How I Organize Christmas Card Photos

Does anyone else's refrigerator look like mine? 

We love Christmas correspondence and getting cards and pictures from family and friends. Pictures end up on the frig until there's no more room or I get the urge to have a tidier kitchen. 

I started a photo album with Christmas pictures we get every year. Families have their own page and every year I slip in their next picture. 

Each page has slots for two verticals and three horizontals. Some families, perhaps due to family size, favor one orientation over another. I've been known to make OCD requests like, "Everyone else is getting a horizontal shot, but could I please get a vertical one?"

After being friends with Lori from Life, Love, and Laughter in a Large Family for three years I finally gave her family their own page. Once the left page fills up, I have to start a new page. I asked Lori if she wanted to sign up for the four year or nine year plan. She opted for the longer plan. Some friends have four pages in our album! It's fun to see how their families grow and change over the years. 

On each family's spread, I include a piece of paper with:

The family's last name, 

Names of all the family members, 

Where they live, 

How we know them. 

I'm so thankful to have a streamlined way to turn this

into this

I bought my albums and refill pages from Get Smart Products (http://www.pfile.com/).  The binder format allows pages to be easily moved around. The particular album I bought is discontinued but this album will work.

Pioneer T-12JF 12X12 Sewn Leatherette 3 Ring Binder

I like either these pocket pages

MBI 4x6 Vertical / Horizontal Pocket Photo Album Refill Pages

 

 or these

Pioneer 46-VHP 4x6 Refill Pages For 12x12

These pages hold vertical, horizontal, and 

panoramic,along with space to label pictures 

My cars are usually messy and our shoes are often muddy, 

but I'm happy to say that our pictures are in order.  

Does anybody else have ideas for family pictures you receive? 

Mission Accomplished

I'm sorry for leaving the last post up so long.

My husband said last weekend, "You haven't updated your blog."

Lani asked yesterday, "Didn't  you do Monday Mugs this week?"

Last night Christina said, "Your blog needs updated." 

Talk about pressure. You'll be happy to know that I didn't have writer's block and no new emergencies popped up. I simply had my nose to the grindstone (what an awful cliche if you stop to think about it) and have been working on a digital scrapbook for the last the last nine days.

I've wanted to go to a scrapbook retreat for the last year but finances and schedules haven't cooperated. Last week I drove my four youngest daughters to my son's camp. Since it's a six hour drive, I just stayed down there all week.

Knowing my kids would be busy all day and I would have long delicious hours all to myself I pondered how to best use that time. I was so tickled to come up with....drum roll please...

My own personal scrapbook retreat.

So while Andrew and Rachel worked, and my daughters camped and rode horses, I scrapbooked and had the best time. I get a wee bit OCD with these kinds of projects so ended up working on it after returning home. I finished 25 minutes ago, just squeaking under the wire for Shutterfly's deadline.

I'm excited because I've never done a 12 x 12 digital scrapbook before due to the cost. Shutterfly had a Father's Day special for 50% off a 12 X 12 photo book which made it affordable. At least I'm hoping Keith will feel that way when I tell him I had to spend $63 to save $72.  I'm really liking a Father's Day special where I get to buy a photo book for me.  Sweet.

I've had Andrew and Rachel's wedding pictures on the computer for the last nine months and wanted to put some in an album. I made small wedding scrapbooks for the Grandmas at Christmas but wanted something for us. Shutterfly recently launched a newer, for the most part, nicer way to do digital albums.

Now that I'm done, I can blog, buy groceries, cook meals, and do housework again.. After I get a good night's sleep I'll be around to get caught up on your blogs again.

Our cars may be messy, our shoes are often muddy, the floor hasn't been mopped this month, and thanks to my husband, you know I have a messy underwear drawer, but my pictures are in order. The beauty of a scrapbook is it stays done, unlike housework which is undone almost as soon as I've finished.

If you're interested you can take a peek at the finished product.  If you see any mistakes I don't want to know about it. I'd prefer to be in denial until the book gets here. (On the options tab, you can adjust the slide show speed.)

2:30 am and all is well. Signing off for today. I mean tomorrow.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Erica's Photo Album Pt. 2

I have deadline issues and a lifelong habit of waiting until the last minute to get things done. I had a free 20 page photo album offer from Shutterfly that expired yesterday. Due to a headache, procrastination, and the logistics of running a household of 8, I only got 62 pages done when I wanted to get 100. 

I stayed up until 2:00 am this morning finishing it. One of the perks of living in Central Time is that we're 2 hours ahead of Pacific Time where Shutterfly is located. So while it was Jan. 26 here, it was still Jan. 25 there for two hours.

So for lack of anything more intelligent to post, I'm sharing my latest album. The pages start getting better about pg. 18 when Erica got a better camera.

Click here to view this photo book larger

 

Monday Mugs - Collages

Big Sigh!!! I left the power cord to my computer at a high school gym two hours from here when I watched my two youngest in a volleyball tournament Saturday. So once I do this post I'm out of juice until the cord is replaced.

I'm joining Heather of Oswald Cuties with her new meme, Monday Mugs. This week's theme is Collages. I love making collages and usually use a photo editing program called Shutterfly Studio (free download from Shutterfly.com).

This uses pictures from our last big family vacation in 2006. We spent two weeks on the west coast. I wanted to get every person in the family on the collage.

Family Pictures 2005

Andrew

Girls Group my kids belonged to. I made a copy for each family.

I made it so no one from the same family is next to each other.

I can't say enough good things about Shutterfly Studio's collage maker. I also use it to make wallet photos. Wallets usually run .40 each. I make a two picture collage, cut it in half and I have a wallet for .06.

Photo Album Strategy

Years ago I aspired to make scrapbooks for each of my seven children. A noble goal that I never came close to reaching. Christina started scrapbooking at age 14 and took responsibility for her own albums.

The other six children's albums hadn't been touched in 10 years, other than to be carried to the basement during severe summer thunderstorms or tornado warnings.

Four years ago Christina encouraged me to work on her siblings photo albums. I started with Amy and Lani because they had the shortest lives. Once their albums got caught up, I planned to work on the others.

Amy and Lani are a package deal and do most everything together, so I made their pages almost identical. This worked well but no matter how much I plugged away, I was always two years behind.

And, I still hadn't touched the other kids' albums. A year ago I decided to make the four youngest girls books alike. Usually I come up with a layout and insert on each girls' page pictures that pertain to that child.

For example, here are pages from a hiking trip we took. See how they're the same but different. (My husband makes fun of me for using that phrase).

I made the 8 X 10 collages in Shutterfly Studio,
a free download from Shutterfly.

Then made the two page spreads.
(Click on pictures if you want to see them bigger)

So now instead of being two years behind on two girl's books, I'm three years behind on four girl's books. That's progress, I think. I hope.

I finally gave up on Erica's book as I knew there was no way I'd have it done by graduation. Last month I made her a digital scrapbook on Shutterfly which takes a lot less time and isn't nearly as messy.

Now if you're good at math, you'll notice I mentioned Christina does her own album and I've worked on the youngest four. That adds up to five and I have seven kids, which means I haven't touched Andrew and Kiah's albums in 15 years. Sigh!!!!

Back to the scrapbooking grindstone. I think I can, I think I can.

Erica's Photo Album Pt. 2

Pity the poor people who walked into our house

this week, and were asked,

"Do you want to see Erica's photo album?"

This was an 8 X 10 hardcover album from Shutterfly.

Someone asked about the cost.

Costs vary by size and type of cover.

My first 20 pages were $30 and each additional page was $1.

Shipping is $6 extra. Shutterfly runs specials all the time.

Photo books are often 20 % off. I had a coupon

for a free 20 pages, caught a 20% off and free shipping

special. So this 100 page book cost $65. For all

the time and mess it saved, it was worth every penny.

Here are a few more pages.

Double-click picture to see it larger.

Few of these pages look like people's heads or feet are cut off.

It's just the upload, they aren't cut off in the real book.

Camping Trip to Palisades State Park in Garrettson, SD

Hiking two weeks later at Palisades

Another camping trip with friends

Homeschool class

Skiing at Mt. Ashwabay in Bayfield, WI

Misc. Family Shots

Take a Look See

I'm so excited. Erica's photo album came in the mail yesterday and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. I want to put the whole album on here but don't want to load 100 pages, so I'm just posting a few of my favorite pages.

I made the book on Shutterfly. It is so easy to do. Choose layout, click and drag pictures, pick a background, and label pictures. The hardest part is choosing layouts and background paper because there are so many options. These pictures here don't do the book justice. The cover is nice, the pages are nice, the color is great. I could do ads for Shutterfly.

Digital scrapbooks cost less, are less messy, and take up less room than conventional scrapbooks. I still like to do regular scrapbooks but this is fun too and has its place. Especially when you're years behind and need to get a lot done fast.

I don't know how to do the really creative digital scrapbook pages some people do. I just used the templates on Shutterfly so these pages are basic.

We have to leave shortly for a volleyball game, so I'll post a few more pages tomorrow.

So without further ado:

Field trip to a Children's museum

Valentines Tea Party

Families are like fudge: mostly sweet with a few nuts

Omaha Zoo

Lake Pajoha - Inwood, IA

Camping with friends in Brandon, SD

Kayaking on Lake Superior by Washburn, WI