Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Photo Keeper "Book"


For quite a while (several years?), I've had this idea to use 6"x9" envelopes to create a "book" to hold all the lovely photographs we get from family & friends.  Generally they arrive at Christmas time, but we do sometimes get pictures in the mail at other times of the year, so I didn't want to go with a Christmas theme.  At a local discount office supply store, I found an inexpensive package of 6.5"x9.5" envelopes that I knew would be perfect for this project.  I also knew that the new For Always paper pack was just what I had been waiting for!  I used several (retired) stamp sets and ribbon for my envelope book.
The current Dynamic Duos challenge #40 is one of the gorgeous combos in the For Always paper pack: black and Lagoon.

The envelopes are in alphabetical order by last name, and I can easily add more as time and photos permit since they are held together with book rings.  I decided to write the names myself rather than print them to save time and to keep them uniform yet personal throughout the years.
Each design is pretty flat because I was afraid that too much bulk would cause trouble down the road.  I found sketches for a few of my designs from Mojo Monday #279 (even though it's too late to officially play) and an older Mojo sketch (but I've forgotten which one)...


Retrosketches #50...

and 365 Cards Day 41 Sketch...

Almost everything is from Close To My Heart (with some retired ribbon thrown in from my stash), plus random flowers and ribbon.

This "album" or book is sure to become a family heirloom as we enjoy looking at friends' and family's photos, notes, and special cards through the years.


If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section.  Thanks so much for looking!

7 comments:

  1. What a wonderful idea. And beautiful job. Sadly we don't get many pictures from friends and family, but I think I'm going to make yearly ones and add a couple of my favorite pictures and little stories of my kids each month. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  2. What a great idea... love how you've coordinated all the papers. Many thanks for joining us at 365 Cards.

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  3. Haley, this is the COOLEST idea! I never know what to do with friend's photos, you don't want to throw them out, but they don't really work in your scrapbooks either? This is perfect - and so pretty! Thanks for sharing it with us at Dynamic Duos this week :o)

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  4. This is fabulous!!!! Thanks for joining the Dynamic Duos this week!

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  5. This is a perfect solution for all those precious photos that we want to keep! Love, love this idea, plus other special pieces of paper could be kept there--wedding invitations, bulletins, etc....

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  6. This fabulous!! Thanks for joining us this week on the Dynamic Duos challenge.

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  7. Love it! Great execution of a great idea.

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