And I quote…

Over the course of planning for the Oscraps Designer Spotlight, I was constantly thinking of all the things my son has said over the years that I really want to preserve. He’s a HUGE fan of his scrapbook albums. I keep them stacked in one of the shelves of our entertainment center in the living room and whenever he lays on the floor to watch a movie or television show with me he inevitably pulls them out and flips through them. I love it when I glance down there and see him engrossed in the pages, reading the words I’ve written to him.

Liz is already a pro at photo book creation, she’s made several and detailed the process on her blog. She’s done guest blog posts and PDS appearances about creating photo books. Me? Not so much. But I was determined to try and I’m so glad that I did. Tom and I brainstormed some of our favorite “nicholas-isms” over the past 10 years, then I created a dual-page layout for each one. A few of my favorites (click to see larger versions):

When I was done I uploaded them to Blurb.com and made a softcover photobook. It’s supposed to ship tomorrow, and I’m bouncing off the walls waiting for it to arrive. I can’t wait for Nicholas to get his hands on it.

I think I’m officially a photo book junkie now. I used to scrap 300+ pages a year which made the logistics of a photo book seem like a nightmare to me, because I didn’t scrap in chronological order and I’m a bit of a commitment-phobe when the idea of BINDING them into a book comes into play. But now that I scrap fewer (but more meaningful) pages, the idea doesn’t scare me as much. And on this project I just wanted to keep things simple – deciding ahead of time that I’d just do 10 favorites and minimal embellishment so that the photos and words were the focus. That was the key for me.