Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Find Your Voice FAQs



Introduction
This workshop is about finding your storytelling voice. You are an awesome person with amazing stories, so this summer we're going to work together to find the most genuine and authentic way for you to tell those stories. 

This workshop is for everyone! You definitely don't need to be a scrapbooker or paper-crafter to play along. We'll be telling stories through pictures, photographs, social media, prose, and more. The only thing you need is a willingness to become the author of your own story and the courage to step outside of your comfort zone. 



Overview

  • Each Monday morning lessons will be made available on the rukristin blog, in the Find Your Voice facebook group and sent out through email to those who opt-in to email lessons
  • Each week's lesson will include thoughts on several topics pertaining to the theme of the week, a coordinating worksheet, and several creative prompts. 
  • There will be inspiration from contributing team members in each week's pdf as well more inspiration as in a follow up blog post each Wednesday. 
  • This is a free class, so it will not cost you anything to participate. But, there are several ways that you can help support Find Your Voice. Hundreds of hours go into creating a workshop like this and Find Your Voice is proud to have some incredible sponsors as well as several great ways for you to show your support. For additional information on how to support Find Your Voice please scroll to the bottom of this page. 
  • Community is Key! The best part of big workshops like Find Your Voice is the amazing community that forms online. Use the hashtag #FindYourVoice when chatting about the workshop on twitter, instagram, or any other social media sites, and share and get inspiration in the facebook group
  • Look for the Find Your Voice schedule out early next week with Lesson Topics, Giveaways, Scheduled Chats and more!

Supply List

Below is the suggested supply list for the workshop. There are no required supplies but to get the most out of this workshop it would be best to gather some of the following supplies to try out various storytelling styles and techniques.  Each week’s creative prompts are written so that they can be done in a variety of different ways, using whatever supplies you’d like.  I strongly suggest picking up some supplies that you may have wanted to try, but have been scared to use. Our amazing community will help you through any bumps in the road or with any questions you might have.

Suggested Supply List
  • Writing Tools (pens, markers, etc) & a Notebook. Check out a list of my favorites here: http://rukristin.blogspot.com/2013/02/im-pen-snob-you-should-be-too.html
  • Camera & Photos (it might be helpful to print photos from stories you’re interested in telling — don’t worry if you are unsure, you can always go back later and print). I prefer to get my photos printed at Persnickety Prints, but if you're looking for a quick at home printer the Canon Selphy is a good choice. 
  • A Project Binder to hold ideas, worksheets, and projects. (I’ll be using this Basic Grey mini-album)
  • Basic Crafting Kit (scissors, adhesive, ink pads, etc)
  • Crafting Supplies (paper, stickers, stamps, paint, ribbon, embellishments)
  • Things that inspire you (images, quotes, or other pretty things)
If you’re looking for more specific product suggestions, check out the rukristin papercrafts shop for Find Your Voice featured products or shop additional suggested products through the Amazon.com Find Your Voice curated list.

Mix in several supplies that are outside of your comfort zone. Grab some paints, mix in some camera phone apps and use some new stamps. Pushing yourself creatively will help you find your inner storyteller.



How you can sign up for the workshop: 

There is no formal sign-up for the workshop. Lessons will be available on the blog for anyone to download until August 31st. Lessons will also be made available in the Find Your Voice facebook group and via email each week to those who opt-in. 

Join the Find Your Voice Facebook Group Here: facebook.com/groups/FindYourVoiceWorkshop/
Sign Up Here to Get Lessons Delivered to your Email Inbox: E-Mail Lessons to Me




How you can support Find Your Voice


The Find Your Voice summer storytelling workshop is provided free of charge to anyone who is interested in taking it. I'm only able to put together such a great workshop because of support from amazing sponsors and readers like you. If you enjoy Find Your Voice please support the workshop in whatever way you can. Here are a few suggestions. 
  • Participate - Follow along with the lessons, engage in conversations on social media and in the facebook group, tell everyone you know about this awesome workshop. Share with your friends and help to build the community. The more people who are excited about Find Your Voice the more exciting things we can do in the future!
  • Purchase Supplies at rukristin.com/shop - Sales from the shop help to pay for things like the server that runs our websites, the Find Your Voice exclusive products, and it helps me have the time to sit down and write quality content for you to enjoy. 
  • Support Our Sponsors - Next week I'll be announcing some amazing sponsors who are generously providing some amazing giveaways for the Find Your Voice community! Please take the time to visit their websites, give them your business, and tell them that you appreciate their support for Find Your Voice. Let them know that I sent you over and that you think they're super cool. 
  • Purchase Through Affiliate Links - the rukristin papercrafts shop is small, so if you find yourself in need of a bigger selection, you can support Find Your Voice by shopping through our affiliate links at Amazon.com, Two Peas in a Bucket, and Simon Says Stamp. Shopping through affiliate links never costs you any extra money, so its a very easy way to help support Find Your Voice
  • Donate - If you'd like to donate to help support Find Your Voice and future workshops you can do so by clicking the button below. Donations are accepted through PayPal or any other clever way you'd like. 
FAQs

When does Find Your Voice Start?
  • The Find Your Voice summer storytelling workshop starts on Monday, June 24th.
This sounds awesome! How can I help get the word out?
  • Post about Find Your Voice on your blog and spread the word through social media sites like twitter, facebook, instagram, tumblr, reddit, message boards, and more. Please feel free to use any of the images or text on my blog to talk about the workshop. Make sure to provide a link back to my blog and the Find Your Voice facebook page. Leave a link in the comments here so I can come visit and say thanks!
Where is the Find Your Voice Facebook Group?

How long are the lessons available for?
  • The lessons will be available free of charge through August 31, 2013. After that they'll be removed from the blog and adapted to be a self-paced workshop available for $5. 

How can I get the most up-to-date information on Find Your Voice? 
You suggested a Project Binder and the Basic Grey mini album you are selling is really cute. Is this too small to hold the worksheets, ideas and projects we will be working on? Is there paper available in this size for note taking? 
  • The real answer is that it comes down to personal preference. I'm going with the binder because I really love mini-albums like that; and the binded aspect makes it easy to punch holes in any paper at all and add it to the album. The worksheets will be 8.5x11; so they would fit folded in half (I'll show a cool technique I used to use in college all the time for storing the worksheets in the album). With a hole punch and the page protectors included in the album you'll be able to store everything you work on for the workshop. 

Will we be working of projects that will need embellishments?
  • All the projects that we'll be working on will be adaptable to your style (or however far out of your comfort zone you want to go). There's no specific embellishments that you need, but I'll be keeping some washi tape, stamps, and some die-cuts on my table with my album.

If you have any questions at all, leave them in the comments here or email me at rukristinpapercrafts@gmail.com and I'll do my best to answer them ASAP. 


PS - The New Summer 2013 Stamp Collection is now available exclusively at rukristin.com/shop!