If I had time for a hobby -- digital scrapbooking (or more accurately, album design) would be it. Every year my list has included designing our family's year in review book. (I'm behind 6 years -- but I have made my share of wedding albums and smaller books as gifts.) There is something satisfying about seeing one's digital images bound and in print form.
In early January an e-mail popped up in my box. From the Adoptive Families editors, it requested samples of various books parents had made documenting their child's entrance into their forever families. Of course I had more important things to do (a-hem), but on a whim I pulled out Reni's adoption book and snapped some images and e-mailed a few low-res pics away.
A couple of weeks into our travels south I got an e-mail request for reprint permission and the hi-res files! Problem was, I had copied the files onto my desktop back in Illinois... then I had the thought to look through my memory cards and found the originals there! I sent those off and didn't hear a word whether or not they would be used, until a month later when I was on my way to the airport to go to Albania when my friend Amy texts me.
"Just got our Adoptive Families magazine and Essie yelled, 'It's Reni!'"
Her text was accompanied by a pic of the page spread.
When I came home, there was a copy of the latest issue in my mailbox where I could read the article in its entirety. It gives a lot of practical advice for parents on everything from the types of photos to take on an adoption trip, to software programs for photo editing and book design, to publishing/binding manufacturers.
For those of you interested, I design my photo books in a software called FotoFusion (which I also use for the collages you frequently see here). I can't say enough how much I love this intuitive software which I use for everything from albums to postcards to collage prints, posters, invitations, and more. For publishing my photobooks and albums, some of my favorite companies include Shutterfly (for economy),White House Custom Color (medium to high quality), and Zookbinders (high quality to heirloom albums).
If you are curious to see the books I created for both children's adoption trips, click on the links below:
Reni's Book
Ellie's Book
If you are an adoptive family -- I know it's a lot of work to create something like this. I'm so glad we did because in the early months looking at their books, it was interesting to see what images triggered memories for Ellie and Reni. Now, when we look at their books, different photos will unexpectedly lead to stories about our trip or their life before being in our family -- it's an excellent conversation starter (especially for Ellie) whenever she has questions about her adoption.
Thanks, Adoptive Families, for including us in your article! What a special treat to be featured in a national publication!
2 comments:
WOW! You should put these together for families professionally! :) Would be a great fundraiser.
(and congrats, btw. That's SO awesome. You're amazing.)
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