Ali Edwards's Blog, page 223

Happy Place | April Studio AE Blog Hop From Technique Tuesday

Welcome to the April Studio AE Blog Hop From Technique Tuesday.

Technique Tuesday offers a monthly stamp club that features a limited edition stamp set designed by me each month. You can check out past stamp sets (some are still available) here.

This month’s stamp set: Good Times

DIGITAL MEMORY KEEPER? | A similar set of digital word art is available here: No Day Like Today Brushes and Stamps

Here’s a look at the 2-page, 8.5×11 layout I created this month:

Sometimes it’s fun to do a layout that has no photos.

This one ended up with one very small image but could have just as easily had none. Scrapbooks don’t have to include photos. There are lots of times we have stories to tell and potentially no photos to go along with them – definitely doesn’t discount the story!

This spread is all about some of the things I love about this home.

Can you guess what motivated me to tell this story? I keep thinking of all the things I want to change here (paint all the walls white, rip out the carpet and add hardwood in the upstairs, take down some of the cabinets in the kitchen and add more windows, repaint the exterior, etc – things I’ve been talking about and wanting forever but just haven’t been able to swing yet) and I was starting to get really obsessed with it and it was making me grumpy. So I decided to make a list of the things I love about it right now rather than wishing for it to be something else.

It’s all about #gratitude my friends.

I don’t think I’ve documented just how thankful I am for this house and the shelter and comfort it has provided me over the last few years.

I totally enjoyed the process of putting this layout together. Here’s a look at how this layout progressed:

STEP ONE | Place that awesome large circle sticker from Me And My Big Ideas along the top of the page. These new packs of really big stickers are definitely a new favorite for me – especially because I’ve long been a fan of big type on my layouts.

STEP TWO | Draw a grid to create homes for the embellishments and words. I used a silver metallic marker. Doesn’t have to be perfect or straight or anything like that. Just draw.

STEP THREE | Start picking and choosing some embellishments and laying them out.

STEP FOUR | Choose three squares for the Good Times stamps. I used Bahama Blue ink from Memento Luxe. I spread them out a bit knowing I was going to be adding words.

STEP FIVE | Add the title along the bottom. As you can see I ran out of the first chipboard letter stickers I was using. Ha. So I ended up just adding in some others that were the same font but had different finishes on the top.

STEP SIX | Create 5 circle tags and add a chipboard number to each one to indicate you are starting a new journaling thought. I also used a small one-inch circle punch to punch out a couple pattern circles that were placed behind the chipboard numbers (this punch cuts circles just right to fit inside those metal rimmed circle tags).

STEP SEVEN | Start entering your journaling. At first I thought I was going to do 10 things and then decided to do 5 and be able to write a little bit more by continuing my journaling either across or down into the next square. I started in the top row of boxes and first went across (for #1). I just journaled in each box and then moved into the next box (vs. writing across two boxes).

As you can see I also can’t stop underlining my journaling.

STEP EIGHT | Continue your journaling and add in a few more embellishments as you work your way across and down the pages.

STEP NINE | You might choose to add a small photo to one of the boxes. I also added the date using a rolling date stamp along the left side right under the big circle sticker.

I love how this spread turned out.

Here’s a few close up shots of the spread and the journaling. Click on each photo to make it bigger:

The little word stickers (and the yellow letter stickers) I used around the page are all from this sticker sheet from Simple Stories: Hopespun.

Ah, the XO.

Still in love with this set of stickers from Amy Tan: Black Foam Phrase Twins.

I also just used a black pen to draw some lines and dots on the chipboard letters.

A NOTE ABOUT BREAKING “RULES” | I’m not generally big on creative “rules” but there are a few things I usually don’t do when creating a layout (good topic for a future post). One of those things is that I don’t usually spread journaling across two pages like I did on this one. To be honest it just sort of happened and then I went with it even though it’s not great when I put it in the page protectors. I got too excited about working within that grid.

ACTION ITEMS/IDEAS

Journal 5-10 things you love about your home – no matter what you want to change about it – right now.
Create a layout that includes a hand-drawn grid. Embrace the imperfection.
Make a layout with no photos.

SUPPLIES

Click on the images to jump to the products.

InLinkz.com

CREATIVE TEAM

Check out what our Creative Team is doing with the stamps this month:

Laura
Ashley
Nichol
Daniela
Teri

GIVEAWAY | We are going to give away one $25 e-Gift Card to TechniqueTuesday.com to someone who comments during the hop. To be eligible to win, all you need to do is comment on any of our blog posts! The lucky winner will be announced on the 21st on the Technique Tuesday blog.

We Do

In our family…

We do magic. Moments of surprise. The ones that take your breath away. We create opportunities to experience magic both big and small.

We do adventure. We take trips and see new places and experience new things to expand our worldview.

We do hard things. With grace and courage and bravery. We face our fears and we support each other. Challenges are welcome as a path towards greater personal understanding.

We do forgiveness.

We do compassion. For others. For ourselves.

We do community. We have friends over. We invite. We welcome. Our doors are open. And we accept invitations and show up.

We do movies. On the couch. At the theater.

We do outside. We swim. We bike. We walk. We play. We chase. We dine.

We do failure. We know without a doubt that trying hard and making mistakes and screwing up and getting back up again is one of the ways we all grow.

We do quiet times. In our own rooms. On the couch. In the reading room. We value time on our own.

We do one-on-one time.

We do creativity. We build. We paint. We might not all do the same forms of creativity but it is encouraged and celebrated.

We do laughter. We do joy. We do giggles and silliness.

We do different. We embrace and celebrate our individuality. We celebrate imperfections. We challenge assumptions (our own and the ones others have about us). We help others to see that different is amazing and makes our world and our lives a much richer experience.

We do family. Our family might not look the same as other families. Ours includes a wonderful collection of people who are related and un-related by blood or certificate. Some we see everyday and others on occasion. Love binds us together and we are thankful.

We do reading. On our own. Together.

We do education. We are involved and active and in-touch with our teachers. We thank them when they are awesome and gently challenge them to question their own assumptions when we know there’s room to grow. We are always learning.

We do gratitude. Around the table. In the car. On the page.

We do love. Every single day. No matter what.

I wrote this last month in a flurry of inspiration while sitting in the car waiting for one of the kids or just after dropping them off at school (I can’t remember which it was now). “We do…” is basically a family manifesto of who we are and the things I value and want to pass along by example. I wrote it out using Evernote which is the program I’m definitely using most these days for writing things down and keeping track of ideas while I’m on the go (thoughts, post ideas, workshop ideas, etc).

As I was getting this post ready Katie and I went back through many, many photos looking for a recent one of the me and the kids and we are severely lacking in that department. This needs to be remedied very soon. Katie printed out and put together the fun collection of recent photos you see above.

PS | Thank you so much to those of you who have taken the time to fill out the 2014 aliedwards.com Reader Survey. I appreciate it greatly. There’s still time to fill it out if you haven’t yet. I’ll close it up on Monday.

What do you and your family do?

Special Weekday Giveaway | Karen Russell’s Making The Shot

GIVEAWAY | Three peoole will win a copy of ‘Making the Shot Three: An In-Depth Discussion on Focus’ from Karen Russell. (If you purchase a copy, you will receive a full refund if you are chosen as a winner)

ABOUT | Making the Shot Three: An In-Depth Discussion on Focus is an advanced photography course devoted solely to the topic of focus. This issue defines the difference between tack-sharp, adequately-sharp and soft focus and discusses in great detail how cameras and lenses, lighting and contrast, autofocus settings and a proper focusing technique each play a critical and combined role in creating the sharpest images possible, straight out of the camera. This issue includes three step-by-step testing guides, ten comprehensive case studies, an entire section that tackles the topic of how and why you should be Back-Button Focusing, and every ounce of knowledge Karen has (and then some!) about focusing.

This is a downloadable course (a 139-page PDF and over six hours of audio) with the option of purchasing and participating in a two-week, online Q&A forum where Karen will be answering any and all questions related to the topic of focus from June 16th – 29th, 2014.

In the past, issues of Making the Shot have only been available to students of The Photographers’ Workshop, so this is the first time Karen has released an issue of Making the Shot to general public.

COST | $55 (PDF + audio) or $75 (PDF + audio + 2-week Q&A Forum)

Click here for more information and to purchase.

Past students of the Photographers’ Workshop will receive a $20 discount off of the price of the PDF.

CONNECT | Blog | Business Website | Instagram

 

 

TO BE ENTERED into this giveaway please leave a comment below (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 Thursday, April 10th. 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.

What Do You Want To See | aliedwards.com Reader Survey

I’ve been blogging since 2004.

In internet years that’s a pretty darn long time.

I’ve written over 3000 posts that include some of the simplest and also the most challenging times in my life like learning of Simon’s autism diagnosis or sharing that Chris and I were divorcing.

Throughout those years I’ve held a variety of different thoughts and opinions about the process of blogging: write what you love, write what you think people want to read, focus on content, promote products, generate income, etc. I’ve experienced the evolution of personal to professional and questioned how much is too much and how much is not enough over and over again.

Most of the time I’ve kept it pretty consistent. When you click on my site most of the time you’ll find a mix of the following:

Personal life stories and experiences.
Memory keeping projects. This often includes my processes,  my successes and challenges with those projects, organization, etc.
Product promotion. I promote my own products and workshops and those of others I think you guys would find interesting and inspiring. Sometimes that includes giveaways.

The thread of memory keeping/scrapbooking links most of it together.

I don’t talk a lot about the business of blogging here but this site is a major part of my business and how I support my family.

Up until 2012 when Katie was hired as my assistant it’s just been me driving this ship. Sometimes that’s really awesome and sometimes it’s brutal. There are times when I have no idea what to say next, what direction to take, and there are times when I feel like I know exactly where I’m going. Most of the time it’s a crazy mixture of the two.

The internet and the way we all interact with it continues to evolve and change. I want to be open to evolving personally and professionally. I want to provide content that’s interesting to you and to me. I want to keep on keeping it real and authentic in all that I do.

All that to say, I’m interested in what you’d like to see here.

I’m interested in what you’d like to see more and less of in terms of posts. I’m also interested in what kinds of products you’d like to see me work on in the future and what types of workshops you’d like to see moving forward.

I’ve come up with a quick 10-question survey and today I’m asking you to take a few minutes to respond. I’d greatly appreciate it.

Click here to participate in the 2014 reader survey.

 

I’ll leave it open for a few days and then share the results with you in an upcoming post.

As always, thank you for being here. Thank you for continuing to be a part of this crazy little corner of the online world.

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?