Ali Edwards's Blog, page 214

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.

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).

Summer Adventuring | Part Two

Part two of the week+ summer adventure happened after the camping trip with my brother.

The plan started out pretty simple. Aaron and I had both decided to take the week off work after the camping trip. As we were talking through options about what to do with this vacation time with all the kids (driving, flying, staycation, etc) we decided it made complete sense to go stay at the house I grew up in outside of Tacoma, Washington and adventure to Seattle for a day or two or more.

I think we both liked having that flexibility built into the plan so we could see how things went and how everyone was getting along and how much patience I/we had left.

After the four days of camping + two nights outside Seattle I figured I’d be ready to be home but left it open just in case.

Here’s a look at the middle part of our adventure:

One of the first things we did after getting settled into the house I grew up in (after leaving the camping adventure) was figure out a dinner plan.

Growing up in the summer we spent a lot of time at this particular Godfather’s Pizza in Federal Way. It was the place we went after so many swim meets. It was fun to have this crew there for pizza and to play some of the arcade games just like I did when I was a kid.

On Monday morning we developed a plan that included taking the Central Link light rail from the airport to Westlake Center in downtown Seattle. We don’t have a car that fits all seven of us and taking two cars sounded like a pain and most kids like experiencing different modes of transportation.

There was lots of anticipation (and lots of corralling of kids) as we got off the train and got on the monorail at Westlake to take us to Seattle Center.

Told you he likes transportation.

My kids have been to the Space Needle and Seattle Center before but it was Aaron’s kids first time. It was fun to see their faces as we approached. We didn’t end up going up to the top of the Space Needle, choosing instead to spend our time and money at the Pacific Science Center.

The Science Center is one of those Seattle institutions. I loved coming here on field trips or to see special exhibits as a kid. Right now they have a Spy exhibit happening which was pretty cool but a little much (too many words) for the two 5-year-olds.

They found ways to have fun in the other exhibits and just hanging out with each other.

So yes, at the end of this day, we were all exhausted.

We had talked about going down to the waterfront for dinner or exploring more, but everyone was just done by late afternoon and we still had the train ride back to our cars.

I’m pretty sure all the kids had fun (or at least their memory will be one of fun), but it was also another learning experience for me and Aaron in the parenting/blended family adventures/expectations department. I can tell you that the two of us had some really good conversations at the end of each day as we were laying in the dark about what we think is most important in these kinds of adventures, things we each struggle with related to how we parent our own kids, strategies for next time and generally continuing to deepen our relationship. Not always easy but it sure feels worth it.

That’s the reality people.

The next morning we woke up and took our time getting ready to go (remember how I said above that I thought two nights would be enough and there’s always more work to do at home). At the end of two nights post camping I still wasn’t quite ready to go home and the truth is I wanted to add another surprise to this adventure that I knew my kids would love.

So as a last minute thing we decided to make a reservation for Great Wolf Lodge on the way home.

This is one of those places we’ve driven by many times as we’ve made our way north or south on I5 between my home in Oregon and my relatives outside Seattle. We’ve seen the big waterslides from the road and always wondered what it was all about.

We loaded up the kids in the car and started making our way towards home. Pretty much all the kids were sleeping in both cars, except Simon. When we pulled in and everyone woke up they were pretty surprised that their vacation wasn’t quite done.

We checked-in and ventured into the waterpark and the kids loved it. They had so much fun playing in the wave pool and going on the waterslides and playing on the big structure in the middle of the water park (especially a giant bucket that dumps a thousand gallons of water every so often). I loved the waterslides the best and it was so great that both kids were into that part too.

Everyone slept awesome that night.

Here they are near the end of the next day. Again, they were pretty much done by this point. Remember that feeling?

We had initially planned to just stay one night – you have access to the waterpark from the time you check-in until closing time the following day which is a good amount of time to be in the water. What I wasn’t aware of was that they also have this whole other component going on at the hotel called MagiQuest® (you can tell my research was really limited to the waterpark portion).

As soon as Simon saw all the kids running around with wands and activating cool stuff around the hotel it was really hard for him to understand that no, that wasn’t a part of the adventure this time and we were just there to do the waterpark.

As we were getting ready to pack up and leave the waterpark (see that last photo above about being done) I started considering staying another night to be able to give Simon the gift of participating in the magical adventure. Normally all these adjustments to the schedule wouldn’t be possible for one reason or another but because we’d left the week open we had some room to be spontaneous.

So, again, I made the executive decision to stay one more night.

Worth it.

Totally.

Simon and Aaron’s boys loved it. Of course they did. They have a whole game set up where the kids go from floor to floor using the stairwells and common areas of the hotel solving puzzles – it’s basically a big scavenger hunt.

The girls also had fun using the wands around the hotel (not as a specific part of the game) but just as a “demo” which meant they could activate things (open chests, make things talk, etc). They also loved the little shows, face painting, coloring and storytime that was put on in the evening.

He was so into it. It got their brains going and it’s an activity that takes up a good amount of time. They spent most of the evening and the next morning going through the book and clues to finish the game. It’s definitely a nice compliment to the water activities.

We loved how geared the whole place was to the kids.

Good times, good times.

I’ve got one more post to share, most likely later this week, which will be Part Three of our summer adventure (another weekend of camping to round out the week+ of fun).

Check out Part One here.

Word art used on some of the photos above is from my Spontaneous Adventure and Diamonds Are Forever Vol. 3.

Summer Adventuring | Part Two

Part two of the week+ summer adventure happened after the camping trip with my brother.

The plan started out pretty simple. Aaron and I had both decided to take the week off work after the camping trip. As we were talking through options about what to do with this vacation time with all the kids (driving, flying, staycation, etc) we decided it made complete sense to go stay at the house I grew up in outside of Tacoma, Washington and adventure to Seattle for a day or two or more.

I think we both liked having that flexibility built into the plan so we could see how things went and how everyone was getting along and how much patience I/we had left.

After the four days of camping + two nights outside Seattle I figured I'd be ready to be home but left it open just in case.

Here's a look at the middle part of our adventure:

One of the first things we did after getting settled into the house I grew up in (after leaving the camping adventure) was figure out a dinner plan.

Growing up in the summer we spent a lot of time at this particular Godfather's Pizza in Federal Way. It was the place we went after so many swim meets. It was fun to have this crew there for pizza and to play some of the arcade games just like I did when I was a kid.

On Monday morning we developed a plan that included taking the Central Link light rail from the airport to Westlake Center in downtown Seattle. We don't have a car that fits all seven of us and taking two cars sounded like a pain and most kids like experiencing different modes of transportation.

There was lots of anticipation (and lots of corralling of kids) as we got off the train and got on the monorail at Westlake to take us to Seattle Center.

Told you he likes transportation.

My kids have been to the Space Needle and Seattle Center before but it was Aaron's kids first time. It was fun to see their faces as we approached. We didn't end up going up to the top of the Space Needle, choosing instead to spend our time and money at the Pacific Science Center.

The Science Center is one of those Seattle institutions. I loved coming here on field trips or to see special exhibits as a kid. Right now they have a Spy exhibit happening which was pretty cool but a little much (too many words) for the two 5-year-olds.

They found ways to have fun in the other exhibits and just hanging out with each other.

So yes, at the end of this day, we were all exhausted.

We had talked about going down to the waterfront for dinner or exploring more, but everyone was just done by late afternoon and we still had the train ride back to our cars.

I'm pretty sure all the kids had fun (or at least their memory will be one of fun), but it was also another learning experience for me and Aaron in the parenting/blended family adventures/expectations department. I can tell you that the two of us had some really good conversations at the end of each day as we were laying in the dark about what we think is most important in these kinds of adventures, things we each struggle with related to how we parent our own kids, strategies for next time and generally continuing to deepen our relationship. Not always easy but it sure feels worth it.

That's the reality people.

The next morning we woke up and took our time getting ready to go (remember how I said above that I thought two nights would be enough and there's always more work to do at home). At the end of two nights post camping I still wasn't quite ready to go home and the truth is I wanted to add another surprise to this adventure that I knew my kids would love.

So as a last minute thing we decided to make a reservation for Great Wolf Lodge on the way home.

This is one of those places we've driven by many times as we've made our way north or south on I5 between my home in Oregon and my relatives outside Seattle. We've seen the big waterslides from the road and always wondered what it was all about.

We loaded up the kids in the car and started making our way towards home. Pretty much all the kids were sleeping in both cars, except Simon. When we pulled in and everyone woke up they were pretty surprised that their vacation wasn't quite done.

We checked-in and ventured into the waterpark and the kids loved it. They had so much fun playing in the wave pool and going on the waterslides and playing on the big structure in the middle of the water park (especially a giant bucket that dumps a thousand gallons of water every so often). I loved the waterslides the best and it was so great that both kids were into that part too.

Everyone slept awesome that night.

Here they are near the end of the next day. Again, they were pretty much done by this point. Remember that feeling?

We had initially planned to just stay one night - you have access to the waterpark from the time you check-in until closing time the following day which is a good amount of time to be in the water. What I wasn't aware of was that they also have this whole other component going on at the hotel called MagiQuest® (you can tell my research was really limited to the waterpark portion).

As soon as Simon saw all the kids running around with wands and activating cool stuff around the hotel it was really hard for him to understand that no, that wasn't a part of the adventure this time and we were just there to do the waterpark.

As we were getting ready to pack up and leave the waterpark (see that last photo above about being done) I started considering staying another night to be able to give Simon the gift of participating in the magical adventure. Normally all these adjustments to the schedule wouldn't be possible for one reason or another but because we'd left the week open we had some room to be spontaneous.

So, again, I made the executive decision to stay one more night.

Worth it.

Totally.

Simon and Aaron's boys loved it. Of course they did. They have a whole game set up where the kids go from floor to floor using the stairwells and common areas of the hotel solving puzzles - it's basically a big scavenger hunt.

The girls also had fun using the wands around the hotel (not as a specific part of the game) but just as a "demo" which meant they could activate things (open chests, make things talk, etc). They also loved the little shows, face painting, coloring and storytime that was put on in the evening.

He was so into it. It got their brains going and it's an activity that takes up a good amount of time. They spent most of the evening and the next morning going through the book and clues to finish the game. It's definitely a nice compliment to the water activities.

We loved how geared the whole place was to the kids.

Good times, good times.

I've got one more post to share, most likely later this week, which will be Part Three of our summer adventure (another weekend of camping to round out the week+ of fun).

Check out Part One here.

Word art used on some of the photos above is from my Spontaneous Adventure and Diamonds Are Forever Vol. 3.

Summer Adventuring | Part One

Our whirlwind week+ adventure came to a close last weekend.

I took a lot of photos. A lot.

And I’m so glad I did.

I’m going to break up the adventure into three posts because there were really three separate parts with a cast of characters that come in and out.

Our adventure started out with a 4-day camping adventure with my brother’s family and a bunch of their friends. This is the same group we’ve been going with for three of the last four years and it’s a treasured tradition. You can see photos from past years here (2011) and here (2012) – it’s magic to look back through the years and see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. These are usually some of my favorite photos of the year.

For this adventure I shot mostly with my DSLR and supplemented with my iPhone. On some of the photos I’ve added digital word art from the following sets available at Designer Digitals:

Summer Adoration
Summer Activities
Spontaneous Adventures
Camping

Camping for us began with a road trip.

We pulled off to the side of the road for this shot. I set my Canon 5DMKII on the dash with the 24-70 lens opened all the way for a wide shot and set the timer. Love these kind of in-the-car shots to start the adventure.

Camping is for fishing and wide open spaces and room to spread out.

Camping is for hanging out around the fire for hours on end both day and night.

Camping is for snuggling up in the tent.

Camping is for drinks around the fire.

Camping is for capturing relationships.

And celebrating family.

Camping is for storytelling.

Last year my cousin Rob and my brother introduced the kids to Shakey the Bear.

Shakey leaves notes and treats for the kids. They run like crazy when someone finds a note (like the one painted above) and usually find something cool waiting for them: bubble wands, bandannas, pop tarts, etc.

Camping is for hot dogs and for connecting with old friends.

Camping is for giggling.

Camping is for conversations about setting up an Instagram account to share lego guys camping adventures.

Camping is sometimes for digging clams.

And for eating them.

Camping is for getting in the water.

Camping is for checking stuff out.

And wandering.

Camping is for music during the day and at night.

Camping is for moments.

Camping rocks.

LOOKING FOR SOME PHOTO INSPIRATION THIS AUGUST? Susannah Conway invited me to contribute to her August Break project – a photo-a-day community event for the month of August. I think it’s something many of you might have an interest in as you experience the month of August. Get all the details on this free month of prompts here.

Summer Adventuring | Part One

Our whirlwind week+ adventure came to a close last weekend.

I took a lot of photos. A lot.

And I'm so glad I did.

I'm going to break up the adventure into three posts because there were really three separate parts with a cast of characters that come in and out.

Our adventure started out with a 4-day camping adventure with my brother's family and a bunch of their friends. This is the same group we've been going with for three of the last four years and it's a treasured tradition. You can see photos from past years here (2011) and here (2012) - it's magic to look back through the years and see what's changed and what's stayed the same. These are usually some of my favorite photos of the year.

For this adventure I shot mostly with my DSLR and supplemented with my iPhone. On some of the photos I've added digital word art from the following sets available at Designer Digitals: 

Summer Adoration
Summer Activities
Spontaneous Adventures
Camping

Camping for us began with a road trip.

We pulled off to the side of the road for this shot. I set my Canon 5DMKII on the dash with the 24-70 lens opened all the way for a wide shot and set the timer. Love these kind of in-the-car shots to start the adventure.

Camping is for fishing and wide open spaces and room to spread out.

Camping is for hanging out around the fire for hours on end both day and night.

Camping is for snuggling up in the tent.

Camping is for drinks around the fire.

Camping is for capturing relationships.

And celebrating family.

Camping is for storytelling.

Last year my cousin Rob and my brother introduced the kids to Shakey the Bear.

Shakey leaves notes and treats for the kids. They run like crazy when someone finds a note (like the one painted above) and usually find something cool waiting for them: bubble wands, bandannas, pop tarts, etc.

Camping is for hot dogs and for connecting with old friends.

Camping is for giggling.

Camping is for conversations about setting up an Instagram account to share lego guys camping adventures.

Camping is sometimes for digging clams.

And for eating them.

Camping is for getting in the water.

Camping is for checking stuff out. 

And wandering.

Camping is for music during the day and at night.

Camping is for moments.

Camping rocks.

LOOKING FOR SOME PHOTO INSPIRATION THIS AUGUST? Susannah Conway invited me to contribute to her August Break project - a photo-a-day community event for the month of August. I think it's something many of you might have an interest in as you experience the month of August. Get all the details on this free month of prompts here.

Thank You Designer Digitals | More Business Changes

As I’ve hinted here and there over the last few months, I’ve been working behind the scenes on some changes to my business relationships and the ways in which my products are delivered.

This past weekend was my last release of digital products over at Designer Digitals. I’ve had a wonderful relationship with Katie and the Designer Digitals team for the last six years. You will continue to be able to purchase my full collection of current digital products from Designer Digitals for the next 18 months.

So what’s next?

Good stuff. I promise.

I will still be designing digital products and will have new sets available in a different location soon. Being vague is not my favorite thing – nor is saying, “coming soon!!!!!!!!!!!” – but trust me that everything is in the works.

This has been a year of adjustments and planning and getting things in place for the evolution of my business and brand. I love memory keeping and I love encouraging you guys to document and share and craft the stories of your lives.

As always I’m filled with gratitude for your support of my products, my writing, my journey and my family.

I can tell you that I’m very excited for this next phase and can’t wait to share with you what I’ve been working on for many months.

In the meantime, I’d love your continued support of my collection of products over at Designer Digitals. You can browse and shop my complete collection here: Ali Edwards at Designer Digitals.

New releases include those shown above: Spontaneous Adventures and Hello Life Vol. 2

PS | For those of you who’ve asked, Week In The Life™ is definitely coming again this fall. The date is in a bit of flux at the moment but I’m tentatively penciling in the week of October 27th. Hope you will participate along with me again this year. For more information on the basics of this project check out my Week In The Life™ page.

Project Life® 2014 | Week 15

Getting back in the swing of things around here just in time to hit the road for some work travel this week.

Bring on life!

Today I’m sharing Project Life® 2014 | Week Fifteen (April 7th through April 13th) which uses the Sandlot Project Life® kit from Studio Calico. You can check out all the new kits for August over at Studio Calico here: Scrapbook Kit | Project Life® Kit | Card Kit.

As usual I’m skipping around weeks, but this happens to be the last one in my first album for this year. I usually fit four months in one album for a total of three Project Life® albums each year. Some people probably have less and some have more depending on how you choose to approach it.

For this week I already had all the photos printed and in the pockets when I sat down to work with the kit. That’s not always the case but it’s the way I seem to be working lately. I’ve been going through and batch printing a bunch of photos all at once – sitting here at my desk and flipping through the page protectors (already in the album) and filling in the 4×6 photo spaces. I pretty much always start with those and then add in 3×4 photos if I have more.

This ended up being a pretty simple week in terms of craftiness.

Lots of handwriting on the photos which I’ve been into a lot recently. I like being able to easily add the words right onto the photos and use some of the other pockets for more stories of fun cards.

The “my brain has too many tabs open” card is the story of my mental existence. It comes in the kit as a 4×6 card that I cut down to 3×4 to fit this pocket.

Many of my photos includes lines that can be used for adding words directly via hand or with type before printing. On the photo above I used the lines on the house as a home for my words. I could have also used the lines in the raised garden beds or that white space on the shed.

I use Precision Pens most often for writing on my photos.

This week I used cards from the kit in addition to some of the printables available. “Let the good times roll” is included in one of the printable sets.

The “here” circle was printed and then punched with a circle punch.

I took this photo with the self-timer on my phone. Getting myself in the story continues to be a part of my process.

“Good vibes all around” is also part of a printable/digital PNG set available this month at Studio Calico. I placed it at the top of a 3×4 canvas in Photoshop to create this journal card.

“Shine” is from this printable/digital set.

ACTION ITEMS/IDEAS

Write on your photos. Yeah, you can type on there as well, but adding your own handwriting adds a very personal piece of yourself too. Look for lines in your photos and use those as guides/spaces for your words.

I’m also excited to share that Studio Calico has printed my Summer Journal Cards and they are available for purchase as a set! Grab yours here.

Project Life® is a product and a system and a lifestyle created by Becky Higgins. It can be anything you want it to be. The core pieces used in my album are available here. If you live outside the US check Becky’s site for more information on sources. View all my posts about Project Life® here.

Project Life® 2014 | Week 15

Getting back in the swing of things around here just in time to hit the road for some work travel this week.

Bring on life!

Today I'm sharing Project Life® 2014 | Week Fifteen (April 7th through April 13th) which uses the Sandlot Project Life® kit from Studio Calico. You can check out all the new kits for August over at Studio Calico here: Scrapbook Kit | Project Life® Kit | Card Kit.

As usual I'm skipping around weeks, but this happens to be the last one in my first album for this year. I usually fit four months in one album for a total of three Project Life® albums each year. Some people probably have less and some have more depending on how you choose to approach it.

For this week I already had all the photos printed and in the pockets when I sat down to work with the kit. That's not always the case but it's the way I seem to be working lately. I've been going through and batch printing a bunch of photos all at once - sitting here at my desk and flipping through the page protectors (already in the album) and filling in the 4x6 photo spaces. I pretty much always start with those and then add in 3x4 photos if I have more.

This ended up being a pretty simple week in terms of craftiness.

Lots of handwriting on the photos which I've been into a lot recently. I like being able to easily add the words right onto the photos and use some of the other pockets for more stories of fun cards.

The "my brain has too many tabs open" card is the story of my mental existence. It comes in the kit as a 4x6 card that I cut down to 3x4 to fit this pocket.

Many of my photos includes lines that can be used for adding words directly via hand or with type before printing. On the photo above I used the lines on the house as a home for my words. I could have also used the lines in the raised garden beds or that white space on the shed.

I use Precision Pens most often for writing on my photos.

This week I used cards from the kit in addition to some of the printables available. "Let the good times roll" is included in one of the printable sets.

The "here" circle was printed and then punched with a circle punch.

I took this photo with the self-timer on my phone. Getting myself in the story continues to be a part of my process.

"Good vibes all around" is also part of a printable/digital PNG set available this month at Studio Calico. I placed it at the top of a 3x4 canvas in Photoshop to create this journal card.

"Shine" is from this printable/digital set.

ACTION ITEMS/IDEASWrite on your photos. Yeah, you can type on there as well, but adding your own handwriting adds a very personal piece of yourself too. Look for lines in your photos and use those as guides/spaces for your words.

I'm also excited to share that Studio Calico has printed my Summer Journal Cards and they are available for purchase as a set! Grab yours here.

Project Life® is a product and a system and a lifestyle created by Becky Higgins. It can be anything you want it to be. The core pieces used in my album are available here. If you live outside the US check Becky’s site for more information on sources. View all my posts about Project Life® here.

And The Giveaways Go To…

GIVEAWAY | Two (2) People will win a 3 month kit subscription (July, August, September) from Freckled Fawn.

 #103 | Cyndee K. said…Such an awesome giveaway! Love the enamel hearts! Thanks for a chance!
#409 | Marti Richards said…I love the stamp set from July’s kit! Thank you for the chance to win.

Congratulations! Please email Katie with your contact information.

 

Sponsored Giveaways | Freckled Fawn

GIVEAWAY | Two (2) People will win a 3 month kit subscription (July, August, September) from Freckled Fawn.

SPECIAL OFFER | If you become a kit subscriber, Freckled Fawn will include a pouch of embellishments ($20 value) with your first kit. Enter code “ALISUB” to take advantage of this awesome offer! Code expires on July 25th.

Freckled Fawn designs and manufactures happy craft embellishments. In addition to their online store full of goodies, Freckled Fawn also offers a monthly embellishment kit club that will encourage and inspire you to use up your personal paper stash.

 

CONNECT |  Store | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

 

 

TO BE ENTERED into this giveaway please leave a comment below and include your favorite embellishment from Freckled Fawn’s July Kit.  (if you are reading this post on Facebook please come to my blog to leave a comment).

Comments will be closed at 8pm Pacific on Sunday, July 20th. The winners will be announced shortly after. Please be sure to check back or subscribe (click here to get posts delivered to your email box) to see if you are receiving one of the items.