Album Inspiration: Christmas Memories
I have been so excited to share the story of this album with you! It is one of the most special albums we created in 2016...
Earlier this year, Shortcake customer JoAnn reached out to us to help her create an album from photos of a family trip. She and her husband have three grown daughters and three young grandsons who live across the U.S. and don't get together often, so the trip was a fun time full of family memories that she wanted to capture in print.
When her album was finished, she was pleased with the results and contacted me shortly after to ask about another project she had been thinking about for a while.
You see, JoAnn had always sent out photo cards each Christmas to her family and friends. Every year. For 40 years.
What she had amassed was an amazing collection of family memories and photos - a yearly snapshot of her growing family and the fun times they had.
But, like so many of our family mementos, her cards and letters were scattered and stored away, not able to be enjoyed, cherished, and shared with her daughters and grandsons.
However, JoAnn had a great idea.
She wrote me an email telling me about the cards and asking if we could help her create an album of them. I was so happy to hear from her. What a great idea! I could tell right away that this would be a very special project.
So JoAnn set to work scanning her Christmas photo cards and holiday letters from the last 40 years. She saved them all to a CD and mailed the CD to Shortcake HQ. And then we got to work.
I have to tell you, it was so fun to help create this album for JoAnn and her family. I had one of the members of our design team put the initial design together, but then I enjoyed personally overseeing the project to completion, working with JoAnn to change some of the backgrounds, make a few photos bigger, and create a custom cover to add a stunning finish to her labor of love.
I'm so happy with how the album turned out, but that's nothing compared to how much this album means to JoAnn and her family.
When JoAnn first received her album, she wrote me an email saying:
"Absolutely stunning! My album arrived today! Conley's memorial page brought tears to my eyes! Thank you!"
The back cover was designed as a memorial page to her young grandson Conley, who passed earlier this year after battling an illness.
I asked JoAnn if she would consider sending me a few photos of her album that I could share online to show how special her album was, and to inspire others who might want to do something similar for their families. She happily obliged with the photos you see here, and sent me an additional quote to include with them:
"I have created personalized Christmas cards for 40 years. I wanted a way to preserve all of this hard work and memories. Coralee at Shortcake Inc created a beautiful album of these 40 years of pictures. She sent me several drafts until everything was perfect, patiently making changes I requested and offering expert suggestions. The final result is beautiful! I order three additional albums for my daughters."
It was fun to see how excited her girls were about their surprise albums, too. JoAnn ordered the three additional copies to be shipped in early December, and they were a very exciting and touching holiday surprise for her daughters. One spontaneously posted some photos of her album on Facebook after it arrived:
Another daughter commented:
"It is pretty amazing. I didn't want it to end. I kept hoping for a peek into the future..."
We were so happy to be able to create this wonderful album for JoAnn and her family, and are excited to know the joy it will bring them in the years to come.
What great family memories are hiding in your boxes, closets, and attics, waiting for their moment to shine?
Want to create your own album of Christmas memories? Start by browsing our Christmas album design themes here.
Shortcake Albums is a custom photo album design service. Simply connect your digital photos or social media accounts, and our team of professional album designers will do all the work - sorting and organizing all your images and text, selecting the best photos, and laying them out into a custom book of your most special memories and moments.
From premium wedding albums to family yearbooks, baby albums, and more - you can enjoy your family memories again. Order your album at www.shortcakealbums.com.