PYS News

a {creative call}

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As I’m venturing deeper in to this New Year and all the evaluating and envisioning and planning and fresh starting that comes along with fresh years I have been considering the evolution of my creativity and my designing and my hopes and visions for Plant Your Story and Zinnias & Swallowtails, I have a special spot of news!  I am having a quick call this weekend during the birthday festivities at The Lilypad!

I am looking for some individuals who love to scrap their stories, who enjoy journaling, playing with paper, making pretty things, documenting the everyday, or sharing their creativity.  And so….{a call}.

 

Do you love to scrap? Do you love to tell your stories? Do you love to put pen to page?

I’m looking to add a few permanent members and a series of guests to my layout AND storytelling teams.  You may apply to either OR both.

To apply to my layout team please put “Layout Team Creative Call” in the subject line of your email.

To apply to the Storytelling team please put “Storyteller Creative Call” in the subject line of your email.

If applying to BOTH teams put “Storyteller Creative Call” in the subject line of your email.

Requirements are the same for both teams:

— Scrap at least 2 pages (or prompts) monthly in advance of release
— upload your pages to your favorite galleries and/or social media

If you are inspired to plant your story please submit:

— An example of any page created with my designs.  (You may use any freebie, collab contribution or regular release to showcase your scrapbooking and/or storytelling in action).   If you are applying to be a Storyteller, please also include links to 3 of your favorite “storyFULL” pages.

— A link to your favorite gallery
— A list of your current creative team commitments
— A short bio

If this sounds like something you’re interested in please feel free to submit inquiries to creativecallplantyourstory.com by midnight EST 23 January 2012. I will respond to every email I get to confirm receipt.

Can’t wait to hear from you!! ♥

Here’s a few more details:

Q: What do I mean by “storyFULL” pages?

A:  To me, a “storyFULL” page is a page that usually has some semblance of journaling included..it doesn’t have to be gobs of journaling or heartwrenching, cathartic, serious documenting.  Story lives in the silly and in the routine as well as the “deeper” places in our lives and feelings.  So any page where you are documenting your own story, or acting as your family’s historian, or putting pen to paper, or listing or musing..that’s a storyFULL page.  Show me your favorites.

Q: What is the difference between the Layout Team and Storytelling Team?

A:  My layout team receives all releases but is not required to work the prompts in my prompt-driven products.  The focus of the layout team is to play with my products and bring their own style to the page.  I LOVE having a variety of scrapping styles represented on my team and I LOVE it when people play with my page designs in creative ways.

My Storytelling team is everything the Layout team is but it’s primary focus is on actually working prompts in my prompt-driven product releases.  I want to encourage others to put pen to page or scrap prompts with examples beyond my own.  You can see examples of previous prompts I’ve written in the Grow With Love archive.  The Plant Your Story storytellers will have the opportunity to delve into prompts that are heavier and some that are light and fun..it’s a wide range of topics and encouragements, some of which can be challenging.  You don’t have to be a writer.  You don’t have to feel “good” at journaling, but you need a heart for telling your story and a desire to grow in your storytelling.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions at all!

The “We’re Really Excited” Post

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So….this is a post where we tell you how excited we are about our latest Grow With Love class, Staycation.  I’ve called it The “We’re Really Excited” post because, embarrassingly, I used that phrase more times in our roughly 8 minute chatter than should be allowed.  And I know that calling attention to it will only ensure that you will notice it all the more, but I’m all about owning the goofy and not being afraid to giggle at yourself a bit.   But, also…it’s totally true.  We ARE really excited about this project.  We hope you’ll have a listen to our little introductory chatter to learn more about this adventure:

Chatting About Staycation: Really Excited

Grow With Love: Staycation is a summer adventure in everyday storytelling.  Designed with the hope of helping you focus on the {extra}ordinary details and moments in your everyday, squeezing every last drop of  fun, and finding the joy that lives in the overlooked “regular” elements of your story.  All the while, actively and intentionally creating memories you will treasure.  This class is meant to celebrate the everyday, embrace the fun of summer with fresh perspective, and encourage and inspire you to create and write the story you will document.  Our prompts, products, articles, and tutorials will be the tools you need to write your special summer story and create meaningful pages that reflect the beauty of your everyday moments.

And more than that, we hope this fun filled adventure will encourage you to be intentional in your memory making: setting out to inject the fun into your moments and creating moments worthy of legacy and your story.  And we are totally, sincerely and enthusiastically really excited about Staycation.

And we invite you to learn a little more {HERE} and in the Q & A thread in the forum.  And we also invite you to ask questions here in this post!  What would you like to know about the process and the class?  Feel free to ask any questions in the comments and we will respond to them as best we can.

Crystal and I addressed a couple Q & As in the audio, but I’ll share a few more FAQs here as well…

Q: What if it’s not summertime where I live?

A: That’s ok!  Apart from the fact that it will be summertime one day in your part of the world, we hope that these prompts can be kept close and used anytime throughout the year, any time you feel pulled to make an ordinary day a little something MORE.  There is room for these prompts to be used and enjoyed over any holidays or breaks or any every day.

Q: What if I’m not planning a “staycation”?

A: That’s ok too!  Even though these prompts can be used as a “staycation” in and of themselves, you can approach them anytime, over a period of time, once in a while, whenever it works for you.  It’s all about making memories with those you love and making the most of your every day!  It’s about having fun and documenting the process.

Q:  Do I have to register in the forum?

A:  No, you do not.  You’ll receive all the basic course materials which are enough to follow along with the series at your own pace.  That said, we really encourage you to register in the forum because, while we will send out some emails with additional content, the bulk of our bonus content and all of our exclusive offers from class sponsors and contributors during the “enhanced class period” will be posted in the forum.  If you’ve signed up for the class, or even if you haven’t feel free to register and join in conversation in the forum.

Q: What if I’m not comfortable sharing or participating very much?

A: That’s ok!  Crystal and I really understand that not everyone will want to participate at the same level.  And so we aimed to design the class in such a way that you can still participate with as much or as little involvement in the forum as you would like.  You can sign up for the forum and peek in throughout the class simply to snag the latest content or exclusives or you can get comfy cozy and join in and share.  It’s completely up to you!

Q: Is the forum private?

A:  Yes!  The Staycation Forum is exclusive to Staycation participants.   This will go live just before the official class start date of Monday 11 July. Only class members will be able to see and share in this forum.  There is also a general forum area that is visible to all Plant Your Story forum goers.  This area is for general chatter about storytelling and for storytellers and scrapbookers to mingle and be.  You are welcome to post anywhere and everywhere you feel comfortable.

Q: Is the gallery private?

A:  Yes!  The Staycation Gallery is exclusive to Staycation participants.  There is also a general Storytellers gallery that is open to anyone.  You are welcome to post and share in either the private gallery or in the public gallery, or simply in the forum, or not at all…whatever you are most comfortable with.

Q: Is this class only for digital scrapbookers?

A:  Not at all!  While Crystal and I both have roots in the digital scrapbooking community we feel sincerely that this is a class that any scrapper (traditional, paper, or digital or digital art) can find inspiration.   We have had paper scrappers follow along with Grow With Love, scrapping the prompts and we have LOVED to see the results.  In fact, you could adapt this project in to any craft or type of storytelling.  And while the exclusive kit is in digital format, it is produced in printable quality and can easily be used in hybrid or paper scrapping.  And the digital templates can also be used as basic sketches.  We will be offering some more traditional sketches as well, but we truly believe that anyone hoping to tell their story can find inspiration in this journey.  🙂

Please feel free to ask anything that comes to mind.  We will update this post as we receive and answer questions.  We’re getting excited!  Can’t wait to embark on this journey!  Staycation registration is open through Sunday 10 July, 2011.

self portrait {detailed}

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Happy Friday and Happy {i}NSD weekend!!

Today marks the final day of registration for Grow With Love: Self Portrait.  The response so far has been really exciting and Crystal and I cannot wait to get started with the class next Monday 9 May.

If you haven’t registered yet, there is still time to join us and we would love to have you!

We are getting really excited for the start of class!  We’ve started to see some beautiful pages in the gallery using the prompts and templates and the exclusive kit too!  And I’m feeling SO inspired!

Here’s a closer look at some of the basic course materials in action:

And today I’m happy to publicly share some details about exclusive content that will be available only to class participants!!

As you probably know, Krista Sahlin of Sahlin Studio has contributed an exclusive kit for the class and I must say it’s completely fabulous in every way.  Here is, My Happiness:

This kit is only available to registrants of the class and after the registration period it will no longer be available as part of the course materials.

I’m so excited to announce publicly some other exciting exclusives for class participants including exclusive coupons or contributions from a wide range of amazing talents in the scrapbooking community including:  Shabby Miss Jenn, Kristin Cronin-Barrow, Kay Miller, Designs by Lili, Valorie Wibbens, Jacque Larsen, Persnickety Prints, Emily Merritt, Heather Hess, Tickled Pink Studio, Fizzy Pop Designs, and My Four Hens Photography.

In addition, class participants will receive enhanced class content including video tutorials, sketches, articles and expanded inspiration all the while having fun growing and learning together in the private Grow With Love forum and gallery!  We so hope you’ll join us in this adventure of planting ourselves into our stories!

Feel free to learn more about Self Portrait {HERE} and in the Q & A.  Registration closes at midnight (PST) tonight.  You can register in the shoppe HERE.

Grow With Love: Self Portrait Q & A

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So hopefully by now you’ve heard a little bit about our latest Grow With Love installment Self Portrait.

Crystal and I are really excited about this one as it takes the entire experience to a new level and because it gets us focused on something we both really believe in: telling OUR stories, ones about us..not just our kids or husbands or families, but about us.  We are really excited about the format and our plans for the class and can’t wait to share it with you!  So we invite you to learn a little more {HERE} and in the Q & A thread in the forum.  And we also invite you to ask questions here in this post!  What would you like to know about the process and the class?  Feel free to ask any questions in the comments and we will respond to them as best we can.

I’ll share a few FAQs…

Q:  Do I have to register in the forum?

A:  No, you do not.  You’ll receive all the basic course materials which are enough to follow along with the series at your own pace.  That said, we really encourage you to register in the forum because, while we will send out some emails with additional content, the bulk of our bonus content and all of our exclusive offers from class sponsors and contributors during the “enhanced class period” will be posted in the forum.  If you’ve signed up for the class, or even if you haven’t feel free to register and join in conversation in the forum.

Q: What if I’m not comfortable sharing or participating very much?

A: That’s ok!  Crystal and I really understand that not everyone will want to participate at the same level.  And so we aimed to design the class in such a way that you can still participate with as much or as little involvement in the forum as you would like.  You can sign up for the forum and peek in throughout the class simply to snag the latest content or exclusives or you can get comfy cozy and join in and share.  It’s completely up to you!

Q: Is the forum private?

A: Yes and no.  There is a general forum area that is visible to all Plant Your Story forum goers.  And then there is a private forum specifically for Grow With Love class participants.  This will go live just before the official class start date of Monday 9 May.  Only class members will be able to see and share in this forum.

Q: Is the gallery private?

A: Again, yes and no.  Like the forum, there is a general Storytellers gallery that is open to anyone.  There is also a private gallery for class participants.  You may post in the private gallery or in the public gallery, or simply in the forum, or not at all…whatever you are most comfortable with.

Q: Is this class only for digital scrapbookers?

A:  Not at all!  While Crystal and I both have roots in the digital scrapbooking community we feel sincerely that this is a class that any scrapper (traditional, paper, or digital or digital art) can find inspiration.  In fact, we have had paper scrappers follow along with Grow With Love, scrapping the prompts and we have LOVED to see the results.  In fact, you could adapt this project in to any craft or type of storytelling.  And while the exclusive kit is in digital format, it is produced in printable quality and can easily be used in hybrid or paper scrapping.  And the digital templates can also be used as basic sketches.  We will be offering some more traditional sketches as well, but we truly believe that anyone hoping to tell their story can find inspiration in this journey.  🙂

Please feel free to ask anything that comes to mind.  We will update this post as we receive and answer questions.  We’re getting excited!  Can’t wait to embark on this journey!

huge happy welcomes!

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Crystal and I wanted to take a moment to again thank everyone who submitted applications to our Grow With Love creative call.  To say we were overwhelmed with awe and impress at the talent and amazing storytelling submitted would be an understatement.  Thank you sincerely to all who put themselves (and their stories) out there to us.  The decision making process was so SO difficult and every.single.application was amazing.

Today, we are very happy to announce with warm welcome these amazing artists and storytellers to our team:

 

We can’t wait for you to see their beautiful work!

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