Everything AE/Ali Edwards

this is one of those projects that so many people do so many different ways...some in a travelers notebook, some digital...I am sticking w/ 8.5x11...but Ali is using 6x8 and will be designing product and showing her examples in that size. You can totally use things from just your stash. I don't have pics to share right at the moment but I might try to get some together this weekend.

sleepingbooty, thank you so much for writing that detailed post! You've inspired me to try OLW now, when just earlier today I said for sure I wasn't interested - a year is an intimidating length of time to stick to something. I just placed an order with Ali on Tuesday for page protectors, I guess I'll be placing another one today - doing OLW in 6x8 might be really fun, I love that size.

I hope we do have a thread like that  

I've never done OLW before and am not really interested to do it next year as I have quite a few older pics still to scrap. Maybe another year!

I've tried OLW 3 times and never made it past March. For those of you who made it through the whole year, what kept you motivated? What was the take-away at year end? Do you go back and look at your albums and feel inspired, accomplished, something else?

I read these threads and think I should give it a go in 2018 but I don't need another failed attempt.

A little late to the OLW discussion here but I wanted to chime in my thoughts on the class...

Background of this project for me: When I first heard of Ali Edwards and started following her for other projects, OLW did not appeal to me AT ALL. I thought it seemed kinda odd, scrapbooking was my way of documenting what happened and that was it. But then I went through a divorce in late 2014 and I had a hard time... scrapbooking had always been one of my "escapes" and ways to be happy, but I didn't want to scrapbook anything with my ex-husband or about the time when we were ending things... and it was a time where I felt like I needed scrapbooking more than ever. It was December 2014/January 2015 when things were at their worst and I was working on moving out, etc. and suddenly OLW appealed to me. I could use scrapbooking/creativity as a way to work through the negativity in my life and still get to enjoy my hobby without having to document the bad things going on in life. I chose the word "brave" for 2015 and it was great... I used my album to follow the prompts and create reflective pages about how I was being brave. After a few months my life started to get back to normal and I wanted to document regular project life again, but I kept going back to OLW and still do.

I don't see OLW like other scrapbook projects. To me it's more like the creation of the album itself is the goal, as opposed to trying to have a completed album for future review. Sure, I look through my old albums at times, but the real value in OLW is setting aside a block of time each month to reflect on your personal goals and use scrapbooking as a release to keep yourself on track with those goals. The word you choose is just a lens that you can use to tie everything together--a way to remind yourself to stay on track with your goals and create a theme through your album, but the word itself is not as important as the general process.

On taking the class: If this type of scrapbooking appeals to you I would definitely recommend the class, especially if you have never taken it before. Ali does get repetitive once you've done the class year after year, but it is great to have the monthly "check in" to make sure you are staying on track with your goals. The class also comes with a facebook group that is very active and has been a great place to share progress & get inspiration from others. If you take the class once and like the project but don't really value the interactive group, you can always rerun an old class in a future year on your own and get a similar experience. I have to admit though, having that "new" content on the first of the month always gets me excited to complete the prompts and get back on track if I've forgotten to focus on my word. Each month Ali creates a video and handout. The "prompt" itself is usually a repeat of a prompt used in a prior year, but the video is always new and usually includes a process video in addition to some explanation for the prompt. Ali often includes printables to use in your album, especially for any of the writing prompts. The prompts themselves include things like collect song lyrics, photography prompts, journaling in response to specific questions, and mixed media.

On keeping up with the project: Unlike other scrapbooking projects where the goal is to have a completed album, I think the goal of OLW is to enjoy the process of making the album. I have looked back through my albums, but in reality the "value" comes out of setting aside time each month to work through the prompt as a way to force yourself to reassess progress on your goals and where you are generally. Unlike my other albums, which reside in the living room for people to look at, these are kept in my scrapbook room and really only for me (and bits I share in the OLW group). Because this is the case, I don't think there is much value in getting the class if you don't intend to set aside time each month to work on the project. Of course life gets busy and it doesn't always happen, but then I think the best thing is to skip the prompt and work on the current month and only go back and fill in old months if the prompts are speaking to you and you feel like you need extra time with the project. I have never gone back and filled out a prompt after the completion of the year when I'm onto my new word, but I think I have finished at least 10 of the prompts every year so far.

On album format/supplies needed: Ali uses a 6x8 pocket page album and lots of her branded supplies. You can get by without purchasing any of her items though and will have any of the products you "need" digitally from the class. The digital version of the main kit comes free when you sign up for the class and she includes printables/digital products in nearly every lesson. She also uses plenty of products from her stash and if you have a decent sized stash you can definitely get by without buying her supplies and I don't think you'll feel like you missed out on anything. If you watch her promo videos you can see snippets of her past projects to get an idea of how they look. I have followed her format/style pretty religiously the past couple of years and, although I've loved it, next year I really need a change. I plan to mix it up and approach the project with a different style... we'll see how well it works in practice, but I'm pretty excited. There are lots of people who do very different styles from Ali so there is typically a lot of inspiration in the private group as well as on instagram, pinterest, etc.

I did the OLW class 3 years ago but these past 2 years I couldn't justify signing up for the class again. I lost steam near the end of the year I was signed up and I wasn't enjoying the tone of the Fbk group (and the message boards on her site were dead because everyone was in the Fbk group) and I figured that I could pick a new word and do my own thing with it during the year. Well, yeah. In theory I could. But in practice the new content each month was the trigger that got me to do something concrete. you have forever access to the year you sign up so you can just re-read the prompts so maybe a more disciplined person could have set up a schedule for logging in but I really didn't do much with my word. It's not like it was a failure - the word may just not have been the right one for me, or I might not have put enough effort into it because I was winging it the whole time. Even Ali struggles with her word some years.

The supplies and format were not so important to me. I like some of Ali's stuff but I also felt like this project could be anything you wanted it to be - a journal would have worked just as well as a scrapbook - and because it's so personal having someone else's writing and design in the finished product felt even more wrong than it sometimes does in scrapbooks.

I bought the OLW class this year. It was a project that was cool but quickly petered out for me. Just be honest with whether or not taking on another project is feasible for you. What do you actually like about it?

I’m not planning to continue in 2018. It’s a good project and pretty good class. It’s just too much extra for me.

katiejaeger when can we expect more info on stories by the month? Like kit contents/pricing/etc.? I clicked over to the website and don't see a live page about it yet. Thanks!

I'm very interested in the price point, especially since my interpretation of the email is that this new sub will not have a classroom component, like the traditional story kits.

Bets on pricing?
$25 month to month
$20 6 month sub
$15 12 month sub

Hi all! I hope you are having a great Monday.
The new Stories By The Month subscription was formed after multiple requests from our community to create physical versions of the Monthly Digital Kits. You can see all of the product designs here: aliedwards.com/shop/monthly-digital-kits -- they will include the journal cards, the chipboard, and a 3x4 stamp. The stamps shown in the digital version will have more designs as we couldn't fit them all on the 3x4 sized stamp since some would have been too small. We could have chosen to do a 4x6 stamp for this subscription, but we wanted to keep the price point low, so we changed the size of the stamp which in turn changed some of the designs that would fit.

They will release one month ahead of when the specific theme/holiday would normally take place (for example: the January kit which talks about goals, new year, etc is releasing in December). The price point will be much lower than the Story Kits and Story Stamps™ due to less products included and we will also not be offering an education component for this subscription.

You will be able to see full details and sign up for the subscription on 12/13 at 12am EST.

Let me know if you have any questions I can answer!