Celebrate and Snap a Pic Each Day in February

February may be the shortest month of the year, but it’s long on holidays. Whether it’s a common celebration or a bizarre observance, there are plenty of reasons to take some pictures this month and enough occasions to fill a photo book.

You know there’s Valentine’s Day and President’s Day and you likely remember Groundhog’s Day and Mardi Gras, but did you know February also holds these observances:

American Heart Month

Library Lovers Month

Black History Month

Hot Breakfast Month

Relationship Wellness Month

Ice Cream for Breakfast Day

World Nutella Day

Read in the Bathtub Day

and Tooth Fairy Day?

I can think of a photo or two to take for each of the above and this is only a fraction of the observances. What will you celebrate and snap a pic of this month?

9 views

Keeping up with the challenge?

It’s been one month. Have you been able to take one picture per day?

I’m doing pretty well. I’ve taken 143 pictures over the past month. While many of my photos are from the same event like Disney On Ice or the drum circle birthday party my 2-year-old attended, there is also at least one photo per day that capture the little things in life from my first time making white chicken chili to my college acceptance packet (once wasn’t enough for me) to taking a picture of an amazing light fixture I saw in a restaurant I just have to get for my house.

As the month has gone on, I’ve started thinking of the daily photos as the squares that make up a quilt. These photos are like the squares of a quilt that tells a story or the cherished memories made into quilts from old dresses, bedding and the fuzz from cherished stuffed animals. By the end of the year, my photos will tell my story and I’m excited to see the story unfold for my family.

What story will your photos tell about you?

KEEP UP ON THE CHALLENGE!!!

9 views

New Valentine’s background – Send a sweet card to those you love.

Photo + Card + Candy = A sweet greeting they won’t forget.

Candy Hearts Photocard

Find this new background by creating a new project and choosing the Holiday theme, and then select Valentine’s Day. Choose a layout. Insert a picture and type a message. Review, order and send a smile.

But hurry, time is running out to get them by Valentine’s.

8 views

Give the keepsakes of your love this Valentine’s

Whether you’re in high school, engaged or have been married 25 years, you likely have a box (or two) of love notes, movie stubs, pressed flowers, photo booth photos, greeting cards, pictures of you together at parties or on vacation and other keepsakes. Consider taking those sweet nothings that your SO may not even know you’ve kept, scan them and make a photo book of all of the small things that have added up to big, lasting love.

6 views

Inspiration: Candy Hearts Brag Book

Want to show the one you love how loved they are this Valentine’s? Want to do it in a personalized, creative and unique way that’s sweeter and longer lasting than a box of chocolates? Here’s the recipe to make one thoughtful Candy Hearts Brag Book.

Ingredients:

• Scissors
• Construction paper
• Marker
• Camera (or phone)
• Teaspoon of creativity
• Teaspoon of sweetness
• Dash of sauciness [optional]

Assembly:

Take 14 pieces of construction paper and fold them in half. Cut hearts from each piece. Then write sayings like “Be Mine”, “I<3 You”, “U R Cute” as well as some of your own [sweet if for your child, saucy if for your SO]. Once your hearts are ready, take pictures or have someone take pictures of you holding each heart. Upload them and create a book. Add more sweet nothings by adding text boxes. And since the minimum Inkubook page count is 20, you could make a few more hearts and take a few more pictures.

Candy Hearts Photobook

Give a sweet gift that’ll last way longer than a chocolate filled heart.

9 views

SWAK! Send Valentine’s Photo Cards to Your Loved Ones

If you’re like me, your children have more than two sets of grandparents, possibly some great-grandparents and many of them don’t live close by. Since my family is rather extended and far away, and I have a great need to keep in touch especially in the dreary winter months, I send photo card Valentines. I can’t think of a grandparent that wouldn’t melt over a SWAK card from one of their little love bugs.

The two examples in this post are cards I created for this coming Valentine’s Day. Creating great cards is easy. Throughout the year, as I take photos, I tag the ones I think would be great for certain usages or occasions. Then when the time comes, the photo selection process is much faster. Once I have my photos uploaded, I start playing with backgrounds, layouts, fonts and sayings. The hard part is deciding which to buy, as I’m only picking one.

Valentine Photo Card 1

Inkubook offers several Valentine’s backgrounds, solid colors – red, pink and white, as well as full-bleed photo options for those with digital scrapbooking and Photoshop skills.

Valentine Photo Card 2

Our 4×8 flat cards come packaged by the dozen and are priced at $15.48 a set, plus shipping. We always have a promo running (check Facebook and Twitter), so you’ll likely get your cards for less just by entering a promo code at checkout. They print in 2-6 business days and ship in about the same or less. To get your cards by Valentine’s, be sure to check out our shipping schedule.

Brighten their trip to the mailbox and their day by reminding them they are loved this Valentine’s Day. XOXO.

24 views

Choosing the best quality photobook maker? Read about Inkubook in these reviews.

Are you thinking about making a photo book but haven’t made up your mind which company to use? The best quality photo book? The cheapest photo book? Looking for the best photo book maker?  Then you’ll be glad you took the time to read and watch (yes, there are videos as well) these photo book reviews.

If you like to do extensive research before you do business with a company online then you’re going to love the article published in 2010 and updated in April 2011 by Jason Dunn at Digital Home Thoughts before you make your first photo book. This epic review The Great Photo Book Round-Up Review: Who Makes the Best Photo Books compares online experience, print, covers, paper, overall quality and value of several top photo book publishers including Inkubook. Check it out!

Interested in more reviews? Check out The Gadgeteer or the December 2011 updated review from PhotoBookGirl.com.

Want to watch a review? Check out this one from TheMommyPR or this very recent written and video combo review from Confessions of a Scrapaholic.

After you read these reviews and decide Inkubook is the way to go, use our special review promo code BESTPHOTOBOOK2012 to get 30% off your order*.

*Maximum $100 discount, one use per member, expires 3/31/2012.

48 views

365-Day Photo Challenge

Many of us can’t even remember what we ate for breakfast this morning, let alone trying to remember one thing we did every day for a year. Between our demanding work schedules, spending time with friends and family and the other million things on our to-do lists, there is often little time to step back and appreciate the smaller moments in life.

We challenge you to take one picture every day for a year, starting today, then create a scrapbook that turns those monotonous moments into memories.

It can be something as simple as a meal or outfit you liked that day, or something more sentimental like recording your child’s first year. Not only will you be able to look back at any day and recall the people you were with, what you learned or something you did, but you will also improve your photography skills and creativity as you are faced with coming up with something new every day.

Dust off your old single-lens reflex or charge your digital battery and start taking pictures today!

21 views

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

One of my family’s favorite traditions is going through photographs we have of Christmases past. In old photo albums, you can find a 5-year-old version of me, still in my pj’s, holding a Hungry Hungry Hippos game overhead in triumph; me and my three siblings, sporting an array of now laughable trends, lined up on the couch; my grandfather standing next to the outdated aluminum tree he insisted on displaying every year.

One thing’s for sure: I hardly remember the gifts I received on Christmas morn, but I know me and my family had good times. We’ve got the pictures to prove it.

So, when Christmas comes around this year, be sure to capture the look on the kids’ faces when they open up their gifts from “Santa.” Don’t miss Grandma making the rounds to pinch cheeks and administer hugs. And if Mother Nature cooperates, be ready to document the impromptu snowball fight in the front yard.

Whatever the day brings, those special moments won’t be forgotten.

Share Your Favorite Christmas Memories

Show us your holiday spirit by uploading a favorite holiday picture and a short description to Facebook, and then share it on Inkubook’s wall.

7 views

Look-alike Inkubooks

Kids are always in a hurry to grow up so fast. Few things are cooler when you are young than getting to do grownup things. From helping dad fix the car, to wearing mom’s makeup and high heels, children often aspire to be just like their parents.

Sons’ and daughter’s admiration for their parents is the inspiration behind look-alike Inkubooks. Next time you and your future slugger are throwing the ball in the backyard, get some pictures of the two of you both wearing your gloves and baseball hats. Or this year, when you and your little chef make holiday cookies, snap a photo of the two of you with the inevitable flour on your faces.

Look-alike Inkubooks don’t have to be limited to recent pictures though. Scan in old yearbook photos of yourself, and compare them to pictures of your kids today to give a past-meets-present feel to the book. The similarities might be more surprising than you think.

7 views