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!