Monument to the Discoveries

Tribute to My Beloved Mother

May Day

Photos Tell a Story

Precious Moments

Capture life's precious moments with photobooks.

Easter

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday when Christians celebrate the risen Jesus Christ. Whether you believe in Jesus Christ or not, there seems to be a lot written about the man. An email I recently received sums up His life and points to the fact that maybe He did exist:

Witness to our times

Photographs can speak volumes about social change such as that caused by the Great Depression, World War II, or the Civil Rights movements. You may see some hints of history in your snapshots reflecting the changes. Lifestyles, fashions, even the appliances we use are influenced by world events. A deep understanding can develop from studying pictures of our past. A photograph fills different needs, at different times in life. There are ideas that people can never fully experience without photography. Consider organizing your photos around themes involving a major happening in our society. You might begin to see a pattern struck explaining the social behaviors of your relatives. This could be a way to document influences of social change.

A Client's Testimony

The web designer for my website is no longer available to help me change the site. I am using this blog for current events but am also adding information that might have been posted to the website. One of my first photo organizing projects was completed in June, 2007. The project was very challenging because of the distance between the client and organizer, she lives in Delaware and my business is located in Washington State. An enormous sense of relief washed over me when all of her pictures arrived safely back in her hands. Following are her words as she expressed her delightful satisfaction:

25 years worth of family photos were stored in big plastic tubs and gathering dust in the back of a closet. When Jan mentioned to me she could transform my jumble into creative and memorable photo albums, I jumped at the opportunity. Jan created stunning photo albums that captured not only the photos, but our personalities and style as well! I treasure these new albums, showing them to new family members as my grown children marry, and to my grandchildren while telling them stories of their father's childhood. The history of our family has come alive because of Jan's tremendous skill and creativity. Thanks, Jan!

To this day, I still correspond with and can relate to Kathy. I become intimately involved when working with another person's history through photos and my goal is to help her 'Stroll Down Memory Lane'!

Everyday Memories

Birthdays, anniversaries and other special occasions always find their way into our organized photo projects, but what about the simple, everyday moments in our lives? Years from now, those are the memories we'll treasure. Other things may change us but we start and end our lives with family. You could situate your photos to compare a typical day in your current life to one that happened to your ancestors, say 50 or 100 years ago. You will be able to see the differences in hair styles, clothes style, and types of activities people participated in. Some things are different, but I think you will find more similarities that will give you a sense of belonging.

Pack Rat!

Are you a pack rat like me - wanting to save everything? We have to let go of some things - otherwise our lives are so cluttered. What am I going to do with all the 'stuff' I hang onto. Well, to preserve memories of loved ones who have passed on, I have started taking snapshots of material things that I probably will never use again. I find it easier to let go when I have captured the item on film.

Hong Kong

A trip to Hong Kong was never on my radar screen of places to visit. My sister asked me to be her companion and I am glad that I had the opportunity. We took every form of transportation offered in the few short days we were there - bus, ferry, taxi, subway and yes, by foot! Amazingly, I did not see one house - most of the people live in run-down apartment high-rises. We stayed in a beautiful 5 star hotel that had at least fifty floors so we could see the entire island from above. English besides the native language is spoken and written everywhere we went so our adventures were easy to navigate.

Family Recipes

Almost every family has a treasured recipe, beloved as much for the memories it evokes of family get-togethers or a special family member, as it is for its taste. Most families have many such recipes, handed down through generations, taught to children, or squirreled away on index cards or scraps of paper. These make great additions to add in between your organized photos. You might even have pictures of loved ones actually making the dish. You could journal memories of times spent cooking and/or eating together.

Items to Include on a Recipe

* Name of the recipe
* Name of the person contributing the recipe
* Name of the person who originated the recipe (if different from the submitter)
* The history of the recipe (Where did it come from and why is it special?)
* Ingredients and quantities needed, in the order in which they appear in the directions
* Cooking directions
* Prep time and cooking time
* The number of people the recipe serves
* Any special cooking tips or advice

Winter Wonders

Snow-capped mountains, snow angels, freshly fallen snow, snowmen, a newly sculptured snow buddy . . . Are any of these captured in your photographs? How about a thrilling sledding excursion, a snowball fight, or a skiing expedition? A theme idea is evolving and photographs can be organized with this thought in mind. Delight in the winter season with choosing pictures that pay tribute to all things frosty and fun.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The love of my life is a four-legged furry friend, my beloved dog Nike! She just turned 91 this week (13 in dog years). She doesn't look that old in her picture, does she?

My Dog and His Love
He's with me 24 hours a day.
And never a word is able to say.
But he can say more with a look or two,
such as I Love You, My Whole World Is You!

As I do my chores throughout the day,
He's by my side, every step of the way.
When I stop to eat, you can bet he's there,
sitting of course, in his favorite chair.

And if some night I decide to go out.
He'll hang his head, and kinda pout.
He sits by the window, until I come home.

Sits there and waits so patiently.
Hoping to catch a glimpse of me,
can't wait till I put the key in the door.
He's barking and jumping, and barking some more.

Then as I lay me down to sleep.
He's there by my side, his vigil to keep.
And I thank the Lord, in the heaven above.
For My Best Friend, my dog, and his love!

Author Unknown

Culture

My cousin Sean shared his wedding from September 2003 DVD and I developed a few photos to put in my albums. The photographer did such a remarkable job of capturing the event that I felt I was actually there. Sean wore a kilt he had made from material shipped from Scotland and his wife Sarah wore a beautiful dress fashioned after the Scottish design.





I learned a little bit of culture in viewing these pictures which is one of the benefits of organizing photos from the past. Sean wore a white shirt and knee socks which the Scottish wear for weddings. My beloved aunt, his 'Gram', passed away last year in October, and Sean wore the traditional black shirt and dark knee socks.





The picture that brought tears to my eyes captured Sean's future in-laws in an embrace reflecting the joys of marriage. They had been married almost thirty years by the time the wedding occurred. My own beloved parents were married for 54 years before my daddy passed away in 2002. I selected this photo particularly since Valentine's Day is near and love floats in the air more at this time of the year.

Photo Storage

When first starting a job for a customer I place all the pictures in big plastic bins. After most of the photos are somewhat assembled by months and years, or whatever system you have, I begin to draw pictures to place in albums. Of course, all of the pictures will not be used, especially the ones that are duplicated or blurry. I have already touched on this topic before. The photos are kept in chronological order. As the group begins to dwindle down, I transfer the photos to photo boxes similar to the ones that are pictured here. Pictures do not ever get thrown away because the customer may have further use of them in the future. There are so many pretty boxes that I can tailor them to the personality of the customer. These and the completed albums are given to the client. I have had a few people ask why there does not seem to be more pictures. Organized projects take up so much less room so it may seem all of the photos are not there.

Stray Photos

We have been at this organization project for almost seven months now. Feeling overwhelmed? You have to realize we are dealing with years and years of pictures. If you have made it thus far, you have made quite a dent. Look back now and see how much progress you have made. I take breathers along the way to feel refreshed and maintain the desire to continue. It is a long process but it will be so worth it when you are completed. So keep plugging away - a little bit at a time. Do you think that you may have gathered most loose pictures? There will always be a stray even when you think you are done. It is amazing that there may be a perfect spot in your albums for them. I will talk next time about storage so hang onto those strays.

Christmas 2008-New Year's 2009

What a celebration! My daughter flew from Portland to meet me at Bill and LeAnn's house in Chicago. We had a snowstorm in Seattle the week before Christmas and the van was stuck in the snow the day I left. We joked that I couldn't fly to Chicago because I couldn't even get out of the driveway (that wouldn't be funny if that really happened)! We flew to Omaha to celebrate with Bill's family in Oaha, NE. I was planning to come back around New Year's and I only made it as far as Denver due to an ice storm. So . . . back to Chicago for a couple more days. That place is United Airlines' hub so it takes awhile for the schedules to straighten out when the weather plays havoc causing delays and cancelled flights. I made it to Seattle Wednesday January 7 amidst heavy rains. I was planning to pick up Nike, my dog and go home. I drove down to Tacoma to get Nike and ended up staying there by myself for three days because Chehalis was flooded and the Interstate was closed! Amidst the difficult weather, we still had an enjoyable time.

Collages

Often times, there are numerous pictures of the same person or activity such as playing in the leaves or building a snowman. I will get permission from the customer to cut the photos smaller and make a collage or place them in sequence to show the progression of the activity. More photos can be used this way.

A project might have pictures of a child for every grade they participated in school. You can use a wallet-size picture for every year, placing them in a circle around a larger baby picture or graduation picture. The larger school pictures (5x7 and 8x10's) are put into folders for other uses. Space is saved in the album and you can see how a child has changed over the years.




A collage can also be used to show the many different emotions of an individual, the growth of a flower, or the emerging of a sunrise.

Another idea I might try is sort of like a puzzle. Take a 5x7 and cut into equal, smaller squares and space a little bit apart from each other. I have seen this done with pictures on a wall so I thought it would be neat in an album. Make sure you have a negative or original before attempting this feat.