A new year always sparks new possibilities. I love thinking of how i want to tackle the year and all the things I want to achieve creatively. This year, I'll be taking a much more relaxed approach to memory keeping. While I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Project Life books from last year, they were a lot of work. Not that they took a large amount of time to create, but mentally, they were a lot of work. Most months I struggled with what size and type of album I wanted to create...did I want to use lots of journaling cards, create my own cover, etc... mentally it was just exhausting. I love each and every one of my books, but my OCD personality needs a big break this year!
But I couldn't imagine NOT documenting this year in some fashion. I thought about it for a hot second, but it just didn't feel right. There are so many stories and memories that I would have forgotten if I had not kept up with Project Life or traditional layouts. So many photos would be sitting on my computer had I not had a plan and a focus for memory keeping.
For 2016, I plan to use Ali Edwards' Story Kits as my platform for memory keeping. I'm the worlds worst at storytelling and her kits really do "spark" a story for me. I love that they have a monthly theme, so I'll be using the theme to tell some story of that month. Some months might have more than one story, but my goal is to do at least one story. They will likely consist of mostly words and photos (as in the two projects above). I'm keeping it simple this year!
I also planning on printing monthly photo books through various companies. I take a TON of photos and my biggest fear is that these photos will just sit on my computer and phone. so just like last year, I'll have monthly books, just in a simplified format. Photo books are quick and easy, and I actually really enjoy creating them, so I'm pretty excited about that!! (and p.s. - if you have a favorite photo book company, leave me a note in the comments and I'll check them out! i'm needing 12 different companies.)
I'm sure I'll sprinkle in a few additional projects throughout the year, but these are my two core memory keeping projects! I'm looking forward to enjoying the process and letting the stories speak for themselves!
So what about you?? What's your memory keeping plan for this year??
Personally I really like Shutterfly for quick and easy photo books, although I know there is probably better quality out there. I also want to focus more on stories and hope to create at least 2 pages per month. These pages will be my "Project Life" layouts. Other than that, just have fun and not be so serious about it all and just enjoy what I'm doing!
ReplyDeleteI'm taking a much more relaxed approach this year and making a sort of smash book of my planner - I'm already loving the mixture of notes, kiddy pics, photos and pretty embellishments x
ReplyDeleteCheck out chatbooks. They have super cute books and you can link to Instagram or your iPhone favourites.
ReplyDeleteLove mpix books!
ReplyDeleteLove mpix books!
ReplyDeleteI am giddy that I was able to stay as up to date as I did this past year combining pocket pages w/traditional 12x12s, so that is my plan for 2016 & I hope to complete 2014 in the same fashion in between working on my 2016 pages.
ReplyDeleteI understand Adoramapix to be one of the best but have not used them myself. Check out this blog post for some written and visual comparisons of 12 different companies (a bit dated info).
ReplyDeletehttps://thedailydigi.com/12-different-photobook-printer-reviews
Love your simpler plan for 2016 and attempting something similar. Thank you!
Just learned about and listened to you on Tracie Claiborne's podcast and was intrigued about your idea to use a different book company for each month. I subscribed to your blog because I really hope you will talk about the ease of layout for each company and how you like the print quality. Have you heard of the blog "Photobook Girl"? She has more current book reviews.
ReplyDeleteI've used Adorama before and liked the image quality, but didn't love using their layout software and also had pages stick together several months after the fact. Other than them, I have continued to print books through Aperture 3 as long as it continues to function because I like being able to lay them out however I want and edit the photos during the process.