January Photo Book: Pinhole Press

I am so excited to share a look at my January photo album today! I love everything photo related and seeing our memories printed out in a bound book makes my heart go pitter-patter.  If you have been following along with me, you probably know that last year, I created a different mini album for every month of the year.  For 2016, my plan is to take a similar, but easier approach and create a bound album for every month of the year.  Taking photos and recording our days is so important to me, and without having a "plan", I most likely would only print a handful of photos throughout the year.  Creating monthly albums holds me accountable for getting my photos off of my computer and phone and into an album we can all enjoy now and for years to come.

For January, I decided to use a company I haven't used before and went with a 8x8 Lay Flat Album from Pinhole Press.  I found the uploading and "building" part of the album to be very user friendly and very easy.  All in all, it took me about two hours to complete my album (I did half of the book about mid-January and then the remaining part at the end of January).  I also love that the lay flat album allows for double spread photos, so I was very excited about the option of doing large photo spreads throughout the book.  Pinhole Press offers a variety of page layouts, as well as the option to add text and stories to your album.  I'm not the best at adding in journaling, so having the ability to include a caption, note or story during the "building" process was a win-win for me!

I finished my album on the 31st of January and as soon as I hit "buy", a few "I wish I would have...." thoughts came flying into my head (I HATE when that happens!).  One of the things I wish I would have done would be to include a collage at the end of the book of our random "phone" photos. I spent a lot of January using my DSLR, so I didn't have too many photos on my phone from this month, but I'm sure I could have created an ending collage of our memories.  I also wish I would have added some type of conclusion or ending to the book - maybe a sentence or two about my project or process, a quote, etc...  And kind of on a similar note, I'm hoping to add more photos of myself and my husband in our future albums! Next month, right???

And because I love making videos and think seeing it "in action" is better than just still photos, below is a quick flip through of my album with some of my thoughts and suggestions for using Pinhole Press! Enjoy!

Have you ever created an album using Pinhole Press?? I definitely recommend checking them out and creating your own Lay Flat Album!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!! xoxo

week in the life 2013 album & a video

i am so excited to share my 2013 week in the life album with you.  this is my third year doing week in the life, but my first year making a digital photo book with all of my photos.  i went back and forth about what i wanted to do and in the end i decided that digital was best for me.  right now, i'm overflowing in books and layouts and i love every.single.one.  but i wanted to do something different.

i looked around at all of the different options of digital photo books and i fell in love with artifact uprising as soon as i clicked on their main page.

the site is so clean and so inviting.  it took me about 45 minutes to upload and send my book to print (and nope...not being compensated with product for this review...just my honest to goodness opinions). i chose the 8.5x8.5 inch softcover book and i went with a very simple approach.  pictures and words. pictures and words.

i did a daily recap of each day and then followed that with my daily pictures.  using ali edwards daily sheets was a true lifesaver.  i left one page blank at the end of each day to go back and write notes and thoughts.  (but...knowing me and my OCD tendencies...it is highly unlikely that a pen, or even my children, will ever touch this book)

i put together a little video to show you a quick look at the book.  i felt like still photos didn't do it justice...you just have to look at to pretty music!  and just so you know...this is my very first video.  please don't judge me.  i'm apparently video-challenged.




here are a few photos of some of my favorite pages....

this photo was hands down my favorite photo of our week.  it's my week in a nut shell.  it's my week with a four-year old and a (very messy) two-year old.  it's my week as a momma.  it's what i do.  it's my life.  

so...what do you think??  i just love it!  and i love that it's all done and safely sitting waaaay up high on a shelf (i know, i know...i'm supposed to share).

tomorrow i will share how i incorporated this week into my project life album.  i originally just planned to skip over this week, but.....i just couldn't do it.  i kept it pretty simple, though!!  

thanks so much for stopping by!! 

see you tomorrow!