Ali Edwards's Blog, page 24
June 10, 2024
Nature Story Kit + July 2024 Stories By The Month + OLW Mini Kit #3
Today's the 10th of the month and that means a new
Story Kit, Story Stamp, and Stories By The Month kit.
This month we are focusing on stories related to the theme of
Nature.
This month we are turning our eyes and hearts and memories to the natural world with a kit inviting you to document nature. Whether you are an indoor person who enjoys looking out the windows or growing plants inside or someone who can't imagine not living as much of your life out in the woods as possible let's get some stories told about our life experiences with nature.
Initial story ideas for this theme include:
What do you love most about nature? If you aren't a nature lover consider documenting why that might be based on your own history and personality. Do you enjoy bringing the outside inside? Do you get yourself flowers or bring them in from a garden? Document those pieces of your story. When was a time you felt most at home in nature? Camping? Walking? In your back yard? At a local park? STORY KIT™
The
Story Kit™ includes:
Here's a video overview of the
Story Kit™ and Add-On options this month:
The
Stamp Set:
Here's a video overview of the Story Stamp:
Here's a look at what's included in the Digital Story Kit™:
Your digital kit and the classroom and any Add-Ons purchased will be available to you on the 12th once your card has been charged for the month.
This kit is also available to physical kit subscribers as an Add On each month.
Here are a few project samples from Ali:
Again, thanks so much for subscribing and/or considering our
Story Subscription program! If you have any questions about this program please let us know below in the comments.
We are changing things up with our Stories By The Month™ subscription for 2024 and
you can read all the details here.
Here is a full look at the kit this month:
And a video overview:
This subscription is a great option for those who are looking to tell more calendar/everyday life sorts of stories.
Our Digital Stories By The Month™ kit is now called Inspiration By The Month™. With this subscription you receive access to the Inspiration By The Month™ classroom and the digital kit.
This kit is also available to physical Stories By The Month™ kit subscribers as an Add On each month.
This 6x8 stamp set is available to subscribers to add to their box during the Add On period and
also offered in the shop for anyone else.
Here's a look at the next One Little Word® Mini Kit for 2024:
And a video overview:
June 7, 2024
In Case You Missed It | June 7
Happy Friday, friends! Welcome to the latest
In Case You Missed It. Just a reminder that this is a quick post that will happen every Friday afternoon with all the updates and links that have happened throughout the week. So, let's get to it:
NEW CLASS FROM ALI | STASH CLASS
Join Ali for a fun, motivating adventure into some ways to deal with all the scrapbooking stuff you’ve collected over the years and still have. Sometimes we need to press pause on our storytelling adventures for just a bit in order to get a handle on the fun things we’ve added to our physical product toolbox. Let’s come together as a community + spend some time prioritizing starting with our stash to get more of our stories told. In this four week workshop you’ll spend the first two weeks sorting + organizing supplies (or getting ideas about what might work for you) and the second two weeks creating projects using what you already own. SIGN UP BEFORE JUNE 18th AND SAVE $5 OFF W/CODE STASHCLASS IN ALI’S NEWEST CLASS. Learn more here.
COUNTDOWN TO OUR 2024 TRAVEL RELEASE
We’re counting down till June and that means we are sharing a series of sneaks on instagram and in our Facebook Group leading up to the launch of our brand new 2024 Travel Collection. The collection will hit the shop late in June. A preview post, including product videos, pricing, shipping and more will be shared on the blog prior to the release. Digitals for this collection will be available as part of our July digital release, happening the first Friday of July. We’re also excited to share that we have a new travel class with completed albums from some of our amazing community members in progress. We can’t wait to share this collection with you! We will be sharing specific dates around the launch and preview as soon as we have them! The countdown to summer is on!
MAY REVEAL
Earlier this month we revealed a new Story Kit™ theme: ENJOY! What have you been enjoying in your life recently? This month we are documenting stories about the people, places, and things we enjoy from yesterday and today. This universal theme will be awesome for helping you get more of your stories told. In addition to our new Story Kit™ theme, we also have a brand new Stories By The Month™ kit, the next edition in our Alphas Are Awesome series, and a new Quarterly Scrapbook Kit. Head to the blog for Ali’s post with all the details about this month’s release.
JUNE DIGITALS
The first Friday of every month we have a new digital release available in the shop. Play with scale, recolor objects, add journaling, print multiples…the sky is the limit when playing with digitals. Shop digitals here.
2024 PROJECTS + PRODUCTS SCHEDULE
As we continuing easing into 2024 we put together an overview of our schedule of projects + product releases for the upcoming year. We are sharing this as a way for you to plan, think about what you might want to participate in this year, and simply share some of the things we have coming up to help support + inspire storytelling. For the last few years we've followed a fairly similar cadence for our releases and our major projects will follow that release schedule again this year. Please note that, as you might imagine, this schedule is subject to change throughout the year based on a variety of variables. Find the post here.
As always, we’re so grateful to have you all as members of this community! Thanks for joining me today and have a great weekend!
May 31, 2024
In Case You Missed It | May 31
Happy Friday, friends! Welcome to the latest
In Case You Missed It. Just a reminder that this is a quick post that will happen every Friday afternoon with all the updates and links that have happened throughout the week. So, let's get to it:
NEW CLASS FROM ALI | STASH CLASS
Join Ali for a fun, motivating adventure into some ways to deal with all the scrapbooking stuff you’ve collected over the years and still have. Sometimes we need to press pause on our storytelling adventures for just a bit in order to get a handle on the fun things we’ve added to our physical product toolbox. Let’s come together as a community + spend some time prioritizing starting with our stash to get more of our stories told. In this four week workshop you’ll spend the first two weeks sorting + organizing supplies (or getting ideas about what might work for you) and the second two weeks creating projects using what you already own. SIGN UP BEFORE JUNE 18th AND SAVE $5 OFF W/CODE STASHCLASS IN ALI’S NEWEST CLASS. Learn more here.
MEMORIAL DAY SALE ENDS TODAY
The final countdown is on! For just a few more hours we are offering 30% off digitals and classes. We hope you will take this time to learn something new and add new digital items to your supplies. Use code MEMORIAL30 and enjoy. Terms: Valid until 5/31/2024 at 11:59pm ET. Promo code must be entered at checkout. Some exclusions may apply. Cannot be combined with other codes. Not valid on previous purchases. Not responsible for forgotten or misused promo codes. Offer subject to change. Valid on select Classes and select Digitals! Digital items released in May are excluded.
COUNTDOWN TO OUR 2024 TRAVEL RELEASE
We’re counting down till June and that means we are sharing a series of sneaks on instagram and in our Facebook Group leading up to the launch of our brand new 2024 Travel Collection. The collection will hit the shop late in June. A preview post, including product videos, pricing, shipping and more will be shared on the blog prior to the release. Digitals for this collection will be available as part of our July digital release, happening the first Friday of July. We’re also excited to share that we have a new travel class with completed albums from some of our amazing community members in progress. We can’t wait to share this collection with you! We will be sharing specific dates around the launch and preview as soon as we have them! The countdown to summer is on!
MAY REVEAL
Earlier this month we revealed a new Story Kit™ theme: ENJOY! What have you been enjoying in your life recently? This month we are documenting stories about the people, places, and things we enjoy from yesterday and today. This universal theme will be awesome for helping you get more of your stories told. In addition to our new Story Kit™ theme, we also have a brand new Stories By The Month™ kit, the next edition in our Alphas Are Awesome series, and a new Quarterly Scrapbook Kit. Head to the blog for Ali’s post with all the details about this month’s release.
MAY DIGITALS
The first Friday of every month we have a new digital release available in the shop. Play with scale, recolor objects, add journaling, print multiples…the sky is the limit when playing with digitals. Shop digitals here.
2024 PROJECTS + PRODUCTS SCHEDULE
As we continuing easing into 2024 we put together an overview of our schedule of projects + product releases for the upcoming year. We are sharing this as a way for you to plan, think about what you might want to participate in this year, and simply share some of the things we have coming up to help support + inspire storytelling. For the last few years we've followed a fairly similar cadence for our releases and our major projects will follow that release schedule again this year. Please note that, as you might imagine, this schedule is subject to change throughout the year based on a variety of variables. Find the post here.
As always, we’re so grateful to have you all as members of this community! Thanks for joining me today and have a great weekend!
Week In The Life™ 2024 | Special Guest Shannon Flatley
Hello! My name is Shannon Flatley (@softdaystudios on Instagram) and I’m so excited to be here as a guest on the blog today to share with you some of the ideas I implemented into my 2024 Week in the Life™ Album.
This is my 8th year working on this project and during that time I’ve learned a few things about my process and what personally works best for me. The most important thing, for me, is getting as much of a jump on the creative things I want to do before the documenting period begins. That’s when I’m most excited about it and I need to harness that energy and make all the things. Soon after the documenting week my brain wants so badly to move on to the next project and if I put it away it’s more than likely not going to get finished. Like, ever. (Yup I’m talking to you, WITL 2017, 2019 and 2022.) I’m also motivated by an album that has “a start” — even if that means just having my page protectors in order, some things in the pockets, and post-it notes all over.
My Week in the Life albums typically do not have quite so much in them. But I was so inspired by this year’s collection and just wound up making a whole lot of things to go in my album — and it is therefore quite chunky. Below are some things I did before the community documenting week, which is also when I chose to participate, and then the things I did after the week was over. I didn’t do any work on the project during the week, I just took photos and journaled.
PRE DOCUMENTING WEEKSQUARE DAY OF THE WEEK CARDS:
I decided to use the back of the square cards from the main kit as prompts for some details of life right now. I stamped each day with “currently” from the 4x6 WITL numbers stamp set, along with an icon from the 6x8 icons set. (The small black letters are from a very old wooden stamp set from my stash.)
During the week I intended to jot down things on a sheet I stamped with each icon, and then handwrite everything onto the cards when I put the album together. I also thought I’d use the technique Ali often uses which is to use different thickness of pens to differentiate between words/sentences/thoughts.
DAILY QUOTE PAGES:
I made these Gelli print pages using the quotation marks from the icons stamp set from this year’s collection, in colors that coordinate with the main kit colors for each day. At this point I was planning to either stamp or handwrite on them, depending on the length of the quote.
MAKING A CHECK MARK STAMP TO COORDINATE WITH THE ICONS STAMP SETI was looking to have seven distinct prompt icons for my square cards project using the icons stamp set - but I was already using the quotes and arrow elsewhere and just couldn’t think of a prompt for the ampersand. I looked at the number 7 from the numbers stamp set when it was upside down and… hey, check mark! Here’s how I created it:
I had thick craft foam on hand to make the stamp, but the thin sheets could also be used by gluing several layers together. I used red line tape to adhere the foam to some thick plastic which I cut from an old paper divider.
*Tip - I wound up washing all the black ink and sharpie off before gluing to the base - it does not dry on the craft foam. And smears big time.
NUMBER BANNER/FLAG TAGS:
So much love for the coordinating colors of each day in this years kit and I couldn’t help but want more. I was super happy with how these little banners came out (flags? tags? still not sure what to call them…) using the WITL numbers stamp set.
I blended ink colors together with a brush, stamped with white craft ink (or you could use clear ink like Versamark) and heat set with white embossing powder.
I love exploring different ways to use the products, and loved the look of these prompt label strips atop a layer of vellum. I used a template to trace, then cut a section out of back to back photos, layered vellum in between, and adhered the prompt labels strips on top.
To make the template I simply traced one of the strips onto a scrap piece of chipboard, added about 1/16" to the outside, and trimmed. I did a test on a 4x6 photo from last year’s project… I always include white space in at least some of my photos each day so knew this would work well for 4x6 or 6x8 pics. Once I had my template made, doing this to the photo took about 5 minutes.
When I applied this idea to my 2024 photos I found it easiest to temporarily paper clip the photos together and cut through them at the same time. The openings line up best this way. However, you could just cut the opening on one photo first, then use that to trace the same opening onto the second photo using the top photo (with opening already cut) as a guide. Then adhere the vellum in between, and add a word strip on both sides. The trick is to keep the photos together as they will be in the pocket (i.e. back to back) so the openings line up properly.
DAY OF THE WEEK DIVIDERS:
Ah, this project. So I had a fun idea to make dividers using the colorful plastic days from the main kit, and as much as I love them… I highly doubt I will do it again. I don’t know what made me think hand sewing embroidery floss through thick acetate would be quick and easy. They took a ridiculously long time and if I hadn’t already invested so much time in the first two I made, I likely would’ve shifted gears and done something else.
I wound up working on them over the course of a couple weeks - and even though they were so time consuming I really do love them and they are exactly what I envisioned. I punched all the holes using my Japanese screw punch, which is one of my favorite tools, but I had to stop to clean the plastic out of the bit every five holes or so, so it was very tedious work. Once I had all my holes punched I used a large needle and embroidery floss to sew.
I think if I were to tackle this in a different way I might use a page protector or something less rigid that I could run through my sewing machine? And then go around and around with colored thread to build up the border. It wouldn’t be the same look but would still be fun. I do like the precise border I created with the hand sewing.
I added colored loops (corresponding to the day’s color) to the 3x8.25 cards from the main kit, instead of punching holes to add them in the binder. It was a way for me to bring in more of the embroidery floss that I had used on my day of the week dividers. I used a page protector as a guide and the loops are just attached to the back with some painters tape. A photo on top would eventually cover that mess.
PAINTED STRIPES ON RECYCLED PACKAGING:
I decided to use acrylics to paint stripes, similar to those on the cards, onto some packaging. I save almost all my packaging and since these envelopes had labels adhered to them I utilized the backs. What’s great about this kind of packaging is that because it is white and coated, the paint will not seep through the cardboard, it’s not likely to warp, and the color will remain true. At this point I had no idea what I’d do with it, I just felt like painting!
POST DOCUMENTING WEEKSQUARE DAY OF THE WEEK CARDS:
Here’s what my square cards wound up looking like. I didn’t write down a lot during the week which was totally fine. I did use different pens to try to keep sentences and thoughts sort of separated... I think I was more successful in some than in others.
DAILY QUOTE PAGES:
I ultimately chose to do handwriting only, using Sharpies and POSCA 1M paint pens. The texture of the prints caused the POSCA pen nibs to drag in such a way that paint sprayed all over some of them, but luckily the abstract backgrounds made those spots not so noticeable. Most of my quotes wound up being funny in nature so I also added some pieces I had from the Laugh Story Kit.
NUMBER BANNER/FLAG TAGS:
I had planned to use these on the top of full page photos and that’s what I wound up doing. I added a clip that is decoration only - the flag is stuck to the page.
COLORFUL EMBROIDERY FLOSS LOOPS:
I simply cropped & printed all the meal pics I took and put them onto the 3x8.25 cards. I added a photo onto the back and they were done! I did use a little red line tape on the photo where it would be touching the loops/painters tape for extra strength.
THOSE SCRAPS...
I kept my pile of scraps from the flag tags and Gelli prints and turned them into tabs for the sides of my 3x8.25 inserts. I punched circles and adhered them back to back, then cut them in half. I could easily insert one between the back to back 3x8.25 card/photos, but had to think of how to adhere it to the page protector insert in a way that made sense. I wound up slicing a small slit near the edge of the pocket (top layer only) the length of the straight edge of the half circle. I inserted my 3x4 photo that would be on the reverse first, then slid the tab in, adhering it very lightly to the back. I then put my top 3x4 photo in the pocket. It’s important to get the slit as close to the pocket edge as possible, because the top photo can only be as wide as where you make that cut.
As I began to put my album together I thought it might be fun to punch circles to use as journaling spots, and thought they’d also work for an idea I had for the vellum pockets as well. I have some personal journaling for each day, so inspired by one of Ali’s Love Story layouts (she used bakers twine to hold down a flap, behind which was journaling) I thought I’d use the pockets to hold those thoughts and create a bit of a deterrent to keep it private. I used more of the embroidery floss I have throughout my album.
I’ve made my own button fasteners like this before - they are really easy to make if you have a circle punch (or just freehand cut) and eyelets. Since the pocket is already assembled, I’m just making it appear as if it goes through it - but it’s just adhered to the front.
I punched 1” circles from the stripes, and punched a small hole from their centers. I decided on plain gold eyelets to break up all the color. After setting those (still old school - a handheld setter & hammer! ha) I glued another circle to the back (a hole also punched in the center) for stability, trimming them smaller so they wouldn’t show from the front.
I put a few foam dots near the eyelet (I use thin ones for less bulk, and cut the smallest size in half) This raises the circle up so I can easily slide the string around. I then attached those near the center of each vellum pocket.
I punched two small circles at the top of the page protector pocket (not all the way through to the other side - just the front of the pocket), staying at least 1/8” away from the edge so I wouldn’t risk the hole tearing. I weaved the floss in from the front and through the back of the other side. Since the holes don’t go all the way through it doesn’t close the pocket, so you can still put a card or photo on the other side.
I attached the pocket to the front of the page protector with red line tape, brought the floss up over the pocket, down and around the circle then tied a bow. Repeat for 6 more days!
As mentioned above, I also used some of the punched stripe pieces to create the half circle tabs for my 3x8.25 inserts.
In addition, I made journal spots by punching large circles and used them throughout the album.
Before the documenting week I “hired” my daughter to take pictures for me throughout the week for the bargain price of $1 a day. She is saving for some add-ons to a trip we are taking in November and she’s very motivated by money right now! She sent me her photos at the end of the week and they were awesome.
I decided to put them in the same spot each day, on the “high low” 4x6 cards. I added an Avery index tab to each, making paper inserts in Photoshop. I opened the Monday “high low” card from the digital main kit so I could use that background. On a new layer I made an outline the size of the insert (approximately 1.5"x.3125"), used the color eyedropper to pick up the color from the large M, and made my text in that color. I grouped those 2 layers, then copied 6 times. I opened each of the other high low cards, used the eyedropper to grab the initial’s color, and changed that day’s text to match. I love having these photos from her perspective.
VELLUM CIRCLE PAGES:
I used the vellum pages to highlight things related to me, my husband, and our two kids. I chose a theme for each day and picked one image for each of us based on that topic. I chose to highlight what we were reading, watching, playing, listening to, current favorite snack, favorite color, and favorite baseball/football teams. Love getting my family in my album in this way. My husband and son both have the initial “C”, but I think you can figure out which is which!
SPECIALTY PAGES:
On the reverse side of the last full page photo for each day I made what I call a “specialty page.” Basically something that’s a little more than just a photo or journaling. This year I did two collages (one is a flip out) with some of my children’s art and school work, a page where I outlined all of our hands together, a page with some digital screenshots, a page showing apps I currently use most often, a “this or that” questionnaire, and a “by the numbers” type page.
MAIN JOURNALING PAGES:
This year I chose to try something I’ve never done in WITL before and that’s putting almost all my journaling in one spot. I didn’t worry about complete sentences and just made it more of a stream of consciousness. I formatted it so that when printed it would be the same width of the square card. I began the text about 3 inches down the page and stamped multiple arrows pointing towards the words. I added the day’s “the story” chipboard circle above where the square card sits so it wouldn’t be covered by it.
That’s about it, friends! I know this was a long post but I wanted to pack as much detail in as possible. So thanks for checking it out. If you have any questions or are unclear about anything above please let me know in the comments. If you are just starting to work on your Week in the Life project, or are in the messy middle, I hope these ideas inspire you to keep going! Good luck!
May 29, 2024
Week In The Life 2024 | Ali's Completed Album
That's a wrap on my 2024 Week In The Life™ project!
First things first: you are not behind if you haven't completed this project yet. Everyone gets to work at their own pace and my hope is that this post encourages you to keep going because finishing this one up is a great feeling and it's so, so special to be able to hold it in your hands at the end. You've got this.
Also, I'm so glad I went with my gut and let myself be a little more playful with my handwriting this time around. As you'll see below I added my handwriting with a Kuretake Brush Pen in multiple places throughout the album. I loved going bold with that this time around.
Here's a video walk-through of my completed album:
At the end of the video I mention my new Stash class. Get details on that here.
And here's a look at my album one spread at a time:
Week In The Life™ 6x8 Album Week In The Life™ Main Kit (physical sold out - digital available) Week In The Life™ Mini Kit Week In The Life™ 10x8 Transparencies Week In The Life™ Pleather Circles Week In The Life™ Plastic Banner Week In The Life™ Vellum Pages With Circles Week In The Life™ Half Circle Inserts White POSCA Paint Pen Glue Stick Rolling Adhesive Kuretake Brush Pen Sewing Machine Printers via Amazon Basics via Amazon
Week In The Life™ 2024 | Special Guest Yin Goh
Hi everyone! It’s Yin here sharing my simplified and downsized 2023 AND 2024 Week in the Life pages. I don’t have the luxury of time nowadays but still very much want to document my weeks, and these were the ways I have worked around it.
2023 Week in the LifeIn 2023 my WITL consisted One page for each day in my journal. I was not planning to participate as we were traveling that week, but after attending Prep Day class, I jumped right in and started the Sunday after!
This is not the first time I have done ‘one page a day’ for WITL. These pages below were from 2017 and 2020. Keeping it smaller makes it doable when I am stretched. The multiple photos are smaller on each page, but I still get to capture snippets of the week, everyday life as we live it. I loved these pages so I went for the same approach.
The 2023 Prep Day class came with all these amazing past WITL and other digital kits which I used. My simple formula was to have the date and day (printed on shipping label stickers) in a skinny column for each day. I also resized and printed journal card quotes to go in the same column. Then the only plan remaining is to make the photos fit on the rest of the page.
I worked in photoshop, choosing, sizing, arranging so the photos will fit on the page, before printing and assembling. (excuse the mess on my table!).
All the photos always meant no space for photos. I took the chance to add flip ups and pockets for this purpose. There are more elegant ways to do this, but I simply used washi tape in the interest of time. I also handwrite my journaling since it’s quicker, and I like that it has the slightly imperfect, handwritten by me look.
I managed to add some ephemera - wrist band from the Art Fair, coffee packaging. Those are always fun. During Prep Day Zoom call someone shared about the Life Cycle App which captures where you spent the hours of each day, it’s really cool! I added the pie chart of my work-in-office Tuesday. 2 hour lunch? Shhh! Haha!
I’m also glad I thought of taking screenshots of the exchange rates that I was checking on my phone, for our travels. That should be fun to look back on!
For embellishment I simply added wood veneers and cork pieces to every page to finish up. That’s it!
Wrap up PageWhen we came back from our trip, I added a wrap-up page to complete the WITL documentation. Looking back at the week and journaling some reflections using again the digitals from Prep Day class. This was a very ordinary week in my life, the kind that is so worth documenting because these moments do make up our lives don’t they? I’m so glad I did!
You can see a short Flipthrough here:
2024 Week in the LifeNow this year I was again feeling like there’s no way I can fully participate in WITL, but very much wanted to. Thankfully I follow Elizabeth Heinz, who started just writing about her days on her insta account (@elizabethheinz), it was so simple and so good! I immediately followed her and recorded snippets everyday.
At the end of the week, to keep it really doable, I decided to simply choose one photo for each day, and to give each day a column in my book. All I did was to create a template in photoshop - each column had space for journaling, a photo, and the day (I used digital word art from my stash). Print and paste and done!
Because I loved this year’s WITL collection and wanted to include at least a part of it in my WITL page, I use the digital version of the transparency divider to make a Flip up page. By digitally cutting out each day I re-arranged them to make a full page. This is then printed on vellum, in grey and white, and then tipped (pasted) in. Also added the circle ‘Regular Life Stuff’ from 2022 WITL.
This is how it looks opened up
I hope you enjoyed this look at my mini versions of WITL! Let me know if you have any questions, and I’d love for you to connect with me on instagram @yin_dgs and on youtube @yin’s pages.
May 24, 2024
In Case You Missed It | May 24
Happy Friday, friends! Welcome to the latest
In Case You Missed It. Just a reminder that this is a quick post that will happen every Friday afternoon with all the updates and links that have happened throughout the week. So, let's get to it:
NEW CLASS FROM ALI | STASH CLASS
Join Ali for a fun, motivating adventure into some ways to deal with all the scrapbooking stuff you’ve collected over the years and still have. Sometimes we need to press pause on our storytelling adventures for just a bit in order to get a handle on the fun things we’ve added to our physical product toolbox. Let’s come together as a community + spend some time prioritizing starting with our stash to get more of our stories told. In this four week workshop you’ll spend the first two weeks sorting + organizing supplies (or getting ideas about what might work for you) and the second two weeks creating projects using what you already own. SIGN UP BEFORE JUNE 18th AND SAVE $5 OFF W/CODE STASHCLASS IN ALI’S NEWEST CLASS. Learn more here.MEMORIAL DAY SALE STARTS NOW
We are starting the Memorial Day festivities early by offering 30% off digitals and classes now through the end of the month. We hope you will take this time to learn something new and add new digital items to your supplies. Use code MEMORIAL30 and enjoy. Terms: Valid until 5/31/2024 at 11:59pm ET. Promo code must be entered at checkout. Some exclusions may apply. Cannot be combined with other codes. Not valid on previous purchases. Not responsible for forgotten or misused promo codes. Offer subject to change. Valid on select Classes and select Digitals! Digital items released in May are excluded.COUNTDOWN TO OUR 2024 TRAVEL RELEASE
We’re counting down till June and that means we are sharing a series of sneaks on instagram and in our Facebook Group leading up to the launch of our brand new 2024 Travel Collection. The collection will hit the shop late in June. A preview post, including product videos, pricing, shipping and more will be shared on the blog prior to the release. Digitals for this collection will be available as part of our July digital release, happening the first Friday of July. We’re also excited to share that we have a new travel class with completed albums from some of our amazing community members in progress. We can’t wait to share this collection with you! We will be sharing specific dates around the launch and preview as soon as we have them! The countdown to summer is on!
MAY REVEAL
Last week we revealed a new Story Kit™ theme: ENJOY! What have you been enjoying in your life recently? This month we are documenting stories about the people, places, and things we enjoy from yesterday and today. This universal theme will be awesome for helping you get more of your stories told. In addition to our new Story Kit™ theme, we also have a brand new Stories By The Month™ kit, the next edition in our Alphas Are Awesome series, and a new Quarterly Scrapbook Kit. Head to the blog for Ali’s post with all the details about this month’s release.
MAY DIGITALS
The first Friday of every month we have a new digital release available in the shop. Play with scale, recolor objects, add journaling, print multiples…the sky is the limit when playing with digitals. Shop digitals here.
2024 PROJECTS + PRODUCTS SCHEDULE
As we continuing easing into 2024 we put together an overview of our schedule of projects + product releases for the upcoming year. We are sharing this as a way for you to plan, think about what you might want to participate in this year, and simply share some of the things we have coming up to help support + inspire storytelling. For the last few years we've followed a fairly similar cadence for our releases and our major projects will follow that release schedule again this year. Please note that, as you might imagine, this schedule is subject to change throughout the year based on a variety of variables. Find the post here.
As always, we’re so grateful to have you all as members of this community! Thanks for joining me today and have a great weekend!
May 23, 2024
Stash Class | New Workshop With Ali
Registration is now open for Ali's newest workshop: Stash Class.
This class is for you if:
You struggle with product overwhelm + don't know how to start dealing with all the fun things you've collected (or aren't happy with your current organizing methods).
You'd like to do some organizing alongside a community of like-minded storytellers with a story > stash mentality.
You'd like to see how Ali organizes + stores her products to make them more accessible in order to support her stories.
You are curious about the idea of "being the boss of your stuff" and how that might change the way you view your supplies.
You'd like some fresh inspiration for using what you already have vs. buying something new.
This four week workshop will include two weeks of content about sorting/organizing your supplies and then two weeks of storytelling project inspiration using a variety of different formats (pockets, traditional layouts, notebooks).
Class begins Tuesday, June 18th with additional content posted on the following three Tuesdays. As with all our workshops you can work through the content on your own time and at your own pace and have ongoing access to the content.
Please note that this workshop is focused on organizing + using physical products. Ali won't be addressing organizing digital collections in this workshop.
Sign up here! $5 off if you sign up before the start of class on June 18th.
May 17, 2024
In Case You Missed It | May 17
Happy Friday, friends! Welcome to the latest
In Case You Missed It. Just a reminder that this is a quick post that will happen every Friday afternoon with all the updates and links that have happened throughout the week. So, let's get to it:
MAY REVEAL
Last week we revealed a new Story Kit™ theme: ENJOY! What have you been enjoying in your life recently? This month we are documenting stories about the people, places, and things we enjoy from yesterday and today. This universal theme will be awesome for helping you get more of your stories told. In addition to our new Story Kit™ theme, we also have a brand new Stories By The Month™ kit, the next edition in our Alphas Are Awesome series, and a new Quarterly Scrapbook Kit. Head to the blog for Ali’s post with all the details about this month’s release.
MAY DIGITALS
The first Friday of every month we have a new digital release available in the shop. Play with scale, recolor objects, add journaling, print multiples…the sky is the limit when playing with digitals. Shop digitals here.
2024 PROJECTS + PRODUCTS SCHEDULE
As we continuing easing into 2024 we put together an overview of our schedule of projects + product releases for the upcoming year. We are sharing this as a way for you to plan, think about what you might want to participate in this year, and simply share some of the things we have coming up to help support + inspire storytelling. For the last few years we've followed a fairly similar cadence for our releases and our major projects will follow that release schedule again this year. Please note that, as you might imagine, this schedule is subject to change throughout the year based on a variety of variables. Find the post here.
As always, we’re so grateful to have you all as members of this community! Thanks for joining me today and have a great weekend!
May 16, 2024
Week In The Life 2024 | Ali's Album Progress
Hello Week In The Life™ community!
Today I'm sharing a deep dive into my progress in 2024 Week In The Life™ album. I took a couple weeks off between the documenting piece and the "putting it together" piece and that was a good choice for me personally. I've got all my photos printed and in the album (with the exception of a couple on Sunday - waiting for more printer ink to arrive).
I'm doing a mixture of typed journaling (copied + pasted from my blog posts during the documenting week) and handwritten reflections (using the journaling and my photos to identify things I can add to what I wrote during the week and highlight some of the things).
You can see the formula I established before the documenting week here.
Let's dive in to the video:
Here's a look at the individual pages for Monday and I'll be following this formula for the rest of the days (adapting here and there depending on the number of photos and words I want to add):
Front vellum pocket (on top of the Days Of The Week transparency) holds my re-sized New York Times front pages (from the Front Page app). I also ended up adding the pleather circles on top of the pocket.
Love this smaller version! I don't need to read the details - I like just being able to see the headlines to give context to history.
On the back I resized weather screenshots from my phone for each day.
On the day of the week card I'm adding a photo of myself each day.
Next up are two 7 inch x 8.25 inch enlargements (adhered back to back). On top of the first one I added a plastic banner + vellum heart (from Mini Kit) + word phrase stickers from my stash. I'm going to repeat that same embellishment cluster on each of my first full page photos (for each day).
On the back photo enlargement I added a "love this story" paper strip from the Main Kit and then added some words using a Kuretake Brush Pen. I'll do this same thing on each of these photos.
I decided to dive in and try the white POSCA paint pen on the black "hello Monday" insert and it felt fun - I'll be pulling something from my journaling each day to highlight (it may or may not be linked to the photo enlargement).
I decided to use the colorful vellum sheets to create pockets on the other side of the page inserts. I trimmed them and then ran them through my sewing machine. On the middle circle I used a glue stick to adhere the vellum "plus" sign from the Mini Kit. I also handwrote "mon" on the tab (you might have a stamp that can go there or stickers or handwrite).
I'm using the Kuretake Brush Pen again on the 2 inch x 2 inch cards from the Mini Kit and slipping those into the pockets. I love how they tell a different kind of story.
For my journaling this year I copied and pasted my journaling from each of my blog posts and used a mini paper clip to hold them together.
Back side of the 2 inch x 2 inch: for Monday it's almost all photos and then the "us" card from the Mini Kit.
On the back of the half circle I added a photo to the top and then am embellishing it with ampersands from the Mini Kit and the "Monday was..." tag from the Main Kit. I'll be repeating that formula on each of the half circles (adding one word for the day).
On the morning, afternoon, and evening journal card from the Main Kit I'm handwriting a few details directly to the spaces. I'm re-reading my journaling and looking at my photos to spark the things that I might want to write.
On the back I added a photo and part of the "Monday observations" strip.
On the high/low card from the Main Kit I'm handwriting in my response and then using "in this season" to tell a little more of one of the stories from the day.
And finishing up the day with a couple fun photos.
Reminding myself that this project is always a marathon and never a sprint and how lucky I am that I get to be here to document this season of my life.
We've got this!
SUPPLIESWeek In The Life™ 6x8 Album
Week In The Life™ Main Kit (physical sold out - digital available)
Week In The Life™ Mini Kit
Week In The Life™ 10x8 Transparencies
Week In The Life™ Pleather Circles
Week In The Life™ Plastic Banner
Week In The Life™ Vellum Pages With Circles
Week In The Life™ Half Circle Inserts
White POSCA Paint Pen
Glue Stick
Rolling Adhesive
Kuretake Brush Pen
Sewing Machine
Printers via Amazon
Basics via Amazon
