38 February Challenge: Project Photography {step 3 - organize prints}

Now that all of our digital files are organized {OK, mine really aren't still, I am giving myself until the end of 2011 at this rate}, it's time to figure out what to do with all those candid moments!

Many of you have asked me if I am a scrapbooker.  Honestly, I used to be.  But I found that I could never keep up and I would fall further and further behind and get sad that I wasn't doing a good job preserving my kiddos memories.  Sure, I had boatloads of digital files, but to print them and then strategically place them in crafty albums took me forever.  No joke, I would go to scrap parties and gatherings and for every 4 pages my girlfriends would get done, I would maybe complete one.  I am too much of a perfectionist for my own good.  I drive myself crazy....

So I needed a new plan.  I also always wanted to give scrapbooks to grandparents each holiday season, but I couldn't even keep up on my own, how was I going to make extras every year.  That's when I was ecstatic to find that you could use photo printing companies to create a memory book.  So that's what I started doing each and every year....

I really liked that these were nicely bound books and that I could create boatloads of colorful pages in any layout that I wanted!  Here is an example of some of the pages from one of my previous years books:

You can choose your backgrounds, layouts, photos and fonts... all to tell a story.  I like to tell a story of our entire year, and squeeze as much as I can in one little book!  Then, I order three copies, one for us, one for each set of grandparents.  {You can get them from just about anywhere that prints photos}  Each year I tell myself to be better about organizing my digital files to make the book building process easier... as I spend almost an entire day at the end of the year to get these done in time for Christmas....  THIS IS THE YEAR!

So that's what I had been doing up 'til now.  Then last year after I got my DSLR, I realized I was taking pictures daily.  And I started uploading to my facebook a "Picture of the Day".  Here I thought it would be a great idea for me to capture a moment a day that I wanted to remember, because there definitely is a moment in each day worth remembering.  Little did I know that I was joining into a fad!  Who knew?  Then things got even better.  I started reading one of my most FAVORITE blogs, Super Organiser Mum, who had a little project called, "Project Life" that she worked on.  I had to learn more.  I was in LOOOOVE!

I put two and two together and realized that since I am already taking a photo a day, and I loved the Project Life concept, that it was the perfect idea for 2011.  It's a great way for me to document our daily lives through my passion of photography, while hopefully watching my skills with my camera increase throughout the year as well.  Perfect!  And I love that Project Life is an organizers dream and each day/photo can be journaled about.  No moment would go forgotten from now on!

So I ordered my kit through Amazon, and when it arrived, I was SO GRATEFUL for Jade's step by step on how to organize the kit.  I followed it almost to a T.  I spent a couple of hours one day, setting up my entire book!

 The kit comes with boxes of journaling cards....

And a date stamper!  I just need to snag some ink!

I spread them out all over the table and filled in each and every page in the book!

So now, the rest of the year should just consist of printing out the photos, and filling out the journaling cards!  And I love that it even came with decorative dividers for each month!

As much as the binder received with the kit was adorable, I switched it out for a plain green one instead.  For a couple reasons.  It matched my decor and I plan to keep this baby out on display.  And because I like that the new album had a place to title the cover....

I just used Microsoft Excel to create the cover title page....

The very first week of February, I had all my photos from January printed and got to work on the book!

This is what my table looks like on Project Life day.... all my supplies right at hand....

My stack of photos:

Extra journaling cards for "just in case" or to add additional info, and some double stick tape:

A vase of Sharpie pens:

A cup of sweetness...

My laptop {I use it to reference a calendar and to look at the "Picture a Day" on my facebook page, so that I can easily remember the order and a little about each event}:

I also use the stickers provided with the kit, to label the journaling cards with the specific day of the week:

Having everything laid out and right in arms reach made the rest of the project easy and fun!  I used the recommended cards for the cover page:

And then filled out the journaling cards {like photo captions}, with my Sharpie pens... I typically don't adore my handwriting, but when it comes to projects like these, I make an exception because it is one more piece of us and it's authentic.

Once the cards are filled out and the pictures are placed in their slots, the pages tell the stories of our days!

A couple of extra things:

• I created a special folder on my external hard drive for my "Photo a Day" {Organized by Photo a Day -> Month}.  When I pick the picture to upload to my facebook page, I place them in that folder so when I go to print them, I can just select all for that month.
• I plan to update my project life album one weekend a month, this is much more attainable for me than my scrapbooking days.
• I will most likely still create a memory book for the grandparents each year, however, going forward, hopefully it won't take so long because I will have all my digital photos organized!

So that's how I plan to print and share our photos this year!  Now it's your turn to share your plan!  Scrapbook-aholic?  Regular photo albums?  Printed memory books?  Or how about a chic progressive photo journal, similar to this? {which I adore btw!}  Something I don't know about yet?  I would heart to know how you share your captured memories!

I decided a little challenge would be fun! This month we are getting all those pictures in order!  Wanna join?  Take photos and blog about your awesomeness as you go!  I am hoping to do a giant, "We did it!" celebratory post where we can all link up our picture organizing success stories at the end of the month!

Step 1:  Sort and purge those digital files
Step 2:  Organize your camera equipment