In this article, Linda tells us how she combined photos of her two children with 500 of their hilarious comments, to create a special book that will be treasured by their entire family. It’s called “ Brother & Sister“.
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If you have small children, then you know they say the cutest things! Wouldn’t it be fun to keep those comments in a book where you could enjoy them over and over again?
I finally did just that, and I’m so excited to share my new Shutterfly album with you called Brother & Sister. More about that in a moment, but first let me tell you that this album is many years in the making.
I started collecting my children’s comments when they were about 3 or 4 years old and kept it up until they were about 8 or 9 when their speech got more adult. The key to collecting comments is to write them down immediately, before you forget how they phrased the words:
Bang! went the wind.
Bang! went my bike.
Bang! went me.
A bust has come.
(Allison, age 4, after a fall from her bike)
“Why don’t we both together, since we love each other so much, find my shoes!” Caleb age 7 to Mom
Many of the comments came about because of sibling rivalry:
Allison (running crying into the kitchen): “Mommy! Caleb’s doing more bad things than I’m doing!”
“I was intending to grab her shirt but instead, before I could reach out my arm, it hit her.” Caleb, age 7
Food was a frequent topic:
“Mommy, this soup is getting to be not gooder and not gooder and not gooder.” Allision, age 4
Caleb: This lasagne is giving me a headache.
Allison: This lasagne is giving me a earache.
Dad: “No, you can’t eat those tonight.”
Caleb: “But these are poor quality candy canes - they’re meant to be eaten right away. That’s why we asked.
As soon as I heard something that made me laugh I would grab the nearest slip of paper and write it down with the date and the circumstances. I then tossed them into a file where they languished for years, but at least I had them.
Finally one day I dug out the comments and typed them up. I had around 500 of them! For the Brother & Sister book, I picked out my favorites.
I chose to illustrate the Brother & Sister book with photos of my two children together when they were young. I didn’t worry about matching photos to the comments. That would have been too much work. Instead, I put the comments into categories and listed them together.
My children both graduated from college this year, so I’ve had these comments for many years, always intending to do something with them, and now I finally have! I can’t wait to give a copy of this book to both grandparents at Christmas!
Take a look at Linda’s book, “
Brother & Sister“.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:03 pm
I just looked at this book and how brilliant is this. I thought I recognized Linda’s name and sure enough I get weekly newsletters. How excitng she finished her book and put on the Gallery. I feel like she is a celebrity.
I love the whole idea and its wild to think her children just graduated from college. Thats a long time to save over 500 comments. What a task in itself.
Thanks for posting this on the blog. I saw her book here first and had to view it before I left a comment.
Joanna T
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
July 26th, 2008 at 4:34 am
Interesting project. An unrelated question: how did you decide that Shutterfly was the best for you (vs. Flickr or Snapfish)?
July 26th, 2008 at 8:03 am
I think you are asking your question to Linda, but I thought I’d chime in on why I choose Shutterfly over any other photo site. I’m not sure if Linda will check back at this article but if she does she can give her opinion too. I have tried them all from Kodak, Snapfish, photoworks - you name it. I wanted to compare quality and hands down Shutterfly won out in my opinion. I noticed that Snapfish crops your photos without you even wanting them to. Part of my photos were cut off and i wasn’t pleased. I’m just overall very satisfied with Shutterfly. Their photobooks are amazing and the finished quality blows me away. I’ve done eleven books and LOVE how they turn out. If you have more questions feel free to send me a question on my website joeyssite.site.shutterfly.com or post a question on one of my books.
Joanna T
Shutterfly Gallery Guru
July 28th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
I see Joanna T gave you an answer, Chris, but I’ll chime in and say that I’ve tried several companies, too, and while there are some good ones out there, I feel that Shutterfly wins overall with quality, competitive pricing, and traditional scrapbook sizes.
Another thing I love about Shutterfly is their commitment to scrapbookers. What other company out there has gathered a team of “experts” from the scrapbooking community to advise them, and they actually listen! You gotta’ love a company like that!
And check out their digital scrapbooking premade books from top designers in our industry!
http://ck.shutterfly.com/inspire/
So, I’m always happy to recommend Shutterfly.
Linda Sattgast
July 28th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
What a beautifull book. I couldn’t enlarge the page enough to read the comments but judging from the ones in your blog, I’ll bet they are good.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Beautifully done Linda! I will have to arm my daughter with a notebook! very inspiring.
July 28th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Linda,
As usual you’ve outdone yourself. Your creativity and talent are so obvious throughout the book. I only wish they would have let you “digi-scrap” the photos. It would certainly make me want to use shutterfly to bind my digital layouts. Thanks for sharing these special moments with all of us…you are an inspiration!
Nanci25
July 28th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
What a great idea! I am going to start writing down my own kids comments, and hopefully one day make my own similar book. Thanks for the great idea!
July 28th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
IS there a way we can see inside the book? Couldn’t figure it out in my sleep deprived state. Thanks.
July 28th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
What a fun idea for a book. I have a few comments my kids have made, but not NEAR that many, and they are growing up fast - my youngest is 12 now. I am still working on baby books - so this is an inspiring idea. Thanks for sharing your book - the pictures of your kids are adorable.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:25 am
A fantastic book and great for when they’re much older. It may even be an inspiration for them when they begin their own families. I know they will appreciate just having those litte comments. I never did write anything down and my children are either finishing high school, near to finishing high school or at university. With 4 under 4 I guess I didn’t have the time. But oh how I regret that now. I remember a few little things - the ones that get told over and over and I have to stop when whoever is the focus says with an exasperated expression ‘Mum! We’ve heard it before!’ Well done Linda - you have give your children and their grandparents a wonderful gift.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:36 am
Linda,
Thank you for showing us your photobook. It is a wonderful idea to keep all of those sayings & comments made by the kids. I just wish I had of done that years ago. But, nonetheless your book is a great inspiration for me to get moving on the photos I have stored in a box in the wardrobe, of my children. I really like the idea of a photobook. Your book shows that your children are just loveable & happy.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:25 am
What a fantastic book Linda. How I wish I had had access to cameras and scrapbooking etc. etc. when my children were young. I can’t read the comments of course because they are too small, but it sounds like they will make excellent reading for generations to come. I especially love pages 20 and 21.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:53 am
Just curious.
Do you do the total page layout in PS or do you work between apps, i.e., inside Adobe CS3?
If you work between apps such as InDesign and PS, might you offer a tutorial on your suggested “best practices” and tips for your SG membership?
I have purchased your tutorial disks, your lessons launched me into digital scrapping alieviating much of the frustration I endured as I muddled through efforts to find my way. I’d love such a tutorial. I don’t have the luxury of “hanging around” the forum discussing these things with others or chasing down the many tuts offered on the web.
A tangible compact lesson would do me better.
Thanks.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:12 am
To Janet: to see inside the book click on the words Brother & Sister just above the photo of the book.
To M’zM: In this case I didn’t use Photoshop (except to fix some of the photos) or InDesign. I simply used the Shutterfly book “wizard” where you pick the layout and use the photo and text boxes for that particular layout. You can choose a background paper or leave the background white. You have a limited set of fonts to work with, and you can pick the size and alignment of the text.
For a digital scrapbooking page, where you have complete control over the layout, you are right that pages with lots of journaling would work well using a combo of Photoshop and InDesign. I’ll keep your idea for a tutorial in mind for the future!
Thanks for looking!
Linda
July 29th, 2008 at 8:50 am
I love your scrapbook. I have be holding off doing one because all the pictures that I have look yellow or orange. Do you have a tip on how to fix that? I am a member and just love your weeking tips. Many of them have been the greatest gifts to make my scrapbooks look good. Thanks so much. Chantal
July 29th, 2008 at 9:52 am
OK, I understand what you are describing. I’ve utilized another online book making site to produce a memory book. Their themed templates and fonts made the process easy and quick.
Instant gratification is a good thing when there is no reason to delay!
Thanks for your intuitive response.
July 29th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Hi,
It’s Rachel B, Shutterfly’s Community Curator. Thanks so much for all of your comments on Linda’s article and book - her ideas are truly inspiring, aren’t they? This book made me giggle out loud all the way through. What a fun way to capture the essence of being a kid.
Just a few pieces of info you might find helpful.
1 - If you are having trouble viewing the print in Linda’s book, try this tip here - http://www.shutterflystorytelling.com/2008/05/13/seeing-the-small-stuff/. Basically this tip allows you to maximize the book page images so you can read the small print.
2 - You all are probably expert digiscrappers, and most likely prefer to design your own stuff rather than using ready-made backgrounds. But, if you are ever pressed for time and want to tell your story in a photo book (without creating each page from scratch), we have some great looking tempates that have the look of digital scrapbooking, but don’t take nearly as long. Check them out. http://www.shutterfly.com/shop/product_c18490/Creating_Keepsakes
3 - Finally, if you are interested in printing your digiscrap pages, we have lots of printing solutions - from 12×12 pages, to photo books, to cards, etc. http://www.shutterfly.com/shop/product_c21160/Digital_Scrapbookers.
Thank you again for all of your supportive comments. Both Linda and the Shutterfly community greatly appreciate them.
Rachel B
Community Curator
July 29th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
what a terrific book. Lots of smiles collected and remembered.
July 29th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Nice job! What a clever idea! I just finished my first book last week. It is supposed to arrive in 2 days. I made it for my mom for her birthday using old black and white pictures. The tips on restoring old pics where right on time. I used this month’s tip on overlay layers. It worked great. Thanks for all your encouragement and tips. They both really help.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
July 30th, 2008
Wonderful and very precious book.what a great gift to your children .this book will be a heirloom in your family.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us
October 21st, 2008 at 7:50 am
My babe doesn’t even talk yet but you know I’ll be filing this one away for later! GREAT idea. I didn’t flip through the book yet but I’m off to now, along with your site. Great article!
Shutterfly Gallery Guru