Creating a summer photo wall…

As this is our first summer holidays with our gorgeous boy we made a pact together as the school year came to a close to print as many photo’s as we could from our summer adventures. Mr H made a promise that he would take hold of the camera a little more and I promised not to let the camera get in the way of having some fun together. I can’t remember the last time I printed our family photo’s, can you? I can’t help but think that I’ve missed out on looking back at so many memories during the last 5 years and introducing Lil G to such a wonderful thing to do. I remember a time where we used to print our holiday photo’s and pop them all in an album. Why don’t we do this anymore?

With only spending three of the six weeks together as a family I wanted to ensure that even the smallest adventure had the possibility of creating the biggest memory. Sometimes you have to look back on a moment in time to remember just how much fun you had. Hopefully by printing our photo’s as the weeks passed us by it would help us to overcome the tough days when we’re negotiating work, summer clubs and Nanny’s.

And then typically, life gets in the way and rather than just pressing print we kept putting it off and so when I joined the Family Storytelling photography course ran by Emily Quinton at the beginning of August I was delighted when I saw that our first project was to create a photo wall. It was the perfect solution, printing and sticking, who doesn’t love a little crafty project? And let’s not forget the shopping spree for washi tape. One of my favourite pasttimes is looking back through my camera roll, so really this little project was perfect.

It certainly felt like Emily had read my mind and so with a dash of patience, a spoonful of sunshine filled days and a prop or two we seem to have captured some moments and made some truly wonderful memories on our adventures so far. Each time I look back on my camera roll there are certain photo’s which transport me right back and continue to take my breath away. Our trip to Lytham Beach is my favourite adventure so far and already I am so pleased that we have started to press print.

As a family we sat down one evening together and scrolled through my camera roll, hitting the favourite button when we spotted a photo which made us smile or laugh. My mummy heart is filled with so much joy right now and watching Lil G looking at our photo wall and picking out his ‘best day ever’ which I should add changes daily if not hourly I know that we have started something special and maybe even a new tradition.

I wanted to make our prints a little more special than usual by adding a few words to each print, a little caption which Lil G would be able to read. I came across these vintage prints from LaLaLab and I have been blown away by the quality. We very quickly uploaded them to their app on my iPhone and hey presto we have our first collection of our summer holiday snaps. They are absolutely stunning and just that little bit quirky which I think adds to the magic of our photo wall.

You know how it goes sometimes, great plans, creative ideas, hitting print and then nothing as typically life gets in the way. Photo’s popped away in a drawer or cupboard catching dust rather than making happy thoughts. Thank you Emily for giving me the push I needed. For ensuring that I kept the promise I made to my boy. And here are a few of my favourite moments captured on camera from our little family summer so far which have melted my heart…

It goes without saying that the bright blue skies and sunny days have helped to capture some beautiful family moments. Long may the summer continue. Here’s to three more week’s of adventure for our little family. I hope you’re enjoying your summer.

KA x