As you may have noticed, the main thing I do here in my little piece of the internet is share the things I like with you. I figure if you are here, we probably have some similar interests and similar tastes, so if I like something chances are good you will like it too. For a long time, this was strictly recipes only. Then a couple of years ago I started “things i’m loving” and learned we have aaallll kinds of things in common. These days, I also love the opportunity to share news about select businesses and companies with good people who do great work. Artifact Uprising is one of those companies.
I first purchased from them back in December when I used their custom photo book template to create a storybook of Caroline and Little Gray Bunny during their first year together. (See more about that here.) I loooved the finished products.
As much as I love the ease and portability of digital photography, I feel sad when I think of the many wonderful photos that might never make their way to print form. As a child I adored sitting at my grandparents’ house leafing through the pages of photo albums or sitting in my dad’s study sifting through box after box full of old family photos. I don’t want that to be lost for my kids. And I don’t want the lovely little photos that capture the life we are building to never see the light of day, so to speak, beyond the select few shared on Facebook or Instagram.
I decided the best way to address this is to get my digital self organized starting by printing photo books organized by year. I’m starting current and working backward. I am loving it already and am SO glad to make what has been a vague penciled in to-do become a reality. Of course, the first book arrived and as predicted, the kids already love looking through it. I opted for the large square soft cover album, but they have so many beautiful options it was hard to choose.
The assembly process is so, so easy with their page templates. Essentially you upload your photos, and just drag and drop photos and/or templates onto the pages. You can add extra pages as well (up to 200 total!) which comes in handy trying to fit a year’s worth of photos into a single book. They also have a nice app for the iPhone that makes it really easy to create a book straight from your phone.
I have been wanting to make something for the kids to commemorate our recent Seattle trip, and this seemed like a great opportunity to do that. Rather than a photo book, I thought it would be fun to make a small collage of some of the highlights. The square print packs come in sets of 25, so I was able to make a collage for each of them using just one set of prints. I bought a pack of canvas-style cork board at Target, covered in some random fabric secured with a staple gun, and stapled on the photos (regular staples, no gun necessary!) I used little strips of washi tape to cover up the staples and to give it more of that handmade, scrapbook look. (Push pins or thumb tacks would also be good for this, but I didn’t really want those in the kids’ rooms.)
I’m hoping to continue this for future trips as well so their walls fill up with photos from our travels. (I also probably need to go back and make some of past trips now!) I tried to select prints for each kid that reflected what I knew were highlights of this trip for them. They didn’t see they final product until they were hung in their rooms but they were both totally excited about them and loved pointing at each photo, reliving their favorite moments.
A few final words about why I think this company is great. Their passion for what they do and the products they create is so evident – it completely draws me in. Also, they are very environmentally conscious, printing on 100% recycled paper and using minimal packaging for shipping purposes. You know that’s right up my alley. I’m excited to explore more of their products (I already have my eye on this wood block + prints for my desk for my new job.)
If you’re digging Artifact Uprising as much as I am, maybe you’d like the opportunity to win a custom photo book? We’re giving them away to two lucky readers so head over to the giveaway page for your chance to enter! (Also, even those who don’t win will receive a follow up discount code via email. Hooray!)
Disclaimer: After I posted about Caroline’s bunny book, AU contacted me and offered a giveaway for my readers. How nice! I wanted to do a bit more of a review just because I love them so much. I paid in full for my order, but the super nice folks there insisted on refunding most of it. Other than that, I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are my own.
