR FIRSTS

Here's a video overview from the Story Classroom with a closer look at the products included in the
Firsts Story Stamp™ and Story Kit™:

I hope you will consider joining me for these focused adventures in memory keeping. Upcoming themes include gatherings and AM/PM. 

Subscription details can be found here. 

December Daily® 2014 | Day Twenty

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2014 | Day Twenty. 

I made it safe and sound to my parents house and today I'm sharing the story of getting here and how thankful I am that this place is part of our lives. Just like last year I packed up my kit, my laptop, and my 
Epson PictureMate printer and have set up a little station for working on my album while I'm here visiting my parents. There's always a lot of picture-taking that takes place even when it's just the three of us. 

Here's a look at Day Twenty: 

Today consists of one initial card, the back of the gold glitter star (embossed white), a 4x6 photo, the transparency cut in half with a tab, and a full 6x8 journal page with the kraft stickers on top for the date. 

"M" is for McDougall. That's my maiden name. 

This fireplace is so, so awesome. It's huge and it is literally one of the best places in the entire world to sit and relax. 

For journaling today I decided to create a column with my words: 

Written first and underlined second, the words talk about the logistics of getting here and the happiness of being together. 

I ended it with the "give love" stamp. I've really loved working with this stamp set this year. Those little word prompts have been so great for so many of my stories this year. I hope you've enjoyed them too if you purchased a kit. 

SUPPLIES

SHARE YOUR DAY TWENTY

Week In The Life™ 2014 | Saturday In Album

As you've seen so far with my Week In The Life™ spreads, my approach was to tackle the words with a slightly different focus or "lead-in words" each day. 

The idea for "Saturdays are for" actually came about as I was developing content from my Story Stamp™ classroom for the Daily theme. I love the idea of using a "this day is for" prompt for either stories about today or about the past. What were Saturdays like when I was a kid? Specific activities? Hanging out around the house? Sports? Working in the yard? Hot dogs and coke for lunch? I love that once the question is presented I'm flooded with a variety of different memories of different times in my life. 

You can see/read my Saturday words and photos post here. 

Here's a look at how I brought my words and photos from this one Saturday in 2014 all together in my album: 

For my journaling I literally started every section with the phrase "Saturdays are for..." and used digital word art from this set (that includes each day of the week in singular and plural): 
These Days Are For

The enlarged photo I used is the one of Simon looking at the field at the football game. It's absolutely a personal favorite of mine for the year. 

I addition to starting all the journaling sections that way I decided to print a large version of the word art onto the 3x8 timeline card. It's a nice balance with all the word-heavy sections from this day to have something without a lot of words. I added one single blue star as an accent + added the plastic tab like I've done on all previous days + stamped "stories" from the kit. 

On the back I used the photo of Simon and my sister that I love, love, love from when we were walking into the Oregon football game. 

Next up are three 3x4 photos + the day title card + the gold embossed #6. 

I really like filling these pockets with photos, especially as I look back on them now. Little bits of our life, all right here in this one book. 

I added the blue and gold star chipboard piece right above my words. 

The last spread of the day includes more photos from the football game. 

I really love that a project like this can be such a great reflection of the big and little stuff of life. Being able to see that all together in one place gives such a nice perspective on our lives - we are a mix of all of it. 

Life is good. 

Check out my other completed Week In The Life™ 2014 days here: Monday // Tuesday // Wednesday// Thursday // Friday // Saturday // Sunday

SUPPLIES

December Daily® 2014 | Day Nineteen

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2014 | Day Nineteen. 

Just want to give you a heads up that the schedule for posting my pages the next couple of days will be a little more sporadic than it has been up to this point as I get ready to celebrate with my family.

Last night I surprised Anna by taking her to see The Nutcracker. Here's the story that I printed on out onto 4, 3 inch x 4 inch cards: 

One of the things that Anna asked for this year was the chance to get to see the Nutcracker Ballet again. I took her a few years ago and she brings it up regularly - specifically the black dress she wore and the snacks in the Lobby and the pink Nutcracker I bought for her whose head had to be glued back on last year. I love going and decided to take her again so we picked up a new dress at H&M and then I surprised her but letting her know on Friday morning before school. She was excited and I was excited as I went about my work day. By the time she got home from school and activities she was tired and grouchy, the kind that’s a little hard to recover from and often happens on a Friday night after a week of school and activities and the holiday season. She did the best she could after getting into her dress and having dinner. Ideally she would have gotten a nap or at least more of a rest in the afternoon but that just didn’t happen. She was still excited, but touchy (I so know how that feels) and worried that we were going to be late. We got there plenty early (started at 7:30pm), bought her a new Nutcracker for her collection, picked up a couple snacks and found our seats. She was pretty much ready to go home towards the beginning of the first of the first act when she remembered that it was only dancing and no talking. She’s five, almost six. I understand sweet girl. 

During intermission she danced up behind the seats and asked my to sing her a song while she danced. We visited the bathroom. I asked her if she wanted to leave and she still said no so we took our seats for the second act. Within two minutes she was in my lap and in the process of falling asleep. Within five minutes she was asleep and slept through the rest of the performance. I so get it. While she slept I watched and remembered going to the Nutcracker when I was a child with my Mom. I remember it as a magical event and while I was watching this performance I could remember the feelings of excitement and wonder I had felt during the mix of dance and music. I wonder if I was tired and grouchy when we went but today I have a glossed over memory? I wonder what Anna will remember of this adventure? Her beautiful pink dress? The new purple Nutcracker? Falling asleep in my lap? I woke her up as the last bows were being taken, a little afraid I was going to need to carry her in my high heels. She woke up just fine and then remembered that she had wanted to get her photo taken with the Sugar Plum Fairy. We walked out of the theater and headed right over to get her photo taken with her and then headed towards the car. This morning I asked her, “Anna, what will you remember about the Nutcracker?” “Taking a picture with the Sugar Plum Fairy.” she said. That sounds pretty great to me. NOTE TO SELF | Attend a matinée next time.  

Here's a look at the pages in my album: 

I had more content that I wanted to include compared to some of my past days so I ended up adding an "insert" to hold the story in the form of a page protector cut in half. 

I cut the page protector using my paper trimmer and then broke my story into 4 parts to fit on 4, 3x4 inch cards and slipped them into the pockets. 

Along the outside edge I added a 
2-inch plastic label and stamped "the story of today" in pink on the white paper insert. 

The photos (with the exception of the Sugar Plum Fairy) were taken with my iPhone. Definitely grainy but really the simplest option when it's just me and her and my bag and her stuff. 

Here's a look at each of the pages outside the album: 

Glitter star + embossed #19. 

In the pocket next to the photo of Anna and me I layered one of the gold glitter hearts + a red plastic heart + a red puffy heart. 

SUPPLIES

SHARE YOUR DAY 19

December Daily® 2014 | Day Eighteen

Welcome to 
December Daily® 2014 | Day Eighteen. 

We finally carved out time to go see Santa the other night and today I'm adding that story and an enlarged photo. 

This is one of those where you have to buy the photo. This year there was a sign up for no cell phone or other camera shots (which I respected) and I happily paid for one 5x7 photo. The one that ended up in my book (as a 6x8) got scanned in and enlarged so it would fit my pocket and so I could get all the marketing stuff off from around the edges and I could adjust the color which wasn't awesome. The "2014" icon in the bottom corner was unavoidable so I just went with it. 

Here's a look at Day Eighteen: 

My kids are so totally growing up. 

Originally I had the "18" card in here as a 4x6 (from my 
Foundation Pages). I ended up cropping that down to 3x4 and moving it to the top pocket. 

You can also see in this image that I added one of those little red stars in with the brad from that was used on 
Day Seventeen.

That ampersand pocket is still see-through. 

For my journaling I cut a 6x8 sheet of pattern paper down to 4x6 and hand-wrote using a combination of upper case tall letters and cursive letters. 

The line was long is basically the "just" of the story. 

SUPPLIES

SHARE YOUR DAY 18