Intimidated by digital scrapbooking? Give it a try on your phone!!

Y’all know that I am a huge scrapbooker.  I used to scrapbook with paper and scissors.  About 8 years ago, I learned the tricks of digital scrapbooking; and I was hooked. 

So… I put my paper and scissors away, and got a laptop.  I digital scrapbook when I can, but don’t have as much time as I would like.

I recently decided that in order to not get any further behind than I already am, that I would scrapbook life as it happens.  Many of you have heard of project life.  It is basically making a scrapbook page every week.  That concept is to keep you current.  I like the concept, but it never really meshed with how I like to scrapbook.

Then, Becky Higgins came out with the Project Life app, and now after about a year of having it on my phone, I have decided to use it. 

I started to use it to scrapbook my pages as life happens.  I don’t use their concept of one page a week, I just scrapbook pages about what we have going on in life.

I still love to scrapbook on my computer, so I do that too.

The phone is super convienent though because I can do it while I am waiting in a car line, or at the orthodontist.  I want to use my phone for good, and there is nothing better for me to be using it for; other than using it to read my scriptures(which I do too.)

I so believe in the importance of recording our history and our memories.

The part that had been holding me back for a whole year, was how I would get photos off my big camera and on to my phone for scrapbooking?

I didn’t want to email all of them to myself.  So… that is where this came in to play.

The best $30 EVER.  It transfers photos from my SD card on to my phone.  That way if I want to scrapbook on my phone using pics that I took on my Nikon, I can quickly transfer them.

How do the two scrapbooking methods compare?

These are digital pages from my computer:

These are digital pages from my phone:

I like the mix.  The phone pages are simpler, and my computer pages are a little more complex.

It’s fun to have both.

Here is an example of how I used pictures from my Nikon, transfered them to my phone with my lightening to SD, and then scrapbooked them. 

This was awesome, because I took the pics, and scrapbooked them like 1 hour later while I was waiting at an appointment.

Scrapbooking on your phone, is soooo simple.  It also takes less time. I can scrapbook so much faster on my phone, because it is simple.

I am also thinking that this is a great way for those of you who are intimidated by photoshop to start scrapbooking.

I made these pages last night in about 1 hour:

That includes editing the pics on my phone.

I love these apps for editing:

snapseed, warmlight, vsco

I use these apps for scrapbooking:

Rhonna Farrer designs, Rhonna Farrer Collage, Project Life, Phonto

I like the mix of Project Life and Rhonna Farrer.  I use Rhonna Farrer Design app to add the fun embellishments.  I also use the Rhonna Farrer collage app to give me a change with layout choices.  I love Project Life for the ease of just laying out the page.  Then use the other apps to spice it up.

I also use Phonto for other font options.

I have spent a little money buying more paper packs and embellishments from both apps, and it’s been worth it.

Want to know more about how I computer scrapbook?  More info here.

I hope this inspires you to use your phone for a creative outlet:

Scrapbook on your phone!!  It ROCKS!!

Make your kids Valentines unique using photoshop or your phone!

Have you asked your kids what they want to do for their Valentine this year?

It is right around the corner.

When my kids grew old enough to share Valetines with their friends, I got so excited!

It was about the time that I was learning to use photoshop so I decided that designing them a Valentine would be Awesome.

It was so fun.   I have enjoyed making Valentines that are unique and different than the ones you can buy at the store.

I thought it would be fun to share some of the Valentines that we have made in the past.

If you know how to use photoshop or illustrator, you could design your own too.

Here are some of the ideas we have used:

Some of the first ones that we made were just like a postcard photo, and then we attached a treat.

One year, we even made cute little hair clips for the girls, and gave bubbles to the boys. 

Jex even gave super hero button pins one year.  It has been fun to think outside the box of just candy.

When Tess was little I just couldn’t stand not to make one for her.  We would mail them to her cousins.

I even had so much fun designing them, that I made one to send to Grandparents:

Then we starting making some that had a theme.  When Jex was in fourth grade he was really into Pokemon.  He came up with the idea of using a character from Pokemon named Axew.  This is what we came up with:

We attached a package of popcorn to it.

That same year, Stella was really into Owl’s.  This is what we made for her Valentine:

Then we made water bottle wraps with the same cute saying, and attached a drink packet:

If you like this water bottle idea, you can download the print for free to make your own; click on the print below:

Isaac’s was a pretty simple one that year:

A little “fun” dip makes it complete:

We also had a lot of fun one year with a mustache straw attached to a water bottle, and then this cute message:

Stella wanted to give her friends hot chocolate one year.  So we stapled this cute little Valentine to a package of hot chocolate with some pink heart marshmallows:

We also had some fun with Star Wars:

A glow stick becomes the light saber:

Stella saw these cute twinkie minions on pinterest a few years back, so we borrowed the print from this site, then made the minions.

This is the Valentine we put with it:

When Jex was a 5th grader, we tried to keep it cool:

We made a pocket with the Valentine and paper, and slipped in a ruler.  I bought a 3 pack at the dollar tree.

This was Tessa’s first real Valentine.  She was in preschool this year and Frozen was the big thing.

Olaf was the perfect snowman to join Tess on her Valentine:

Then an adorable heart-shaped chocolate becomes the balloon:

For those of you who want to make something like this for your kids and you don’t have photoshop, you could always use an app on your phone.  I have started designing invites to things using the Rhonna Farrer app.  You should try it.  It is so easy.  In fact, I just made this Valentine using 2 of her apps to show you that you could:

This is made with the Rhonna Farrer app, and Rhonna Farrer Collage.

Using the 2 together works awesome and is so quick.  You can go back and forth and import between the 2 apps.

I have also used Phonto when I want to include fun text.

It’s amazing what we can do on our phones.

Happy Valentine Ideas!!

Can’t wait to see what you come up with.

I’m off to figure out what we are doing this year.

How we keep warm in the winter…

I live in one of the coldest parts of Utah.  We often get into the negative numbers.

This has been hard for a girl who spent the last decade of her life in warmer climates.

I swear it hasn’t stopped snowing here for days.

Which has been awesome for my little skiiers.

I remember as a little girl feeling so loved when my mom would have hot chocolate all ready for us, after a day of sledding.

Love comes in the smallest of forms.

I decided to make the hot chocolate love readily accessible for my little kiddos.

Meet our hot chocolate bar:

This was super simple to put together.

I found an adorable tray at Tai Pan trading.

I brought it home and filled it up with goodies I already had.

Some cute mugs, in two sizes.  Perfect for the smaller people in your life, and the hungrier souls that want chocolate love too.

I grabbed a fun bowl and filled it with all sorts of toppings for your hot chocolate.

I raided my baking bin.

We used, chocolate chips, toffee bits, mint bits, peppermint bits, and you can’t forget the marshmallows. 

Yes!! the marshmallows get hard being left out, but that’s my favorite kind.

I added some adorable straws to each mug(just to make it look pretty, oh, and it’s fun to drink that way!)

Then I set out some delicious hot chocolate flavors.

This is our favorite kind.  This is a Utah Company, and oh so delicious.

My favorite flavor is the white hot chocolate.  Yum!

I also set out some individual hot chocolate packets for those who don’t care for the flavored kind(plus, I had them on hand.)

I set out a mug of peppermint stick stirrers, at the time it was a Santa mug.  Now, it is a generic mug for winter.  You can find the peppermint stirrers at the Dollar Tree.

You can’t forget a little festive pine tree to give the station that winter look.

This has been so fun for our family to have accessible. 

The kids love to make their own hot chocolate, and they can do it any time.

When I know they need a little more love from me, I make it for them.

A little trick we have learned is to just use really hot tap water for the younger kids.  It is the perfect tempature.

It doesn’t need to be made any hotter, and then it’s ready for them to drink right away.

My sweet Stella, likes her’s made with hot milk.

Any way you drink it, it does warm your heart and soul.