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Trend and Product Review: Digital Stamping

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image by Heather Holbrook

image by Heather Holbrook

A big buzz word in the stamping world right now is Digital Stamping.

What is digital stamping you might ask? Well, it’s simply buying a digital image that you download to your computer and then print out and use like a regular stamped image. There are several advantages to using digital stamp images such as: storage, no need to store so many bulky stamps; cost, they are much cheaper than buying an actual stamp; helps the environment, no trees were cut down for wood blocks.

I recently gave digital stamping a try for myself and got some super cute images from Angel’s Landing. For each group of images I received an Adobe file with all the images and then each image separately in a PNG file. Their website has an easy to follow tutorial and helpful FAQ on how to download your images.

I really like the idea of being able to easily print them out on not only regular cardstock but other surfaces as well like printable canvas or vellum. I made the sweet card featured above by printing out the images of the birds on vellum and coloring them from behind with markers. I also liked how the images worked well with stamps I already owned, the music notes and words are from the April Word Puzzle stamp set from Close To My Heart. For my first try at digital stamping I found it really fun and easy to do.

The wonderful card shown below is from the Gallery at Angel’s Landing.

-Heather

 

image by Angel's Landing

image by Angel's Landing

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Hanukkah Unit Studies for Kids

Learning about Hanukkah is important for people of all faiths as a reminder that December isn’t just about Christmas and that their are many other important holidays that happen during this time. Hanukkah unit studies can give you ideas for incorporating the holiday into your holiday studies that happen in December, or to use at home for learning about people of different faiths.

Homeschool Superfreak has a lot of basic ideas for how to build a Hanukkah unit study, as well as FAQs about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. This list is a good stargint point but doesn’t include all the details you’ll need. For example it says you can play the dreidel game but doesn’t explain how to do that or why it’s important. (If you need that information, this post from Mama Smiles is a good source.)

Teachers Pay Teachers has lots of great lesson plans and activities if you’re willing to pay a little bit to get some good content. Two I really like are this Hanukkah PowerPoint presentation from Shelia Melton, which provides a good overview of traditions, food and the history of Hanukkah; and a virtual field trip to Jerusalem from MagiCore, which includes lots of videos showing the city and activities like playing dreidel, drawing a menorah and making latkes. It’s a Google Drive folder and also includes writing activities and more for kids in second to fifth grade.

Kids Activities Blog has some simple printables with facts about Hanukkah and things kids can color in like a Star of David, sufganiyots (jelly doughnuts) and a menorah. These are great for learning the basics.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable ebook about Hanukkah complete with questions kids can answer after they read. This would be a good one for older kids with good reading comprehension.

NurtureStore’s Hanukkah unit study includes a printable mini book, tons of crafts, as well as math and writing activities. I love the dominoes game that’s part of the unit.

And check out our previous posts for more Hanukkah crafts and learning activities!