Project Life Week 39 – Ali Edwards Spark Story Kit

Hi again and welcome back for another Project Life layout, this week is Week 39 in this year’s album. I’m very excited this week because I had the chance to work with Ali Edwards’ Spark story subscription kit and let me tell you how lovely it is! I also brought in some Crate Paper Craft Market, which blended beautifully together. Enjoy the video and then stay tuned for all the close-ups!

Here is the full spread this week:

And here are both sides, closer in:

I cannot say enough positive things about working with the Spark Story Kit. If you don’t know what that is, then let me tell you a little about it, and the link will be at the bottom of this post. Ali Edwards has a subscription kit available and each month you receive products and a stamp set based on different options, and the purpose of these kits/stamps is to help you tell more of your stories as you are scrapbooking and Project Life-ing (there, new word).

I knew when I started this layout that I wanted to include more journaling but I did not know how or where that was going to happen. One of the things I have found using the Collect app and the Design F page protectors is that I was relying on the one or two sentences I wrote on the photo cards to be the journaling and that was it. Which is absolutely great and ok, don’t get me wrong! And I still love that method and will still probably create some weeks and some layouts just like that.

But I also wanted to challenge myself to tell more of these stories every week. My scrap time is limited – these are the layouts I am creating right now – and if I am not telling these stories then what happens to those stories? 

As I worked my way around the layout, I realized I had more than just Collect photos I wanted to add. We spent a little time this week redecorating the house and putting up our fall things, and I had some quick photos I took on my phone that I decided to add. And there I realized I had my story: part of our fall decor included rearranging the plate rack that my mother had given me so many years ago, and that needed to be written about.

I placed the smaller decorating photos across the bottom of the left side, where I had used that patterned paper the week before. I thought about using that Crate Paper floral paper across the entire lower section like I had done last week, but decided against it. One reason was because I love the B-side of that paper, and both sides of that paper go beautifully with the Spark kit!

Typically I like to use transparency in these 4×6 pockets but since I wanted this photo to be the feature of this layout, I decided to place it in this pocket and use transparencies in the other pockets of the layout. This worked out great and I actually really like the transparencies in the other pockets.

 

That stripe transparency is actually a 8 1/2×11 acetate from We R Memory Keepers that I cut on the diagonal. Ali’s kit came packaged in a sweet little plastic package that had diagonal white stripes on the edges, and so that is why I decided to use the stripe acetate on this layout.  

The kit came with some really cute chunky silver glitter, so I Fused that into a pocket, and I also used the glitter tape that came in the kit in several places. I love that narrow size and it added a great little accent around the page!

When I was all done with the layout, I pulled up the digital files in Photoshop and added my journaling to create a hidden journal card like this:

The front of the card reads:

“I was so happy this week to be able to redecorate the plate rack! Every few months I like to rearrange things and change out the pieces I have displayed on its beautiful, worn shelves. This plate rack has such special meaning, as it was given to me by my Mom. It was one of her favorite pieces and I so remember her telling me when she found it at a shop in Chapel Hill! Every season she always rearranged it and changed out the pieces she displayed. She had so much china and so many mugs and sets of dinnerware, it was pretty awesome!”

A really good story never quite fits on one side, so I continued on side 2:

“It was always so much fun to see what she had decided to display every time I went to see her. She loved this plate rack, and loved the distressed paint, and she loved how fragile it is, but oh what a great backdrop for all her treasures. In the months before she died she gave away so many of her things because she wanted us all to enjoy her things and she wanted them to go to good homes. I was the only person who really wanted the plate rack, and she was very excited to give it to me. It’s ironic, really, because she gave it to me before my turquoise affair began, and before distressed pieces became as popular as they are today. But she was always ahead of the trends, and I know this piece will never really go out of style. Thanks, Mom, for giving me such a beautiful gift and for leading a tradition that I am so happy to carry forward.”

Alright, here are links to these products:

Ali Edwards Spark Story Kit

(Please know that the link above will change with the next month’s story kit!

Crate Paper Craft Market

We R Memory Keepers Clearly Bold Transparency

See you again soon,

~Theresa