Vacation Photo overload?

You just got back from a great Vacation at Yellowstone Park, or a weekend getaway at the beach or a week stay at Walt Disney World, what do you do with those 1000+ photos you took?

1. leave on the camera memory card
2. upload to your computer...for no one to see
3. print them at Target and keep in an envelope
4. share on Face Book

OR how about PRESERVE those Memories! You don't need to be an avid Scrapbooker or Computer Whiz to be able to preserve and showcase your photos. Here are some fun, simple and unique ways to do just that.

First, get the photos off the camera and onto your computer. I love using Google's Picasa. It a free program you can download to your computer to store, edit, print and more.

Second, look through them. I mean spend some time and pick out those favorite shots of your daughter in the pool, or your Mom riding horseback, etc...you know the shots. You don't NEED to scrap or print EVERY picture you took, that's just took much work.

Third, once you have your top selection of photo memories figured out, its time to do something with them. here are some ideas I have done.

mini "one picture" books

These are my favorite little timeline books, you can do this from annual vacation getaways to school pictures or birthdays, the possibilities are endless!

 

this is my Disney salute to NY book

Each time my husband and I go to Walt Disney World in FL, we take a picture in the same spot with the NY backdrop behind us.

 

 

 

Keepsake Albums

 

 

If you took a special trip, a once in a lifetime trip, like a friend of mine did to Walt Disney World you can create a custom Keepsake Album.

 

 

 

I created this book for her family with a large spiral chipboard album

 

 

 

Collage Photo Page

 

Maybe you have a lot of favorite photos, so using the collage maker through Picasa you can put them all together in one "big" picture. Add into to a piece of scrapbooking paper or card stock and then you can frame it and display or create a special album of all these great collages.

 

 

 

this I made for a sweet friend of mine after we had a fun filled weekend at WDW

 

 

 

4 x 6 Pictures with Journal cards

 

 

There are so many quick and easy products available now at your local craft store to big chains like Target. Buy a Photo quality 12 x12 album and the 6 slot 4 x 6 refill pages and you could put together a whole album in less than a day!

 

 







 

This is an example of just that. I like to use these pages mixed within my traditional albums. I slide in the photos and then use pre cut cardstock and stickers and add story behind the pictures. Very easy!

 

 

 

A digital photo book from a website, such as Shutterfly or Snapfish.

 

 

The picture of the album below is similar but was made using a digital photo maker through Disney's PhotoPass website. These type of albums are so quick and easy to do now. For the Traditional sites, you can just upload your selected photos, pick your theme and let "it" create the book for you. My Mother does this all the time.

 

 

 

 

iPhoto book

 

It seems just about everyone is snapping photos off their iphone or ipad nowadays, including on Vacations. Besides just sharing them on Face Book or Twitter why not use a great new app called Simple Prints. You select photos off your idevice, place on the page, and order, Cant get any easier!

 

 

You can even personalize the pages after you receive your book in the mail.  Add some stickers and other embellishments. PERFECT!

 

 

Another mixed media in digital scrapbooking can be done through Mixed Book.

 

Although I have not personally done these, I've heard it is quite easy and fun and you can purchase themed packs (including Disney) to make the pages even more unique. The pictures below were made by a fellow Disney Fan Erica B.

 

 

 

Traditional Scrapbooking

 

This is probably the most time consuming of all of these ideas, but alas my favorite. I truly love the feel of paper and adding my photos in unique patterns and layouts, then adding all the little pizazz.

 

 

a souvenir collage

 

simple use of space and design

 

play on the scene in the title "beach"

 

Postcards as journal spaces

 

In case you think I go nowhere but WDW...here are a few pages from other vacations to the Atlanta area and the beach.

 

 The top photo is an example of a souvenir collage. You know all that stuff you pick up along the way, now you slap it down on a piece of paper and add it to your photo album.

 

The second two just showcase simple to a little more flair of the use of simple embellishments, clever title letters and basic photo layouts is really all you need.

 

The last photo shows a great way to close an album. This layout is the closing page to a Myrtle Beach Family vacation we took back in 2003 with my parents and sister's family. I had each person write down their favorite memories on some purchased postcards and attached them in the book.

 

 

I truly hope some of these ideas have inspired you, to get those photos out of that envelope or upload to print and find a way that preserves your vacations memories!

 

Coming next in this series (why not, huh?) is Vacation Photos preserved as a display! stay tuned

 

 

 

happy memory making, preserving, and crafting! Thanks for reading, Julie

 







from this to that...

I love taking an item and re-purposing it into a treasure like an empty canning jar into a Disney savings bank OR taking a plain cardboard spiral and creating a memory keepsake...

I think it is so fun to take an order item or even plain crafting items to design and create some fun, creative keepsakes. My latest trip into my scrapbook room I finished up some pages in my WDW 3 trip album:







This layout spread was all about me...my first solo trip to WDW w/out my family was full of childlike joy and so many wonderful memories made w/ the ladies I traveled with. Each of us had a special color that represented us as we write about our adventures on the DISboards...mine was obviously green! I had fun mixing and blending different greens and patterns for this layout.

My DIS name is Mouse Scrapper or Scrappie for short...and it was an adventure!











the last layout of the spread includes some of my favorite pictures and memories from the trip...like hanging out w/ my special bud Amy, drinking grey goose slushies w/ the ladies and so much more....
The final addition to the Spectrum Mom's part of this album was to add a 4 x 6 insert page. I included 6 pictures and the stories behind some of the funnier moments of our trip.








this type of page is a great addition to a scrapbook to add a new element and a quick easy way to add some more pictures!

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Now back to my original concept for this post creating something from this:




to that:





Another one of my Disney timeline series...this book for my middle daughter Rachel and her favorite ride The Peoplemover...













I love these little books. They are so simple to make and create such a lasting memory as you can add a new picture in after each trip!

I now have 5 books total (with one more to create for my youngest daughter) they have been down in my scrapbook room and I wanted something to put them in to keep them together and allow people to look through them all. I found a cute little mesh basket in the dollar bins at Target (in lime green of course) added a tag made from cardboard and here you go:









ENJOY :-)

Julie

April snow showers?

Where is Spring I ask? not sure it has made it's way to the Midwest or northern states yet...despite the dreary skies and cold weather that seems to keep sticking around I have been busy not just w/ my Scrapping :(

But luckily I found some time last week to get some things done! My grand to-do list is slowly getting checked off. I finally finished up the pages in my daughter Rachel's album so she is up to date through age 3....LOL she'll be 9 later this yr. Here is a peek at one of the pages:

Easter from 2006



I used my pretty standby background design of a nice color paper and a contrasting color/patter ripped piece. Plus added a few stickers and a title made from my Cricut.

I also finished 4 quick goals for April and added in the pictures for my "Timeline" Disney books. I love these little books! It is fun to look back at the pictures each time I add a new picture in.

The Kids AK book:


NY backdrop book:


Nathan's Zurg years:


Rebekah's golden carousel book:



I plan to create and get caught up to our last trip for each of the little girls soon too. Well that is it for now. But I hope in next few weeks I'll have some more time to get scrappin regularly and have more fun things to share.

Julie

June has been good...

editing note...not sure why my size and other edits are not all transferring over...will try and fix again later...

well at least 1 day....I had an amazing surge of creative juices flowing the other day as I finished up and started several projects. It was so great to get downstairs and clean up a few things that found their way into my scrapping room and have some fun semi-non interrupted and non time constricted work done.

I have completed the beginnings of two more Disney timeline books. As you may recall sort of by accident and some on purpose, my husband and I love to take a few pictures of ourselves and our kids together and separately during each WDW trip...it occured to me I should not only take those pictures for fun but showcase them in a special way...hence starting my Time line series....

I'm trying to take the picture at the same location in the Disney parks...but you could use any grouping of pictures from several trips to show your love for Disney (or any travel) and/or how you have changed/grown...

I have "the Zurg years" for my son Nathan, "destination NYC c/o Disney" for my husband and I, and now I have ready to "golden carrousel" for my daughter Bekah and "the ________ kids take on Disney's Animal Kingdom" for the pictures of our kids in front of the Welcome sign outside AK.

Each book is made from a spiral bound chipboard album, covered w/ decorative scrapbooking papers and embellishments...I include one main journal page at the front and then plan to add a new picture after each trip...

Here is a look at the latest two books:







[IMG]http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/Dizmama5/Julies%20Mickey%20Memories/110_5950.jpg[/IMG]






You can see all the pages done for each book by clicking on the sample album link in the side column....

Other things I created were two more framable layouts of my children...

I did a frame for my daughter Rachel and for my son Nathan (I have Rebekah's already done) I still need to do my youngest daughter and then one for my husband and I then I will hang them up in my scrapbooking room!

this is a fun way to capture each of my children and what I love and admire about each of them at this certain point in their young lives...plus fun to frame a bit of scrapbooking!

take a look:






Lastly in my creative splurge was to almost finish a very belated Father's Day gift for my husband a cute little chipboard album on a link chain...showcasing various pictures of him and our children...I just need to print and add a few more recent shots.

It is 8 little pages covered doubled sided in cardstock. I added 1 picture per side w/ the exception of one side I will do a journal/message, as well a small embellishment and a little note like "Disney Dad"...I really hope he likes it.

Take a peek at a few of the pages and once again you can view the whole book in the sample photo album link....









Happy creating....

Julie