DigiScrapping and Church Callings, aka the end of free time as I know it...

I took a short break from blogging to recover after a very busy week last week. As some of you know, I am LDS and am currently serving as 1st Counselor in our Stake Primary Presidency and last Saturday was our Stake Leadership Training Meeting. I felt like we had a lot of material to cover in the time given to us and with several new Primary presidencies in our stake, we were hoping to answer a lot of questions they might have. While our Stake President wanted us to keep things simple, we also felt a need to spruce things up a bit as we wanted to help make it worth their while (several had to sacrifice a couple hours travel time to come, others sacrificed the chance to go to Time Out for Women which was unfortunately scheduled the same day) and also we wanted our efforts to reflect how we view our (and their) callings and responsibilities. Also we noticed some sisters throwing away our handouts on their way out the door at our last meeting... so we needed to put a little more effort into our presentation apparently.

We decided to center our meeting around the theme Behold the Children with a spiritual thought from an article written by M. Russell Ballard entitled "Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children" (Ensign, Apr. 1994). First off, if you serve the Primary (namely bishopric members) or serve in the Primary (especially teachers), I highly recommend that you read this article. I'd even recommend it all parents as much of this can be applied in the home. This article was perfect as the title shared the General Primary Theme (from 3 Nephi 22:13) and it targets several areas in which we all can improve in.

Well so as you can see from these pictures, I made a folder for each sister and while it was a lot of work I am very glad we did it. We were able to fit all of our paperwork in there and get it organized for ease in later use. I purchased inexpensive folders from Staples (Red, Blue, Yellow... Primary colors obviously) and did a little digital scrapbooking magic using Jessica Sprague's Echoes of Asia free kit (I know I've used this a lot but I love it and it was the only freebie that coordinated primary colors so nicely). I made a small card/magnet with our contact info and slipped it into the card slot in the front folder pocket. I wanted to have folder tabs to organize the material but they would have been way too costly even at the back-to-school sales and so I figured I would make my own. I just used cardstock for the page itself and printed out rectangles (digiscrapped up of course) with the file's information typed up neatly in text boxes. I did a repeat on both sides (so you can read the tab info from the back of the folder too) and glued the tabs onto the cardstock. Not only was it cheaper but it was very cute and coordinated so high fives all around.

I don't want to overly focus on the making of the folder although the contents are a bit lengthy for a post. I will say that most of the material was building upon what is already in the Church Handbook of Instruction and that should always be the first place to turn to when you have a question about how to do your calling the way the Lord would have you do it. We literally do a handbook highlight at each of our presidency meetings and I think if people were to really study it they would find that most of what they need is right there. Of course we also included updated info from lds.org, info/help from outside sources, and then any tidbits we have come to feel strongly about as a stake presidency. It was a lot of info and sometimes it might seem like we are critical of the units when we present this info but really, serving in the Primary is a lot bigger calling than many realize and we need the support and guidance from the Lord, and our general and stake church leaders to make sure we are ultimately doing what is best for the children to help them grow in the gospel. I am so amazed at how each Primary can function so well with such great responsibility - if you think about it, they are addressing audiences from ages 18months to 12 years old, having to become familiar with things that may be intimadating to them, such as music, scouting, Faith in God, activities, sacrament presentations, etc., and that is not even half of it. I truly appreciate those who serve the Primary children and I'm so grateful for my chance to be a part of it all. I love gathering ideas from all the different units and I just went to my first Children's Sacrament Meeting Program for 2008 and it was wonderful! Sure I could sit and tell you about all the funny things that went on but I will just say that I can never attend a CSMP without tearing up at least once because of the Spirit that is felt when I listen to these kids speak and sing out their little testimonies. I love it all!

*Pencil drawing at top Jesus and the Little Children by Frances Hook

Beauty is only digi deep

So I've had a few people ask me how I dress up our blog and so rather than sending a number of lengthy emails, I thought I might attempt to make a post out of it in the hopes that you can understand it. I know there are places where you can upload a premade fancy layout but I am picky in what I want and how I want it so I do it myself. I will start off by saying that I am no computer wiz nor do I feel like I have massive amounts of creativity flowing from my fingertips - I feel more like a talent scout where I search out and collect ideas from others with more talent in these areas. I try, apply, and sometimes cry (as computer stuff can make me do) and now I will share.

I would first like to thank a good friend of mine, Lindsay, who was the first to utter the term "digital scrapbooking" into my email when I coveted her fancy blog. She then referred me to another website with tutorials on how to put together a digital scrapbook page. I quickly realized that I don't have the software that others are using and came to the conclusion that I just can't justify paying $80 plus for Adobe Photoshop Elements because I didn't think I would be a serious digi scrapper. After I finished fretting about the situation, I realized that I can do some basic work in Microsoft Powerpoint. (this is where you can applaud because I felt so brilliant coming to this realization all by myself...)

But then I figured I needed something to work with other than my pictures. I'm looking for freebies because, hey, I enjoy hobbies even more when it is inexpensive. So a quick search landed me two winner sites which I browse every chance I get - DigiFree and Scrapping With Ikea Goddess. Both are search engines for all free digi treats. I think I like the latter one a little better as they seem to weed out all the poor quality freebies but I've used both sites in the past. You can download entire kits (good for novices), paper packs, elements, etc. You may have to register to gain access to certain files. Unzip the files (winzip, or xp should do it) and you can click and drag or copy/paste individual pieces onto a PowerPoint page.

Once in Power point, you can adjust the order of layers, rotate the image, crop, resize, recolor, change shape, etc. You can add text, even fun fonts or use some alpha elements you get off the digi scrap sites. When you are all finished, select all, right click and save as a picture (jpeg, png, or gif).

This can be done for both the header

and the background image (explanations are coming, keep reading). Just a note, if you save and edit and save and edit a lot, you would be best to just save it under a different name. I find it confuses html a bit and it sure gives big headaches.

Creating these images is the fun part. Now here is the part that can bog you down...

Setting an image for blogger header:

Login to your dashboard -> Go to Layout -> Page Elements -> click to edit your header.

You will see this. Select to browse image from your computer and find the saved file you created in PowerPoint and saved as a jpeg, png, or gif. If you just want the image and nothing else, also select "Instead of title and description" under placement. When everything is uploaded and lookin' fine, save changes. Preview your blog to see if it is what you want. Easy peasy right?

Setting an image for blogger background:

Oh ouch. A few more steps here. You will need to do some editing in html for this one. First if your current blog template is one where there is no separation from the main body (where your posts are) and the background, you may want to switch to one with separates otherwise you will have your posts right on top of your image which will be hard to read. You will then need to upload your image to a free photo host. I use Photobucket. Upload your picture and copy the url or direct link.

In blogger, Login to your dashboard -> Layouts -> Edit HTML. You may want to backup your template before proceeding. In Edit Template scroll down until you get to the body { code which is near the top.

Here you will need to insert a code:

body {

background-image: url(URL address of your image);

and insert your url from your uploaded photo in place of URL address of your image. (I kind of covered mine for some privacy) You can then click the preview button to make sure it worked. Save if it meets your approval.

The background is automatically set to scroll down with the rest of the blog. If you are like me and want to have a static background to avoid a tiled background effect, insert this code:

background-attachment: fixed;

The background is automatically set to repeat the image both horizontally and vertically. If you are wanting to change any of these parameters or if you want to change the alignment, get the codes here. There is a lot more you can do so check it out if you are interested. Save everything you want to keep when you are done.

The background edges or seams that may appear will depend on how big your image file is so play around with size to get things the way you want it.

Other things you should know:

It is common curtesy to give credit to the creators of your digital scrapbooking materials. Sometimes they come close to demanding it. I've listed mine at the bottom of our blog.

You can put digital scrapping addons to the sidebar as well. Just create them and save as picture and Dashboard -> Layout -> Page Elements -> Add a page element to your sidebar -> Add picture and upload what you want.

Many digi scrap freebies are quick pages or basically premade layouts and I have found that I can't use them in PowerPoint. Too bad.

There are many other little things I could say here but basically, if you run into any problems, just let me know - you can reach me at thekitchenpost at gmail dot com. I hope this is helpful and doesn't deter you from trying it!

What else do you use Digital Scrapbooking for?

Well, I'm still feeling this one out. Yesterday I just made a mother's day card and printed it and I kind of liked that. No glue, no cutting. I've made family calendars for my grandma as Christmas gifts for the past handful of years and I am excited to do everything digitally this year as it will save me a lot of time and money. I just sent off a Mother's Day gift for my grandma (Grandma R this is where you don't read any further) and I ordered some playing cards where you can put a customized image on the back (register and they give you coupon codes). Grandma enjoys playing Pinnochle and since 2 full decks were cheaper than 1 Pinnochle deck, she will be getting some extra cards.

Fun things to think about!

*If any of you have a better way of doing all of this, PLEASE let me know!*