Photo U Recap: Albums and Storybooks
One evening a month, we, the Youngevity Photo team, gather ideas and projects to help inspire your own photo creations. Regardless if you choose to make your projects digitally with Heritage Makers and Snap2Finish, or hands-on with Our Memories for Life and AnthologyDIY, there’s truly something for everyone. The first half of our class is focused on digital projects, while the second half features our hands-on products. Each month we highlight different themes or project types, most often coordinating with needs and interests of the time of the year.
To ring in the new year we decided to help bring some inspiration to your album and storybook project endeavors, particularly family yearbooks and also personalized gift books great for Valentine’s Day.
Books can be a daunting task to even think about, especially family yearbooks. Remembering the year’s favorite moments, uploading and selecting photos, adding journaling, etc. You may find yourself asking questions like, “When did we do that again?” “Where the heck is that picture I am looking for?” “Did we honestly not take any more photos in March?” Some of these questions are bound to happen as you put together your yearbook. We want to bring as much simplicity to this process as possible. During our Photo U class this month, we highlighted some great tips and tricks to help simplify some of the process and make things a little easier for you.
Digital:
- Convert your Now and Later Calendars into yearbooks! Each year, create a new calendar using photos pertaining to each month from the previous year. Once the year is over, import your calendar cover into a blank Heritage Makers Postbound Album. Tear out the monthly pages, put it together, and bam! A yearbook! Genius? I think yes.
- Instead of creating a full year’s book, create smaller monthly or quarterly books. Consider using the softbound books for more affordability.
- Use templates! Templates in both Heritage Makers and Snap2Finish are a digital creator’s dream! Swap in your own photos and preferred colors and elements. Customize text, and you’re done! No worries about what to put where.
- Customize a Postbound Album for your traditional layouts! This gives some variety and flair to the process of storing and displaying your pages.
- Create a “condensed” yearbook version by choosing the top 10 favorite memories and events of the year, or top 10 photos and facts for each month of the year. We love this template below!
Watch the digital segment for these ideas, plus some tips and tricks!
Traditional:
- Refer to design maps and layout sketches, as well as layout samples! Not only are there layout ideas in the Youngevity Resource Center, but you can even search the internet for scrapbook layout ideas. Having visual inspiration helps lessen the stress of having to move around your papers and photos over and over.
- Print and cut out sketches and layout ideas (in small scale) to reference as you create various spreads in your albums.
- Rotate design maps! Simply rotating a design map gives a whole new look, without having to search for new inspiration. Printing design maps and sketches make it easy to do this.
- Combine supplies from different kits and brands! Use both Our Memories for Life and Anthology DIY products in the same layout and album. Mix and match Border Strips, Designer Cardstock, and Stackable Stickers from different collections! This gives a good variety and adds some new life to your albums and pages.
- Mix using neutrals with colors, and vice versa. Doing so can change the entire look of a page.
Watch the hands-on segment to see these ideas in action!
As big as your album and book projects may be or how long they take, there is one thing for sure…they are one of the most precious and memorable things to create. Not only are you creating family histories and preserving stories and life moments, but also making books for your loved ones to look back on and re-live those favorite memories for years to come.
Watch, re-watch, and share this month’s full recording of our Photo U Class for live examples and tips for creating your yearbooks and also some adorable, customized gift books for your loved ones. Be sure to join us next month for our online Photo U class on Thursday, February 15th!
– Lisa E.