How To Make Posters or Invitations with iPad or iMac

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I don't own any expensive publishing programs for my computer or for my iPad, but I am able to make do with the Keynote app. It is the Mac version of Powerpoint. What I like about it is I can move any clip art or words to any spot I want on the page. I can even convert the files to pdf, jpeg or other options. I can also iCloud the files to be on my iPad and my Mac computer. 

I make a lot of posters and invitations and newsletters for church.  I make a lot of visuals and worksheets for my work as well. I can make them at my desk in my classroom and send them to the office through email to print. It is super easy. For a lot of the clip art or backgrounds, I just search the internet. If you are putting clip art on to a background you need them to be transparent - meaning it won't have a white frame around it. There is a way to get rid of that edge, but that is another post. I am self taught - so I am no professional - however I have been doing this for years and I do get better the more I practice. I learn new things all the time too!

This particular poster has three parts to it, plus the typing:

1. BACKGROUND

 2. CENTRE FRAME

3. FLORAL CLIP ART TO DRESS IT UP

With the iPad, one is limited to the fonts that come with Keynote - although there are apps that make the iPad capable of adding more stylish fonts if you are willing to pay for it. 

I used to be at the mercy of  pre-made invitations. Not any more. I like the 4-H motto, which definitely helped me out when it came to making things on my computer - LEARN TO DO BY DOING!

Why don't you give it a try?

March 2017 Visiting Teaching Handout

Hello! Welcome to my blog! I love all the visiting teaching messages - this month's message I have a passion for. The theme is: The Enabling Power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement. For the full visiting teaching message on

 lds.org CLICK HERE.  

I love the word ACTION - so that is what I feel to focus on in this message. I am continually striving to learn how to activate the enabling power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement in my life because I know I don't even scratch the surface of what is offered in this incredible gift. 

I especially love the quote from David A. Bednar included in this month's message:

“Nephi’s brothers bound him with cords and planned his destruction. Please note Nephi’s prayer: ‘O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound’ (1 Nephi 7:17; emphasis added). “… Nephi did not pray to have his circumstances changed. Rather, he prayed for the strength to change his circumstances. And I believe he prayed in this manner precisely because he KNEW, UNDERSTOOD, and had EXPERIENCED the enabling power of the Atonement. “I do not think the bands with which Nephi was bound just magically fell from his hands and wrists. Rather, I suspect he was blessed with both persistence and personal strength beyond his natural capacity, that he then ‘in the strength of the Lord’ (Mosiah 9:17) worked and twisted and tugged on the cords, and ultimately and literally was enabled to break the bands."

The message stops there but I looked up the talk that came from the talk"Strength Beyond My Own" and loved the words that followed... 

"The implication of this episode for each of us is straightforward. As you and I come to UNDERSTAND and EMPLOY the enabling power of the Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather than praying for our circumstances to be changed. We will become AGENTS WHO ACT rather than objects that are acted upon (2 Nephi 2:14).” David A. Bednar “Strength Beyond our Own”

We only learn and grow when we ACT. My employment is a Life Skills Specialist at a therapy centre for Autism. I help children with many skills they need for life. One of those skills is dressing. One child had a goal of putting on socks. When a task is not able to be achieved, I ask, WHY CAN'T THIS BE DONE? Possible answers to this situation were fine motor difficulties, eye hand coordination, etc., etc. We worked on strengthening those skills, but the goal to put socks on was still not being achieved. The only thing I could think of was that the child always relied on someone else to do it for him. In other words - he was acted upon. We had to work on changing the behavior for HIM TO ACT (the student put his own sock on) instead of being acted upon (having someone else do it for him). It took a little bit of time and a lot of patience - but the child is now putting on his own socks. YAY!

I believe it is the same in many aspects in our lives. Do we have a challenge? Are we hoping for the situation to take care of itself or maybe hoping someone else will fix it for us - or, are we ACTION HEROS personally doing something about our situation? When we add the enabling power of Jesus Christ and His Atonement, then we have a super power to help us in any situation.

This reminds me of something President Monson once said :"Work will win, when 

wishy, washy, wishing won't!"

To go with this message I printed out the pictures above with the quote, and wrapped it around a package of ACT II popcorn.

Here is the PDF if you would like to make it:

CLICK HERE

 Thanks for stopping by!

The Purpose of Relief Society Analogy - January 2017 Visiting Teaching Message

Hello and welcome to my blog! A few years ago I made a handout to go with the Visiting Teaching message - The Purpose of Relief Society. The focus of the message that particular month, I felt, was focussing on the part we play as individuals in this society. This years January visiting teaching message was similar so I made this again. The first tag reads: "Chocolate chip in and do your part Cookies". I attached this to a jar of ingredients that is the start of chocolate chip cookies. 

 So here is the analogy - what is in the jar is not quite chocolate chip cookies - we need to add ingredients and do a little work before we can enjoy the fruits, or in this case, the cookies. Here is the poem/message to teach the analogy:

Here is what you need to make the Chocolate Chip Cookies in a jar:

Here are the instructions to attach to the jar:

Thanks for stopping by!

Relief Society Bulletin Board Idea

Welcome to my blog! With a new year upon us I thought it was time to freshen up our bulletin boards in Relief Society. I started with a blue cloth that was left at a Give and Take table we had. I painted on some darker blue acrylic paint to give it some spunk. The pictures of the bulletin board do not do it justice. The fabric looks rich and velvety.

We have a pouch for the newsletter and lesson outline schedule for the year. The border around the bulletin board is burlap ribbon I purchased at Michael's in the clearance section and I stapled lace over it. I was fortunate to have someone think of me when they were thinning out their sewing supplies and this lace was in that fantastic package. 

 The top portion of the bulletin board is a miniature gallery wall. The right corner has a round tin and I printed a Relief Society emblem to put in it. I inked the edges with brown ink to give it definition.

I had purchased a bunch of little clipboards years ago and thought they would be perfect for posters.

I added lace to each of the bottoms and tied lace and ribbon to the clips. I bought the middle "frame" from Michael's in the paper section. I inked the edges for dimension. Inside the frame is our Ward Relief Society focus for the year - united in the cause of Christ.

I made two embroidery hoop pictures to fill in the empty space. I found these at a second hand store for 25 cents. I printed off a banner, a triangle for the top of the house (with the same background paper I used for the banner) and a couple shapes with book page background for the house.

I sewed the edges and hot glued everything on the linen which is from a jacket I purchased dirt cheap at a second hand store. The heart I cut out of red felt. I tied two bows with jute and hot glued those on to give the impression the banner is tied with string.

We have two bulletin boards and the boards are pretty identical except that I made the embroidery hoop art a little different. 

One of my pet peeves about bulletin boards is how messy push pins are. I saw an idea HERE for a tin tart pin cushion and so I followed those directions to make my push pin holder. I had tart tins on hand that I found at a second hand store, again for next to nothing. I hot glued tacks to the bottom so I could pin them to the board. I had to fix one of the push pin holders after a week. My guess is someone took it off the board to see how it was made and accidentally ripped off three of the tacks. They have been up for almost a month now and I haven't had any other issues. 

Thanks for stopping by!

We Missed You - Relief Society Email

A while back we were asked by our Stake Presidency to make sure those who are not at church know that they are missed. Our Relief Society Presidency decided as part of that directive, we would send out an email every Sunday to those who were not in Relief Society. This includes those who are absent and those serving in Primary, Nursery and Young Women. Sometimes when I do something I have no idea if it makes a difference. I have received a lot of positive feedback about this email program, especially from those sisters who are serving in other organizations and those who cannot make it to church for health or other reasons. There was even a less active that had been receiving them. I had no idea whose email this was but sent it because it was on the email list. They came to church. I introduced myself, and the individual said, "Oh, I get your emails". 

We just take a few quotes and scriptures that are shared during Relief Society, compile them on a postcard type file and email them as a jpeg. Searching images on the internet offers a wealth of pictures that relate to the different lessons that give this email a nice touch with little effort other than to copy, paste and resize. 

This does take a little bit of time to put together, but utilizing technology in this manner has unified us more, and really by small and simple means. 

I would love to hear some ways you have reached out to the Sisters in your ward...

Thanks for stopping by!