shutterfly

If you can't walk out the door without your camera...it's not long before you have more photos than you know what to do with!
I have bookshelves full of albums...boxes overflowing with prints...shelves of slide reels...and oodles of home-grown VHS tapes. With the advent of digital...I have been taking photos non-stop. The question is always...what do I do with them?

I found the answer..I found Shutterfly. A few years ago, I began uploading my photos to Shutterfly. Not only do they have excellent quality pictures...they have unlimited storage on their site. Once I have pictures uploaded...I order whatever prints I want...share the album on-line with anyone else who might be interested in ordering pictures...and the album will never disappear.

They have many wonderful features, but I'll just tell you of a few. I have made quite a number of photo books...it's a quick alternative to scrapbooking. Although I have done a little scrapbooking...and have supplies to do a whole lot more...it just never seems to happen! I have made books as birthday gifts...

...and have also ordered photo books of our last several several vacations. They are great coffee table books...and they don't take up a lot of storage space.

I put together an album of my dad's life story for his 85th birthday. He had handwritten about 50 pages of his family history and life happenings and asked me to type it up for him. Rather than returning it as a manuscript, I found pictures to go along with his story and presented him with a book. Dad was thrilled to have it in print...and we as a family each got our own copy.

Another item that I've had fun with, is their brag book. Rather than sticking photos in one of those inexpensive plastic folders, I made up a little album of some of my favorite pictures of the grandkids, and ordered the leather wallet to go with it.

It's perfect to carry in a purse...and the album can be removed and replaced whenever it needs updating.

I've quite enjoyed making up photobooks on Shutterfly...and recently made one which includes some of my favorite scenery pictures from around our neighbourhood.

Mt. Cheam...my view every morning from the front porch is featured on the cover. (I had intentions of letting you look through an on-line copy of the book, but I can't seem to link to it.) I'll be packing up a copy to send to someone who stops by My Front Porch on occasion and left me a comment this week.

And the winner of my 'one-year-blogiversary' giveaway is....

...Kath (someone I know as Kathryn). Kathryn lives in another little piece of paradise (so I hear) and has a private blog, where I learn all about life on the beach in Australia! Kathyrn just happens to be my niece and used to spend a lot of time in our home...even came on a house boating adventure with us many years ago. She married the love of her life and followed him to the ends of the earth...and so our paths don't cross too often these days. Hey, I'd love to send you a package of a few things that will remind you of 'home', Kathryn...it's in the mail (almost)!

Thanks to all of you who left me comments and sent me e-mails this week. It was so good to hear from you all...some who I had no idea were visiting me on my blog. I feel like many of us are on a journey together, and company makes the trip so much more interesting. And so ends my first year of blogging...and we'll see what the next year brings!