Christmas Deadlines
Well I've finished my Christmas needlework gift projects (no pictures until after Christmas). So now it's time to begin the annual calender project. About 10 years ago I started making a family calendar with one 8x10 photo per page. It was a cut and paste effort using only my own photos and printing 5 copies at Kinko's.
Now I use Photoshop Elements 3.0 and get contributions from many adults in the family. So it is all digital and we print out 8 calendars on our HP printer. I make a collage for each monthly page, sometimes including 18 pictures smooshed together. I crop the picture to zero in on faces. It's a great way to really see who looks like who!
Last year I started including scanned slides from years gone by. It's a fun and sort of emotional project as I review pictures 40 years old. I get lost in the memories as I relive vacations with toddlers and teens. This year I scanned more slides and negatives so who knows what might show up on the 2006 calendar.
I used to try to include a picture of everyone on every page because when the grandkids were younger, the first thing they'd do would be to count how many times they appeared in the calendar. I don't think they do that now. (? ;)
Now we have a 5th generation to include. I could probably do the whole calendar on Evan Patrick! The one thing I have learned is not to include teenage girl/boy friends. They come and go and it sort of screws up the calendar to put post-it notes over the faces of lost loves. To be included in the calendar there has to be a pretty firm commitment.
I hope I make the deadline. The greatest joy for me is to present the calendar on Christmas day and see the reactions as everyone reviews the year in pictures.