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september 25, 2006 volume one : issue one Welcome to the very first issue of AEzine/Life Artist Newsletter. My vision for this newsletter is to inspire you in your everyday to find opportunities to capture life + create art. Weekly topics will range from layout design to artsy techniques to documenting moments to simple ideas for cultivating a creative lifestyle. Each issue will include a cool challenge that implements the weekly topic and a question & answer section. If you have a question you would like to have answered send me an email and write "newsletter" in the subject line. This first issue is all about miniBOOKS and how they are perfect for the BIG and little stories of our lives. Enjoy. Ali miniBOOKS = BIGstories  Talk about serious satisfaction. I use miniBOOKS to tell all sorts of stories. Some tell everyday stories, others tell event stories, and still others are used simply as creative experimentation. For 2007 I am planning to use a miniBOOK as a monthly art journal - nothing big, no pressure, just a little place to play and make mistakes and grow in my creative skills. miniDESIGN : I think that often the sheer size of a miniBOOK is liberating. Having less space can make it easier to keep your focus on the story rather than getting wrapped up in all the extras. One of my design mantras has always been: don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. This is especially important to remember when putting together a miniBOOK. Establish a foundation design and then repeat it over and over throughout the entire album. It doesn't have to be any more complicated than that, and it is a great way to begin your album. Remember you can always add more. One of my favorite design foundations is simply a photograph (or a gathering of photographs) on one side and the journaling and embellishments on the other side. Simple and effective. miniCONCEPTS : Before I begin any project I always ask myself to identify the story I want to tell - often times this includes writing it out in advance so I make sure that I flush out all the ideas I want to include to make the story complete. Sometimes this is a really simple process and other times it is complex and complicated. When I begin concepting a miniBOOK project I follow the same formula - what do I want to say with this book? Will there be a lot of journaling and words, or a lot of photos, or both? By identifying all of this in the beginning I am better able to plan the flow of the album - how many pages will I need, how many photos, how much paper, etc. The worst thing is getting half way through a project and remembering that there is something else I wanted to include. When this does happen I try my best to work with what I have and see how I can fit the additional content into the structure I have already developed. Planning ahead can make your creative process that much more enjoyable when you get to the cutting and pasting part. miniFAVORITES : I have a pretty good selection of miniBOOKS on hand here at my house - each one is just waiting to hold one of my families stories. I am the sort of shopper that will buy them when I see them and figure out a use for them later on down the road (this is also how I shop for patterned paper). My current favorites come from Maya Road and 7gypsies. Here are links to a couple of my favorite miniBOOKS I created in the past: Father's Day Album Mommy Wisdom weekly challenge  If you don't feel like making something about yourself this week then ask your partner or child to name five of their favorite things right now and document those instead. Go for "mini" overall. Small photos + small album = BIG goodness. question and answer  A : Here's a couple solutions that have worked great for me: (1) an oversized basket that has a home in our living room and (2) large glass jars found in the kitchen section at Target. Both are inviting - which is totally important to me. I want people to touch and read and enjoy these books. I want Simon to pick them up and delight in their contents. Q : What type of adhesive do you use to glue down decorative paper when making a mini-album, like in your "Proof of Me"? I've had trouble with peeling up edges. I've used Pioneer brand glue sticks, Staples glue sticks, the glue sticks you can get at drug stores that go on purple (can't remember the brand) and the wet glue sticks by Zig (glue is blue for a permanent bond and clear for a temporary bond). My decorative papers seem to peel after about six months or so. It is pretty hot and dry where I live, could this be my problem? Therese. A : When working with miniBOOKS I tend to reach for gluesticks - they just seem to be the easiest way to stick stuff down (super technical, right?). One of the things Donna teaches in her workshops is to use your "assets" - essentially, once you glue down your paper you place the page on your chair and you sit on it. The heat is supposed to help the entire thing gel together even better. Another product I use is called Matte (or gel) Medium - this can be purchased at an art supply store and works as an adhesive or as a sealer on top of the project. If you are having trouble with papers lifting you may want to use something like matte medium (or mod podge) on top of the paper to finish off the project. One of my favorite books that addresses this topic is Collage Discovery Workshop by Claudine Hellmuth. She is great at laying out some of the basics step by step - it is definitely more of a collage/ mixed media book but has great techniques that can be applied to creating miniBOOKS. If anyone has any other suggestions I would love to hear them and will add them into a future edition of this newsletter as a follow up. If you have a question you would like to have answered send me an email and write "newsletter" in the subject line. Copyright � 2006 Ali Edwards/AE Design/Life Art Media.
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