Surprise Story Kit ~ Surfer Dude!

Recently, I started subscribing to the monthly Ali Edwards Story Kits & Story Stamps.  I have been so happy with not only the amazing products, but also the class materials, and the support by the amazing community that are included.  I have been part of the crafting industry as a hobbiest, a design team member and an employee for many years and I have to say, I find Ali Edwards company to be the complete package!  It's about the storytelling and making our stories more than scrapbook pages ~ they are 100% meaningful.

My goal this year is that with each kit I subscribe to, I want to make at least 2 layouts with the products ~ Project Life pocket style, full 12x12, 6x8, etc... whatever I want with photos that fit the theme.  Since I'm going to use photos from lots of different events or times, I had to give myself permission to jump around to different projects and not scrapbook chronologically ~ that was hard for me since I'm pretty concrete sequential... but it's also a little bit freeing.

For the November 2016 Story Kit, the theme was Surprise.  In the class video, Ali stresses many ways we can be surprised... both good and bad.  But one thing that really stood out to me was this quote, "Let life surprise & delight you".  I selected these photos for my page today because Matt both surprised and delighted me.  On our recent New Year's vacation, Matt went on the Flowrider many times every day.  He improved each time and learned new tricks along the way.  I love that he is a little fearless, but also a little careful ~ it's a really nice balance.  I wish I was a little more fearless...

All of the supplies I used on this page, other than the colored cardstock, the stapler & the date stamp are from the Surpise Story Kit & the Surprise Story Stamp set.  I played with this page for a while trying to decide if I should use a few black/white photos rather than all color.  Ultimately, I decided to go with color photos because Matt just didn't stand out enough in the black/white.   I stamped the "AH YEAH" sentiment & the date stamp on the title card with Earl Gray Ink by Taylored Expressions and stapled some matching stars from the kit to the bottom corner.

Photo Tip: While on our trip, I totally forgot to take a picture of the Flowrider sign.  I felt like the page needed a different image, so I did a Google search of images and found exactly the one I wanted.  It was the perfect addition to the page.

I'll admit, I should be writing in my scrapbooks more often; however, I hate my handwriting and I usually get tongue-tied with my words.  Therefore, I almost always type my journaling... I just tell better stories when I can sit and type them out on the computer.  The phrase on the bottom right photo kind of cracks me up... perfect for the wipe out!

I realize I'm hoping around a lot with different projects, but that's because I've been working on TONS of different things over the last few months.  However, it's all to reach the same goal... document our family life with photos and stories.  Are you hoping to make your stories more meaningful... check out Ali Edwards Story Kits and classes.  They are absolutely amazing!!