Taking the Coloring Book Trend to a Whole New Level!

Going back to your past and reliving your childhood can be a great way to spend time, and I suspect that's why adult coloring books are trending right now.  Recently, I purchased coloring books for the students here, and several have been used (I can tell from the ripped pages) but one idea I had that REALLY turned out great was taking pages and cutting them to bookmark size.  No need to buy more bookmarks and kids were asking for 3 or more.  It was a win all the way around!!

Then I started thinking about the pages of a coloring book and begin looking at coloring pages online.  There are several free sites where you can print pages out:

Beautiful Mandalas to color: http://www.printmandala.com/
Zen and Anti-Stress Coloring Pages for Adults: http://www.coloring-pages-adults.com/coloring-zen/
Art is Fun!  Free Adult Coloring Pages: http://www.art-is-fun.com/free-adult-coloring-pages/

Afterward, I began to think about the what ifs....what if I want to color while waiting in the airport?  How about while waiting on someone to meet me?  How about at night when I'm in bed and need a little de-stresser?  I think there's nothing more stressful than putting not only pages in a folder but having to keep up with all of the markers (or pencils, or colors or whatever!).  It's enough to send me over the edge of Happy Land into the depths of I'm-Going-Nutso Land!  And that brought me to my most used personal device, my iPad!

Bingo!  I hit the motherlode  of coloring pages!  Not only were they online, but they were also amazingly easy to color.  I do love me some technology, and these pages were editable and shareable.  But most of all?  They were relaxing for me!  So here are my top fav apps for adult coloring books, along with the lowdown on them and examples of artwork I colored. There are a TON out there, but I think five is more than enough to satisfy my craving to put color to screen :)






Magic Garden-
Five different books 
Colors: HUGE palette available to use
Menu options: delete, undo, draw any color, auto color fill
Settings: home button, favorites, share via message, email, or social media, save to "my works"
Review: This is by far the most colorful with tons of options!  There are options to purchase extra pages/designs but includes 40 free designs







Color Therapy:
Thirteen different books
Colors: SEVERAL different palettes to choose from.  Basic is free, others you need to unlock via use of social media.  Still others down the line are free to use (like the Fruity palette)
Menu Options: pinch to zoom in or out, undo, return button and share via email and social media.  Save to your photos
Review: Highly intricate, these designs will take a little longer to color.  I recently got a message to download new volumes, but haven't yet.  Saves your completed artwork into a folder on the app.  Another neat thing is that once you share your pic, you also have the option to add effects.  Nice touch! 






Adult Coloring Book:
Eleven different books
Colors: has one major palettes in primary colors, but others can be downloaded for free if you do certain things (like share four pieces of art etc).  There are also paid palettes as well.
Menu Options: A back button taking you to the front of the book, an undo button, ambience button will play certain ambient sounds while you color, a texture button with six options, a more button where you can animate your drawing to saving it on your camera roll to clearing the picture out, and lastly a share button for email and social media
Review: These are great genres and inside each book is chapters, where the first is free and the others you can purchase.  This app had the most unusual option with the ambient noises, but I can see how this would be great in busy places where ear phones are a must have.  The depth of coloring goes from simple to intricate for it will satisfy all types of online colorers.




Coloring Book for Adults:
Has 10 designs
Colors: this has sliding bar of colors
Menu Options: a trashcan to delete, an undo button and a share button for email, social media and to save on your camera roll
Review: This is by far the easiest of the apps and great for quick color.  Doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles but very much satisfies your inner coloring obsession.  Seems like the easier options have more colors and this won't disappoint, although I did get a little aggravated having to slide through colors to get to the ones I used/needed








Colorfy:
Has 12 books with multiple volumes inside each
Colors: has a multitude of colors represented by pencils
Menu Options: three pentagons that hold your last three color chosen, an undo button, a share button to email and social media and a home button
Review: I really enjoyed this one.  Of course, its' a freemium, so some volumes will need to be purchased.  The only caution I would give is that each time you open a design, it asks if you'd like a free trial with a purchase, so be careful with your trigger finger!















 

App Review: Making Book Trailers the Easy Way with this Amazing Trinity!

In this new BYOD world we live in, creating videos has never been easier.  You don't have to lug around a laptop anymore...you can create stunning videos straight from your iPhone or iPad.

Two newer apps that have come on the scene and made things a LOT easier are both from Adobe and are amazing!  I'm not saying this flippantly..I love these two apps!  Admittedly, book trailers take time, but with these apps and an iPad students can start easily using their camera roll or online sources.  I'll break down both apps as well as give hints on making using these easier.

So here's a breakdown for both-

Adobe Voice:
-search photos on your camera roll OR through a CC image search built-in
- add music Adobe provides or use music from your iPad.
-record your voice to narrate a book trailer
-you can add titles and text between images for a more traditional trailer
-manage how long an image stays on the screen (up to 5 seconds)
-add icons
- from 32 themes that automatically add movement to your video
-save your project to work on at different times before you publish
-it has an option to make it private or public
-share via social media, email, or add it to your camera roll
-available only on iPad

Adobe Clip:
- add either clips or images from your camera roll.  This app doesn't have a CC search, so shooting videos will be the best option for this app.  You can search for CC images in Google and save them to your camera roll as the best option for images 
- has a built-in trimmer so you can customize your video clips or add slo-mo
-add individual text slides between clips or images
-add music from the library provided or from your stash on your ipad
-selection from three transitions: fade in from black, fade out to black, crossfade between clips
-has a built-in image enhancer with 30 different filters
- publish and share the video on social media or through Adobe Creative Cloud (there isn't a private button on this one)
-available on iPhone or iPad




Hints:
-mash up these apps with different apps like Whiteboard or Paper 53 to add text or videos
-think of other places to get CC images or videos like Instagram, Facebook or Vine
- download Google Slides or Docs to create unique text slides
- use an app called Downloads Plus lite to download and use CC friendly music from Purple Planet

And now to play with Adobe Slate, the newest app that helps make reports, newletters and other text-based documents beautiful by adding photos into them.

It's 'Appy Hour! Over 40 Educational Apps in Four Different Categories

It’s ‘appy hour! from naomibates

This is the presentation I did for Texas Library Association's Tech Camp, 2014. The list of apps is found below. I originally presented this without the names as part of audience participation :) 1. Skitch 2. Join Me 3. Aurasma 4. Mindmeister 5. Touch Cast 6. Loopster 7. Video Star 8. Paper 53 9. Mindmapper 10. Videolicious 11. Dropvis (this costs .99 cents, but as I told the audience, that’s a Sonic drink during Happy Hour but lasts a whole lot longer  ) 12. Davinci Note 13. QR Reader 14. PicCollage 15. Muzy 16. I-Books 17. Kindle 18. Titlewave 19. Destiny Question 20. Gale Cengage for Schools 21. Symbaloo 22. Haikudeck 23. Voicethread 24. Mindomo 25. Popplet 26. Prezi 27. Animoto 28. Google Drive 29. Livebinders 30. Pinterest 31. Linkedin 32. Google Hangouts 33. Twitter 34. Scoop It 35. Google + 36. Yelp 37. Facebook 38. Tumblr 39. All Recipes 40. Fast Food 41. Weather Channel 42. Runkeeper 43. Uber 44. Airbnb 45. Flixster 46. Calorie King

Ten Best Apps to Travel With

Right now I'm about to pack my bags to get ready for summer travel.  A top priority  is technology.  They can take a long car drive or bump in the road go by faster. I love my iPad, but unfortunately, I don't have a connection to it (unless there's free Wi-Fi).  My iPhone does connect, but who really wants to squint that long?  So, here are my top ten apps (in no particular order) you don't need to have a connection for to get me from the beginning to the end of any journey and they won't cost a penny:

1. iBooks - find books or documents online and load them before you go.  iBooks will allow you to read anything you place there without connection.  Search and download now before you go and you'll have a free library traveling with you. 

2. Paper 53 - feel the need to get creative?  Use this simple and easy app to doodle, draw, and paint in personal moleskins you create.  Your creativity can be personal or something you'd like to save and use in presentations or websites when you get a connection. 

3. ShowMe - if you'd like to create an online recorded presentation, this app is what you're looking for.  Upload photos from you album, write, draw and highlight and record.  Try this only when everyone has their earphones on and quiet reigns.

4. Videolicious - This handy app has so many possibilities.  Make a simple book trailer, stitch pics together to highlight your trip, or just be creative with what you can do.  The tutorial is also available offline as well

5. DaVinci Note -this app will create beautiful collages or notes you can create now and upload later.  Use the images on your iPad, type your own thoughts and create beautiful pages to share when connection is available

6. Fast Food - it's inevitable...while on the road you have to eat.  If you're watching your weight and trying to avoid eating unwanted calories, this app has most fast food restaurants listed along with what they serve and how many calories, fat, and carbs are in that item. 

7. Candy Crush - this popular and addictive game can be played offline!  That's all I have to say about that :)

8. Minion Rush - this is a new game based off of the Despicable Me movies.  Play with these cute minions anytime with a great graphic interface.  Perfect for children and adults alike (another great alternative would be Subway Surfers, which can also be played offline)

9. Snapseed - if you have pictures and want to make them pop, use this app to modify your images with different tools and filters. 

10. iDice4 - for the more traditional gamer, this is the equivalent of Yahtzee, where you can play by yourself or with others in the car just for the fun of it.

Like packing, make sure you download whatever you may need on your iPad before hitting the road, the ocean, the air or the tracks.  And always (and most important!) keep a charger handy - you'll need it.
Safe travels!!

Some really great sites to create a stellar presentation et al!

So, I'm waiting for Animoto to finish my booktalk preview I show when the kids are all coming in.
As I'm doing that, I started thinking about all the sites and apps I use or think about using when I begin creating my booktalk.  So here are some you may find just as amazing to use as I do.

Online image editors:

Thanks to creative online genius,the perfect image editor was born! PicMonkey allows users to upload and modify images from cropping to color to frames and so much more!  I use it when creating my book trailers to add depth and complexity to just another flat image.  And the extras are awesome!  Create/add zombie, vampire, and ghost features as well as themed backgrounds and textures.  This is a go-to must have website.  Currently, it has no app, but some things are better to manipulate online.

Need to find something out of the ordinary to use for your blog, presentation or to share?  Imagechef  may be the answer to your needs.  Creates anything from personalized notes to word mosaics to so much more.  And it's all free!  And this site has a companion app, so either way you can create and share.

 Video creators, web-based and app-based:
  Gotta love Animoto!  If you haven't used it in awhile, you're in for a nice surprise.  The reconfiguration now includes different video styles, awesome CC music, and instant social media sharing.  As always, you can include video and text into this.  Worth the price (but you can get an educator discount!)  No wonder this is a cornerstone of technology for education!  Animoto has an app but search in the iPhone section.  Currently there isn't one for the iPad.

If you want to try something new without the headache of learning a difficult platform like Adobe or Sony, make your way over to ProShow Web.  Their free account allows users to create a full-on video or trailer with a lot of the intuitive bells and whistles of other video programs.  The only caveat is the free version will only allow 15 photos, but text is unlimited.  I made a full trailer using Proshow with really excellent results! There's an app for that as well.

And the fun continues with those powerful little creatures called apps...
This is what I have in my photography folder on my iPad, and I use these for personal and educational use.  The sky's the limit on these!

Image Editing Tools
ColorBlast!Lite:  allows you to upload and create a beautifully modified picture that contains color within a black and white photo.  Post it on social media or email to yourself. It's addicting!

Instagram:  enough said.  Contains several filters to give your boring picture pizazz and pop!  When you create an account, you can also view it online but only if it's a public account.  Allows sharing and email.

Photofunia:  Take a pic and instantly make it into so many other items, including billboard signs, book pages, magazine covers, and so much more.  Also includes many filters you can use within categories. Save, email or share via social media.  This is SUPER fun!!  

Pho.to Lab:  does the same thing as Photofunia and is an excellent alternative.  Just have fun with this and the creativity and imagination will begin to flow.  

Snapseed:  The ultimate in photo editing on your iPad.  Contains many tools to edit and diversify your photo.  The best way to learn this is download and play with the image already provided.  You'll be hooked.  Hands down my favorite image editing app.

Pixlromatic: take an image, choose from the many options of filters, backgrounds and frames, and you've successfully modified it into something gorgeous!  

Video Apps
 Vine:  Got six seconds?  That's all you get with this nifty video app.  Video what's most important to you and Vine creates a collaged video worthy of sharing.  You can share or embed them as well as create your own account.  People are doing some pretty cool things with this app!

VidRhythm:  Okay, I don't use this when creating book trailers, but I had a blast creating one!  You pick the song and style, and follow the directions while recording.  The end result is, well...just see for yourself :)

Picture Collages 
Frametastic:  You decide what frames, theme and images to use, the app will put it together for you.  Simple as that.  

PicCollage: like frametastic, you can build a collage from your pics, Facebook, or camera.  Then put in some text, add stickers and your collage is done.  Even more than that, with creativity, you can make a quick infographic to send out and share.  

 
 

Recommended Apps for iPad

Through the past year I've had my iPad, I've gone through so many apps it's crazy! Okay, some of them are for fun, but I tried to keep my head in the educational field, so here's a Mindomo of the apps you can find on my device. If you know of any I'm missing, please comment with your favorite(s)! Click this link to go there directly: http://www.mindomo.com/view.htm?m=2843baedff104a268db77e45ca9a74c5
Make your own mind maps with Mindomo.