Studio Friday.
Tags:TOPIC: "Studio Friday, for me, is a network of Artist from all over the world. It's a fabulous way to communicate with and learn from artists of all backgrounds. With this being said, I would love to see a showcase of what YOUR art is. Are you a scrapbooker? A clay artist? Are you a collage artist or a photographer? Do you paint or work in the fibre arts of Knitting, sewing or enbroidery? Are you a gardener a botanist or an eclectic artist of many trades? I'd love to see a piece that you have created that you are most proud of. SHOW off your STUFF!!" - posted by Gabi Cool. I am a storyteller. I am a collaborator. I am a crafter. I am a scrapbooker. I am a cut & paster. I am a computer geek. I am a photographer. I am a writer. I am a business woman. I am a life artist. I am a work in progress. Went back through some of the pages I created over the last couple years since I first started scrapbooking to pick out some of my favorites. Take a look. Love this one for the comparison of yesterday and today - and for the story it tells. 
This one is from December 2002 - about a month after I began scrapbooking. I love it because it really tells the entire story of Simon's birth (hidden journaling behind the photo): 
And a couple of recent favorites include this one about John, Liz and Simon: 
And this one that documents a moment in time at our house on a random day: 
It has been a long time since I have gone back and looked through all my begninning pages. I have 16 pages of layouts posted on Two Peas - you can see the beginning here. One of these days I will go through and count them all and get them into some sort of order in their albums. Right now they are all just placed in randomly. Does it bother me? Not really - I know at some point I will get to organizing them. For now at least I know they are protected in some way. I think the cool thing for me in looking back on these layouts is watching Simon's story unfold. Seeing his physical changes. Reading my journaling and witnessing and remembering all the moments. And seeing photos like this one that are simply priceless: 
and this one: 
and this one: 
And this, once again, is why I love scrapbooking. The stories. The emotions. The photos. It has absolutely changed my life. For the better. Want to see what others answered? Click here.
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44 comments
so lovely to look back on your work.
i would love to be able to read the journaling about simon's birth. my screen doesn't seem to make it appear large enough.
any chance you could post it?
thanks for sharing so much of who you are.
sheri
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This really is a talent.
ANd one I don't have.
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I recently sorted through boxes of old photos, cleaning out my garage. My youngest son Nathaniel struggles with autism. It's been over 3 years since the diagnosis and there have been times of real challenge, and of course joy. I don't know if you have ever struggled with this, but I have a difficult time thinking of Nathaniel without the autism - and had even started to think perhaps it had always been a part of our lives and I just didn't notice. And then there were these marvelous photos - eyes open, big smiles, excitement and wonder. Life art, scrapbooking, for me it's all about celebrating the good stuff! Thanks for sharing your layouts, your blog inspires me and makes me feel normal.
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I love seeing all your pages. I remember seeing your "possibility" page when you first posted it on 2 peas. I totally copied the quote and fold-out journaling idea for a layout about my son's birth (2/03). Thanks for the continued inspiration!
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OMG-I remember most of those older pages of yours-love them, STILL. And my pages are all in 3ring binders in no particular order either. Yes, someday they will get organized and it will be so fun looking through them to do it. You are amazing Ali.
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Wow how neat it was to come here, as I do every day, and see that you did the Studio Friday prompt that I had submitted this week!
I love your style(s) and being a fellow scrapbooker, I can appreciate how IMPORTANT the journaling and words ARE. I am a writer who loves to tell a story through scrapbooking. Thanks for sharing your lovely pages here (some I have seen before and there are a few here I hadn't seen yet!)
Have a great weekend!
~ Gabi
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Wow! Wonderful! Oh that Simon what an absolute cutie!!
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ali - your amazing - even your old stuff (the stuff that we are suppose to look back upon and think - Yikes) is amazing. You are one talented chick - I am so insipired by you...rock on girl!
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so many lovely layouts and photos. my favorite is the one on Simon´s birth.
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So talented Ali. Keep it up.
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super cool!
loving the evolution of your art!
you so don't want to see my first scrapbook page. ouch.
hey..I tagged you. play if you can.
http://ebunney.blogspot.com/
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One of my favorite posts in a long time. Thank you so much!
robyn
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simply awesome.
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Ali,
I remember reading in Ck that you had a blog. After a little searching I found it and I had to write and say that you are such an insperation to my scrapbooking style. I have taken your ideas and ran with them (espically your simon pages, I have 2 little boys ages 3 and 4). Thank you for making scrapbooking fun again.
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Fun to recognize what we would call "old" papers and tendencies, yet they are still as powerful as they were then because of the stories.
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Thanks for sharing your growth with us. It inspires us all that one day we to can take the world by storm like Ali :-) I love the freedom in your art.
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This is a very nice site! My English is not very good, alas....
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Love all your layouts for Studio Friday.
I just finished my mini-book challenge:
http://lisacohen.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/10/ae_minibook_cha.html
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Ms Ali,
Thank you for being you.
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oh, geez
that pic of simon in the snow in his blue jammies
priceless!
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