Wednesday, May 4, 2011

the best way to remember...

It finally arrived!  
Months after we returned from our trip to Africa...
I finally completed my Shutterfly photobook...
and picked it up yesterday. 


Of all the souvenirs from places we visit...
the photobook is always my favorite.  
It brings back the memories of the what we saw...
what we ate...
and the interesting people we met.  
And after a few months...
the names of many of the places escape me...
and so the photobook gives me all the right answers!
(And if it's not in the photobook...I go to my blog.)


We had a few safari animal pictures framed...
and they now hang on a wall in the laundry room. 



A tablerunner, wooden salad tongs, zebra napking rings...


and a carved bread basket...
were all handmade by Kenyans who use the proceeds to feed their families.  
They are all reminders of our time in Africa.



But my favorite keepsake
...is the photobook.

If you have never tried making a one...
just go give it a try.
Upload your photos...choose a style and size of book...
write as little or as much as you choose.
When you are done...
order your completed project.
Never again will you have photos lying around waiting to be put in an album!



16 comments:

  1. No, I've never tried it. However, you're making it look and sound very tempting.

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  2. Judy, we do this every year for our trips and last year produced 5 generation books for our daughters with both of our family histories. It was a lot of work but so worth it. These Shutterfly books are so beautiful.

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  3. Sure is something I would like to work on! It's such a fantastic memory book - for years to come!

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  4. Great idea! My daughter has done one. Think I'll have to give it a try...if I ever go anywhere!! :-)

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  5. It's wonderful Judy. I have to get on track and attempt one!

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  6. Oh how wonderful. I have never thought to do this. I have a huge box of photos from my childhood and our children's. It is time I got to it. I love the picture books that are in book stores. Oh, to have books of our family photos and history.
    Thank you for sharing this post.

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  7. I'd never heard of this, but it looks so professional, and would be a wonderful keepsake.

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  8. What wonderful memories - makes me want to pull out our photo albums of trips and remember all those wonderful times!

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  9. Every Africa bit that you showed made me happy. I think I would be making excuses to visit the laundry room just so I could see those great wall photos over and over again.

    I haven't yet made a butterfly book, my daughter makes them all the time. I have created a picture collection for our digital picture frame...thousands of happy moments and beautiful scenes catch my eye as I do tasks in the kitchen and remind my of the wonderful times that we have had.

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  10. My kids made me my first ever photo book for Mother's Day several years ago when iPhoto first came out with it...I bawled when I opened the book! They had put together a beautiful collection of our family photos and trips! Best Ever keepsake and it's so much nicer than old fashioned photo albums. I also have the book feature on my Aperture program on the Mac...apparently it is perfect for photographers who take RAW images. I can hardly wait to try it out and see if it is even better than iPhoto. I just have to remember to take some RAW photos instead of JPEG's all the time! LOL.

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  11. My daughter makes many of these wonderful books to remember her happy times. I should make some, also, as my photo files are beginning to bulge and I never get them printed

    Your other souvenirs are also lovely and practical!

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  12. Judy - this is such a fabulous idea. I will be in Italy for a month and will certainly look forward to making a photo book. Your photos you've shared with us are fabulous!

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  13. I agree one hundred percent. Make an album and take it with you and keep your memories alive.
    Interesting enough many of my souvenirs are laid away after awhile, but the photo albums keep coming back.
    My next photo album will The Disney Cruise...but Help, I need TIME!!!

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  14. That is just beautiful Judy. I am so happy you and Marg pointed me in this direction for saving photos.

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  15. I love your photo books, I have made a number of these for gifts, especially for our mothers who always seem to have everything they need at christmas time. I have also made some for ourselves of special events. They take up so much less space on the shelves than traditional albums

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