Holiday Gift List

Hard to believe it but we are just about to enter that time of year again...holiday shopping!  It can be hard to think of the perfect gift for everyone on your list and once I do, I don't like to lose track of it all.  That's why I am using this Holiday Gift List.

It's great for tracking my ideas, purchases, wrapping status, and even where I got it from.  Noting the store helps me shop smart and also find receipts if needed.  You can grab this for free right here!

Happy shopping!

First Day of School Signs

 It's about to happen.  Soon.  My oldest will be starting school! Yeah, it's 3K and only three mornings a week but it is still a big deal and I'm so very excited for him.  Excited to see him grow and make some new relationships along the way.

As I'm a HUGE fan of documenting, I know the day will not go by without plenty of pictures and I love the idea of having him hold a sign with his grade on it.  It will be a fun thing for him at this age and I will love just having it already on the picture so I never have to question which first day of school it was.

And so, if you want to do the same thing, I've added these signs to my Etsy shop as well!  These first day of school signs feature preschool through eighth grade with a trendy, chalkboard design.  Instantly available for download, these PDF files are formatted at 8x10 inches making them perfect for sliding into picture frames too if you want!  Simply print them out at home or with a professional printer and you will be ready to go for that first day.  You can grab them HERE!

A blogging transition...

I've decided to make a bit of a change.  Several years ago I started this blog to document my introduction into digital scrapbooking.  That grew into learning new digital techniques and ultimately starting my business Little Birdie Digital Designs.  It's been a great journey.  Family and other time commitments haven't allowed me to continue to create digital scrapbooking kits but I have still maintained my Etsy shop and hope to add more items in the future.  See, I LOVE memory keeping and I decided to prioritize documenting my memories above creating digital scrapbooking kits for now. 

The change I've decided upon is to create a new blog.  That new blog will be where I post my personal creations and connect with other memory keepers and crafty DIYers.  This blog will be soley devoted to my business and items I create for sale.  If you like my creations, please continue to check back here, on my facebook page, or at my Etsy shop directly.  If you want to follow my memory keeping and crafting journey, please check out my new blog.

Scrapbook Layouts

Hard to believe that we have now completed May and are starting June.  Around here the sun is finally shining and the weather has been much better - actually really great the last several days.  My family and I have been able to spend much time outside.  The boys are loving it.  They have brought lots of toys out to the yard, are digging in the sandbox, and we've been to the park and the zoo already.  We sure hope to have a beautiful and busy summer ahead.

Over the past month I have done something that I have not done in years.  I made scrapbook 12 x 12 layouts from paper!  I know, sounds silly, but I have not made a paper layout since about 2007.  I have done all my layouts digitally in between and really didn't think I would ever make a paper layout again.  I love the ease and creativity of mini albums, but one day I got inspired and started a layout and it was pretty fun.  So then I tried a few more.  I'm working to try out different techniques and it has been fun.  The pages aren't too amazing- I definitely need to keep working on them.  I had felt my digital pages were getting pretty good but it takes a lot more time to translate that into paper!  However, it's fun to have some new things to try. 

And the exciting part is that my very first paper layout in so long has been included in the latest Jot Magazine, Issue 6!  How cool!?!  It's a free digital magazine that is nothing short of inspiring and amazing.  You can find the latest issue right here.   And after you look at that, you will probably want to drool over the first five issues too!  My layout can be found in the "stripes" section.

Here is the layout that is included:

I just love that picture of my youngest and our sweet pup.  The little guy loves animals, especially dogs which I think is because we have the sweetest and most gentle dog.  Our Finn is always so great to our boys and other children that flock to him.  He loves people!

And here are a few more layouts that I worked on:

I used papers and elements from the Favorite Things collection from Heidi Swapp.  I had a lot of fun trying new things out with her mists and stencils. 

Mother's Day Sneak Peek

May has arrived and Mother's Day is drawing near.  About the only thing that hasn't arrived is good weather around these parts!  This has been the longest week of rain and dreary weather.  The kids and I are very, VERY ready for a change and to enjoy some new activities.  Fingers crossed that next week will be better!  While being stuck indoors was not so great, I was able to make use of that time to complete a small project for my mother and mother-in-law.  In order to ensure completion - they are the same, essentially. 

Last week I located a Joann's that carried Heidi Swapp products and set out with my little helpers in tow.  We also did something fun for them and my older son got to stand right next to a really big digger so I'm pretty sure he doesn't even remember going to another craft store with me.  Anyhow, I picked up the wood square frame album kit and thought I'd figure something out for a gift.  I didn't use all of the contents for my project so I'll find use for them later.  I liked the "fabulous" acrylic page but it really didn't go with this album for me.  I'll just make something fabulous later.

In preparation I looked though our photos from the last few months and found nine pictures I thought were great ones of us and mostly of my boys.  My goal was to include photos from everyday moments, not main events.  Their grandmothers are often at the big stuff but don't get to see all the silly stuff that goes on each and every day.  And who can beat a priceless shot that captures the complete innocence of a child.  So yeah, those kinds of pictures.  I was lazy about printing them so I sent them off to Walgreens to be printed at 4x4.  (The album is 6x6.)  I've never used Walgreens before but they were super fast and the quality was pretty good - not spectacular. 

I also wanted to do something a little different for this project.  I've wanted to try out QR codes for a while now but just hadn't done it.  However, I thought this would be a perfect way to share some of those crazy kid moments that we capture on our iPhones.  I uploaded about eight short videos to YouTube.  I didn't know if QR codes would work on only public videos but luckily they work with unlisted videos as well.  So now I didn't have to worry that just anyone would watch our videos.  Then I copied the links and entered them into a website qrstuff.com.  It was simple to do. I downloaded the qr codes as .png files and placed them all into one photoshop file.  I shrunk them down to about 1 inch by 1 inch, ordered them and printed them out onto sticker paper.  I just thought that would make it easier. 

Before I get to pictures, I would like to note that while I may not be the best photographer, I do try hard but this lack of natural light has not been great for taking pictures of my work!

I used color shine in seafoam to mist the wooden frame.  I then put a light layer of gold lame on too.  I purchased the stand at Michael's so it would have a home.  I covered the pages from the album kit using Heidi Swapp Hello Today paper.  I used some of the acrylic embellishments and stamps from that collection throughout the album.  Overall, I kept it really simple in order to highlight the photos.

I cut up the 3x4 and 4x6 cards that came in the paper pad and adhered two together (front and back) to create a little place to put my QR codes. 

I put one or two of them directly near the photos too.  Overall the project took me a few hours to complete.  I think the moms will enjoy them and get a kick out of learning some new technology.  I just hope they can download the QR reader app so they can enjoy it!  Hmmmm...best make up some instructions!
Well, off to wrap them up so they are all ready for the big day.  Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!  Enjoy your day - have someone else take the pictures!