February Assignment

Wow! Can you believe January is almost over?! I have an assignment for you today that will make you look forward to February, and it has nothing to do with chocolate! 

If you have an iPod Touch, iPhone, or iPad, and you do not have the Coolibah scrapbooking app, I want you to go to the app store right now and get it. It's free and a LOT of fun. Go ahead. We'll wait...(elevator music in the background)....

Back already? Ok, then--let's get started. If you haven't used Coolibah before, you'll want to look through the gallery and pick out some kits that you like. There are several free kits and the rest are 99 cents. Take a few minutes to tap on the first page and flip through the instructions. Then experiment a little to get the feel.

We are going to make a calendar--I mean a PRETTY calendar!--that you can save as your lock screen so it's the first thing you see when you turn on your device. You could also save it as your home screen (you know--the one that has the apps on it) or to the desktop of your computer. You could even print it and put it on your refrigerator. It is going to be THAT pretty! I don't have a smart phone, but I was able to send the calendar as a text message to my reasonably intelligent phone and save it as the wallpaper. This is how mine turned out:

The first thing we need is a calendar. Use your device to go online and Google 'free printable February 2012 calendar.' When the results come up click on 'images' up near the top. This will show you gobs and gobs of calendars. Yes, I said gobs and gobs. Pick one that you like and tap on it so a bigger image comes up. Find one that has nice and clear lines and numbers. I used one with big numbers, because I don't need space to write on it and because, well,  I'm 47, ok? When you find the one you want, hold your finger on it until a box pops up that says 'Save Image' and 'Copy.' Tap 'Save Image.' You just put that calendar in your photo album. Now you can use it like you would use any other picture! 

Now for the fun part....

To make a new page, you need to tap on the + in the lower left of the screen. 

Next tap on the symbol for background paper and pick a pattern you like for your background.

To bring your calendar in just tap on the button to add a photo. On an iPad it has a photo on it, but on the iPod (and I assume the iPhone) it's a + sign that brings up some choices. Tap 'add a photo' this time. We'll come back to the others. Your calendar should be the last photo in your album. Just tap it and it will go right to your page. As long as  it's yellow you can move it (with one finger), change the size (with two fingers), or rotate it (with three fingers). 

Now you can look through the 'elements' to decorate your page. Remember the button on the iPod that said 'add elements?' On the iPad it's the button with a flower on it. I like to pick a bunch of embellishments all at once then go back and arrange them the way I want them. You can change the size and move elements when they are highlighted, too.

You might want to add a frame around your calendar. That's the one on the iPod that looks like four photo corners. 

You can also add shadows when an element is highlighted yellow, or move it up or down so it's layered on top of or beneath other elements.

When you are satisfied, tap the far left button. It's either a check mark or an arrow. That will bring up a button that says 'Share.' Tap it and choose 'Save to Photo Album.' Then to close your calendar, tap the button on the top left (looks like six rectangles).

Go to your home screen and open your photos. Tap on your calendar to open it. See the little rectangle with  the arrow coming out of it? Tap that and choose 'Use as Wallpaper.' On the iPad you can then choose if you want it as your lock screen, your home screen, or both. (This is where you can also email it to your computer or send it to your reasonably intelligent phone as a text message.)

THAT'S IT! Woo Hoo!  

So how does it look? Mine is pretty busy, but it looks cheery. Here's a little secret.... If you want to use my calendar, there are two things you can do. Scroll back up and save it to your computer, or use your device to come to my blog and save it the same way you saved the calendar on Google. It will go directly to your photo album. But. If you do that. You will miss all the fun!

Let me know how your calendar turned out! And how quickly you become totally additcted to Coolibah! 

  Thanks for stopping by!!!