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Post by honeypea on Jul 11, 2020 22:23:25 GMT
Roam really speaks to me, but I’m really trying to reign in my splurging. 😬
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auntmimi
Full Member
Posts: 471
Jun 22, 2018 18:55:37 GMT
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Post by auntmimi on Jul 13, 2020 16:18:42 GMT
The add-ons were pricey! Other than the chipboard phrase pieces and sticker bundle, essentially each embellishment in a pack was approximately $1-$1.25 each. I can't justify that kind of spending right now.
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Post by Citygirl on Jul 13, 2020 16:41:40 GMT
I really like this kit even though we are not the most outdoorsy people. I agree the add ons seem high in price. I don't know if I will actually get any. Also, the stamp/sticker that says Roam Far + Wonder Wide looks like Roam Fart to me lol.
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,579
Oct 2, 2017 23:20:46 GMT
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Post by mich5481 on Jul 13, 2020 16:53:36 GMT
Love the colours. Cute kit and stamp, if I was new to Ali, I'd buy...but since I'm not, I can't justify it I like elements of the stamp set, but not enough to pay $25+ tax for it.
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gb2015
Full Member
Posts: 150
May 5, 2020 13:29:23 GMT
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Post by gb2015 on Jul 13, 2020 17:04:11 GMT
Also, the stamp/sticker that says Roam Far + Wonder Wide looks like Roam Fart to me lol. Literally came to the boards to see if I was the only one!!!
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Post by lasteve1 on Jul 13, 2020 17:05:36 GMT
I love this release! I wasn't sure if I would... although we travel a lot (not lately of course, but in general and I have plenty of old trips to scrapbook) and go on lots of hikes, I don't really like the word "roam"... it's just not something I say. I would've preferred "explore."
The colors and designs are great! The story kit seems super packed this time, I especially love the tag stickers which are a totally new die + the pleather circles. I could do without the plastic pieces, especially because some of those are repeats from prior kits (I know I at least have the geotag, plane, car + phone from other kits). I am not a fan of the sentiment "everywhere is home" because that just doesn't make sense to me and it's repeated a lot, and I can see where some of the cards are repeats of old releases with just text/color changed, but some of the designs are really beautiful and new. Overall I think it's a great kit.
I don't love or hate the story stamp, but I think it has enough on it that I won't regret getting it. I especially like the one that says "trip highlights" and I could see using that in project life for a quick recap of a trip that has another album.
I love the way they did the sticker sheet for the SBTM and the colors are so bright and fun. I'm not a fan of the wood veneer flags and really wish they would stop having wood veneer pieces in these kits! But if they insist on having them, I want ones that don't have text on them so I can heat emboss them... I am not a fan of the raw wood look in my album. I really like the oval stamp with the spaces for text and think I will use that for some weekly title cards in project life (I just would've preferred two lines rather than 3 for my date range... but I will just put a sentiment in the top spot like she suggested). I think the Maya Angelou quote is very timely with everything going on in the world right now with BLM and I think that will be perfect to include some journaling about that in my project life album. I also really love the card that says "august" in script over and over, but generally I thin the word "august" appears too much in this kit. I know these kits are supposed to be timely for the month, but in months where there are no holidays I think she struggles with this and puts way too much of weird themes (like May she always has a ton of self-care things and I struggle to use that kit). Even if I want to use all of the pieces in the month of August in my project life album, I don't really want it to say August so many times on one spread... once is enough... there are only 4 weeks and it shows up 9 times on the cards/embellishments + once on the stamp set.
As a side note, I always struggle with the prompt cards that say something like "loving these things about August" for a specific month... I feel like there is a huge difference season to season, but not really month to month (outside of specific holidays). Anything I could think of that I love about August also fits June and July... is that just me?
The add-ons are all gorgeous but very pricey. I decided to get the sticker bundle though because I love them... the frames are really gorgeous but I struggle to use frames whenever I get them as an embellishment so I'm happy they were an add-on. The other items are nice but just too expensive per item to justify it.
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Post by joteves on Jul 13, 2020 17:13:46 GMT
I can't understand why Ali's digital SBTM kits are so expensive. If they were cheaper I would be buying them regularly. $14.50 is about as much as the physical kits; just doesn't make sense to me.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
May 21, 2024 5:25:21 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 13, 2020 17:39:22 GMT
Buying this kit is a whole lot cheaper than buying the yearly travel kits.....
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jediannie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,858
Jun 30, 2014 3:19:06 GMT
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Post by jediannie on Jul 13, 2020 17:52:42 GMT
I looked at these and while they're nice, I am probably going to get a lot of hate for this, but I really don't like Ali's handwriting. I like her style and her storytelling but when her handwriting is all over an item, even if I like the rest of the style of the item, I won't buy it because I can't get past her handwriting. I guess I don't like any handwriting fonts now that I think about it because I don't like Heidi Swapp's either. Sorry for digressing from the thread.
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Post by honeypea on Jul 13, 2020 17:59:48 GMT
This is the first story kit I’ve been very tempted by.
I don’t love all of it - the really long wordy quotes she gravitates to often come off really clunky to me and don’t usually resonate. The 4x6 yellow card with red writing reminds me of ketchup and mustard. But overall I like it quite a bit. It’s hard for me to resist outdoorsy exploring themes.
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Post by peachiceteas on Jul 13, 2020 17:59:59 GMT
The Roam kit is literally what I wanted from her travel release. The chipboard and the pleather circles are SINGING to me! I've subbed and grabbed the fabric flags and the pleather squares.
I will cancel as soon as it ships but dayyyum! I love this kit. It's probably my all time favourite Ali kit.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jul 13, 2020 18:29:05 GMT
Also, the stamp/sticker that says Roam Far + Wonder Wide looks like Roam Fart to me lol. The best kind of fart! You can just break wind in nature, away from civilisation, and if there is someone around to smell/hear it, you can blame it on the wildlife...
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Post by lasteve1 on Jul 13, 2020 18:43:16 GMT
I can't understand why Ali's digital SBTM kits are so expensive. If they were cheaper I would be buying them regularly. $14.50 is about as much as the physical kits; just doesn't make sense to me. This exactly. It drives me crazy because I really want them, but I can't justify spending MORE for the digital kit than the physical one. I really wish there was a bundle option to get them included with the physical kit. Or if she would stop including the wood veneer + stickers and throw in the digitals instead...
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Post by quietgirl on Jul 13, 2020 19:24:07 GMT
I looked at these and while they're nice, I am probably going to get a lot of hate for this, but I really don't like Ali's handwriting. I like her style and her storytelling but when her handwriting is all over an item, even if I like the rest of the style of the item, I won't buy it because I can't get past her handwriting. I guess I don't like any handwriting fonts now that I think about it because I don't like Heidi Swapp's either. Sorry for digressing from the thread. No hate, and no worries! We're not like the Facebook group here. Everyone has valid feelings, and bring value here. I used to like Ali's handwriting, but quite frankly, I'm sick of it anymore.
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Post by joteves on Jul 13, 2020 19:30:22 GMT
I can't understand why Ali's digital SBTM kits are so expensive. If they were cheaper I would be buying them regularly. $14.50 is about as much as the physical kits; just doesn't make sense to me. This exactly. It drives me crazy because I really want them, but I can't justify spending MORE for the digital kit than the physical one. I really wish there was a bundle option to get them included with the physical kit. Or if she would stop including the wood veneer + stickers and throw in the digitals instead... I really want the digital version only as I'm not interested in the stamps and stickers. At Studio Calico you can get the digital documenter journalling cards, and there are a lot of them in each kit, for 5.99. And in their recent digital sale, they were at 1 dollar each kit. That was an amazing deal. I love Ali's style and products, and I want to continue to support her, but the digitals are at an unrealistic price point.
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Post by peachiceteas on Jul 13, 2020 20:28:18 GMT
It’s also annoying as if you mess up a card, you can’t easily purchase the digitals and print a new one...!
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Post by Skellinton on Jul 13, 2020 20:30:34 GMT
I looked at these and while they're nice, I am probably going to get a lot of hate for this, but I really don't like Ali's handwriting. I like her style and her storytelling but when her handwriting is all over an item, even if I like the rest of the style of the item, I won't buy it because I can't get past her handwriting. I guess I don't like any handwriting fonts now that I think about it because I don't like Heidi Swapp's either. Sorry for digressing from the thread. No hate, and no worries! We're not like the Facebook group here. Everyone has valid feelings, and bring value here. I used to like Ali's handwriting, but quite frankly, I'm sick of it anymore. I hate her handwriting too. I have never used a single piece with her handwriting on it.
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Post by peachiceteas on Jul 13, 2020 20:32:41 GMT
I looked at these and while they're nice, I am probably going to get a lot of hate for this, but I really don't like Ali's handwriting. I like her style and her storytelling but when her handwriting is all over an item, even if I like the rest of the style of the item, I won't buy it because I can't get past her handwriting. I guess I don't like any handwriting fonts now that I think about it because I don't like Heidi Swapp's either. Sorry for digressing from the thread. No hate, and no worries! We're not like the Facebook group here. Everyone has valid feelings, and bring value here. I used to like Ali's handwriting, but quite frankly, I'm sick of it anymore. Agreed with this. We LOVE opinions here
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Post by lasteve1 on Jul 14, 2020 13:34:09 GMT
Travel Class Update: Lesson 2, Laura's album came out today. I love Laura and her style and personality in general. She had a good idea--create an album that summarizes all of the places she's traveled in her life (an idea that she shared in the promos for the class). There is nothing wrong her album, it's nice. But, the album is pretty basic for a class. She basically used two techniques for each location, both of which you can see in her promo images for the class (albeit, they are slightly different for each location, but you get the idea from the promo images). Her pages are mostly unembellished (which again, is completely fine, but I think it's self-explanatory and people take classes to learn something new, not just see someone slip photos in pockets). She did share a few other small techniques throughout the album, but they are all things I've seen before.
She included a large write-up and photos of the steps as she went, like a long blog post, but not a full process video like Ali. She included a few quick videos of some of the steps--about 5 minutes each, and then a quick flip through at the end. It's hard for me to be super critical of her because she is so sweet and her album is nice, but it's just nothing special and not something that should be considered paid content. I just think she is so much more creative than this and wonder if time constraints got to her--she's including trips from her whole life, including her childhood, so that meant looking back through photos over 30+ years and printing/editing for all the trips. I would imagine she didn't have a huge timeline to create her content for the class and maybe a lot of it was taken up by selecting photos and coming up with journaling? Of course that content is the most important part of an album... but people take a class for the creative ideas... and I think she ran out of steam. Pretty disappointed because she was one of the contributors I was excited about.
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Post by mom on Jul 14, 2020 13:50:29 GMT
Travel Class Update: Lesson 2, Laura's album came out today. I love Laura and her style and personality in general. She had a good idea--create an album that summarizes all of the places she's traveled in her life (an idea that she shared in the promos for the class). There is nothing wrong her album, it's nice. But, the album is pretty basic for a class. She basically used two techniques for each location, both of which you can see in her promo images for the class (albeit, they are slightly different for each location, but you get the idea from the promo images). Her pages are mostly unembellished (which again, is completely fine, but I think it's self-explanatory and people take classes to learn something new, not just see someone slip photos in pockets). She did share a few other small techniques throughout the album, but they are all things I've seen before. She included a large write-up and photos of the steps as she went, like a long blog post, but not a full process video like Ali. She included a few quick videos of some of the steps--about 5 minutes each, and then a quick flip through at the end. It's hard for me to be super critical of her because she is so sweet and her album is nice, but it's just nothing special and not something that should be considered paid content. I just think she is so much more creative than this and wonder if time constraints got to her--she's including trips from her whole life, including her childhood, so that meant looking back through photos over 30+ years and printing/editing for all the trips. I would imagine she didn't have a huge timeline to create her content for the class and maybe a lot of it was taken up by selecting photos and coming up with journaling? Of course that content is the most important part of an album... but people take a class for the creative ideas... and I think she ran out of steam. Pretty disappointed because she was one of the contributors I was excited about. UGH. this disappoints me to read. I wonder if they started strong with Ali and the rest go downhill?
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auntmimi
Full Member
Posts: 471
Jun 22, 2018 18:55:37 GMT
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Post by auntmimi on Jul 14, 2020 14:00:34 GMT
Travel Class Update: Lesson 2, Laura's album came out today. I love Laura and her style and personality in general. She had a good idea--create an album that summarizes all of the places she's traveled in her life (an idea that she shared in the promos for the class). There is nothing wrong her album, it's nice. But, the album is pretty basic for a class. She basically used two techniques for each location, both of which you can see in her promo images for the class (albeit, they are slightly different for each location, but you get the idea from the promo images). Her pages are mostly unembellished (which again, is completely fine, but I think it's self-explanatory and people take classes to learn something new, not just see someone slip photos in pockets). She did share a few other small techniques throughout the album, but they are all things I've seen before. She included a large write-up and photos of the steps as she went, like a long blog post, but not a full process video like Ali. She included a few quick videos of some of the steps--about 5 minutes each, and then a quick flip through at the end. It's hard for me to be super critical of her because she is so sweet and her album is nice, but it's just nothing special and not something that should be considered paid content. I just think she is so much more creative than this and wonder if time constraints got to her--she's including trips from her whole life, including her childhood, so that meant looking back through photos over 30+ years and printing/editing for all the trips. I would imagine she didn't have a huge timeline to create her content for the class and maybe a lot of it was taken up by selecting photos and coming up with journaling? Of course that content is the most important part of an album... but people take a class for the creative ideas... and I think she ran out of steam. Pretty disappointed because she was one of the contributors I was excited about. This doesn't bode well. I signed up after reading the Ali reviews. I hope it's not all downhill from here.
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Post by lasteve1 on Jul 14, 2020 14:07:09 GMT
mom I feel like they usually do... Ali has been teaching these types of classes for a long time, I've never seen any of her contributors providing the same caliber of work as her. They tend to be DT members, not other crafters who are more established with a history of teaching classes. I definitely still like a lot of them and their work, but it's just not the same... Ali's experience definitely comes through in the quality.
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Post by linhaz on Jul 14, 2020 14:49:14 GMT
Travel Class Update: Lesson 2, Laura's album came out today. I love Laura and her style and personality in general. She had a good idea--create an album that summarizes all of the places she's traveled in her life (an idea that she shared in the promos for the class). There is nothing wrong her album, it's nice. But, the album is pretty basic for a class. She basically used two techniques for each location, both of which you can see in her promo images for the class (albeit, they are slightly different for each location, but you get the idea from the promo images). Her pages are mostly unembellished (which again, is completely fine, but I think it's self-explanatory and people take classes to learn something new, not just see someone slip photos in pockets). She did share a few other small techniques throughout the album, but they are all things I've seen before. She included a large write-up and photos of the steps as she went, like a long blog post, but not a full process video like Ali. She included a few quick videos of some of the steps--about 5 minutes each, and then a quick flip through at the end. It's hard for me to be super critical of her because she is so sweet and her album is nice, but it's just nothing special and not something that should be considered paid content. I just think she is so much more creative than this and wonder if time constraints got to her--she's including trips from her whole life, including her childhood, so that meant looking back through photos over 30+ years and printing/editing for all the trips. I would imagine she didn't have a huge timeline to create her content for the class and maybe a lot of it was taken up by selecting photos and coming up with journaling? Of course that content is the most important part of an album... but people take a class for the creative ideas... and I think she ran out of steam. Pretty disappointed because she was one of the contributors I was excited about. I 100% agree with you. I was disappointed with Laura's overall lesson. She did use minimal product and I know Ali changed the class name -- stepping away from "Product Play" to "Start to Finish" so in that sense Laura did finish an album (two albums) but I bought all the stuff -- I want to see how the CT uses it. So agree with your comment: "...but it's just nothing special..." Ali did emphasize the focus of this class is on inspiration, ideas and encouragement for getting your past travel stories into completed albums. Well, Laura did accomplish this, she did do a lot of work pulling all the photos and journaling all the trips -- I was just hoping for some more creativity.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jul 14, 2020 15:47:28 GMT
Is Tazhiana next up for the Travel Class?
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Post by honeypea on Jul 14, 2020 16:04:21 GMT
Thanks for the review. It us disappointing to hear Laura’s contribution is lackluster. I really enjoy a lot and like her style, so this disappointing to hear. I find her camera presence engaging and fun (some scrappers have great projects, but their presence and the way they speak on video is nails on a chalkboard to me).
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Post by honeypea on Jul 14, 2020 16:07:46 GMT
Thanks for the review. It is disappointing to hear Laura’s contribution is lackluster. I really enjoy her a lot and like her style, so this disappointing to hear. I find her camera presence engaging and fun (some scrappers have great projects, but their presence and the way they speak on video is nails on a chalkboard to me).
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Post by linhaz on Jul 14, 2020 16:14:28 GMT
Is Tazhiana next up for the Travel Class? No Morgan Beal is up next. Her sneak peek looks promising -- she is doing a Chicago trip. Pam is after that and Tazhiana is the closer.
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Post by sleepingbooty on Jul 14, 2020 16:17:59 GMT
Is Tazhiana next up for the Travel Class? No Morgan Beal is up next. Her sneak peek looks promising -- she is doing a Chicago trip. Pam is after that and Tazhiana is the closer. Thanks! I just realised all the contributors are again based in North America. It would be nice to see Ali venture out and take documenters from other places in the world. Someone in the Middle-East or Asia travelling locally would bring out such a different flavour and probably different use of the products as well to adapt to the local scene and mindset.
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Post by karinec on Jul 14, 2020 16:41:32 GMT
I liked Laura’s ideas, they got me thinking, but I was also expecting a bit more as far as creativity/new approaches. I haven’t watched her video but then again I always struggle when it comes to that.
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Post by karinec on Jul 14, 2020 16:43:08 GMT
I really like this kit even though we are not the most outdoorsy people. I agree the add ons seem high in price. I don't know if I will actually get any. Also, the stamp/sticker that says Roam Far + Wonder Wide looks like Roam Fart to me lol. I can’t unsee that now!!!😂
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