Last year and the year before, I created 5×5 Christmas cards to send to families and friends. But, this year to save money on postage, I created 5×7 layout. =)

I used “The Magic of Christmas” digital scrapbook kit by StarLight Designs.

I propped my kids up for the photo shoot. Duh~ me! I should’ve avoided all the yellowness. Next year, I shall use a white background.

My kids had more fun taking photos of our hamsters. It was not easy as they were wigglier than my kids. Next year, I shall not include rodents in the Christmas card.

I got my cards printed from Color Inc Pro Lab. And, I was very  impressed with their quality and service. I placed the order on Friday night, and received the package on Monday. I will definitely order from them again.

I’ve been sick since Black Friday with cold and didn’t have whole lot of energy to craft. So, I did simple decoration on the back of the photo cards.

Cardstock: a muse studio twas the night before christmas; polka dot grass
Die: a muse studio tree
Ribbon: a muse studio baker’s twine – cherry/white
Jewel: a muse studio twinkle stickers – cherry dots
Pen: silver pen

Have a wonderful Christmas! I hope to blog and craft more next year. Okie, off to take some cold medicine and sleep.

Happy Holidays!!!

The Magic of Christmas	a muse studio cardstock – twas the night before christmas	a muse studio cardstock – polka dot grass	a muse studio die – tree	a muse studio twinkle stickers – cherry dots
a muse studio baker’s twine – cherry/white	pen – silver

No, it is not my belly.

A mom from my daughter’s preschool asked me to do a maternity shoot for her. Initially, I didn’t know what I can do as I’ve never done a maternity session. But, I had fun planning for it, and hope to do more in the future.

I used a muse studio polka dot cardstock paper to make the heart to put on her gorgeous belly. Photo was edited with Florabella Classic Workflow Photoshop Action: Color Lush.

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Do you want to get a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to my a muse studio store?

Go to Korean 1st Birthday Blog to find out! (Note: The give-away is to a US residents only)

Thanks!

For the last three years, I volunteered to take group photos of graduates at my kids’ preschool/kindergarten. This is Kyle’s last year there and I wanted to make something special for his graduating friends. I came up with this black and white portrait display idea while I was taking the photos of the graduates last year.

Kyle’s spring program/graduation was last Friday. And with help of few moms, I put the photos on the wall outside of the reception hall.

While editing the photos, I was amazed how much everyone looks so grown up. So, I thought it would be neat to display their toddler year photos next to the current ones to show their growth. I asked parents to give me their kids first preschool photos and write some notes to them.

I decorated the photo layout with kid’s favorite color, and school logo.

Papers: A Muse Studio Polka Dot papers. and Solid papers.

Stamps: a muse studio congradulations

Note from parents on the card.

Can’t believe my oldest is going to be a first grader this fall. *sniff*

There are 16 kids graduating this year. I went to school 3 or 4 times to take the photos of all of them. I had the photos printed at Costco (About 30 min. away from my house). Some of them had line scratch, so I had to go back there to get it re-printed. It was a long process, but I did learn so much about taking photos of kids and post-processing. I received many compliments form parents and teachers, so I’m happy.

Here’s how I foam mounted the photos.

I took the pictures at the end of the school hours, and most of the kids’ cloths were messy. Hehe. I thought it was more memorable and cute to see them as is.

Photos were edited with Flora Bella Photoshop Action (Luxe II – BW Film)

I wanted Kyle to draw his famous trains on the back of the each foam boards. But, he was so meticulous with his work (hehe), and was taking too long. Since we didn’t have enough time, I asked him to just draw a simple train w/o any coloring and write his name.

I scanned his illustration, created stickers and attached on the boards. He was so impressed how his drawing ended up on the stickers.

This was the most challenging part. I wasn’t sure how to mount the photos on the wall at school. It was to be displayed for few hours and I needed to find an easy way to un-mount without creasing the foam boards.

I cut small strips of papers, fold it in half. Attached it to the back of the foam boards. And added 4 Command Damage-Free Hanging Strips on top.

Bailey was so excited to see her brother’s big photo on the wall.

Can you believe it? It’s December already. My husband has been saving up money for artificial Christmas tree, but I was against getting one. Our house is small and cluttered as it is, I didn’t want to add more things it. But, we got one this weekend and I actually like it. Makes me happy to see all the Christmas lights and decoration around the house.

Back in September, I took photos of my kids at home, printed on 8×12, mounted on foam boards, and put it on the mantel. I loved it. I got lots of compliments. I wanted to do it again as a part of Christmas decoration.

Six photos printed on 12×18. $3 per print at Costco. I printed out too many photos for my fireplace.
Gloss finish. I love Matt or Lustre finish, but I think gloss finish looks better for face close up.

I might be the only scrapbooker who doesn’t care about acid free products *gasp*, but I saw this Elmer’s Acid Free Foam Board at Michael’s, so I bought this instead of regular ones.

It seemed like Acid Free Foam Boards cut cleaner than the regular ones. (Top: regular, bottom: acid free)

I use Mac Tac Double-Sided Adhesive mounting sheet for making albums and mounting photos. A salesperson from a local art supply store told me that this is what they use for framing and the edges don’t peel off overtime.

Attach the double-sided adhesive sheet to the back of the photo. I use both brayer and scraper (you can use credit cards) to smooth out the surface.
Cut the excess adhesive sheet.
Mount it to the foam board.

I was too lazy to hang it on the wall. Hehe. But, it’s easier to take down the photos or re-arrange it anyway my family like just putting it on the shelf.

It costed me about $7 per frame. Inexpensive DIY photo display!

On the last blog post, I complained about how much I do not like writing. Well, yesterday I was a co-speaker for a photo organizing event. Can you imagine that! I turn red just talking with a group of my friends if all eyes are on me. But, I was talking in front of people last night! Eeek~!

We had about 16 attendees, and they were all friendly so I wasn’t shaking too much, hehe. Jody, a professional organizer, talked about organizing photos, and I talked about creative ways to display/save them.

All attendees were moms with young kids, and I wanted to share this layout that anybody can easily create with their munchkins.

I drew lines in Photoshop and printed on 12×12 cardstock. You can also freehand draw the box if you don’t have a software nor a large format printer. The box will fit 4×6 photo which is a standard print size from a photo developing places.

I asked my son to write things about him on his 6th birthday. I asked him to write who he is, what he likes, and likes to do on the paper outside of the box. But, he being my son, was not interested in journaling. He was drawing trains instead. But, he is crazy about trains and drawing trains is his everyday life. So this doodling represents him so well. He was tired at the time and didn’t want to bother with this scrapbooking project and was rushing to finish it.

In the end, I had to threat(?) him to write. And he did. Hehe. He wrote with light yellow marker. He insisted on yellow since it is his favorite color.

He wrote, I like popsicles. I have one sister. I like yellow. I live in Virginia.

If your kids are too young to write, ask them to doodle or you can write for them.

It was so hard to pick just one photo from the mini photo shoot we had at home on his birthday. I picked another 9 photos, printed on 4×6. Cut the sides to 4 inches.

Collaged it on 12×12 cardstock.

Display it side by side on a wall, or store it away on a scrapbook album.