warning to grammie … do not read this if you want your christmas gift to be a total surprise. lol! i know the other grandma's don't read here … so i don't have to worry about them.
this year i decided on my annual mini album idea at the last minute … less than a week ago, actually. i usually go through and pick a handful of my favorite photos from the past year … and work them into some sort of album. last year, i did 4×4 albums … you can see a little bit of them HERE. and the year before, i did 6×6 albums … you can see a little bit of those HERE. this year i figured i'd do a 6×6 again … i like that size for gift albums. and this year, i wanted to include a lot more photos. and when it comes to these albums … i always make a point to use the things i have on hand. it's a great chance to use up things you have that just havn't found their way onto your projects yet.
i started by plugging in my external hard drive … and finding all the photos i wanted to use. i made a folder on my laptop … and just started copying the photos into there. i went month by month … picking out my favorites. then once i had gone through the entire year … i started organizing the ones i choose (and un-choosing some too). in my folder on the laptop … i started making more folders. a folder for every 2 pages in the album. not in any special order … i'll work that out later. but that way i could keep track of how many pages i was doing and narrow things down. i would simply group the photos (4-6 photos for every 2 pages) and move them into the folders. i ended up with 16 folders … so 32 pages.
then i would pull up a folder at a time in photoshop. i knew i wanted to print most of the photos at 2×3 inches. that way, i could fit 3 photos across the page. side by side, 3 photos would be 6 inches wide. i just cropped the photos to 2×3 .. and then lined them up on a 4×6 canvas. it helped working with each folder one at a time … that way i wasn't looking through so many photos at once and trying to remember which photos i had done already. i did print some photos at 3×4 … you can fit 2 of those side by side on a 4×6 canvas. as i did each one … i saved them in a totally seperate folder. when i was done with all of them … i uploaded that entire folder to costco and ordered them as 4×6 photos. i'm doing 4 albums total … we have 3 grandma's and then i figured i might as well make one for myself too. so i ordered 4 of each. and the next morning … they were all ready.
once i trimmed off the top and bottom … they looked like this. a 3×6 strip of three photos. is it not the most beautiful thing ever?!?! i love my 2×3's … i use them all the time. but i usually print them out myself. loved the idea of creating these myself on a blank canvas and then just ordering them for 13 cents each. we just recently got a costco about 3 minutes from us (before, the closest one was about 15 minutes from us) … and i'm loving how my pics turn out. that photo department lady … she's my newest BFF!
so now i have all my photos trimmed and ready to go. i decided on white cardstock for the base of my pages. i had a 60 sheet pack of american crafts cardstock that i got last weekend for only $6 … i so wish i had bought more packs. i use white on everything! my only complaint??? you would think that if you had a 12×12 sheet of paper … and you cut it into 6×6 pieces … that they'd all be the same size. right?!?! not the case … and it's something i'll never understand. lol! i'm very anal and careful about my trimming … i use rulers on everything i do. and i put that paper on the exact same spot to cut each time. and yet, all my squares are different sizes. it kills the perfectionist in me. anyways … i have 32 sheets of white cardstock all cut up and ready to adhere the photos. then i'll pick out a small amount of pattern paper or embossed cardstock … not sure yet.
so that's my process so far. i do these assembly-line style … since i'm making several at once. tomorrow, i'll adhere all the photos to the cardstock. i keep these albums super simple … since i'm making a few of them. i'm sure you can tell that from the previous albums i've done! and i'll share more of my steps once i get them done!
and just a note … i've been having some problems with typepad with comments and stuff. and i've noticed it when i try and comment on other people's blogs too … so i know it's not just me. so if i havn't responded to you … or answered any questions … it could be because i havn't seen your comment. i'm trying to remember to check my blog for those that i've missed … but my memory fails me at times too. so please feel free to email me if i've missed anything!
Laura Vegas 
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