Now that 2016 is long behind us, and I am now on maternity leave, waiting for this little bundle of joy to join us, I am playing catch up on craft projects and blogging. It was a pretty hectic end to last year with study, work and dealing with pregnancy, but we got there. I can say that after 3 days off work, I am already feeling lost. I live for my work routine and I am missing it. I know that new routines will be formed in good time, but for now sitting in limbo will have to do... Time to focus on getting crafty projects up to date!
Lets flash back to Christmas. My in-laws do a Kris Kringle for the adult gifts, and I drew my lovely mother in law, who is also a creative type. This always gives the chance to make something and know that it is definitely appreciated.
With our little one on the way, and knowing this was the last Christmas before the grand kids number was to grow by another one, I wanted to pull together an album that can be added to each year. It has become a bit of a tradition each year prior to the kids being able to open presents at Christmas, that I take a group photo of them all. This gives the adults a chance to make sure that everything is all ready to go without the kids in the way. There have been many years where there is at least one child that has protested the photo, but with presents being the outcome, they usually oblige when they realise that all it takes is one good photo and they are right to go.
This annual photo is simply a moment in time, every 12 months, where we can see how much the kids have grown. The main issue is that they have been sitting on my computer being lost in the world of digital storage, something I know we are all guilty of. Having this chance to pull them out and actual use them for a project was exciting. A mini album was the final decision for this gift.
I went with a 4x4 Instagram album, which I picked up from my local Spotlight on sale when they were moving. The book plate on the spine was the only alteration done to the cover.
I wanted to keep this album simple and about the photos. So to keep it exactly like that, I pulled a pocket from another album and stuck it inside the front cover. I find that when I gift something like this, and you leave room for others to journal their thoughts, the journaling doesn't happen. So to eliminate this issue, the only journaling is on the tags in this pocket, which I filled in.
My very first Christmas with my in-laws was 2007, and the first time I met most of them. My hubby and I had only been dating for a couple of weeks, so there is no photo from that year. The album needed to start somewhere though, so 2008 it was. The first photo that I have of all of the kids together.
By 2009 there was another addition to the family, but this year I didn't get a picture of all the kids together. With this being the case, I just had to go with what I had, and this was a candid shot of the kids putting on a 'Christmas show' for us.
Some photos were able to be resized from landscape to square for a change.
As of 2011, there was now 6 gorgeous kids. While trying to keep a lot of things flat, some texture is needed. This was added throughout the album with flair, thickers, chipboard, wood veneer and enamel dots.
2012 was a bit of a different Christmas and I don't have a single photo with all of the kids in it (one of the them cracked it big time and wasn't in any of the photos). With this being the case, I found a photo of all the kids with my mother in law (the recipient of this gift) on her birthday. Its not the same time of year as the other photos, but works in just fine.
The background papers were pulled from a couple of different ranges, all of which were used to compliment the colours in the photos. Its also a great way to use stickers and die cuts.
Seeing tags and tabs sticking out the top of the sleeves from other pages adds an extra dimension to the album. Some pages are also best kept simple and not overloaded.
This isn't a project that needs to be over thought to be thoughtful. One of the best parts of this is that the pictures are no longer lost on digital storage, and it makes a great little creative brag book for a wonderful Nanna.
One thing I should have thought more about was turning a few more of the pictures black and white. But as it is ongoing there is time to work these in over time.
The beauty of this album is that every year we can add to this and keep it going.
It was a decision made early on that the photo would sit on the right side of the layout so that when people are flicking through it, they don't miss the point to the album.
Thanks for calling past, and here is hoping that I can get more craft and blogging done in the next little while, rather than hit and miss like it has been the last little while.
