Showing posts with label project life. Show all posts

Creating a Mini Photo Memory Book

Today my grandma is celebrating her 89th birthday! She is healthy, and may just live forever -- and I am so thankful for that!

When it comes to Christmas and Birthdays, her philosophy about gift giving is simple: "If I can't eat it, watch it, or plant it, I don't need it." Usually we give her a gift card to her favorite restaurant, but this year I decided to do something a little different.

We all know that as grandparents, and great-grandparents get older their memories start to fade. Not ALL people, but some. To help preserve some of those memories, I put together a memory book for her. My kids helped by giving me quotes about whey they love G.G. (great-grandma), and drew pictures for her. I included memories I have from time spent with her over my 35 years. Just quick thoughts about things I enjoyed doing with her, vacations we went on, and things she taught me.

I put together 89 pages of pictures, memories, drawings, and quotes... one for each year of her life.



It was really simple to do, and honestly you can get as creative (or not) as you want. Here is what you need:
Click here to read more!
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Beginning Writing and How to Document a School Year

My 6 year old is a great storyteller and now a budding author and illustrator. I just LOVE how far she has come with reading and writing since beginning Kindergarten. Last week after finishing her homework for the day she said, "Mom, I want to write a story." I didn't think too much of it but helped her find the materials she needed. She even brainstormed a list of what people and things she wanted to include in her story. 

Then she set to work. Here is what she came up with all on her own! For anyone familiar with little kid writing you'll get a kick out of the words she sounded out. {The translation is also included in case you get stuck!}


The Princess and the Superhero

Once upon a time there was a princess who was stuck in a tower by a witch and a dragon and...


... one day the princess saw a superhero and he saw the princess and they talked and talked. Suddenly the superhero saw the witch and the dragon and ... 


... the dragon started breathing fire and the superhero brought out his sword and threw it at the dragon and he was dead. But the ... 


... witch was making a magic potion and when the witch looked like the princess and told him {the prince} that she had a present for him. He looked and ran ...


... and the witch looked at him and she was good and they lived happily ever after. 

------

It is seriously the cutest most creative story I have ever read by a 6 year-old. {Not that I'm biased or anything... haha!}

Her teacher asked her to bring it in to share with the class, so I scanned a copy really quick before letting her pack it in her back pack tonight. 

I have been secretly hoarding holding on to most of the school papers that my daughter has been bringing home all crumpled up in her backpack each day. One of my summer projects is going to be scanning a bunch of them and compiling a photo book with the scanned images. I would LOVE to do this for each year {of at least elementary school -- but at least these first couple of years} for her and her posterity {someday} to look back on. 

Plus, it is a fun way to just show her how much I love and appreciate everything she does and the value that we {as her parents} place on getting an education. Anytime I can find an extra way to show love to my kids I will! She will be able to see how much she has really learned and progressed this past year. Any photos, including her first day of school and last day of school photos, will be added to the book. Then I will also add an "All About Me" page as well as space on the first page for her to write her name. 

What a great way to document it all!! 

What do you do/have you done to record your child's school year!?! 
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Free Valentine's Day Printable Cards

I know most of you probably though I had dropped off the planet! Ya... it's been that LONG since a post. Well, rest assured I am still here!! 

I created a cute Valentine's printable for all of you! Yay!! The awesome thing about it is, well... it's free, and it's simple! So you can totally embellish these little cards to your hearts content. ♥ 





PLUS, if any of you happen to be Project Life-ers, I sized these cute cards to fit in the 3x4 pockets of your pocket pages. {bonus♥} 

 


Feel free to print out as many of these fun hombre heart cards as you want. Attach a cute candy and have your child print their name and they can pass them out to their friends. Pass some out to your co-workers. Leave one in your mailbox for the mailman {or woman}. Attach them to a Valentine's gift for your special someone -- or for a friend. 

 I purposefully made the outside line very light in case you wanted to leave it off of your creation entirely, or leave it on and it creates a cute border! 

Also.... because I love you guys... I have put together matching heart flags. You can cute them out and use them to embellish your cards, or use them for something else entirely! 


Want to get your hands on them!?! They are all on ONE PDF file. If you want a full sheet of a specific color, please leave a comment with your email address and I will send you one! 

{download}

Please be sure to become a follower --- if you haven't already --- so you can take advantage of all of my freebies! 

This file is for personal use only. Please do not sell the file or the products. Thanks! 
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Shhh.... secrets to taking good pictures {with a point and shoot camera!}

I think I can speak for most of us when I say that we would do just about anything to get a DSLR camera like this one...


{source}

However, at almost $1,000 or more it really isn't all that practical for a lot of us... myself included. I would LOVE to have a nifty camera like this one and take professional photos... but, as a stay at home mommy with a small business it isn't really practical. So, for those of you like me... this post is for YOU! 


Here is the camera I use for ALL of my photos:
It is a NIKON COOLPIX S8000. It has good zoom, a nice big digital screen on the back, a lense that allows for decent zoom. It's no DSLR, BUT it does allow me to control the brightness and vividness {is that  a real word?? I'm going with it anyway} of the photos as I take them. Most new digital point and shoot camera will allow you at least some flexibility in this area - kind of like a mini manual camera. 

My product photos use to look like these:


Not bad, but not great either. My recent product pictures look like these:



The camera hasn't changed, so what's the secret? Well, I am going to share my secrets with you. 
WHY? Photos are soooo important in the information age. If you are a small business owner {ie. Etsy, Big Cartel, etc.} you count on your pictures to sell your products! The picture{s} of your products draw customers in and keep them looking. 

1. Natural Light: Photo boxes are great - if you have the know how and the equipment. I tried that once, but it just didn't work {either operator or mechanical malfunction}. My pictures turned out yellow-y. NOT what I wanted. I have found through much photo taking that natural light is the best light.

Experiment in different locations and different times of the day. I have found that morning light is the best for me. I know professional photographers who will agree. If you want a crisp natural looking photo find the best location and time of day when you get the MOST light but be sure to avoid direct sunlight. It tends to washout your photos and colors are not as accurate. 

2. Background: Sure your dining table is clean and pretty, but is it really the best place to take your pictures? I have tried my dining table, the coffee table, a white sheet, fabric, and just about everything else. So, what works the best for me!!??? White foam poster board. Yep... that's it! It's bright white, firm so that you can place it anywhere you need. PLUS, it's cheap! When it starts to get little nicks in it or becomes a little dingy, just buy a new one and turn the old one into these great mini fabric bolts! 


I have also found {at least for my products} that a white background for pictures works the best. Once you determine your best light, take a couple of test pictures using different colors. Avoid textured backgrounds. It tends to confuse point and shoot camera's when they try and focus. You'll end up with a clear background and a fuzzy subject.. not good. 

3. Don't Photoshop: Some people do tons of Photoshop editing. I tend to shy away from it. Sometimes a photo needs a touch up, but if you are using natural light you shouldn't need to do much... if any. Instead, I use the mini manual settings on my camera {the brightness and vividness} to adjust my photos as I take them. If you didn't toss your manual when you bought your camera dig it out, dust it off, and learn how to use those functions. You'll be sooo happy that you did! 

4. Cropping: Point and shoot cameras can only zoom so much and stay in focus. That's where cropping becomes a h-u-g-e best friend! I take photos at whatever zoom allows me the best focus of the subject in my photo. Sometimes that means it's a very far off photo. 

If I can't get a picture as close to my subject as I would like {especially when I take pictures for tutorials} I use Photoshop software or sometimes even Microsoft Publisher {ya, I'm pretty sure I heard a huge groan from any of you photographers out there} to crop my photos to the size that I want them to be.  The resolution stays good for blogging or posting on your Etsy shop... though I wouldn't recommend it for enlarged photo printing. 

•  •  •  •  •  •  •  •  •


I hope that you can find at least some of these tips helpful. If you are an Etsy seller one of the BIG things is pictures. The Etsy gurus say that the best way to improve your shop is to take better photos of your products. They recommend at least one close-up {use your cropping method if you need to}, one that shows your entire product, and others that show your product either in use or from different angles. Hopefully these tips will help you to take better photos not just for your small business, but for scrapbooking and life documenting! 

What other tips or tricks do you use to take better photographs!?! 

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Project Life - Are You Doing It!!?

Have you heard about Project Life? If not, you are absolutely in for a treat!


Becky Higgins - a stay at home mommy - started this idea a few years ago. Project Life is a way to help all of us scrapbookers who are super far behind in our scrapbooking  {raise your hand if that's you!} to have a much easier approach to documenting life.

You can use the supplies to create a photo-a-day scrapbook where you take a photo everyday for the entire year. Her specially designed photo pocket pages allow for you to create scrapbook page spreads of a week at a glance.


The core kit comes with journaling cards {for the center pockets on the pages} as well as a filler card for you to write the dates for that week, and smaller filler cards for any extra spaces.

{Clementine Edition}

- OR -

Use your album and the core kit to create specific albums for your wedding, honeymoon, pregnacy, baby's first year, school, etc..


....

Whether you are a scrapbooker or not, Project Life is simple enough for anyone to use. If you like the creative freedom the scrapbooking allow... well, guess what!?!? You can still do that with Project Life!

Ali Edwards {a graphic designer} has a fantastic blog where she posts about her take on Project Life. She takes full advantage of the various pocket page layout designs that Becky Higgins offers.


....

However, if you are not a scrapbooker but would still like to document either your daily life or the BIG events, you NOW have the option of creating digital photo books using Becky's designs on Shutterfly!




Currently the only designs available on Shutterfly are the Clementine and Turquoise Editions.

So, are you convinced that you need to start Project Life yet? Well, now is a great time to start. Get your family involved. Let your kids take some of the pictures or help to write some of the jouranling for the day.

I started Project Life last year {and unfortunately due to illness and holiday chaos I haven't quite finished all of my journaling yet}. My kids love to sit and look through the book and remember all of the fun things they did. Sometime I did a picture a day, sometimes I use the week's spread to hi-light the BIGGEST events of the week with several pictures.

For those of you in the U.S., Project Life products can be purchased on Amazon.com -- making it super easy!! Purchase only the products that you want! She has several different designs to choose from! Some of the products are currently sold out online but will be back in stock next month. So, if you are planning to start Project Life, start taking your pictures so that you are ready!

....

Is anyone already doing Project Life this year!? I would love to hear what your approach is. Are you a picture-a-day person!? Do you hi-light events from the week? Are you doing your wedding or pregnancy!?

Throughout the year I will be sharing some free printable desiged exclusively for Project Life!

Have a great weekend, and start taking those photos!!

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