Holiday Mini book series: interior pages

Congrats to Susan D, Friday's winner of a pack of Art Warehouse holiday ribbon.  Susan, please email mjohnson@ks-usa.net with your mailing address.  Enjoy.

those are so cute! what a fab idea!

Posted by: Susan D. | December 19, 2008 at 04:40 AM

We will wrap up this holiday project with one last prize from all comments to this post for a chance to win the papers and embellishments used in this project. Prize will be drawn Tuesday morning.  Good Luck!

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PHOTOS

Adding in the photos was a lot of fun  My goal for this project was to include as many photos as I could, that were important to me, but this isn't a project where my intention was to include a lot of details and information. I was able to get 49 photos in this particular year.  Some years I had less photos, so I made them bigger and included less.  2008 I had a LOT that I wanted to include.  So you'll see I found a way to get a lot inside.

The printer I showed in my last post offers a wide range of possibilities for printing smaller images, something I use all the time.  For me, it's like looking at life in motion one clip at a time yet all played together. So I really like using these thumbnail size images when and where I can.   After printing a few photos I noticed that 2 different sizes worked really well to fit the pages of the book, and so that's what I used the most.  

For this book, I think I spent about 2 hours printing photos and 2 getting them in the book.  It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but in theory for a year's worth of Christmas images, it's worth it.  Some of the other years I had far less photos and I didn't spend as much time and the further I got in to this, the faster it went which is how it usually works for me.

I also didn't get finished with all my books.  So I will post a few more images and follow up on my blog after the holidays when things aren't so busy.

One thing I noticed in emails and comments from people  is that several people said they have very few photos of Christmas because they turn out so bad or they don't take them because they know they will be poor.   I thought maybe it would be good to share that SEVERAL of my holiday pictures are less than stellar, in fact many of them, the color is down right AWFUL!   I will admit it and it does bug me a little, however, I noticed as I looked back at my older pictures I didn't even care or think about how poor my photography skills were.   The further back I looked, the more funny I found the photos to be.  BUT they did not bother me in quality and most of them were not good photos, so for me, that says a lot about how much that really matters down the road.     I tend to see issues in my photos often, but I am learning to let go of that. 

 What I have learned through experience and time is that 10 years from now I will not care what my photography skills were, but I will care what it was that I managed to record in pictures, even in poor low light situations, for portrait style photos and for candids.  I am not opposed to putting my girls in front of the tree or standing them somewhere for a portrait because in 10 years, I will be able to remember back to that moment.   There are just times in life when a great shot doesn't present itself, candidly.  So I have no problem letting my girls and family help make that happen.  For me, that's something I will be glad I did years down the road.  

I wanted to mention that rarely take very many photos when opening presents.  I decided several years back to SKIP those photos as they all look the same to me and I found that I get nothing out of them.  Sometimes I might photograph someone opening a present that I know will get a special reaction from someone, but otherwise, I just like to enjoy the process and let go of the need to have my camera.   I usually record Christmas morning with my video camera and will get it out and position it on something to record as much of the event as I can.  I try to set this early and not make a big deal about it.  I have done this a lot at different times of the year and even I forget I started it, only to find it later with some pretty funny minutes on tape.  

On to the photos (which I have to apologize are not the best.)  I had some focusing issues it seems when shooting, but I didn't have time to reshoot.

On this next page I left a space to fill in with what gifts the girls received this Christmas.  I am going to try to include that in each book, but I realized I shot this before I finished that part.

This has been a lot of fun guest blogging here this week. After the holidays I will post more about this project and more on my blog.   Also, be sure to check there for details of an online CHAT that I am going to be hosting  after the holidays for those who would like to discuss this project and more.

Best Wishes to all of you for a very warm and wonderful holiday with those you love, filled with lots of great memories!

warm regards,

Danelle

www.danelle-johnson.com 

Comments

[Latharia]

Wow! Loving to see the interior with all the tiny photos! That is just very cool! I'll have to keep that in mind. I often have too many holiday photos. I just snap away all the time!

[pomaika`i scrapaloha]

Wonderful! It's great to see that these little photos really work. We have tons of photos from each Christmas when DS was little and this will be a super format to show them off! Thanks so much!

[Mireille]

absolutely gorgeous!!!

[Cheryl Kelly-Van Domelen]

Such a beautiful project!! Amazing!

[Michelle]

These books are fabulous! I love how you used so many photos! Thank you for sharing these!

[MelissaL88]

Thank you for sharing this project! It's been very inspiring. I'm looking forward to doing a similar project for my boys.

[Tracey]

This is such a gorgeous project!! Thanks so much for sharing!

[Sonia]

Beautiful projet!!!

[BoBo]

Great project. Now I haven't any time but I will make this books of our family for the next Xmas. I save this page for me.

[Sue]

what a great project and beautiful photos too! thanks for the inspiration. :)

[Laura Fiore]

I can't believe it's taken me till now to find this amazing project! I love it, and can't wait to get started on my own!

[cheryl yelverton]

this looks like something i could try. thanks for sharing.ms.cheryl

[EJ]

Love,love,love this project and will definitely have to do one

[Amber]

This project is amazing!! Thank you so much for the project info and inspiration!! Happy Holidays

[jan farnworth]

what a cute project.

[Holly Costello]

Wow! Love all of your fun projects! I have some birthday photos that need their own minibook!

[Sophia Allison]

What a beautiful project, well done.

[Celeste B.]

You are always so inspiring. Love the cute mini and the way you put so many photos in it.

[Stacy C.]

Love it!!! I am going to get started on one of these this week.. Thanks for the inspiration.

[Miss Natalie]

So inspirational - cant wait to start my own little mini books now.

[heather jarrett]

Love this project. I have some of these items already so I'm going to improvise. Thanks for the idea!

[Betty]

i love these papers and the mini books are cute....

[Jenny Brannies]

I love that mini book! I love how you fit so many pics in it.. I need to try that!

[Denise Groves]

This is a great project and I love seeing the inside pages... sometimes that is the hardest part... Creating the cover can be fun and easy... thank you for sharing.
Denise

[Yvette]

Wow! Whatt a great project & beautiful photos too!