I’ve added two new products to the shop this week. First is a new digital scrapbooking kit, Philosophy. Great for helping you to record little nuggets of wisdom, lessons learned and lessons you would like to pass on. What I love about this kit is that it’s perfect for recording the here and now. Often my scrapbook pages are like letters to the present day me, and the future Nicholas. Perspective shifts over the year, with experience, so recording it is just as vital as any of the other markers of time that we record.

This kit is meant to get you thinking about the things you know for sure, right now, and then motivate you to share those valuable lessons in your scrapbook pages.

Also new this week the coordinating Philosophy Journal Cards – a set of (6)  3×4 journaling cards. All of the cards are provided as both individual PNG files and a printable 8.5 x 11″ sheet. The printable file is a convenient way to print the cards at home without having to use Photoshop or any other graphics program – just open the PDF file and send it to your home printer.

Early Bird Savings

Purchase Philosophy by May 26, 2013 and you’ll save 20%, PLUS you’ll get the Philosophy Journal Cards FREE. 

Take Me Shopping!

|| LAYOUTS BY THE FLOCK & THE POLLYS ||

[Show as slideshow]

by Amy M

by Amy K

by Christine

by Crystal

by Jenny

by Julia

by Julie

by Kelly

by Leontien

by Lex

by Lisa

by Margelz

by Maribel

by Nicole

by Rachel

by Renee

by Stacy

by Sue

by Sue

by Susanne

by Amanda (Polly)

by Ana Paula (Polly)

by Anne (Polly)

by Cecile (Polly)

by Tronesia (Polly)

The post New Release | Philosophy appeared first on One Little Bird Designs | Blog.

I have a photography business and I occasionally take family/children shots for only my closest friends because young children are a difficult subject to photograph. Here’s what you can do:

APERTURE PRIORITY

If you have a DSLR, shoot in AV mode. It chooses the shutter speed for you and does most of the work. “But Kim,” you say,  ”don’t I want to shoot in Tv mode so I can choose my shutter speed? These kids are fast!”  True story, but I like Av mode because I get to control my depth-of-field. I’m a bokeh junkie and like to shoot between 1.8-2.8 aperture so I get that creamy background. Shooting at that F-stop usually gives you a nice fast shutter, so I don’t stress to much about it.

I can’t say enough about purchasing a 50mm 1.8 lens for your DSLR. It is less than $120 and you can do so much with it.

Now a moment of silence for some yummy bokeh.

LET IT BE … LET IT BE

Another tip is to let the child do their thing. There is a time and a place for those posed shots, but it isn’t with me. I like what I find when I look for the shot while they are doing their thing.

This little girl was running around and playing in her grass skirt, then she stopped to check out the flowers. I took the picture of her shaking her thing, because often times parents like the outtakes from the session.

Then this next photo was taken literally minutes after the previous photo. If you’re patient, “the shot” will most likely come.

GET LOW!

I know you hear people say to get down on their level. It’s true. Do it. You’ll be amazed at the difference. When you go to crop a picture in really tight, if can appear that the child is looking out and above the camera. Getting lower gets you a more straight on perspective, just like those portrait studios. I know, you’re going to have to do a ton of squats, but you really have two options: do the squats or bend over at the waist and stick your butt out. Your choice!

If you have a toddler that just isn’t having it, your best bet is to try again later. You are going to struggle, everyone will be frustrated, and the resulting photos may not represent your best work. If waiting isn’t an option, work with what you have. If the child is clingy to the parent, you can still get head and upper body shots while the parent is holding them. If they are really having a meltdown, those tantrum pictures can really be adorable – and can later be used for blackmail!

THE TAKE-AWAY

• Toddlers are mobile, moody little creatures. They make you want to rip your hair out….oh wait, we’re talking photography tips here.
• Shoot in Av mode to choose your aperture. Get your lovely bokeh on.
• Work with what you have. Be patient. Don’t force it, they will rebel. Let them get some energy out and sneak some photos in while they do their thing. 
• Finally, get down to their level. Get your squats on. You will have rockin’ photos and rockin’ legs. It’s a win, win!

The post Photography Tips for Toddlers appeared first on One Little Bird Designs | Blog.

The post Landing Soon | Philosophy appeared first on One Little Bird Designs | Blog.

When I first started buying digital scrapbooking supplies, I worked hard to use every kit and template at least twice.  I would open them up and then pick a current page I wanted to scrap and one from years ago using the same materials.  I haven’t done that in a while, so today I decided to try it again.  But, this time, I challenged myself to use one template for three different layouts.  I dug way back into Peppermint’s shop and chose this template from Flight Plan #1 and #2.

I loved the paper strips, the white space, and the fun way the journaling and title mixed into each other.

For my first layout I picked an old picture of my oldest from when he was almost 2 and scrapped a page sticking exactly to the template guides.

|| Materials || Crazy For You (papers and elements) and Flight Plan #1 template by One Little Bird Designs. Fonts are Mish and RachelB by Darcy Baldwin and Hobo Std.

When I was done, I loved the layout but I also wanted my next layout to look different and unique.  One of the things that I love about digital scrapbooking templates is that they are transformable.  You can make them your own or change them to fit the picture or topic you want to scrap.

I started this process by reopening the template and flipping it.  (PSE: “Image – Rotate – Flip Horizontal”)  After doing this I did need to select the text layers and flip just those layers back to normal.  (PSE: “Image – Rotate – Flip Layer Horizontal”)  I then selected all of the paper and photo layers.  (PSE: Hold down the Ctrl key and click on each layer in the layers palette)  I enlarged all of these layers I had selected and moved the text around to fit the new space.  Here is what the template then looked like.

And here is the finished layout!  This time I chose to add a bunch of different elements around the page that were not identified on the template.

|| Materials || Fresh by One Little Bird Designs & Sahlin Studio; Flight Plan #1 template by One Little Bird Designs. Fonts are Jamie by Darcy Baldwin and Charcoal CY

For my third layout,  I  started with the original template and this time I chose to rotate it.  (PSE: “Image – Rotate – 90 degrees Left)  This time, I chose to get rid of some of the paper strips and duplicated the picture shape.  I also lengthened the photo mat to go behind all of the photos and rotated the text back to normal.  Here is what the “new” template looked like:

I adore how my third layout turned out.  I changed the journaling a bit by typing it onto a journaling mat.

|| Materials ||  Suncatcher (papers and elements) and Flight Plan #1 template by One Little Bird Designs. Fonts are Kristi by Darcy Baldwin and Blackoak Std.

To show you up close how the changes work, here are the three ways I used this template:

And here are the three layouts:

Isn’t it so cool how I could start at the same place and end up with three totally unique layouts?

So my challenge to you is to try this yourself some time.  The ways that you can transform a template are really endless but here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Flip or Rotate
• Duplicate a shape
• Delete some parts of the template
• Resize some of the shapes – smaller or larger
• Add a picture or paper shape
• Change the shape of a picture shape (circle, square, rectangle, star, whatever)
• Add elements where the template doesn’t call for them
• Try taking two templates and dragging some of the shapes from one onto the other to make a combined new template
• Move some things around
• Add a border or additional background papers

The post Powerful Techniques | Transforming Digital Templates appeared first on One Little Bird Designs | Blog.

New Growth Challenge Winner | Penny

April Featured Kit Challenge | LeslieM

Congrats, Penny and Leslie! Peppermint will be contacting  you shortly with your prize information.

The post Challenge Winners appeared first on One Little Bird Designs | Blog.

It still is.

You’ll save 30% on Interlude throughout the month of May – and see the bottom of this post to find out how you can enter to win a $15 coupon to my store.

|| INSPIRATION FROM THE FLOCK ||

Some of my favorite pages of all-time have been made using this kit.

▲ By Beth

▲ By Crystal

▲ By Leontien

▲ By Lex

▲ By Sara

If you have any pages of your own to share using Interlude, please be sure to post them in my gallery at The Lilypad. Post a link to your pages (past or present) in the comments by 6/06/13 for a chance to win a $15 coupon to my store. ♥

The post May Featured Kit | Interlude appeared first on One Little Bird Designs | Blog.

This kit felt like the perfect follow up to my recently released Rise and Shine digital scrapbooking collection. It’s only natural to transition from day to night, right? I didn’t want to the kit to veer too far into bedtime, although it’s certainly perfect for that, so there’s a nice mix of word art and elements for documenting everything from a special date night to the things in life that were destined to be. It’s simply magical.

Also new this week – a set of 12 coordinating 3×4 journaling cards. All of the cards are provided as both individual PNG files and printable 8.5 x 11″ sheets. The printable files are a super convenient way to print the cards at home, you don’t even need Photoshop to print them – just open the printable PDF file and send them to your home printer.

You’ll receive the Stargazer Journaling Cards FREE with the purchase of the kit through Monday. No coupon necessary, they’ll be added to your cart automatically when you add the Stargazer Kit.

NSD Sale Is Happening Now!

Save 30% on your favorite One Little Bird digital scrapbooking products during the iNSD Storewide Sale.  Sale ends 5/6/2013.

Take Me Shopping!

|| LAYOUTS BY THE FLOCK & THE POLLYS ||

[Show as slideshow]

by Becky

by Beth

by Crystal

by Dana

by Elisa

by Elisa

by Julia

by Julie

by Kelly

by Lex

by Lisa

by Margelz

by Maribel

by Monica

by Nicole

by Rachel

by Renee

by Stacy

by Stacy

by Sue

by Susanne

by Tali

by Cristina (Polly)

by Dalis (Polly)

by Keela (Polly)

The post New Release | Stargazer appeared first on One Little Bird Designs | Blog.

First, take a spin through my shop and Pick Your Prize!

And then you should definitely Pin To Win your TLP Wishlist. $150 worth of products? Talk about a pass out moment!

The post The NSD Party Has Already Begun appeared first on One Little Bird Designs | Blog.

A little over a week ago  I spent about 30 minutes putting together 9 mason jar salads for the upcoming week – and they were such a fresh, colorful sight on an otherwise gray, rainy day here that I posted this photo on Instagram and it lit up my social media (and my text messages) for a couple of days. So I wanted to talk a little bit more about them, and why I love them.

The idea landed on my radar early this year thanks to Pinterest – ground zero for most great ideas. From that point on I kept seeing them pop up on food blogs that I follow and I finally decided to give them a try.

They’re total game changers if you’re like me and you want to make healthier food choices – but find that the unhealthy choices are just so much easier.

WHY MASON JARS?

If you prepare them properly, they’ll stay fresh all week. Seriously!

I’ve tried preparing salads in advance using regular storage containers, bowls, etc. and within a day or two they’ve lost their crispness. The only halfway decent method I found was compartmentalized salad containers – but they’re usually a couple bucks a piece and a bit unwieldy to store.

9 mason jars only set me back $10, they won’t deteriorate or discolor, and they store very neatly in my fridge (and in my pantry, once they’re empty). And they’re pretty when filled with a rainbow of salad fixings – they make me smile when I open the fridge.

IT’S ALL ABOUT THE LAYERING

The key is to pack the jars from wet-to-dry, bottom-to-top. The vertical nature of the mason jar keeps your lettuce and more delicate vegetables away from the ingredients with a high moisture content so everything stays crisp. The photo above shows the anatomy of the salads I made last week, a pretty basic blend of everyday veggies. I just lined the jars up on my counter and chopped everything up at once, divvying it up equally between the jars.

A quick Google search for “mason jar salads” will unearth a goldmine of recipes and tips – but essentially any salad combo works if you put the ingredients into the jar in the proper order.

In a lot of the recipes you’ll see that people put their dressing into the jar first and let some of the hardier vegetables “marinate” in it. I don’t put dressing in ours. Maybe if I were transporting them somewhere, like to-and-from work, I would give that a whirl. We add dressing after we dump it out into a bowl.

The same goes for things that would brown quickly (avocados) or proteins (chopped meat, hard-boiled eggs, bacon, nuts, etc.) Those are the sorts of things I add on a bowl-by-bowl basis – but you’ll find plenty of recommendations elsewhere on how to make those things work. Most people add them between the hardy vegetables and the lettuce – right where I have my alfalfa sprouts.

I like the layer of sprouts in there because it adds “lift” to the lettuce. It’s beneficial to fill the jars as full as possible to reduce the amount of condensation – and sprouts are my favorite filler. (It bears mentioning that raw sprouts aren’t without their health risks, so make your own decisions in this department.)

A FEW NOTES

The photo above is the last of our latest batch of salads, taken yesterday – on day 8. Tomatoes still tomatoey, lettuce still crisp, sprouts still sprouty. I’ve seen people claim that their salads have lasted for up to two weeks – I only make nine and they’re eaten way before that. I probably wouldn’t try my luck with them after 7-8 days. I’m just not the type who lives on the edge like that.

Buy the freshest produce that you can, and wash it well in a water & vinegar rinse – 10 parts water, 1 part vinegar. The rinse kills mold/bacteria spores that will cause produce to spoil more quickly. (Strawberries last a LOT longer if you rinse them this way as soon as you get home). I just fill the sink up and do everything in batches, running it through our salad spinner afterward to speed the drying process. You want everything to be as dry as possible so you don’t add more moisture to the mix.

These jars aren’t vacuum sealed, but they do seem to seal themselves pretty tightly after placed in the refrigerator for a couple of hours. Cold air condenses, the vegetables release gasses, and all of that seems to suck the lid down and seal it. I always have to pry the lid off using the band.

The jars pictured above are “Pint And A Half” sized wide-mouth jars from Ball. The majority of the Internet uses quart size wide mouth jars, but they looked too large for us. Pint size was too small. Pint and a half jars were just right and fill our bowls perfectly. I bought mine at Target (for $9.99) and I kept the separated cardboard box that they came in. I set it on a shelf in our kitchen closet and as the empty jars go through the dishwasher I drop the jars back into an available slot and the lids & bands into a small basket that sits next to it. I can easily grab both the next time I’m preparing salads.

You could eat the salads right out of the jar, especially if you put your dressing into the bottom. I dump them out into a bowl and toss everything together. It may seem less convenient to dirty two dishes, but reducing the amount of dirty dishes isn’t my intended goal – I want the long-term storage and the one-time prep. Plus dumping it into a bowl means you can add leftover meats, cooked pasta, etc. to your salad on a case by case basis.

WHY I’M IN LOVE

There is no way we would eat 9+ salads a week if I didn’t prepare them this way. We eat WAY more vegetables, and a wider variety of vegetables, than we normally would. In the past I’ve purchased a pile of produce with the best of intentions only to make a salad or two and then let it all go to waste. Making salads this way means I only have to drag the cutting board out once – plus I’m now buying way more vegetables than I would normally go to the trouble of chopping up for salads. It’s almost become a game to see how many different things I can cram into these jars. When our local Farmer’s Market opens up for the year I’m going to have to buy more jars.

It’s so nice to be able to dump a couple of dinner salads into a bowl to accompany a weeknight meal – we probably wouldn’t bother otherwise. And I’m much more apt to eat a salad for a light lunch or a quick snack when it’s already prepared so beautifully in my fridge. It’s actually easier than the less healthy choices I would make otherwise. Tom packs them in his lunchbox for work – his lunchbox was largely vegetable-free before. Also it’s easy to vary your salads or tailor some of the jars for picky eaters – like Nicholas wouldn’t touch a sprout with a ten foot pole, he’s not very daring in the lettuce department and he’s pretty sure he doesn’t like radishes (even though I can’t recall a time that he ever ate one).

The bottom line is, you sooooo need to give this a try. I’m a believer! If you’re already on the mason jar salad bandwagon, feel free to leave your tips & recipes in the comments. And if you have any questions, I’ll try my best to answer them.

Happy eating.

The post Mason Jar Salads | The Busy/Lazy Girl’s Way To Make Better Food Choices appeared first on One Little Bird Designs | Blog.

Earlier this month I had a Spotlight Chat at The Lilypad and attendees received this Suncatcher Add-On to my Suncatcher Papers & Elements as a “thank you for showing up so I wasn’t all alone  in this chat room talking to myself” gift – or an “attendee prize”, for short.

Today I’ve added it to my shop for purchase, and it’s 50% off ($1!) for one day only as a part of the Something Old, Something New (SOSN) promotion. Offer available 4/24/13 only.

Have a great week!

The post New Release | Suncatcher Add-On appeared first on One Little Bird Designs | Blog.