Ali Edwards's Blog, page 222

Project Life® 2014 | Week Five

Welcome to Project Life® 2014 | Week Five (January 27th through February 2nd).

As I was working on this week I said to Katie, “I want to get these pages done so I can be up to date and be working on last week this week.”

Truth be told that’s my personal ideal – to live it last week and record it during that week and post it the next week. As I mentioned in my video last week I’m not stressing or feeling guilt, it’s just my personality.

But it’s all good. I had a great, relaxing weekend spent with the kids and friends doing a whole lot of nothing except enjoying each other’s company. Hard to beat that.

Here’s a look at Week Five:

I’m continuing to use the Messy Weekly Lines on my first photo for each week (the top left photo).

I kept it really simple this week and included a few brush writingsamples from the Life | Scripted workshop.

The little gold flag is from Studio Calico’s Essentials Collection: Gold Flag Clips

Simon got new photos for his Passport renewal so I attached the extra photo to the vellum envelope and added those to the background card from the Midnight kit.

On the top left photo I used one of those awesome label stickers from Studio Calico’s Wanderlust collection. Katie and I have used up our pack – great stickers.

I used a gold metallic marker for my journaling on the Hello card.

SUPPLIES | 2014 | WEEK FIVE

Click on the images to link to the products.

InLinkz.com

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.

Easter Products

It’s that time of year. Things are starting to bloom around here and I’m starting to think about Easter baskets and Easter meals and getting out into the yard.

To help document these adventures I’ve got a couple new products available at Designer Digitals this weekend.

First up are the Easter Blessings 3×4 Journal Cards. This package includes a printable PDF for easy printing and cutting. I think these would make super cute place cards for your Easter meal too.

To go along with that set I created a package of Easter Blessings Elements. This includes hand-drawn word art, circle elements and word stickers.

These two new products are part of a new Designer Digitals collaboration called Designer Coordinates. The product designers are all given a color palette + theme and we see what we can come up with to go along with the colors and theme.

Here’s a look at all the products from this collaboration:

Here’s a few other Easter/Spring products from me:

Spring Line Stacks

Spring & Easter Boxes 3×4

Spring & Easter Boxes 4×6

Spring Hand-Drawn Brushes

Have a great weekend!

The Delicious Truth About Getting Older PDF

A few weeks ago I participated in a writing collective led by Susannah Conway on the top of celebrating getting older. You can read my individual post here: What I Like About Getting Older.

Susannah compiled all those posts together into a lovely and inspiring PDF that you can download below.

Download the Delicious Truth PDF here.

Enjoy and have a great weekend!

Katie’s Project Life® 2014 | Week 9

Welcome to Katie’s Project Life® 2014 | Week 9

WHAT WE DID IN WEEK 9 | We didn’t have too many things going on this week. The main focus of this spread was the stuff we had happening over the weekend, which is when I take most of my photos. Peter and I have a pretty good routine going every weekend where we make coffee and breakfast and sit and chat for a long time. I really look forward this every week. It’s a time where we talk about things that have happened during the week, what we have coming up, and it’s usually when we dream up plans. Travel plans. Home plans. We are planners. My most favorite part about these weekend mornings are the dancing. We play music loud in the kitchen while cleaning up and we just dance. We are usually being silly, but we are celebrating how great life is right now. Soaking it all up.

For the date card this week I paired a picture of myself with a list of the dates stamped with a date stamp. I used Studio Calico’s Color Theory Ink in Blush Crush. These inks work awesome for stamping directly on a photo.

I included a text message conversation with my friends that includes some interesting language regarding The Bachelor finale that aired this week. I stapled a piece of vellum over the top of the photo and added one of Studio Calico’s Scrap Pads to it.

The gold foil “Thankful” sticker is from me and my Big ideas. The word part is clear, so it looks awesome when placed over a photo. I can’t stop using them–they are seriously rad.

I stitched journaling lines onto a blank white 4×6 card with grey and pink thread from the Capture, Yes Please Amy Tangerine Embroidery Stitch Kit.

I created another journal card by using Ali’s Just Awesome stamps with Memento Luxe ink in Angel Pink, Color Theory Ink in Clean Slate and Tsukineko Brilliance Pigment Ink in Galaxy Gold.

The “Merci” is from me and my BIG ideas’ Cards In An Instant line.

The “Hi” cork circle is from the Studio Calico Office Hours Project Life® Kit.

I had to include the amazing selfie that Ellen took at the Oscars. This was by far my favorite moment of the whole show. The gold “amazing” is from Maggie Holmes’ Gold Label Maker Stickers.

Hope you all have a fun and relaxing weekend!

CONNECT WITH KATIE | INSTAGRAM | TWITTER | PINTEREST | KATIE’S PROJECT LIFE® ARCHIVE

SUPPLIES | 2014 | WEEK 9

Click on the images to link to the products.

InLinkz.com

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. View all my posts about Project Life here.

AE Project Life® | In-Progress Video And A Note About Video Equipment

Happy Thursday!

I took some time on Tuesday to take a quick video of my 2013 and 2014 Project Life® progress.

Fun, fun, fun.

Here’s a look at my 2013 and 2014 albums in progress:

A couple things in the video you might have questions about that are mentioned/seen in the video:

Amy Tan Plus One Bits
6×12 Words & Photos Layered Templates
Studio Calico Project Life Kits
Give Thanks Printable Cards
Project Life Dividers

And just for fun:

That would be me, not taking myself too seriously, as I set up the tripod.

For recording videos I use my Canon 5DMKII camera and this Promaster Carbon Fiber Tripod (C429W) with a Promaster Accessory Tilt Arm on the top to be able to shoot down on the table. All three legs are fully adjustable, allowing it to hold the heavy weight of this camera and lens combo. The microphone I use is a Sennheiser 400 (attached to the top of the camera).

You can read a post about some of my tips for photographing Project Life here.

Stuff Of Our Days | Ali & Katie

Katie and I spend a lot of time together working and playing.

We eat lunch together every week day here at my house and are both trying hard to eat healthy most of the time. Most days we go downstairs, make lunch together and sit at the dining table.

Some days we chat but usually I read the paper and she checks out Pinterest while we eat. We’re good with quiet and we’re good with really big laughter.

We often make “plate” lunches – a combination of stuff like slices of cheese, meat, crackers, fruit, etc. Some days we have soup. Another favorite is steamed broccoli with chicken and either a peanut (goma shabu) or soy (shabu soy) dipping sauce that I often have for making shabu shabu (a favorite Japanese dish).

When the weather warms up we’ve got plans to eat more lunches outside.

Here’s some of the fun things we are loving lately:

Pretzel Crisps & Sabra Classic Hummus | We get both of these at Costco – a big bag of the pretzel crisps & the individual cups of hummus (nice for portion control/not nice for the environment). Katie started on this snack after picking up a little combo pack of Hummus & Pretzels at a local grocery store. It’s addicting.

Frosty Light from Rabbit Food For My Bunny Teeth | So I bought a Vitamix. Aaron and I were at Costco a couple weekends ago and it jumped in my cart. I pinned this concoction and we’ve had it multiple times recently and find it delicious – we even add the chia seeds and I’m a total convert.

Spotify | While working in the office we listen to music. This is a change from when I was working on my own – it was all talk radio all the time. Katie’s definitely brought music back into my life (Aaron’s helped with that too). I made the leap and am now subscribing to Spotify and I love that I can listen to the playlists in the car. Here’s a couple of playlists we are listening to Twin Forks (just their album), Girls Night, Hits Right Now (makes us feel super current – ha) and one Katie made called Feel Good. Find me and the things I’ve been listening to by searching Ali McDougall Edwards.

Jimmy Johns | Yep. Sandwiches. For some reason Katie and I love this place. I always get the #6 (veggie) + salt & vinegar chipas and Katie almost always gets the #1 (Pepe) + BBQ chips. Sometimes we eat there and sometimes we bring it back and eat at my dining room table.

Project Life Wednesdays | I’m working on a post to share how our block scheduling has been going but I can’t post about the things we’re into and like doing together without mentioning Project Life. We’ve designated Wednesdays as Project Life days and after taking care of admin stuff in the morning we dive in and have the best time working on our individual albums together. We usually turn the music up loud and get down to business. This includes finishing up spreads, photographing them and then working on the posts for the following week. We totally look forward to Wednesdays.

Viral You Tube Videos | We like to laugh. We like to be inspired. Some of our current favorites include: Kid President’s Letter To A Person On Their First Day Here, pretty much anything from Jimmy Fallon but especially the lip sync battles (Paul Rudd and this one with Joseph Gordon Levitt & Stephen Merchant) and when he sang Let It Go with Idina Menzel & The Roots (that one gets played over and over).

What’s something you are really into and loving right now?

Personalized Stationery From Minted

Ah, correspondence.

My Mom is the best at letter writing.

Often it’s a thank you note but many times it’s also just a hello, how’s it going or thinking of you message.

It’s thoughtful and kind and personal and I’ve kept many of them over the years.

I’ve also had a few friends who are awesome at writing notes or letters and really make an effort (specifically Paolo and Kelly Rae). It matters and it gets noticed – especially these days where it’s so easy to send a text message or some other technical correspondence.

Jotting out a few kind words to let someone know you are thinking about them is just cool.

There’s even a TED talk on the lost art of letter writing. And you know I loved how she talks about the legacy of handwriting.

Today we’re sharing the two pieces of personalized stationary we recently received from Minted as part of their 6th Birthday Celebration. We’ve partnered with Minted in the past for Christmas cards and wall art and we’re big fans of their quality and service.

Katie picked the Hello Darling package and I went with the Chic Memo set. We both went for simple black and white designs but there are color options available as well.

TIPS FOR MAKING IT HAPPEN

ONE | Have your stationery out and available. It’s kind of like my sewing machine. When it was put away I barely ever used it but once I had it out and more accessible in my office it gets used all the time.

TWO | Have a pen you love. My favorite everyday pen is a Uni-ball Vision Elite.

THREE | Know that just a short note is perfect. It doesn’t have to be a novel or something extravagant or a special occasion or perfectly crafted. Just a simple hey, you crossed my mind today can be all that’s needed to lift someone’s spirits or brighten their day.

FOUR | Pick up some fun stamps. My personal favorites right now are the ferns and the vintage seed packets (both are forever stamps).

Do you guys write letters or receive letters from someone special?

Minted is celebrating 6 years of unique indie design with a very big sale. 15% off everything – including limited edition art and custom art for kids & adults. Sale runs from today until April 8th.

Joy | Scrapbook Layout

Here’s a two-page, 8.5×11 layout using Studio Calico’s Bluegrass Farm Scrapbook Kit.

When I opened up this month’s kit the first thing that blew me away were the circle patches (!!!). They are almost too cool to add to a layout. They should be on a hat or a backpack or something like that (I might just add one of the other ones to a hat). But I sucked it up and used one because there are three of them and I love the idea of adding some fabric stuff to my pages again.

Here’s what I ended up with:

I knew I wanted to cut a large word using the Silhouette from the wood grain pattern paper and that I wanted to pair that with a large photo on the second page of the spread.

The photo was printed to 8 inches x 10.5 inches (I brought three photos together in photoshop before printing).

I used the font Blackout to cut the title.

Behind the die cut cardstock I added a sheet of yellow vellum from this set before adhering the yellow pattern paper behind it.

After I had all that in place I used a Precision Pen to outline each of the letters (which would be matched with some handwriting on the second page) and then added one of the label stickers below.

I stitched the patch in the middle of the “O” using my Brother sewing machine.

On the second page I added a few little sentiment strips that included phrases about Anna and joy. I printed those on white cardstock and used Heidi’s Gold Color Shine on top before cutting and stapling to the background pattern paper.

To bring it all together I added the bit of hand-journaling along the bottom and the black border around the edge of the photo and the date using a rolling date stamp.

SUPPLIES | JOY

Click on the images to link to the products.

InLinkz.com

Looking for more layout creation inspiration including a lot of video overviews that walk you through my own personal process? Check out my 12-week workshop coming in April to Big Picture Classes: Hello Story (if you took this workshop last summer the content is exactly the same).

Spring Break Guest | Teresa Collins

While on vacation this week we’ve invited a few of our friends to share their favorite layout of all time  +  why it is so special to them.

Say hello to Teresa Collins

I am so honored to be asked to be a guest designer for my friend Ali. I have always connected with her and her passion for telling a story. My journey as a crafter started with my back ground in interior design.

I have always loved to decorate but I never scrapbooked until 2002. I started to scrapbook when my mother died suddently from a brain aneurysm at the age of 53. As you can imagine, I was devastated and I felt the most profound loss.

I realized that I had not asked and written down so many things about her… her life… and

things about me and my life. I had lost the opportunity and it was so hard for me.  My world as a designer evolved into a scrapbooker after my mother passed away.

I found a big plastic container of photos. There was hundreds of photos in the box. There was not anything to tell me- WHO? (is in the photos) WHEN? (when was this taken) WHY? (what was going on, what is the story… the meaning). I felt such a loss and I knew I needed to “tell her story.”

I never knew my design background would translate into eventually owning my own crafting/paper company.

So my favorite projects are always those that “tell the story.”

I have seven amazing children and a cute husband that I love and adore.

My husband is fighting cancer right now and I am MORE than ever passionate and so aware of how important it is to be my “family historian.” I love to “decorate” my pages… but more than that I want to truly capture the love, the moments and make sure that the memory will be remembered.

I take non-stop photos and I truly am just so thankful for each and everyday… I am thankful the sweet simple moments. I love being able to design products that help others to tell the story too.

 

CONNECT WITH TERESA | Blog | Website | Facebook | Intsagram

 

Digital Product Releases | 03.29.13

Three new products available from me this weekend at Designer Digitals.

First up is Awesome Memory Starbursts.

Take Me Away

Diamonds Are Forever No. 02

Have a great weekend!