Booking It
Scrapbooking and memory-keeping takes on many different forms. One of my favorite ways to document my life is by making a photo book. You can keep is as simple as you want, or make it as fancy as you want. You can make a book of your digital layouts, or just make it a simple photos + words album. You can even make a family recipe book and print out several copies to give to family & friends as Christmas gifts. It’s totally up to you, and totally do-able!
Today I’ll show you some examples of the photo books that I’ve done.
In 2009 my husband Todd and I created a book of around 20 recipes to give to family and friends as a Christmas gift. We took photos of our meals for a few months, and picked our favorites.
I designed the cover and the inside pages myself in Photoshop. To keep it simple, the inside pages all have a photo of the dish on the left-hand side and the recipe on the right-hand side, using a template I made myself.
The book was so well-received by everyone! I even got some requests from my mother-in-law to order more copies for her friends. And that’s the beauty of a digital book: you only need to create it ONCE and it can be printed out as many times as you want, to give to as many people as you wish! 🙂
The second type of book I’ve made is a book of my digital scrapbooking layouts. I don’t worry too much about chronology, I just put a bunch of my favorite layouts that I haven’t printed out yet, and make a book with them. This is a 12×12 book.
And this is a 8×8 book. It is MUCH smaller but also easier on the budget!
Ha, looking at these makes me realize that my scrapping style has changed quite a bit since a few years ago. But that’s totally ok! I love these layouts just as much as when I first created them. I’m just glad that they are in a book for me and my family to enjoy.
The 3rd type of book I’ve done is a book documenting years of friendship between my best friend Sally and I.
Sally and I have been friends since we were 12 years old. I made this book as a birthday gift for her in 2006, which means we had been friends for over 20 years at that time. The book was chronological and started from mid-80’s when we were in junior high until now. OMG, dance recital from 1986!
Stuff we did together in our 20’s.
And in our 30’s. I loved documenting our long friendship with a photo book. It is a book that both of us will treasure now and for years to come.
And finally, I created a photo book as an anniversary gift for my parents.
I cannot look through this book without tears, because I gave this book to my parents in April 2006. My mom was diagnosed with cancer in May 2006, and she passed away in February 2007. She loved this book and looked through it many times, also showing it to all her friends who visited her during her illness.
The book started from my birth and my sister’s birth.
It spans through junior high and high school.
Through my wedding and my dad’s graduation with his PhD.
It has family get-togethers, and goes all the way until Christmas 2005.
Not all photo books have to document so much. I just made a photo book of my Instagram photos today from this year and last year.
I don’t have the book yet because I just ordered it. I will come back with a follow-up post after I’ve received my book!
And I just started a photo book about our vacation to Hawaii in December 2011. There’s a photo book function in the latest version of Adobe Lightroom (Lightroom 4). This means I can process and catalog all my photos, AND make photo books right in the same application! I will show you the photo book when it’s done, printed, and in my hot little hands!
I hope you have enjoyed taking a look at all the possibilities of a photo book, and try making one as well. I love photos + words and telling stories with my photos. My next project will be making a book from my blog posts. (After I’ve finished my Hawaii book, that is!) 🙂
Christine (listgirl)
