Personal projects!

I usually have a LOT of personal projects going on… in my head!

I want to really decorate my house.. with a cohesive theme in mind or at least make it all flow together and look decorated!  I have even enlisted my good friend Elizabeth to help me on this front (she’s a genius at decorated and within a limited budget… like a 2.00 budget!)  But that has yet to happen.

I want to paint a chalkboard wall in Linc’s playroom but that requires me to actually frame in some plywood or something like that because we have textured walls.  Who wants to draw with chalkboard on a bumpy wall… procrastination excuse HEY HEY!

I want to clean ALL my cabinets and organize them… especially my tubberware cabinet.. good gosh can we say erupting volcano each time THOSE doors are opened!

But in all my procrastination and lists of projects that will probably forever stay in my head;  I do have to stay I am pretty good about my personal projects that involve the photographs of my family!

My house is crazily decorated with prints of our moments; and I am constantly changing them out!  I have old antique windows where the glass has the images painted right on.  I have countless numbers of framed prints and several gallery walls!  My orders from my print lab just for personal use come in at least once a month!

But I think my most favorite personal project that I have completed and have started working on again is the year album I made for Linc.  I know I’ve blogged about this before, but I think it’s something that is truly worth blogging about again!

For Linc’s first year I created a leather bound album of each month.  I wanted to be able to look back and see every subtle change.  I wanted to remember everything about his exciting adventures!  I not only filled the pages with pictures but I wrote a letter to Linc describing what he was like, what he was doing and any special memories I had or feelings I was feeling!  There are some pages in his first year book that are extra special and have nothing to do with his monthly growth.  They were just extra special days we had… like his first snow day, our swim class we took together, or even how he always would nap on our laps with his bottom up in the air and one sock lost!

This album has become such a cherished item in our house!  Linc ADORES it and reads it several times a day.  He likes to kiss the pictures that have mommy and especially daddy right now!  He likes to linger on certain pages longer than others and he gets so excited when he reaches the end and see’s a whole page of JUST pictures of himself in tiny thumbnails!

This little personal project I had last year is just so beloved that I decided to do it again for his second year.  This is a way for me to remember him just the way he is in this exact moment forever and ever!  It’s a way for me to tell his story so that years from now when he can’t remember these days, he will know how he became the man he is!

These are my letters to him!

For those of you that have children, I can not begin to tell you how much FUN this is!  The process of creating the pages is FUN!  Receiving the finished product and then getting to read them with your children is FUN!  You can go online and get the templates to help you create these books and it’s really easy! You can put as much as you want into them!

For my photographer friends… this is something I am now offering my clients!  I loved my albums as a bride and now I love my albums as a mom!  I think for those of you that are working with families almost exclusively like I am.. this is a way to take the albums in the next step!  Offer a year package and create an album for your families… have them write down their most beloved memories and transfer them into bound books!  What a fantastic gift for that family!

Here are a few samples of Linc’s second year book!  I thought he grew by leaps and bounds each month his first year;  but let me tell you… this second year is INCREDIBLE!  Every single day he changes!  He learns more, says more, does more and becomes more independent!  I feel like I can’t document enough!  I want to savor every second!

Template was one I purchased initially and then adjusted to fit my own!  I use a few different book companies when I print depending on whether I want a leather bound book, hard cover portrait or just one for Linc to have!