Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away, and this year I'm bringing back a project I did last year and plan to continue as part of my family's holiday tradition.
Meet the Thankful 4 x 6 Album Project.
This project is designed to let you create journaling cards to hand out at your Thanksgiving gathering (or any holiday get-together) so your friends and family can fill them in with what they are grateful for.
When the album is complete, you can give it as a gift to whoever has hosted the gathering. (Lucky you if it's at your house this year!) Last year, I gave the completed album to my sister-in-law. This year, it will go to my mother-in-law.
The thing I love most about Thanksgiving is that it truly is a day set aside for gratitude. It's not about gifts. It's not about blinking green trees. It's just about taking stock of what your blessings are in life. That's my kind of holiday.
The cool thing about this project is that you don't need Photoshop skills to create the cards. Then entire set comes with printable PDF files in assorted colors (brown, orange, red rust and gray) that are easily printed out using Adobe Acrobat Reader (a free program).
All you do is supply the cardstock and a simple 4 x 6 photo album and you're good to go!
First the album. Target has these great little 4 x 6 photo albums right now for $3.99.
I loved the rust and orange on this one, but they also have a handful of other colors to choose from.
To get started, you choose the color you want to work with, open that PDF file and print out your journaling cards onto your choice of cardstock. Each printable PDF contains two cards with crop marks:
You simply print, line up your trimmer using the marks, and trim your cards. Then repeat until you have enough cards to cover your approximate number of family and friends who will be at your gathering.
I put my cards into a little metal tin (also from Target) to set out on the table at the gathering.
The set includes 3-sizes of printable "thankful" tag circles to choose from.
Simply print onto cardstock or photo paper, and using a circle punch, pop one out to use as an embellishment.
I also like to have a circle tag to adhere to the stretchy album band as well. I mounted the 'thankful' circle onto a simple metal-rimmed office tag.
Also included are two title page options for the first page of the album.
You can leave it plain, or embellish it to dress it up a bit.
At your gathering, make sure you take a photo of everyone in attendance to use for completing the pages. Each card has room for a 3.25 x 2 inch photo.
For Photoshop users, this year's set has a layered 4 x 6 photo template to let you get three photos onto one 4 x 6 print. Very handy to save space and have control over the crop of each shot you want to use.
Here is a quick video showing how to use the template:
Thankful 4 x 6 Album Project Photo Template Tutorial from Cathy Zielske on Vimeo.
The final step is to adhere the photos to the completed journaling cards.
Of course, my kids' cards aren't completed yet because I have not yet mastered the art of time travel. But rest assured, they will be filled in with wise and grateful words come this November 25th.
Then, the cards go into the album.
And that, dear blog readers, is a peek at my Thankful 4 x 6 Album Project for 2010. The set also includes fully layered PSD files for digital scrapbookers who want a bit more customization.
If you have any questions, leave them in comments and I'll do my best to answer.
This set is on sale for 30% off as part of the Designer Digitals 4th Quarter Sale which ends at 3 a.m.. E.S.T. Wednesday.
