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The Topic
Ali Edwards joins us to talk about the things that impact creativity the most. We are discussing some tough topics and can’t wait to hear what you have to say as we all move toward Daring Greatly in our creativity. We all agree it’s life changing!
Joining the Discussion:
Ali Edwards (Designer Digitals)
Peppermint Granberg
Katie Nelson
Steph
From the Mail:
- Anna Forrest’s Blog
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Use the hashtag #doublelayout to search for all 2 page spreads on the Daily Digi Flickr group.
From the Show:
We recommend you get the book and join us on our journey:
Picks:
Ali: Nurturing The Soul Of Family: 10 Ways To Reconnect And Find Peace In Everyday Life by Renee Peterson Trudeau
Peppermint: Teracopy
Steph: Fab ‘n Free
Katie: (sample below)
Sponsors:
For the best deal in digital scrapbooking, become a member at TheDailyDigi.com.
So, I’m still listening but it was interesting to hear Peppermint and Ali’s viewpoint on scrapping about their divorces. When I broke up with my sons’ dad, I did scrap about it. I had to because scrapping is such a therapy for me. I made one LO that was very honest and exactly what happened. Before I posted it, I sent it to him and asked his opinion, because it was about him and how the whole thing fell apart. He said he felt it was very honest, and very fair and said I should post it. So, I put it out there…two years later, we got back together and I put that in my pages too. It maybe too much for others, but sometimes it’s exactly what I need.
Interesting how things work differently for different people. I’m glad to hear things worked out how you wanted!
Wow. I think this was my most favorite episode ever. It totally speaks to the vulnerability I’ve been feeling the past few weeks in my personal life & in my business. Thank you for sharing your insights! I’ve ordered the book — it’ll be here on Saturday & I can hardly wait to dive in.
And Peppermint — I LOVE Teracopy. My hubby put it on my computer & wow, so fast. We had to uninstall it for some reason, & moving PSD files has been so slow. I’m ready for him to reinstall it on my computer — thank you for reminding me!
I can’t wait to hear what you think of the book!
This is so fitting for the place that I am in right now creatively and personally. This is definitely one of the episodes that I will listen to multiple times. Just so much to mull over.
Thanks, Candy! So glad to hear it!
Great episode that just happened to come at the perfect time in my life. This is something I’m dealing with in my life and it was so refreshing to hear you all talk about it honestly.
There was an interesting episode of the Ted Radio Hour that Brené Brown was featured on that might be of interest to you all and to your listeners. It takes her ideas from the book, as well as the ideas of some other TED speakers to talk about how we respond to the “mistakes” in our lives. It basically talks about how we try to avoid making mistakes at all costs and try so hard to be perfect, but that actually isn’t the healthiest and best way to live. It’s really worth listening to.
http://www.npr.org/2013/03/11/174030515/making-mistakes
Thanks for sharing!! I can’t wait to check it out!!
Hey guys – as per usual anyone that is interested in the script Steph mentioned should email me at myranalis at hotmail dot com. And the product preview graphic is here if you just want to take a look.
Cheers!
Anna
Thanks so much Anna!!
And random thought: has anyone had any success at all recovering a corrupted PSD file?
No.
I even bought a program that was supposed to work, but it didn’t. Luckily, they gave me a refund. But I’m still sad that the layout is lost. 
Just a quick tip on printing 24×12 layouts. This works well at Persnickety and I’m assuming it might be possible at other printing services too. I just upload the 24×12 jpeg once but select it for printing twice (each time with a crop for printing) – cropped for the first time to print the left side and then cropped the second once to print the right side. It is super easy so I encourage those of you who make 24×12 layouts to give it a try.
I’ll definitely be getting a copy of Brené’s book and look forward to reading it and the future Digi Show discussion. Thanks to Kimberley for the Ted Talk link too – I’m always happy to have another podcast to listen to. I listen while I run. Since I’m training for my first marathon I need a lot more that just the weekly Digi Show (which happens to be my favourite) to get me through my weekly runs. Hopefully I can find an audio version of Daring Greatly which would help me get through several hours of running.
It’s available on audio! It’s how I do much of my reading as well!
I got Daring Greatly on Audible (www.audible.com) and then I can listen to it over and over again!
This is off topic but when I read this post I immediately thought of this show and its listeners.
http://lifehacker.com/5994072/how-to-escape-the-cult-of-busy
It talks about the message we send when say we are busy and what we are actually saying to the people who are listening to us.
It also gives tips on how to break the habit of saying that we are too busy
I just realized that Brene Brown is quoted in the article (I thought you were saying Renee when I listened) so I guess my post isn’t OT.
LOL
I loved that post when I read it! Thanks for posting it here. It’s something I’ve been trying to be very mindful of over the past couple of years when I read an article somewhere else on the Internet (I wish I had bookmarked it) that basically just said “Everyone is busy”. It’s a work in progress, though, because I still fall myself falling back on “busy” as an excuse for things. I loved Mindy Kalig’s quote right at the beginning of the Lifehacker article, though. Especially when she says “Going on and on in detail about how stressed out I am isn’t conversation. It’ll never lead anywhere. No one is going to say, “Wow, Mindy, you really have it especially bad. I have heard some stories of stress, but this just takes the cake.””
Super great article! It reminded me of a post I did a long time ago, that I had forgotten about:
/corner-on-the-market-of-busy/
I was really touched by this episode! It really hit home for me! Thanks so much for sharing this book and also for opening yourselves up and sharing your own vulnerabilities! I’m sure that it wasn’t an easy discussion. But it was such a good one!
I am on my way to Amazon to add Daring Greatly to my Kindle. I can’t wait to read it!
Thanks Kristin!
Just finished listening and loved this show. Even reading these comments makes me happy and hopeful.
I discovered Brene via Ali’s blog a few years ago—I even had my book club read her Gifts of Imperfection. They had never heard of her and now all joke how they keep seeing/reading about her everywhere! It is fun to see her message spread!
Two things that really struck me from the episode: how we can “busy” ourselves to avoid vulnerability. I have a small photography business and love what I do (mostly newborns) but there is always a TON of busy work to be done, and I can get wrapped up in that work, as a way to avoid the more vulnerable work of sitting in my chair and editing and facing the gap between the perfection I wanted and the gift of what I did capture. Does that make sense? We are own worst critic and waste so much energy/time trying to avoid our own cruel voice.
The other stand out was the idea of a Harry Potter episode! I love when you did a whole show based on Covey’s Habits way back when (I think Ali was on that one too!). I can think of SO many HP quotes and themes that would be applicable to memory-keeping. The whole series begins with Hagrid’s dismay that Harry doesn’t know his own story—that no one has shared with him where he came from and “who he is”.
The theme of the whole series is that our choices, rather than our abilities or natural talents, define who we are. How much more powerful and possible everything is when seen in that light. Especially for digi scrappers like me who might think, I’m not that tech-savvy, this doesn’t all come naturally to me, but I’m going to choose to do it, because I love that it gets my story down on paper.
I’ll stop myself. Like Katie, I could go on about HP! Maybe an annual book-themed podcast will become a tradition:)
Oy, if we decide to do a Harry Potter inspired episode I’m going to need a few months to re-read the books. It’s been so long since I read them!
Uhhhhh…I will need a few months to READ them…lol…for the FIRST TIME!
STOP! Drop everything. Read Harry Potter. You will LOVE it. Go.
That would be SOOOO awesome! I can see so many ways that Harry Potter could apply to our creative lives. Sadly, Steph has never read them though.
It doesn’t mean we can’t do a show on it. Put together the talking points and we can make it happen
I’ll just show up!
Ok, I realize this thread is way old, but Steph! The HP audio books are THE BEST! If you love audio books, and I think you do, they are absolutely wonderful. Jim Dale is the narrator, and it’s really like watching the movies, but better because you get the whole story. I can’t say enough good things about the Harry Potter audio books. Just listen to the first one, and see if you like it. You don’t have to commit to all seven up front. Ha!
Just had to comment about this.
Jenny! You are so cute! So good to hear from you! We have a super long road trip coming up, that would be a great thing to listen to! I’ll keep you posted!
I totally agree! I love the Harry Potter series. I avoided it for a long time, but am SO glad that I read them. The books have so much more than the movies (which is usually the case) and teach so much about relationships and the importance of the people in our lives!
Inthe discussion of the book Daring Greatly, the author was in SILCON VALLEY not SILACONE VALLEY. I was also correct by my son,who interned in Silicon Valley, he told me silicone is what women put in there breasts ! That hit my shame button, but kept me from making that mistake again.
I cringed as I said it, but it was too late at that point.
Thank you for this WONDERFUL episode. I heard about Brene Brown from Ali’s blog a few years ago, and have been a total fan since.
And her insight resonates deeply within me.
I know I love to write.
And I agree with Katie, when she said that the journalling and writing on scrapbook pages can make people feel truly vulnerable.
I remember when I was taking a class of Ali Edwards a couple of years ago at BPC, and her process really felt like it “fit” with what I wanted to accomplish with my memory keeping. I felt like I was capturing a little piece of myself in my pages.
And then I let my husband read something I had written. A particularly difficult layout for me to create – it was a layout to my teenage self. And I really do feel that I captured the two voices – my mature self, and my young, arrogant and idealistic self.
His reaction to this bit of journalling was “you were an a**hole”.
No.
I was young.
And I needed to grow up.
But even though my husband is truly my most avid fan, and he wasn’t criticizing the layout, his words froze me.
Made me second guess everything I put on my pages.
I now feel I can’t go too deep, because it is embarrassing, and revealing and I feel too vulnerable.
So I’m not sure where to go with this hobby.
Project Life is getting down our day to day – my pictures are being printed and displayed and I enjoy doing it…but I still feel empty. Like something is missing.
It is missing my heart.
And I can’t seem to get over the feeling of vulnerability to put it back in my pages.
So I think I am going to pick up Brown’s book again and read it.
Thanks again for such a thought provoking discussion.
You are not alone. I think there are a LOT of people engaged in a similar battle.
Nicole, I really know the feeling. Especially the whole bit about being blindsided about a comment your husband may not even recall making but has left such an impact on you. That’s happened to me and it truly, truly sucks.
About the feeling of something missing–last year I started feeling like I was just telling the same stories, and I wasn’t even taking photos anymore because I felt like I was going through the motions. I made a more conscious choice this year to art journal and pour my thoughts into my layouts. It works for me–I get to be creative, journal my heart out, and post it publicly because I hide the journaling (or make it too much of a mess to read properly). No one but me can read it (and a lot of it is truncated from my Oh Life entries). So I still feel like I am being real about me while still doing my memory keeping.
I think it’s often more difficult to share your pages with your family than it is with the online world. They know you so well and probably know of and can reach your vulnerability more because of that. I’ve had some times in the past when my husband didn’t respond to a page the way I wanted him to and it took me a while to get past that and decide it didn’t matter.
I think you will really enjoy this book! Thanks for sharing your comment.
I totally agree with you on this Katie! It is often most difficult to share our vulnerable parts of ourselves to those that know us best.
Nicole, I just wanted to let you know that we talked about this comment in this weeks show that will be up tomorrow.
Oh Nicole, that’s so hard. It was very brave of you to create a layout about something from your teen years. I’m sure it was very cathartic for you, and unfortunately your husband didn’t respond well. I hope that his response doesn’t deter you from continuing to grow!
Check out this TED talk Nicole (if you haven’t already) .http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brown_on_vulnerability.html
Nicole that was an awesome comment.
As a paper artist and teacher I’m constantly having to pull and tug confidence out of my students. They are so afraid of failure and even though I provided a safe learning environment isn’t enough. I tell them this is only paper, you don’t have a beating heart in your hand and if it doesn’t work, oh well we will toss it in the garbage and start over. I know, I don’t it all the time. There is no shame in failure but each time you try will teach you a lesson about yourself.
There have been many struggles in my life and in those dark hours when I’m shaking and I feel like I might fail I tell myself “I’ve been in this place before and was able to rise above it. I will do the same this time”. And I mentally grab those words and will myself to believe them. Is it easy, no. Does is work? Heck yes!
OMGosh I love that analogy! I think I will use that to remind myself to just let go and try things without worrying about the end result!! Thank you for sharing that!!
I love this!! Thanks for sharing!
This is so encouraging! My husband & I were just talking about how kids are so naturally creative until they are “taught” not to be. If you give a kid a pile of scraps and pieces, they’ll naturally create something with it. Then at some point they are criticized or they hear an adult say, “I’m just not creative” and I think that really sticks and unfortunately they turn into that “uncreative” adult.
When I listened to this episode, it made me think about a kit I saw recently by Karla Dudley called Butterfly. The story of how the kit came to be is that it was requested by a someone who was raped. It talks about the worst things in life and overcoming those things. When I first saw this kit, I just stared at it online for the longest time. Left. Came back and stared some more. I thought, I can’t scrap with that. It makes me uncomfortable. Yet, I was still drawn to it. This episode made me realize that my vulnerability and fears were making me and my memory keeping to be, well, very superficial. I then thought back to the episode that talked a lot about Art Journaling. I have never done that. I think maybe I will have to now. I also know I will be reading the book.
I can’t wait to hear how art journaling goes for you! I’m sure you will enjoy the book!
Thanks for this episode, ladies! It spoke to me as well and I’m looking forward to getting the book and also looking up the Ted talks. It sounds like a great book to give away as well so I’ll actually be ordering a couple books!
And on a completely separate topic…I just read about Lightroom 5 (beta available now) and it will support PNG files; yipeeee!
I’m planning on sending the book as gifts to several people…lol.
******
And WHAT!? PNG???? NO!!!! That is HUGE!
My ears perked right up. Now they just need a simple set of drop shadows and we’d be able to scrap right in LR. I guess I really need to get working on my Lightroom collage templates I started a year ago! LOL
Hey ladies, yep, it’s me popping up again randomly. I definitely will come back to post a longer comment because holy heck I feel like I have a LOT to say, but I’m feeling crazy vulnerable now and feel like all I will contribute is something like “Yes, I can so relate to what you’re saying because OMGWAAAAAAAHBLEARAGHRGKGHADLFGK.” Or something like that. There are, however, some facts I want to share:
>Within one minute of you mentioning the book title I paused the show, hopped into iTunes and got the book. Unfortunately it also means I may not be able to buy scrapping materials for a while, haha.
> After Ali read the VERY FIRST sentence from the Roosevelt quote, and then about the arena, I started crying.
> I listened to this show while scrapping an art journal layout about making new choices for myself. I didn’t realize the topic of the show–I just went and downloaded it, popped it into iTunes and then opened up Photoshop. I got excited to know Ali Edwards was guesting again, and THEN you gals mention vulnerability and OMGAH. Let’s just say if I was art journaling with actual canvas and paints it would be a whole runny mess. And not the nice kind of art journaly mess.
I’ll reserve the rest of my words after I read the book. Now I’m off to finish my layout (if I can see it through the tears) and listen to Brene Brown’s TEDTalks.
TL:DR — you ladies RAWK SO HARD. Thank you for this show.
I love that you shared this!! I had a similar experience when I saw Brene read the quote on her site. So amazing!
Quick thoughts on double-page layouts. (Yes, I do have an action that cuts the layouts apart for you. http://shop.scrapbookgraphics.com/ACTION-Crop-It.html)
But, to do it manually, the easiest way is to flatten your layout. Then change your canvas size to 12×12 with the left anchor clicked. (CMD+OPT+C/CTRL+ALT+C) Save the left side. UNDO or STEP BACKWARD until you have the full flattened layout. Change your canvas size again to 12×12, but this time choose the right anchor. Save the right size page and close the files. Now you have two perfectly-matched halves.
First I wanted to thank you guys so much for recording this episode. I have downloaded the book and I am going to start reading it tonight!
There were so many things you guys talked about that struck a chord with me but the most powerful was the discussion about shame and vulnerability. I felt for a long time that I wasn’t entitled to assign certain labels to myself or to classify myself in certain categories because I felt I wasn’t as good as others who are in the same category or hold the same label and that I didn’t deserve it- that I was kind of like a poser or a wannabe. But recently I have started to realize and embrace that not only can I define myself any way that I want, that there is nobody more qualified than me to define who I am. I may be different from someone else who is lumped in the category with me, but it doesn’t mean I am less than them or that what I contribute holds less value, either to me or to others. It’s something I struggle with but when I remind myself that I can be anything I want to be and I can wear the label with pride, it’s liberating and I can start to value the things I create and feel more joy in the creative process, because I’m not holding myself back by telling myself that what I’m doing is less than what someone else is doing.
This was such a great reminder to let myself be enough and to be okay with that. I am really looking forward to reading the book and to your follow up discussion!
These are really powerful statements, Kami!! I especially LOVE what you said here: there is nobody more qualified than me to define who I am
TRUE!!!!
I came across this quote today and it reminded me of this show. I had to come share it:
“It’s not what you call me, but what I answer to.” ~African proverb
This is so profound, Kami! It’s so easy to fall into the trap of being defined by other people, rather than being the person we really are and were meant to be!
I was going to order Brene’s book on my Kindle, but I think I want to have the physical book so I can highlight & underline & write notes – I know I can do it on the Kindle, but I like the idea of having the physical book that I can look back on and, hopefully in time be able to see where I’ve grown…or what I need to continue working on.
The discussion made me think of a song that has resonated with me for some time. It’s called “Stand in the Rain” by SuperChick. The lyrics are, “She never slows down – She doesn’t know why but she knows that when she’s all alone, feels like its all coming down.
She won’t turn around – The shadows are long and she fears if she cries that first tear, the tears will not stop raining down.
So stand in the rain – Stand your ground – Stand up when it’s all crashing down – You stand through the pain – You won’t drown – And one day, whats lost can be found – You stand in the rain
She won’t make a sound – Alone in this fight with herself and the fears whispering if she stands she’ll fall down – She wants to be found – The only way out is through everything she’s running from wants to give up and lie down.”
Ever since I heard it, I’ve wanted to do a layout with it…maybe it’s time to do an art journaling page!
The first part of your comment made me laugh because the entire reason I bought the book on Google Play was so that I could highlight it and make notes on the eBook, because then I can bring them up in the app and move to each one quickly. I’m way more apt to go through and revisit favorite sections that way. I’m such a geek!
This is so funny, Peppermint! I absolutely LOVE my Kindle and would never give it up…I automatically think that when I have to take notes, I need pen & paper. I’m the same about my calendar…I love Google Calendar because I can sync it with my husband & kids’, but I feel more comfortable when I have a wall calendar that I can glance at…maybe it’s my age? LOL!
But it’s a good point – it’s probably better to use my Kindle for notes because then I don’t have the book laying around!
Did you hear this on NPR today? – http://www.npr.org/2013/04/17/177040995/more-than-50-years-of-putting-kids-creativity-to-the-test
Testing for creativity…..I wonder how we’d all do on that.
What an amazing and moving episode. This was just what I needed right now. What’s that saying, “when the student is ready, the master will appear?” I got the audio version of Brené’s book so I can listen to it over and over, and, as someone said (I think it was Ali) ingrain her words into my head. I’m also going to check out Brené’s other books as well. THANK YOU!
WOW! Thank you for this show. I am a traditional scrapbooker, but find the Digishow offers so much regardless of how you scrap. I hadn’t heard of Brene Brown before the show and I truly enjoyed the show, went and listened to the TED talks and bought the book. I truly see how this relates to creativity and all other aspects of my life – I want to live Wholehearted! Thank you for challenging your listeners to be their best!
Thanks Lynnette! I’m really glad to hear you are accepting the challenge!
So much going on in my head right now after listening to this show twice today at work…
…but I was most struck (and horrified) at the discussion of vulnerability and appropriateness/boundaries. Wow.
I have such a difficult time balancing online floodlighting and IRL stonewalling, but I have always chalked it up to personality or introversion. I think, though, after hearing this discussion that it is none of these things, but vulnerability (or the lack thereof) and keeping myself behind as many walls (or screens) as possible.
I find it easy to share my personal stories via layouts in the digi scrapping world because while everyone ‘out there’ exists, they do not have any bearing on my actual life. As much as I yearn to be part of what comes across as ‘the cool group’ in the digi scrapping world, I’m not actually invested in those ‘cool’ people as I would be if they were IRL friends. I don’t know their favorite color, the drink they order at McDonald’s, their kids’ middle names. I don’t have their phone numbers or home address. They are there, and I am here, and I have lied to myself all this time that somehow reading their Facebook statuses and leaving them comments in the gallery equates to an actual relationship. Would I say I was friends with the mailman because he comes to my house and drops off mail when I’m not there? Would I say I was friends with the grocery store stocker because he places the granola bars I buy on the shelves when I’m at home sleeping? No, and yet observing the activities (via photos or scrapbook layouts) that others have participated in and reading the social media posts that others have created when I was in the midst of my own life is somehow different to me. There is no courage or vulnerability or REAL in throwing my stories out into the wind and walking away without seeing where they end up.
I am standing outside the arena, watching what is happening inside on a large flat-screen TV, and wondering why my life feels so empty. Wow.
Can’t wait to hear the next discussion. Wish I could be ‘there’ to participate with y’all.
LeeAndra! This is all sooo profound!! I love the comparison to watching everything on the arena on a large, flatscreen TV!
I was also struck with the questions about not knowing your online friends favorite drink or favorite color. Really insightful!
Thanks for sharing!
I just listened to this show again after listening to the audio of Brene’s book and came to a very powerful realization about my own life. I’ve been struggling with infertility for the past three years, and have worked hard to minimize the emotional roller coaster that comes with it. What I didn’t realize until now is the impact my infertility has had on my creativity. I haven’t done a 365 project, not because I don’t have time, but because I don’t have kids. The gremlins say, “you don’t have kids, what would you photograph?” I neglect my everyday life scrapping because I don’t have children whose stories I’d tell. I haven’t started a blog because, the self-talk goes, without kids, why is my life worth reading about? I’m afraid to do these things because I don’t want the process (or the result) to feel like a portrait in childlessness. Brene’s book and your show have challenged me to take on these projects. Every time I hold back I’m missing out, not only on telling my stories, but on celebrating all the little things that are wonderful in my life, exactly the way it is now. My stories are enough because I am enough.