Simple Mother's Day Gift Printables from Positive Affirmations

Despite all of its joys, being a mother is no easy task. Moms receive no sick days or vacation days, and they're on call 24/7. Yet as hard as they work, mothers are often still bombarded with messages that they're not doing enough.

This simply isn't true! That's why Personal Creations has

Finally!! Family History Made Easy!

H-E-L-L-O People.....check this out!!

I cannot stop telling people about one of the coolest, most helpful APPS I've found to date. Find, reserve, and print family names. In fact, the creator's of this APP boast "Spend time in the temple with your ancestors, instead of outside searching for them. "

Do you want to learn more about Family History and why it is so important to ME and the LDS community, click here? And you can click here to learn more about LDS Temples.

Back to the APP, it's called Take a Name. You will never believe how easy it is to find family names people...in fact, it will BLOW your mind!!

More time serving.  Less time searching.  Try it free!

Real people. 
Real experiences.

Everything you need to take
family names to the temple.

  

Find temple ready ancestors
Try before you buy
Pick your price*
Reserve names
Print temple cards

Me & My Family History 

I am not a die hard, seasoned family search expert by any means. I do not know a lot about genealogy, although like a faithful member I continue to search through my line hoping to find individuals that still need their work done. I think through my many attempts I have only found a small handful of names (...more like 3).

So imagine my excitement when a friend told me about an app that would data mine through your family tree and pull out the names that needed the work done. I couldn't possibly be that easy, right??


Download the app to your phone or tablet and simply log into it with your FamilySearch log in information. You can select if you want to do Male or Female; type of ordinance; and number of names you'd like to search. I picked both male/female, all ordinances and the maximum number of 20 names. Then I left my phone to do the work. HOLY MOLY!!


When I returned to my phone the app reported that it had it had searched through thousands of names and the number of ordinances that needed to be completed. Here's some screen shots of the result for me and some of my family...check out the names and numbers. 

   

I love looking at how each of these relatives are related to me or where they have lived based on various census records and such. You get this awesome preview when you click on each of the names.

  

Once you've received your results, you simply have to click on the name...(which is awesome too), reserve the name and then "get cards". You can email the cards to yourself and print from there or if you're like me and have a Canon PIXMA iP8720 Inkjet Printer that is WIRELESS you print directly from the app.

In fact, I like to lay in bed and do this entire process...super easy! I think the hardest part so far is cutting the cards down (and that isn't that hard).

Check it out in iTunes and Google Play to download for FREE! 

*The APP is currently being offered for free. No clue, if the developers will start charging. However, a popup screen does appear periodically asking if you'd like to donate...DO IT!! We did. I just imagined the amount of time it would have taken me to find these names and gleefully gave them my money...it is so worth it!

Wedding Announcements Printed at Home

Every so often I am asked to create announcements or invites for special occasions. This past summer I've had the honor of creating wedding announcements for two special couples. The ones I'm going to share with you today were for my little brother and the love of his life. He found love again with an amazing lady and our family is over the moon happy for them both!!

So the challenge with these announcements was I didn't have enough time to have them professionally printed. I was hoping for double-sided, but considering it was a holiday weekend and we needed to mail them in three days knew that wasn't an option. Luckily they only needed 100 announcements. So I assured them both that I could produce quality announcements at home using the following supplies:
Canon PIXMA iP8720 Crafting Printer

Southworth Linen Cover Stock (65 lb inkjet compatible)

Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy II 

Paper Trimmer

The challenge with any project like this is figuring out what the Bride (and Groom) would like. In my experience they either know "exactly" what they want...which rocks for me, I'm great and duplicating a style) or they have NO idea (which can be good too, so you can go with a design you like). But the key is asking for examples of invites they are drawn to...that way you can figure out the style they typically lean towards. Luckily this bride had an example and was pretty happy with ideas I gave showed her.

So once the design was approved, I could get to work printing. I formatted both the announcement portion and the photo to fit two on the 8.5x11" sheet. So after printing I simply needed to trim these down to fit the envelopes. You could also print the photographs out on 5x7" Canon Photo Paper Plus Glossy II photo paper since this amazing printer prints borderless. 

Printed on Linen Cover stock 

Printed on 8.5x11 Glossy 

March 20, 1992

Personally this style is so "now" and so something I would love to do more of. I love that these two let me include more then one photo on the 5x7" photo and also personalize it to match the announcement.And I love that with photographs being so much a part of our world right now that wedding announcements still include photos of the couple.....  

....and I'm not talking about the photos like we did back in my day (one slightly formal photo included in an embossed invite) like mine shown here. 

The project was a huge success and the announcements were mailed out the following Monday! 

And they are living happily ever after!! 

Vintage HOME Sign Tutorial

So my mother recently moved into a new home and asked me to recreate some wood letters that she saw in one of her home decor catalogs. She wasn't super happy that the price tag on them was almost $200. I assured her with royalty free artwork that is found online I could recreate a similar product.

My main concern was I didn't want to reprint a ton of labels, cut them out and mod podge them on individually. I wanted to make this project as easy as possible. So I decided I would lay the labels out on a 13" x 19" image and print out on my Canon PIXMA iP8720 Crafting Printer. The letters were 18" tall and all but the "H" and "M" fit entirely on the sheet. So with a few extra labels printed out and placed on those ends would complete the project. So here's how I created these fun jumbo letters.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

18" Wood Letters (I purchased mine at Hobby Lobby for about $12/letter)

Scissors or Craft Knife

Foam Brush

Mod Podge Glue (I like the matte)

Pencil 

13x19" Matte Photo Paper 

Canon PIXMA iP8720 Crafting Printer

Vintage Label Artwork (google search or download these printables below)

Photoshop or PicMonkey (or something similar)

Open a sheet that is 13x19" (1300x1900).  I found a letter with the similar shape of the wood letters. Don't worry if it's not exact. Place on document first and delete later. I use this to make sure I'm covering the area with vintage labels...I don't want to cover the whole sheet if I don't have to.

  This is what my "M" ended up looking like because I needed so much coverage.

Once you are done. Then you're ready to PRINT!! I printed out each letter on the 13x19 Matte Photo Paper. Now we're ready to put these together.

I pre-painted my letters black because I wanted the edge of the letters to be black (I painted the back side too, but not the front). Turn your label paper over and trace the corresponding letter on the back of the paper.

 

Trim out the letter and you're ready for GLUE! 

 

That's all people!! Easy enough don't you think? I went back over the letters with a thin layer of mod podge to seal them and let them dry. 

If you'd like to recreate these letters, then here's the FREE PRINTABLE to print yourself.

How to Print Instagram Photos at Home

I get asked this question ALL the time. I love Instagram and I love those cute little square photos but I like to print at home and I have tried so many different ways to print them easily at home while I'm working on a project.

So hopefully I can share some easy tips and tricks on printing from your Smart Phone and your desktop computer! Here's what I used:

iPhone 5s 

PicFrame App

Canon PRINT App

PicMonkey Website

Desktop Computer 

Canon SELPHY CP910 Wireless Compact Photo Printer

Canon PIXMA iP8720 Crafting Printer 

PRINTING Instagram Photos from your
SMART PHONE
 You should be able to use any app that allows you to create collages. I have tried a few and still continue to use PicFrame. This is the app I use to create collages for Instagram and it defaults to square. So once the app is open you will need to change the image finish size to 4x6. You do this by clicking the small number in upper right hand corner and change it to 3:2 (landscape) or 2:3 (portrait).

Once you've changed the size you will select your collage design. For this example I will use the 6 squares. You simply click on the square to add photos. You can pinch them to fill the frame and then SAVE.

The saved image will look like this.

 I selected to print to my Canon PIXMA iP8720 Crafting Printer directly from my phone using the Canon Print app. You can select another wireless printer to print to as well, which is pretty darn slick!

 

That's it people, super easy to do! But keep reading because some of the tips that I share for your desktop computer might help you even on your phone.

PRINTING Instagram Photos from your
DESKTOP COMPUTER

  

I cannot say enough how much I love PicMonkey.com. I use this ALL the time. I am pretty profecient at Illustrator and Photoshop, but still find myself using this web based program more then those. It's quick and easy! And I highly recommend upgrading be a Royale member but it is not required.

1. You simply select that you want to create a collage at the top of the home page.

2.  The program will automatically open a screen to allow you to pick your photos off your computer and import them to Picmonkey.com. 

3.PicMonkey defaults to a square image for collages. But we need a 4x6" image for this project. It's easy to change. Down at the very bottom of your page is the SIZE. Click on first box and change that number. Then click on the "lock icon" to the right, to unlock proportions. Last you'll change the number in the second box. Here's a quick reference for the correct sizes: 

4x6 (portrait) = 1200 x 1800

6x4 (landscape) = 1800 x 1200

4. To change the layout design before placing photos, simply select the second "Layouts" icon to the far left that looks like boxes. From there you will select the layout of the images...pick the six squares. 

5. You can drag your images over into each box.

6. To resize your image simply click on on the image in the upper left corner on the "Edit" button and resize. 

7. Once everything is the way you want it, SAVE the image to your computer. 

 

This is what the image looks like when saved. These print out 1 1/2 x 1 1/2". Oh the possibilities of what you can create with these.

AWESOME TIP>> You can remove three of the bottom squares by clicking on the small "x" in the right corner. Then resize the remaining image to fill the bottom 2/3rds to get a larger Instagram photo. This will print approximately 3x3".

 

For those of you that love to send your photos somewhere else to let another person print, in hopes that your photos turn out great....you can send these OUT to be printed. Printing your Instagram photos elsewhere can be super expensive so reformatting these to 4x6 does help. I did this will all the Instagram photos I took in Italy...mainly because I was printing photos for two albums.

PRINTING TIPS 

So now that your photos are all formatted you can easily print from your phone or computer to any printer that will print 4x6" photos. I love the quality of prints on either of my printers.

Canon Selphy CP910 Wireless Compact Photo Printer

 

Canon PIXMA iP8720 Crafting Printer

 AWESOME TIP>> I have learned when printing these so many times that you need to leave the "border." If your printer program gives you a choice between border or borderless printing then opt for border. If you print borderless then it cuts off all your images and isn't the end result you want.

 I used many of these tips on printing collages for similar projects on My Craft Channel, I simply adjusted the collage layout. To view those shows, simply click below: 

Instagram Ideas, Downloading & Printing Tips

This blog post is filled with oodles of great information too, including how to

download  all your Instagram photos.

Photo Jewelry Ideas with Canon

Mini Photo Projects with Canon

Thanks for joining me today! I hope the information was helpful. 

Happy printing!

Allred Design - Lori Allred

Inspired by Pinterest: Printing on Burlap

Join me on today's Inspired by Pinterest on My Craft Channel as I show you how simple and easy it can be to print with your inkjet printer onto burlap fabric. She will share inspiring pins from other crafters from Pinterest to motivate you to try this fun technique.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH MY
PRINTING ON BURLAP CREATIONS

episode HERE on My Craft Channel

Pin Referenced in Today's Episode

Pin Source

Pin Source

Pin Source

Link to Free Printable

For more card display ideas, visit my
Burlap Board

   Join me next Thursday for another great IBP episode!


 

Disclaimer: Pinterest is a great place to find inspiration but not all pins lead to blogs. I tried to only pick those ideas that I could find the original creator and give credit to. Please take a moment and check out these great blogs because without them I wouldn't have content to talk about on the new My Craft Channel show Inspired by Pinterest.  

If you've never been to Pinterest and would like to check it out, you need an invite to the site to gain access (I don't know why). Just leave me a comment with your email and I'll send you an invite. However, I cannot be responsible for the time you will be spending on Pinterest!! 

Click to View More Inspiration