Kodak Printer Projects

We’ve had so much fun over the last couple of months, bringing you some brilliant creative posts from resident bloggers, running competitions to celebrate your ideas and hosting a Twitter party that generated so many ideas it took us days to go back over them.
Firstly, let’s give our craft experts Maggy from Red Ted Art and Penny from Alexander Residence a big hand. Here is just a sample of the projects they took us through:

• Maggy: DIY cards and art calendar
• Penny: Christmas wrapping, tagging and memory making
• Penny: Festive Family theatre project
• Maggy: Christmas picture baubles

If you still need some inspiration, don’t forget to read or bookmark our 30 favourite tips from the #printerprojects Twitter party.

Huge congratulations again to our winners of the Christmas photocraft challenge and the Big App challenge last month but let’s also look at some of the brilliant entries we struggled so much to choose between…

Big App challenge highlights:

Mammasaurus gets messy

And so does Mummy Mummy Mum…

And isn’t this lovely from Joanne Dewberry?

Penny put together her own highlights, see if you agree.

Christmas photocrafts challenge highlights:

Cute Christmas cards flooded in. We loved this little smile from Squeaky Baby.

And who could resist this fella, Crunchie, who sat on the front of I May Not Be Your Mom But I Can Be Your Friend’s Christmas cards?

Check out this beautiful customised baby vest, submitted by The Gingerbread House created just in time for the newest arrival:

Thank you so much for your input, your comments, your entries and your ideas, we’ve loved reading and watching them develop – we hope you have too! Stay tuned for more craft ideas from BritMums in 2012!

Our second printer projects competition seemed to mine a deeply creative vein, with a great number of entries coming in throughout the month.

We left the guidelines fairly open, asking you to submit either a photograph you would like to use in a Christmas craft, or a post detailing your best printer craft.

Now we’re delighted to reveal the winners, congratulations to all and thank you to everyone who took part:

The two BritMums who will receive the printer package are:

Vanessa from HPMcQ with these incredible star baubles:

Alison from Dragons and Fairy Dust submitted this wreath, created by her son many moons ago:

The two BritMums who will receive the camera package are:

Elaine from Fun As A Gran for these laminated place mats:

Janis from Really Kid Friendly submitted this beautiful wintery snap:

Congratulations to all and merry crafty Christmas!

Hello hello! Welcome to my Christmas Printer Craft special! As you may know, I have been working with Kodak in the last few weeks on trying out their fabulous new printer and their economical new ink cartridges. Lots of crafty printer play.

As part of that, I have discovered a previously unknown love: Printables. I never really gave them much thought, but am now a massive convert. Printables are basically any thing you can, well, print. From gift tags to origami paper to paper dolls. Printables have even become a new feature of my blog with their very on tab: Free Printables

I love how they get you out of a pickle in hurry or make every day things instantly look pretty (see my cupcake wrappers). But I am digressing.

Today’s post is about our two Christmas crafts: 

Our DIY Christmas cards and the art calendar project I have been working on all year with Red Ted.

This is really very straight forward. I don’t know about you, but we love photos on our cards and although you can get many done online, I personally love a “plain card” with a photo on it. I usually recycle the card, for example my-brother-in-law salvaged a bunch of old brochures from work, and I cut the back out to make lovely little square cards. Then of course I need the ‘design’ for the front of the card. The idea is that it has to look nice but that it is also not too expensive to produce (I have a 100 cards to send!).

With the new economical ink cartridges from Kodak, I decided to embrace colour this year and go for two gorgeous photos of the children:

I like to be 100% in control of my printing.. so my “favourite cheat” is to use PowerPoint to arrange the size of the pictures and the number. My little cards are 10cm x 10cm. So in PowerPoint I made sure my photos were 8cm x 8cm for a nice fit.

I decided to print on A4, which means I could get six photos (three cards) per A4 sheet.

Then comes the printing and cutting job… print out as many copies as you need and then whilst settling down to a favourite TV or radio programme chop them all up. Yes, it can take a little while, but the result is always worth it! When all is cut out, stick on your cards. Lovely!

As you can see, I went for a black (recycled) card. I cut it 10cm x 10cm. And chose to do two photos of the children – one each. A little unusual, but I thought it would be fun and oh so colourful. I am hoping people will display the card open, so you can see both photos equally!

The calendar

You can follow the progress of our calendar on the blog. I updated it every so often. The highlight of the calendar no doubt are our four seasons.

I knew we had lots of pretty pictures and crafts, but what was the best way of bringing it together? Also, how do you make calendar for more than one set of grandparents of ‘equal loveliness’…? Do a print version of course!

I decided to go DIY. I scanned or took photos of all our crafts and then using calendar template arranged them all in a Word document (I am sure I could have done it in PowerPoint too):

You can adjust the downloaded template and make it narrow and smaller to fit the pages better. You can also adjust all your artwork to fit the same amount of white space to give it more consistency over the pages.

I bought 160gsm (ordinary paper is 80 or 90gsm) so that it is a little thicker and lasts better, but not too stiff and thick like card. But it is a personal preference.

Design a cover and then hit print!

What do you think? A great present, no?

And as you have done it all on the computer you can make extra copies – one for all the grandparents and one for yourself/ the office/ Godparents etc!

I hope you are inspired to look at your printer in a new way and to get crafty!

This is a sponsored post

I don’t like gift wrap. I think it’s all the waste of trees, energy and time. I put off buying it, waiting for a greener, simpler solution to hit me each year. Then at the last minute, having procrastinated so long, I am forced to buy reams of the tackiest stuff imaginable.

So this year I thought I would put the effort into the tags. The gifts can go in recycled brown paper or bags, or perhaps, and I have been building up to this one for a few years, in old newspaper and magazines. I have a friend who can pull this trick off beautifully, pasting together bits of magazine and newspaper to create gift wrap that is also a work of art.

Here’s my first attempt, made with The Observer review section and some string from an Able and Cole veg box. The coloured luggage tags are from WH Smith and the photos were printed 5x8cm, eight shots to an A4 page of photo paper.

For the last couple of years we have made Nigella’s Christmas biscuits and given them to family. I found some pictures of the kids making them, so this year, if I get organised, these little packages may have labels too.

I had fun making these tags, looking back over last year’s Christmas photos, reflecting on traditions and family jokes and creating the captions. I had to include the microwaveable Veggie Christmas dinner my husband bought me in the corner shop. I think they would also make a nice Christmas memory mobile. A little art gallery of Christmas memories that you can add to each year:

Of course you could use the labels as place markers and have a caption competition… then each year you add to the memory mobile.

I feel like a proper grown up, I have invented my own family Christmas tradition.

There’s another Christmas photograph display idea on the Kodak site.

I also love this printable red box template, my children love making and decorating boxes with stickers, or glue and glitter. It’s the perfect size for a few chocolate coins or sweets, or for little presents. Also available in blue.

• Don’t forget to enter our Christmas Photocrafts Challenge and be in the running for some great prizes!

Need more inspiration?

• Penny: Festive Family theatre project
• Maggy: Christmas picture baubles

Iiiiiiiiiiiiit’s Christmas! Well, almost. And this latest video from the wonderful Maggy of Red Ted Art is guaranteed to get you in the seasonal spirit. Here, she shows us how to make gorgeous Christmas baubles simply using printed family photos, card, scissors and glue.

Watch the video to find out just how easy it is to make these lovely festive family keepsakes.

• Take the Christmas Photocrafts Challenge (#printerprojects)!
• Penny: Festive family theatre project
• Meet our craft experts

Penny from The Alexander Residence, one of our Printer Project Experts, rings in the festive season with this brilliant family craft idea: a puppet theatre.

Using super-cheap printer ink from Kodak, Penny and her children have created puppets of the whole family, perfect for putting on shows and keeping kids occupied on cold days.

Watch the video to find out how easy and fun this idea was, and perhaps have a go yourself:

• Take the Christmas Photocrafts Challenge (#printerprojects)!
• Meet our craft experts

Ladies and gentlemen, start your printers. Our next challenge is here: the Christmas Photocrafts Challenge! #printerprojects

We’ve teamed up with Kodak and two fantastic craft bloggers – Maggy from Red Ted Art and Penny from the Alexander Residence – to highlight how mums and dads can use their printer and Kodak’s cheaper-than-you’d-think printer ink to create gorgeous Christmas decorations, treasured keepsakes and memorable gifts.

Post your best printer craft or photo you’d like to use in a craft to be entered to win cool prizes!

You could win one of four printer or camera packages, including:

• 2 x a 7.1 Hero All-in-One printer with four packs of A4 photo paper and five printer cartridges each of black and colour ink.
• 2 x a Kodak M5370 digital camera

To take part is simple:

1. On your blog, post a picture you’d like to use in a Christmas craft or even the craft itself!
2. Add the link about a printer craft on the Challenge Linky below
3. Or or post a pic you’d LIKE to use in a printer project on the Challenge Linky below
4. Include the “I’m taking part” badge on your post. Get the badge here.
5. Pop the link to your post in the Linky below by 5pm GMT on Monday 19 December, 2011. Soon after that date, we’ll pick two winners at random for the camera and the printer package.
6. Tweet about your involvement using #xmasphotocraft hastag.

Keep checking back to see the latest ideas and projects from our bloggers, video showcases and step-by-step plans.

Need inspiration? 

• Penny: Festive Family theatre project
• Maggy: Christmas picture baubles

Share your Christmas photocrafts posts [on the Linky below]!
(Pssst: don’t forget to read the Terms & Conditions.)

Also, check out the great craft projects that came out of our November Challenge!

• Winners of the first Big App Challenge revealed
• 30 great ideas from the #printerprojects Twitter party
• Maggy of Red Ted Art makes a baby’s room look bigger
• Penny chooses her favourite entries from the Big App Challenge
• Maggy picks her favourite projects from the Big App Challenge
• Penny uses family photos to create high-impact wall art

Well, you lovely lot really excelled yourselves throughout the Big App Challenge in association with Kodak. We asked you to submit a photograph that you would love to see blown up into huge wall artwork, and you didn’t disappoint us.

After watching the brilliantly creative entries roll in, we are delighted to announce the four winners that have been chosen.

First up, the two BritMums who will receive the printer package are:
1. Boo, Roo and Tiger Too

This sun-dappled snap was taken on an annual holiday to Drayton Manor and Boo, Roo and Tigger Too would love to see it blown up on her son’s wall.

2. GadgetMum.co.uk

We get a slightly vertiginous feeling looking up into the branches of the tree in this picture – we can just imagine the sensation once it’s blown up to wall-size proportions. GadgetMum had two suggestions for her Big App project, the other an extreme close-up of a delicate flower.

And the two winners of a digital camera are:

1. Inside the Wendy House

This black and white snap is anything but moody! Cheeky smiles show the fun that the family had together during their “brilliant French holiday”.

2. Mummy of Three Diaries 

The simplicity of this sunny picture perfectly captures the hazy warmth of a family walk a few weeks ago for Mummy of Three Diaries’ family, who sums it up best:

“Beautiful soft, fluffy clouds with the most amazing sun setting in the sky. The pretty petal like shapes just appeared but I love the effect. The sun is like a giant flower. Beauty at its purest!”

Stay tuned for our second Big App Challenge in association with Kodak, coming soon!

And the winners of the #kodakprinterprojects Twitter Party are:

Printer packer:
@jennyovengloves

Camera
@mummymummymum

Congrats all!

December 2011 you can take part in the BritMums Christmas Photocrafts Challenge (#xmasphotocrafts), sponsored by Kodak.

BritMums Terms and Conditions you should know about:

• The Christmas Photocrafts Challenge competition is open to people aged 18 and over with a valid blog who are resident in the United Kingdom.
• Entry is achieved by posting a blog entry on participant’s own blog/website describing or demonstrating a craft that involves using a printer, entering the post URL in Christmas Photocrafts Challenge Linky and including the challenge badge on their blog post. It is a condition of entry that all postings are subject to the terms and conditions. Submission of a posting will be taken to mean acceptance of the above rules and terms and conditions. Participants may enter as many times as they wish by creating additional blog posts that meet the criteria for entry. Winners will be chosen by a representative from Kodak and from BritMums based on the originality and creativity the project and the post.
• All entries must be received by Monday 19 December 17:00 GMT.
• Winners will be chosen by representatives of BritMums and Kodak based on creativity and inventiveness.
• Winners will be notified via email to the email address provided on their own blog. They have 48 hours to respond and claim their prize after being notified, after which time the prize will be considered unclaimed and will be re-assigned.
• Prizes are administered separately from BritMums. BritMums, its partners and agents are cannot be held responsible for problems related to fulfilment of prizes including non-delivery or substitution due to original prize being unavailable.
• It’s the responsibility of the winner to ensure they are eligible to receive the prize. The winner is solely responsible for travel costs, insurance, applicable taxes and for any costs, expenses and charges not specified as being included in the prize description in the competition information.
• The promoters accept no responsibility for technical difficulties with the Linky functionality or any other technical difficulty which may result in blog posts not appearing in the Linky or on the BritMums blog, or on the participant’s own blog, and therefore not eligible.
• Pictures from blog post entries may be used in promotional materials for BritMums, published on the BritMums network, used on Twitter, and/or published in the BritMums blog, or used by the sponsor in a similar way. Participation will be taken as agreement for use of material in this way.
• Events may occur that render the competition itself or the awarding of a prize impossible due to reasons beyond the control of the Promoter and accordingly the Promoter may at its absolute discretion vary or amend the promotion and the entrant agrees that no liability shall attach to the Promoter as a result thereof.