How to Make Jigsaw eCards from Original Cards
Turn Handmade Christmas Cards into Hours of Interactive Holiday Fun
Dec 19, 2008
At Jigzone.com, cards can be turned into interactive jigsaws that kids (and family members) will have loads of fun solving. They become valuable festive cards that can be sent out to groups, such as the family or class. Completing the Christmas card in the shortest amount of time can become an exciting competition. In this way, a simple card can become a family contest. This Textured Angel is an example of an interactive eCard.
Equipment for Making a Digital eCard
Expensive software such as Photoshop is not needed for this project. The requirement is a digital camera or scanner and a basic computer. Picasa 3: from Google it will provide the tools with which to produce an eCard of high quality. Picasa is a free user-friendly software download that helps you organize, edit, and share your photos. Take the time to get to know this software, because it now has features that allow enhancement of images. This “Abstract Christmas Wreath” card was enhanced entirely in Picasa.
Register at Jigzone.com. This free site provides the tools with which to make and send interactive jigsaw eCards. Make albums for each season that can grow from year to year. Jigzone allows participants to upload albums of favourite images as interactive jigsaws. People from all over the world join in to compete. There is a timer, which indicates how long the jigsaw took each participant to complete for comparison. The site is appropriate for all ages, and there are various levels of difficulty and a variety of styled jigsaw cuts.
How to Make the Home Made Christmas Cards
These articles will provide insight into how to make original card designs.
- ·How to Make a Humerous Reindeer Pop Up Card Create a crazy reindeer character accompanied by a simple play on words. Teach children about how to think up humour when making this funny . Capitalise on the Reindeer Card to Crack a Funny Christmas Joke add the text 4 U DEAR on the front of the card.
- ·How to Make a Simple Christmas Tree Pop Up Show young people how to make pop up cards, starting with a basic easy to follow pattern. Adorn the simple Christmas tree with decorations and the effects are stunning.
- ·This Abstract Wreath Christmas Card was simply made by cutting and gluing cardboard shapes in an ever-smaller wreath spiral. Once sprinkled with glitter enhancing effects were achieved in Picassa 3.
Editing Images in Picasa3
After making cards scan them or take photos of them with a digital camera. Upload them directly from the scanner or camera into Picassa, using the import function from the file menu. Double click on the image to be cleaned and tidied. Play with the tools for a while. This image was a simple abstract Christmas wreath enhanced with tools from Picassa. If words are not already incorporated into the deign add them using the Text Tool.
Be sure to save this file as .jpg or gif and resize it to fit the dimensions recommended by Jigzone.com
Upload the Christmas Card into Jigzone
Search Google for the hompage of "jigzone," and from there you will click a link that says upload your images. Non-members will be asked to register. Once the image has been uploaded, there will be a link that says, “send as an eCard.”
When working with large classes, it also pays to keep different kinds of images in order. Create albums for seasons or by topic.
This is an ideal card making and digital activity to keep young children happy over the Christmas break. The cards are easy to make and yet with a small amount of effort they can be turned into interactive activities that the whole family can share. It provides a way to talk with members even when they are in another country. Keep the cards themselves simple unless the children ask for more challenge. The simplicity of design is ideal for interactive jigsaw making.
Turning the card into something able to be shared with so many, will give students a sense of accomplishment. They will also be thinking in an abstract way about design and learning their computer skills at the same time.
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