If there is one object in my home that I love most, it would be my photo albums. Before Facebook and the digital age, I collected and scrap-booked so many photos. I have year books, scrapbooks of mission trips & high school camp, and piles of photos printed from Walgreens (with film!!)
You know that whole question, “if your house was about to burn down what would you save?” Well, that was my reality in 2012 with the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado Springs. I had thought about that question so long, answered it in numerous ice breaker games, and even kept all my photos in an organized space but when the fire hit and my house was evacuated, I was in the car – stuck in the traffic fleeing my neighborhood. I couldn’t go back.
With the clothes on my back I stayed a week away from my home wondering what would be left. My pictures. That is what I would miss the most. Everything else was replaceable besides those pictures.
The benefit of the digital age is that it is much easier to not lose your photos. I have years chronicled on this blog, social media filled with snapshots and Instagrams, and a phone that uploads all my pictures to Google+. It is a blessing and a curse because so often we keep our photos on our hard drives and Facebook accounts and not decorating our home or placed into scrap books.
I want to change that. To print digital scrap books and photos for frames. I want my home to look lived in, to look through photos with friends and family, and to give life to the photos I love so much.
I was thrilled when I discovered Montage Photo Books. They really are effortless and are super high quality. The only other book I had made was for our wedding, but now I want to add more simple ones – like a family vacation, a year in the life, or little everyday adventures.
Do you print out any of your photos into photo books? Have you used Montage before? What would you save from your home if it was about to burn down?
As you can probably guess… there are TONS of photo books in our house… in all varieties. Right now I'm printing photos out and using pages like We R Memory Keepers to put them in… something about the old school printed out photo is nice!
Oh my goodness. I just browsed their site and played with the sample pictures, and it's so user friendly! I love the clean, crisp lines and look. Thanks SO MUCH for sharing! I'm obsessed. 🙂
I really like how your photo book turned out! It's crazy how I have thousands of pictures of my computer but only a handful printed in my house. I've been thinking about this lately since we just took engagement pictures, and soon I'll have wedding pictures too. I definitely don't want them all to sit on the computer! I need to make a point of making books like this or printing them out to frame.
Thanks for sharing! I have the same problem: all my photos are saved on my laptop + hard disk + private Flickr but there are only photos of my childhood displayed in my house or in my albums. Such a shame!
This is SO cute beth! Also, you know I love to print me some pictures. 🙂
I love these!! I've been wanting to make a photo book lately, and I think that will be added to my goals list for this spring. Thank you for the inspiration!
Gorgeous photos OF the photos! Gosh, you're talented. There is nothing quite like seeing your work on paper, and photo books are my favorite! Already planning a "first year of marriage" one. 🙂
I've been on this kick too! I havent heard of this brand before though – only shutterfly!
Your photos and these books are so stunning! I find that I never look at pictures on my computer, and the only way I'll revisit them is if I print them as an album. Thanks for this new resource — I will definitely check out Montage.
Those books are so cool! I love that they lay down flat!!! I have tried keeping up on scrapbooking but there just aren't enough hours in a day. I think I may have to give in and start ordering books like this!