Wednesday, September 28, 2011

The Book of Family

Every once in a while, Shutterfly, in their infinite and awesome wisdom, sends me a coupon for a free photo album. That’s how we got the original Book of Benjmain. I’d say it’s his most favorite book but at this stage they all taste equally delicious - maybe in the future he’ll actually like reading it. 

Regardless, I especially enjoy the creative process that is involved in compiling an album. This time I decided that a book detailing Benjamin’s family would be fun to make, especially as many of his family members are several thousand miles away in far northern latitudes. 

You might recall that we were going to do a family tree on the wall in Ben’s room. Then we decided to do it in the hall instead. But we’re still in the process of painting the hallway walls so the family tree project is on hold indefinitely. 

For this book, I simply pinched all the pictures that we were using for the hallway project and compiled them in a book:


It begins with our family:

photo: Alex J
 And with a family tree. Which, I’ll freely admit, it probably a little complex for a baby:


There aren’t many words, just lots of pictures and bright colors:


 Naturally, it wouldn’t be complete without the whole gang:


 The key is to let each member of the family choose their own picture, especially if their image is going to be displayed on the wall or preserved in a book that will [hopefully] be around for a while. 


 I like that Shutterfly allows creators to customize both the front and back covers as well. 


 Hey! There’s my great grandpa! 



Cheerio, 
Sonja