Ali Edwards's Blog, page 213

Sometimes & Thankful Thoughts

On Friday night I posted a photo of myself with the following words on Instagram:

Sometimes I have a hard time adjusting to new routines. Sometimes I'm much too much in my head. Sometimes my list feels like it's going to swallow me whole. Sometimes I forget to be thankful for a million little things. So that's what I'm going to do this weekend - for every worried/panicked/negative thought I have I'm going to counter it with a thankful thought. Starting now. 

And I did it (and those sentiments seemed to resonate with many of you on Instagram too). 

I opened up a blank page in one of my Moleskine's and started my list:

And it worked. At least a little bit. I ended up just writing things down as I thought of them - not necessarily in response to a negative thought but rather just as they came to mind. 

Of course it doesn't take it all away. My list is still my list. My brain is still my brain. And I've been feeling under the weather this whole last week that I'm sure isn't helping. Cough + fatigue + mentally out of sorts = challenges. It's hard to feel zesty and on top of your game when you're tired and having coughing fits. 

I also remembered, as I was writing out my list and as I was thinking about my upcoming photo workshop, how much of a positive impact photography has on me in terms of bringing joy via the process of looking through the lens. When Aaron and I took a walk on Sunday morning I snapped a couple flower shots and gave thanks for that as well. 

And then I came home to an email from my Mom which included this poem that my sister had recently sent to her which pretty much sums it up: 

So here's to a week of crossing things off my list. Here's to a week filled with a perspective of thankfulness. Here's to a week where I get to see some special friends this weekend. Here's to a week of remembering what matters most. 

Those little "remember" 1/2 circles are from my Half-Circle Sentiments package. 

Dave Matthews At The Gorge 2014

When I started putting together this post I thought for sure I'd written a post about our adventures to see 
Dave Matthews Band at the Gorge Amphitheater Labor Day weekend 2013. 

I didn't find a post but you can check out how I documented the trip in 2013 in Project Life®
here. 

Last year was my first time traveling to the Gorge (
ended up there twice last year) and my first time seeing Dave Matthews in concert. 

It was all Aaron's fault. 

I think he's been to the Gorge five or more times now and seen Dave at a couple other places as well. He's an experienced fan and man do I love getting to go with him.

Here's a look at our adventure via iPhone photos:

Word art on my photos are all available here in my new shop: Half Circle Sentiments No.1, Messy Daily Boxes,So Long Summer, Beautiful Fantastic Imperfect and Alrighty Then. 

It's a long drive from Eugene to the Gorge in Washington. Think 6+ hours depending on traffic. We drive up to Portland, head East along the Columbia River (what I usually think of as the Gorge before these trips), cross over into Washington at Biggs Junction, and then head north towards Yakima and then Ellensburg before reaching the Gorge Amphitheater outside George, Washington. 

It's totally a long haul but it's a really beautiful drive. 

We left early on Friday morning in order to make it there around 1pm before the opening-opening bands started at 3pm. 

At the Gorge they have a few different camping options and we go for what's called The Terrace. It's an upgrade but so totally worth it. It's quiet (
meaning people go to sleep vs. staying up all night in some of the other areas). Each site includes grass and a picnic table. There are showers and toilets without super long lines. There's a shuttle that drives you over to the venue. And they have coffee and doughnuts in the morning. 

Coffee and doughnuts for the win of course. 

After getting all settled in we headed over to the venue to check out the bands that were playing before Brandi Carlile and Dave. 

First on my personal agenda was to check out the merchandise. I was hoping for a new hat and was freaking-out-happy to find this blue trucker hat. 

I really need to stop this craziness with using the flip around feature on my iPhone (lower resolution that way). 

Maybe it should be brown eyes for the win.

As you can see, there weren't a ton of people hanging out to see these opening-opening bands. 

Aaron was totally into one of them called 
Moon Taxi. 

I decided I needed a temporary tattoo for the weekend adventure and happened to have this one from 
Kal Barteski. She's got some of her awesome script phrases available as tattoo's and she's getting ready to re-launch her shop soon. Follow her on Instagram for all the latest details on when that will open again (think neon). 

I imagine if I was ever to get a tattoo that would be the place I'd get it and it would be some sort of life-reminder phrase or word. Maybe
length and width or open. 

When the opening-opening bands were done we headed down to the main stage to catch 
Brandi Carlile. She opened for Dave all three nights and I loved, loved, loved hearing her sing a cover of Fleetwood Mac's The Chain. So good. I also loved her song Keep Your Heart Young. 

One of the magical things about the Gorge is the changing light throughout the day. 

And then there was Dave. Each night they started with an acoustic set as the sun went down. 

Before meeting Aaron I was already a Dave fan - but definitely not a super fan. I listened to him most when I was in college. And then a few years ago - probably before Anna was born - Chris and I happened to be flipping though the channels and came across a Dave & Tim acoustic show on PBS - I think it was
Live At Radio City Music Hall (you can see some of those videos/songs on you tube here). I remember it so specifically how I was mesmerized again by his music - one of those take-my-breath-away-because-it-was-so-awesome moments. We ended up staying up super late because it was so great.

Life is crazy people. 

I'm telling you. If you ever get the chance to experience music in this place you must do it. 

Okay, forget about Dave, check out that sky. 

Back to Dave. He plays different songs all three nights, which is pretty great because you
almost always get to hear what you might want - and that's why we go all three nights. 

Now I'm sure there are a lot of you out there who totally don't get this Dave love. Like I mentioned above, I liked him before but I like him even more now after seeing six shows (three last year and three this year over the course of the two Labor Day weekends). And it's not just him (but man, it's him - the words, oh those words) - it's the other guys in the band too. I have a much greater appreciation for each of them as musicians from watching them at the shows. Boyd with his violins. Carter on the drums. Stefan on bass. Jeff on the sax. Rashawn on the trumpet. And Tim on guitar.

I like that fans talk about them like they know them.

And these guys look so darn happy up there. Big smiles between all of them and I enjoy watching how they communicate together on stage.

Again, this is all Aaron's fault. 

Favorite Friday night songs | Oh, Stolen Away On 55th & 3rd, and Crush

Photo I wish I had | Aaron in the trucker hat. He never wears hats and I don't know why because it looked so great on him. 

On Saturday we slept in and then spent most of the day lounging and chatting with our camping neighbors. 

We had reserved seats on both Saturday and Sunday nights in section 203 (center section, left side). It's a great spot - the only thing I missed was being able to look back up and see up into the general admission/grass and the sea of people in the dark. Next year we need to get tickets to the right of center to be able to get that view when you turn around to see all the
thousands of people up on the grass (the Gorge holds 27,000 people). It's so awesome. 

Favorite Saturday night songs | One Sweet World (this was actually a new-to-me song), Sister

We hung out Sunday morning around the campsite again and then headed over right at 3pm to catch the opening-opening bands. 

I might of had a few fantasies about being a music photographer as I watched these guys capture the action. 

The line-up today included 
David Ryan Harris, Dumpsta Phunk (who rocked - they are in that photo above), and Blind Pilot (an awesome Portland band - photo below). Seriously, just clicking over to these bands sites and seeing some of the photography - so rad. 

Took this shot of Blind Pilot with the panorama feature on my iPhone.
Why don't I use that more? 

So yeah, we were in the front row dead-center for the opening-opening acts. Here's the story about that: I was buying a beer and the woman at the counter told me that supposedly Dave & Tim were going to show-up and play on the smaller stage in just a few minutes. You better believe I hustled back over to Aaron and told him we needed to get up to the front immediately. Unfortunately that ended up being only a rumor but it spurred Aaron and I to action to move ourselves right up to the front which wasn't difficult because there weren't a ton of people there at that time. 

It was so fun to watch both Dumpsta Phunk and Blind Pilot from the front row.

I gotta make that happen for Dave one of these years. 

After we finished up with the opening-opening acts we headed back over to the main stage for some more Brandi and eventually, Dave and his band. 

The Sunday night show was the best of the three. 

He played a bunch of my personal favorites including Loving Wings, Crash Into Me (
which he didn't play last year), Lover Lay Down, Grey Street and The Stone. 

The one song he didn't play that I love is #41. Aaron really wanted to hear Laying In The Hands Of God. 

So good. So good. 

On the way home we talked about what we wanted to remember. 

Aaron calls them "micro stories" - those little stories that make up the one big story of our shared experience. 

I sent him a text message last night and asked him to remind me of what he wanted to remember. A few hours later he sent me a message that was so awesome I got weepy. He gets details. He pays attention (even when I don't think he is). He gets moments. He collects them just like I do - even if he doesn't say them out loud. 

Here are some things from our combined list of things we want to remember from this weekend at the Gorge:

Our wonderful campsite neighbors who came all the way from Maryland - Chris & Ruth. Part of what we've enjoyed both last year and this year is meeting people at the event whether they are our camping neighbors or our seat neighbors during the concert. Chris and Ruth were the kind of people we wished lived a whole lot closer. It's so great to just sit around and talk about our lives at home and Dave and music and kids and what we hope to hear and all that good stuff. 
Experiencing the box seats on Friday night to try something different. It was pretty cool but I think we both prefer to be even more in the action. You miss a bit of the intensity of the crowd when you are in your own little space. 
Having awesome seat neighbors and great conversations before the music on both Saturday and Sunday. We know this isn't always the case. 
Front row for the opening-opening acts on Sunday after the tease of Dave and Tim.  
Dave singing Loving Wings. "My heart was made of broken bones // My Soul's a bag of stick and stone // And out along this dusty road // You have come my love to take me home"
The wind. Whoa. Watching the lights sway on the stage. Seeing it blow through everyone's hair. It was intense. 
Meeting Rachel and her husband on Sunday. Hi Rachel!
Hearing our seat section roar and cheer on Sunday night each time Aaron tried to throw one of his many glow-sticks at a glow stick spider hanging from a pole about 15 rows ahead of us to the right (between Dave sets). Then happening to bump into that guy later on when we walked back to the campsite and realizing that he was the guy we had walked back with the night before who had gotten one of Carter's drum sticks at the end of the show on Saturday night. 
Aaron wearing the trucker hat. Aaron liking wearing the trucker hat. 
A conversation about being "that guy" over lunch at Burgerville on the drive home. 

See you next year Dave. Thanks for sharing your creativity with the world. 

My thought for you today is to invite the people you love to contribute to your memory keeping, to your details of life collection, to your photo taking. They might just surprise you with the things they notice and the things they want to remember.  

New Digital Products Now Available

Hey guys! I'm excited to let you know that you can now purchase new digital products from me here at aliedwards.com. 

I'll be keeping a schedule similar to what I had in the past with new digital product uploads happening each Tuesday. This week I've got eight new products for you to check out and add to your memory keeping toolbox.

We will be adding physical products (stamps, art prints, general supplies) to the shop over the next few weeks. 

HOW IT WORKS // VIDEO OVERVIEW

I've put together a video to show you how the process works including where you can find your digital products after you've purchased them, how to download and how you can organize them under the My Digital Files tab.

When you purchase digital products via aliedwards.com you will have immediate access to them via your
My Digital Files drop-down menu (under your username up in the top right corner). 

Once you click on
My Digital Files you will be taken to a new page where you can organize your digital purchases. On that page you create folders to easily organize your digital products. You can move products between folders and then click on the preview image to download or move to a different folder. 

WHAT'S NEXT 

Next up this week will be the preorder for a
Week In The Life kit. I'll be doing Week In The Life this year from October 27th through November 2nd and using this kit as the base for my album. As in year's past I'll be offering supporting digital products and printables to help you tell the story of your week. For more information on this project check out my Week In The Life projects page. 

In addition I'll be launching registration for a new workshop, The Lens Of Joy. This will be a 4-week workshop, running in the month of November, that walks you through my photo processes (the way I see through the lens, how I edit my photos, how I use photos to help tell my stories) and encourages you to examine your own relationship with your camera, images and stories. More details to come later this week. 

AGAIN, THANK YOU

I just want to say thank you again for all your support since the launch of this new site. It's been an awesome feeling to have so much positive feedback. The beginning phases are always a little crazy as we all get used to the new processes, get things added to the shop, learn the new navigation, etc. As always, I appreciate you coming along on this journey and don't hesitate to let us know if you have any questions. 

Summer Adventuring | Part Three

This has been a pretty awesome summer in terms of adventures.

After our fun times 
camping with my brother & family & friends + and our Seattle experience we stopped at home for one night before heading out to a local favorite: Fern Ridge Reservoir. 

Friends with boats tend to be very fun friends. 

We're lucky to have a couple friends from college who have boats and one of them has a membership out at a boating club at Fern Ridge which enabled this big group to head out there and bring all the kids and set up tents and enjoy each other. These are college friends that Chris and I share - they are all doing pretty darn good adapting to our new relationship. 

Photos included in this post are a mix of iPhone and DSLR. Digital brushes featured on photos include: Summer Activities, Because I Love You Labels, and We Do Love.

Aaron and his kids came out which meant Anna and his daughter were attached at the hip. They are mischief makers. 

Simon had lots of room to explore and check things out on the docks. 

Say hello to Heather - my friend of twenty years now. 

As I mentioned above, going out in the boats is a special treat for my kids. 

Both were super excited for the experience. 

Anna might just be the kid standing on the tube.
Might. 

Don't worry, we were going really slow at this point. 

But yes, that's her. 

I have fond memories of spending time with family friends when I was a kid and getting to go out on their boat. We had a boat but it was a drift boat which is absolutely not the same thing. Great for salmon and crab. Not great for going fast and water skiing or tubing. 

Needless to say, they had fun. 

And so did I. 

That's me and my friend Jonathan doing a double-cannonball off the back of one of the boats. 

Ah, yeah. 

I love the water. 

Always have and probably always will. 

I think that love of water has been passed on genetically to my kids. Especially to Simon. 

I posted a version of this image on Instagram and wrote, "This kid. I can guarantee you right now he's out there talking through The Hobbit or The Wizard Of Oz. Love that he loves the water and wanted to go out again on his own."

He'd been really repeating both movies during our time out at the lake so I know he was out there enjoying uninterrupted time running through his favorite pieces of dialogue and seeing the images in his mind. 

It was one of those moments I just sat on the grass and watched him and marveled at life and the light and his awesome spirit.  

Another story that's missing a photo from this weekend was Simon having his first experience on waterskis.  

He was so excited after watching the other kids his age (and younger) and had his heart set on trying and there was no way I was going to dash that enthusiasm. He got in the water. My friend Heather who has been waterskiing since she was a kid and is awesomely patient and an excellent teacher, got in with him. They got the skis on and talked him through the steps, reminding him to make sure to let go of the rope if he falls.
Number one thing is to let go of the rope. 

Have you ever tried to waterski? 

It's HARD. It's hard for people who are physically fit. It's hard for people who are coordinated. It takes practice and persistence and more practice.

It didn't go so well. 

He let go of the rope a little too late. 

To say he was pretty upset would be an understatement. He was past the point of listening to us talk about how many times we each had to practice and try and fall before we were able to get up on those skis. That part was really hard for him to understand. 

But HE TRIED. 

And man I was so proud of him for being excited and for simply trying. That was a pretty big step for him.

The crew. I've known these guys for over 20 years. I attended each of their weddings and they were all at mine. I'm thankful that we all continue to care for each other and our growing families. 

Good guys. Hilarious. Smart. Fun. 

For some reason we didn't do a picture of the ladies.
Next year. 

Of course, camping would not be the same without S'mores. 

Super thankful for these adventures. Super thankful for these friends. Super thankful for this life. 

Project Life® 2014 | Week Eighteen

How do you gather your stories? 

I was thinking about this question yesterday as I put this spread together. As you've seen before, when I'm working on past weeks I 
usually have the photos and a handful of sticky notes in place. Some weeks more, some weeks less. As I worked through remembering and gathering the stories for week 18 it made me think about how lucky we are that we have access to so many different ways to collect our stories. 

Generally I rely mainly on the photos to act as
story starters to jog my memories. This week though, I actually felt like I was missing some stories - nothing big or huge or profound, just some more specific details.  

To round-up more stories I went back through my calendar + 
Instagram to see what I could find. My calendar (on my computer) was helpful but it was Instagram that was most helpful. Just like my blog is a great holding place for longer stories, Instagram is such a great place to hold my shorter stories - especially those in-the-moment sentiments/memories/conversations that fit so well into my Project Life® album. 

From going back on Instagram I saw that it was 86 degrees on May 1st. I saw that Simon and I were watching Pirates Of The Caribbean (
which I totally didn't remember just from looking at the photo).  

Today I'm sharing
Project Life® 2014 | Week Eighteen (April 28th - May) which uses the Poet Society Project Life® kit from Studio Calico. You can check out all the new kits for September over at Studio Calico here: Scrapbook Kit | Project Life® Kit | Card Kit.

Here's a look at Week 18: 

I'm still a fan of using Project Life® to show a week-at-a-glance. 

Simple captures. Relationships between people and places are one of my favorite things to document. 

Sometimes you get a card with a sentiment that doesn't really fit any stories you've got to tell right now. 

Cover them up!

On my title card (from
this printable set) I added a big punched circle (using another 4x6 journal card included in the main kit). Next to it I added a second punched circle (1.5 inches) that includes the "let your light shine" sentiment from one of the cards and finished off the gathering with the gold rub on. 

I took one of the 4x6 cards and cut it in half to create this day of the week card. I messed up thinking that Sunday was the last "S" on the bottom - not seeing that the week started with Sunday. I know some people think of their weeks that way but in my mind a week begins on Monday. I just crossed it out, moved that to the top (which still doesn't really make sense in the time span) and kept going.  

This kit this month includes some wood veneer phrases. I wanted to use them because I like the texture mix, but the words didn't fit with my story. Instead I just turned them over and used the back side. I trimmed each one a little bit to fit into the pocket (it was still pretty tight). On top of each I added one of the stars and some sentiments about the photo of the wisteria. 

For the "the best ever" journal card I used the box from this set: 
Poet Society Project Life Stamp Kit + "the best ever" and "here's the story" from this set: Poet Society Project Life Add-On 2 Stamps. 

Can't tell you how happy I was to get back to making stuff. 

Circle + a star + a staple. Can't get much more perfect than that little trifecta of goodness. The circle is from one of the printables this month available 
here. 

The "Anna says" note is the kind of stuff I want in Project Life®. Those awesome little stories of things said and observations recorded. I could do a whole layout about that one little comment she made, but really this is the perfect place for that kind of story. 

Next to the "Anna says" card is one that combines two different journal cards (stitched together) that I ran through 
my printer to get the "86" on top (the 8 and the 6 are from this digital alphabet):

I wasn't sure this was really going to work - partly because of the thickness of the two cards together. My goal was to get the 
"86" (for 86 degrees on May 1) onto the card. In Photoshop I added the 8 and the 6 together on a 3 inch x 4 inch canvas (300 dpi). I re-colored the image the yellowish color and placed it where I wanted it to be on the card (closer to the top). Then I ran a test print onto a plain piece of paper to see where it was going to come out. Next I adhered the 2 cards right on top of that same location on the 8.5x11 sheet and ran the whole thing through the printer to get this result:

It did come out of the printer a little dirty because it was thick but not enough for me to junk it. 

FUN. 

After that I added the date using
a good-old date stamp and a few words about how awesome it was to have it this hot on May 1. 

I totally love the "I am still learning" gold letterpress card. It was too perfect to do anything to it and it's something I totally embrace in my life. 

IDEAS AND INSPIRATION
Think about the way you collect stories. What works best for you? Is it an app? Sticky notes? Calendar? Carrying your journal cards in your car/purse/etc and writing directly on them when the inspiration strikes? I'd love to read about it in the comments. Try running a pre-printed card through your own printer. It's a great way to get typed journaling onto a journal card or add a digital stamp to personalize the card.  If you've got cards with sentiments that don't align with the story you want to tell, use punches to cover up that area and create your own sentiments with letter stickers, stamps or handwriting. SUPPLIES

Click on the images below to link to the products used in this project. 

InLinkz.com

Making The Videos

One of the most fun parts of working on this new website was filming the project videos with 
Collin Kartchner. 

If the name sounds familiar to you, it might be because he's 
Liz Kartchner's (aka Dear Lizzy) husband. 

They make quite the creative pair those two. 

Here's the truth: I was nervous about Collin at first. I thought he was entirely too funny and wouldn't be able to be serious about this project. I kinda worried he would make fun of me. He's got a quick wit and, remember, sometimes I can be way too serious. My worries about him were actually ridiculous and that was super obvious from our first business meeting in Salt Lake City earlier this summer. He is a complete professional. He got what we were looking for in the videos immediately. He's great at what he does and he does it with a sense of humor that I completely appreciate now. 

A good learning experience for me once again about my own judgements.

He won my kids over at the first hello. I was especially impressed with the rapport he created with Simon almost immediately. 

We got down to business of filming pretty quickly, starting with footage around my office and then recording my on-camera portions of each video. 

I wrote up the words I wanted to say and we recorded most of them one-line-at-a-time and did a couple takes of each, usually from a different angle. 

There was a lot of laughing. 

In addition to filming in my office, Collin also captured us going about our daily life. 

Going to the grocery store, riding in the car, sitting at the table, playing outside, riding bikes, the evening prayer, etc - so many of the moments I've been documenting over the years with still photos and words. 

Simon was super interested in what Collin was capturing and there were many moments where he snuck up behind him, jumped in front of him and put his face right up to the lens. Collin totally rolled with it. 

When Chris came over to help Anna ride her bike Collin was there to capture the action. 

He stayed later into the evening to catch the goodnight prayer (priceless) that I say to each of the kids every night we are together. 

And we did some playing in the backyard, with just the right amount of sun flare. 

A week or so later Collin uploaded the videos to dropbox and told us to take a look. 

I cried. 

In his email to me he wrote, "Every clip, every cut, every song, every splice...all meticulously done with love. Shot sequence, pacing, sound, every key frame was well thought out and intentional. I hope you can feel the passion behind the story-telling, and hope you're left with something magical. You truly inspire people, I hope this inspires you." 

They totally did Collin.
Thank you again for getting me. 

The words you see in the One Little Word video are all from artist  Colleen Attara. They are recycled scrap plastic words cut in her handwriting and you can read more about them here. She sent those all to me this past year and they were perfect for telling the story of that project. 

Paperclipping Roundtable Podcast | Just a heads up that I was a guest on a new episode of the Paperclipping Roundtable podcast yesterday. We were disucssing our experience (trials and successes) photographing layouts and other projects. Check it out here. Also, you can check out a list of all the podcasts I've been a guest on via my press page. There's a drop-down menu at the top to make it easier to see what section you'd like to check out. 

Choose Happy

Today I wanted to share the layout I put together when Collin was here filming the videos for the Project pages. 

I haven't had the time to do a lot of actual scrapbooking recently with most of our time going into site stuff and product design. I'm super happy to start finding a rhythm again to be making stuff. 

This is a 2-page, 8.5x11 layout. 

As you might have read in my recent 
Around Here post, Anna is learning how to ride her bike and Chris has been spearheading the effort. He comes over in the evening and runs her around and around the cul-de-sac. She laughs, he sweats, and Simon rides circles around them. It's a pretty good time and a really nice little connection for all of us. This is a good example of a layout where I could definitely write more about the story. The only reason I didn't was because I was actually making it as we were filming and what you see here was as much as I could make happen during that time. 

What I'd like to add to this story is how I personally really appreciate the effort that Chris makes in coming over here to teach her. 

I think I could simply just add another strip under "enjoy summer" to get that simple sentence included that's a pretty meaningful piece of the story. 

I used my Silhouette to cut the 
"heart life" from some teal cardstock (design available from this set: Hello Heart 3x4 Boxes) and used a Tiny Attacher to keep it in place vs. dealing with some adhesive. If you need some help learning how to trace PNG files to cut with your Silhouette I've got a tutorial on how to do that here. 

The
"choose happy" cork circle worked perfect as a title and as an element that grounds those other 3x4 boxes.

I cut up one of the 
Summer Journal Cards you can still pick up over at Studio Calico and paired it with a cork heart. You can also pick up the digital version of these cards here.

I'm still in love with the full-page photos. The other two are 3x4. It's a nice example of simple ways you can incorporate all those 3x4 cards you might be accumulating these days into a traditional scrapbook layout.  

I used a piece of vellum behind the photos, journal card, and silhouette cut because I felt like it needed some kind of frame or backing to separate it from the background pattern paper. I tried it with and without and definitely liked it better with the vellum. I ended up stitching that in place with my sewing machine. 

IDEAS & INSPIRATION

What's a story you can capture that's real in your life right now? Consider telling a story of a time when you simply embraced life as it is without wishing it were different.  
Pair an enlarged photo with 3x4 photos and journal cards outside of Project Life® or simply add an enlarged photo to your Project Life® album. The contrast always looks so cool in there. 

SUPPLIES

Click on the images below to link to the products used in this project. 

InLinkz.com

Around Here | Late August 2014

There's no way I can begin this post about what's been going on Around Here without expressing a huge thank you for all the congrats and well-wishes about the new site. Studio Calico has an amazingly awesome web team that created the infrastructure and figured out ways to make this all work and has freed me up to do what I do best: make stuff with the stories of our lives.  

As we move forward Katie and I are in the process of adjusting our block schedule to make room for concepting, designing and creating content for the Story Stamps™ and Story Kit™, workshops, products (digital and traditional) and other projects. My current plan is to have daily blog posts (weekdays) that will be a mix of what many of you have come to expect: personal stories and memory keeping projects. 

I also want to make sure you have the last week of October on your calendar for Week In The Life™ 2014. I will be offering a kit this year for the first time and I'm super excited about the design foundation I've set up and the products we've created. More details on that coming soon. 

AROUND HERE

Before summer wraps up and these two head back to school I wanted to take a minute to capture what we've been up to recently. 

ANNA 

LEARNING | To ride her bike. Chris has been coming over every few nights and working with her out in the cul-de-sac. He's got a system down that we used with Simon when he learned to ride his bike.  

BEING AWESOME | Katie and I had drinks with a friend last week and we were sharing about how awesome of a summer Anna has had. Last summer was a challenge with the combination of childcare, Anna learning that Katie was here for a different kind of work vs. hanging out with her, and not getting her into enough camps/activities to keep her occupied while we worked. This summer, through a combination of better planning and getting older, it has been so much better and I think we all enjoyed it that much more. She is so good at playing with her dolls and little people and animals and has really started enjoying time just playing in her room on her own.  

WANTING | To read. It's so cool to watch this desire grow - right now she wants to "read" the whole book to me via looking at the pictures and from her memory of what happens in the story. She's going to have so much fun in Kindergarten. 

LISTENING | To Taylor Swift (that would be all Katie's influence).

WEARING | Mostly skirts and dresses - always coming up with the most interesting combinations. She's also got a thing for lipstick and make-up and nail polish. She'll be back in her uniform in a couple weeks. 

SIMON

ATTENDING | Three different camps that included a Comic Drawing // Stop Motion at the University Of Oregon, Sailing through the City Of Eugene, and one about Wizards (of course). That seemed to be just the right amount of camps for him. I loved that each one of them challenged him in a different way and we lucked out with some very awesome camp staff at all three who really championed him and helped him acclimate and have a good experience.  

WATCHING |  Wizards of Waverly Place, The Hobbit (#1 and #2)

READING | The Hobbit

LISTENING | To the Everything Is Awesome song on repeat. His other favorite is one particular song from Pirates Of The Caribbean soundtrack called The Medallion Calls. These are the two songs he wants to hear most in the car. He is not a fan of Taylor Swift or really any one else singing in the car. We're working on that one.  

GROWING | So tall. Seriously. 

WEARING | A big development this summer is that he's decided that short sleeve shirts are okay. AWESOME. I also love that he wants to wear Vans. 

ALI

ATTENDING | Not enough live music this year. That said we did go to Heuy Lewis last minute a few weeks back and Dave Matthews at the Gorge is happening this weekend (yes, yes, yes). That will make up for some of the lack of live music this past year. So excited to make that trip again and camp and be outside and listen to Dave for three nights in a row. 

EXPRESSING | Gratitude in a million little and big ways. To Katie for seeing me through & always bringing the champagne, to Paolo for always being ready with a special plate lunch & a hug, to my parents for Beach Camp, to Aaron for grounding me & opening me up & challenging the ways I think about things, to Carrie & Julie for the gift of flowers and friendship.

READING | All that back-to-school paperwork. The kids start in September so they still have a few weeks before actual classes begin. I also picked up Quiet by Susan Cain after some interesting conversations with Aaron about introverts (and I think I'm actually one that learned at an early age how to make it as a quasi-extrovert even when I still really had mane of the same needs as introverts) and We Are Water by Wally Lamb (I really enjoyed his older books). Both were impulse purchases from Costco yesterday to add to my large pile of books to read. I'm also really interested in Lean In after seeing Elise post some passages on Instagram. 

EATING | Tomatoes. So good right off one of the two plants in my raised garden beds. I fell off the wagon again this year with the garden because I was gone quite a bit (love summer adventures) and when I was here I was working. All good. I did get a irrigation set up to those raised beds which meant everything stayed alive, but pruning and keeping it going didn't really happen. 

STARTING | Found my FitBit again (hello, old friend) and am getting back into physical activity (yes, this is a recurring theme). It is way too easy for me to spend way too long sitting here in my chair staring at this screen. 

ORGANIZING | I did one of those big Costco runs yesterday (long overdue) that makes you feel like you could wait months to buy anything again. It felt good to get things stocked up around here as we move closer to school starting for the kids. I did a freezer inventory and that will help me in getting some meal plans in order. I've written before that I'm not a summer cook and it was totally true again this year. As Fall approaches I'm way more interested in thinking about what in the heck we are going to eat and planning ahead. 

BREATHING | I took a really deep breath this weekend. It felt so darn good. Thanks again for being part of all this. 

Big thanks to those of you who participated in the Stories Matter Because sharing this past weekend using the #craftthestory hashtag. In case you missed it there's a free printable/PNG download on the Story Stamp™ pre-order page (scroll down to the bottom of the content area). You do need to be logged-in/signed up as a User to access this download. If you had issues downloading feel free to start a conversation and we can get that to you. 

I loved reading through all the reasons why stories matter to you. They were just so awesome and heartfelt and real and powerful reminders. 

We randomly selected jyssilly to receive a 3-month subscription to the Story Stamps™. We will get in touch with you via email/social media to set you up. 

Keep sharing those reasons stories matter to you. I think it's so important for each of us to understand the why - it's super motivating. 

Welcome And The Idea Behind Craft the Story™

I am beyond excited to welcome you to phase one of the new aliedwards.com. 

For the last 12 years, scrapbooking has been a daily part of my life. That doesn't mean that I'm actively creating projects every single day, but it does mean that memory keeping has become my lifestyle. Photographing, documenting, reflecting and bringing it all together via the craft of scrapbooking continues to be one of the main ways I make sense of my life. 

It's also one of the main ways I celebrate and give thanks. 

As my own personal story evolves, so should my brand. 

My vision for my brand is to continue to emphasize the heart of the matter - that stories really do matter. From the blog posts I write to the products I create, I want to always be asking myself if it's aligning with my mission to inspire, educate and empower others to tell their stories. Because I know, without a doubt, that it's mattered to me to tell my own. 

On the new aliedwards.com you will find a continuation of my intentional memory keeping focus, an opportunity to participate in a community of people who are telling stories around the same theme each month, and a place to share your own stories regardless of what system you use. 

CRAFT THE STORY™

When we originally started talking about future plans for my business and rebranding the thing that came up again and again for me was that I wanted to keep the focus on the stories. That said, what I do with my stories is different than a writer who only writes or a photographer who only takes photos. There's magic in bringing the two together with design principles and intentional embellishments. 

Craft the story™ has multiple meanings. 

1. Craft the story™ is first and foremost about memory keeping. I literally cut and paste the stories of my life with words and photos and intentional embellishments. 

2. Craft the story™ means that the words of the story are very important to me and that there is a rhyme and a reason for the ways in which I write my stories. My words are crafted, not in a negative way, but in an intentional way that helps me make sense of my life. 

3. Craft the story™ means that we each get to create the stories of our own lives as we are living them out in the world. This doesn't mean we make things up or paint a different picture than what's real - it means we have a choice in how we live our lives, how we respond to and treat others, in how we create our day to day existence. 

NOW WHAT? 

Over the next few weeks this site will continue to evolve as we add information about the Story Kits™, the classes page, and the shop. The shop will be home to my digital products, my new paper crafting products, art prints, project kits, as well as a variety of my personal favorite products from other manufacturers. I'll be launching registration for a new class in the next few weeks as well. 

Here's what I invite you to do today: 

Take a video tour of the new site. You can access that on the New Here page.Sign up to be a registered user. I am super excited to welcome you to this growing community of people who are interested in and passionate about crafting their story. Check out each of the Project Pages under the Project heading and watch the videos filmed by Collin Kartchner. He expertly captured the essence behind each of those projects and made me laugh over and over again. Also on each Project Page is a gallery of images. I love this new gallery format and hope you do too. Please note that we are in the process of linking up previous blog posts that correspond with specific projects to make it easier to get more information on specific projects. You are already here on the blog but I hope you'll spend a bit of time checking out how we've organized the content. You can do a search or use the categories to find or rediscover some of the posts I've written over the last ten years. I personally loved looking back through The Weekend Lens, Simon and Anna categories. I love that there's a visual archive when you click to view a category. I've got a new 4x6" stamp subscription program called Story Stamps™. There is a limited quantity now available for pre-order here. One of the big things that sets this program apart (and what I'm really excited about) is that subscribers receive access to a private area of the site that will include additional educational content each month in the form of video(s), a PDF handout, and a message board and gallery for connecting with other subscribers who are part of this community. It's basically like taking a mini-workshop from me each month. PLEASE NOTE

We are aware of some wonky things, like videos appearing really small, in older blog posts. We are working on updating those video files to the correct size. In the mean-time if you come across a video you can always still click to view it on Vimeo or You Tube depending on where it was originally uploaded (I've done both in the past). 

THANK YOU

I'm so ready to get down to the regular business of telling stories. I'm looking forward to a bunch of new things to share with you in the coming months - classes, project kits, products. We've been working hard behind the scenes for so long and to see it all finally come to fruition has been awesome. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being excited.

Hello Evolution

Change is coming my friends.

For the last year or so I’ve been working behind the scenes to evolve my business and to shake things up in a bunch of different ways.

I needed to shake it up.

I can tell you, without a doubt, that I absolutely feel excited and rejuvenated about memory keeping. I’ve got stories to tell and layouts to make and I want you to continue joining me on this journey.

This brand evolution is awesome but it’s also been crazy challenging in a million different ways. New life is being breathed into my business and I’m personally growing right along with it (as happens whether you like it or not when you are the brand). And man have there been some pains. There have also been awesome steps (maybe even leaps) forward for me personally as I work through the things I’m afraid of and the things I’m resistant to and the things I hold on to way too tight (for no reason other than I’m afraid).

So all that said, something new is coming.

In order for that something new to be totally ready to launch we need to take this site down for a bit – most likely starting on Monday, August 11th. It will be down for a week or so (give or take a few days) and then it will reappear with all kinds of fun new stuff.

A NOTE ABOUT CLASSES | If you have purchased a class from me, including One Little Word, Yesterday & Today, or Scrapbook On The Road you will not have access to that content while the site is down. Please download the content you might over the next couple of weeks. Once the new site launches your same passwords and links should work for accessing the workshops. If you have any questions or need a PDF during the next few weeks you can always email us ali@aliedwards.com.

ALSO, because of these changes this will be the last weekend to purchase Scrapbook On The Road and/or Yesterday & Today. These two classes may show up again in the future but won’t be available for purchase when the new site launches. Again, you won’t have access to these classes starting Monday until the new site is live.

We want this transition to be as seamless as possible and thank you for your understanding over the next couple of weeks as we implement the changes.

This is super exciting stuff for me and the evolution of my business. I can’t wait to share it with you soon!

STAY UPDATED VIA MY NEWSLETTER | If you want to stay updated with all the new happenings at aliedwards.com sign up for the newsletter list here (if you are already signed up for my current newsletter you’re all good to go).