My Favorite Albums

When I first starting flirting with scrapbooking (keep in mind it took me 2-1/2 years to finish my first album!) I was just happy to chronicle the first couple years of my marriage. I was a newlywed and we did a lot of traveling/vacationing and I actually had time to put together a "family" album. This consisted of the aforementioned vacations, arrivals of new nieces and nephews and weddings - lots of lots of weddings... those are the things that ruled our lives in our mid-twenties!

Then we had kids and I worked a lot harder to find time to work on my albums because I had grand plans... Besides Baby albums and Family albums, I started several others. I now have 9 albums that I'm continuously working on and although I love them all, I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites. Maybe this will give you an idea of a new album to start or a gift to give.

My Christmas Album - One of the reasons I love this one is it really is a family history. I start each "year" with our Christmas letter and picture, which details what we did over the course of the year, the girls' milestones, jobs we've had and funny stories. I follow this with several pages of Christmas pictures, which is a good reminder of church pageants, Christmas mornings, trips to see zoo lights and Christmas parties. Then, my favorite part, I crop and mount all the pictures I receive in Christmas cards from friends and family. I love going through it year by year and seeing how people have changed and families have grown. I can usually fit 3-4 Christmases in one album.

My "Sisters" Album - Okay, I can't really take credit for this one, I stole the idea from a friend (Thanks, Karen!). I have all these cute candid shots of my girls that don't really have a place in any other album for them. There's not really a "theme" to them, so they don't necessarily go in a family album or in one of their own personal albums. Just funny shots of them around the house or maybe a day when they were dressed up cute. I put them in a very simple album, with only quotes from a sister book to accent the page. I love it because it gives me a place to put these pictures and show their special relationship.

Of course I love all my albums, maybe on another posting I'll let you know about the other ones that I'm working on - and the 4 or 5 that I hope to start someday! I'd love for you to share your comments and let my readers know about your favorite album or one that you aspire to start. What about a gift you've given or received?