In case you don’t know how I feel about photos—and specifically printed photos, this post is for you!

Every creative hobby or pursuit has a goal or result. Playwrights dream of seeing their script acted out on stage. Painters fall asleep imagining that someday the canvas that displays their work will be appreciated by people—maybe even hang on the walls of a gallery. Poets dream of hearing another voice recite their carefully crafted lines of verse—you get the idea. There is JOY in the process for sure, but we wouldn’t do what we do without imagining a finished product or a result of some kind. The fantastic thing about today—living in a digital world—is that much of what we create can easily be shared. What a gift! I have connected with countless people and been able to enjoy their work or art or perspective because of social sharing. I’m all for it. But—you knew there would be a but—I’m also happily an advocate for something a bit more permanent. Especially when it comes to documenting (and yes, sharing) our memories. I believe in printing photos—at least some of the time! One of my favorite mantras is DO SOMEthing with SOME of your PHOTOS. By ‘do something’ I generally mean P-R-I-N-T and then add some kind of story. Because as cool as digital technology is, it is too easily scrolled past, swiped away, deleted or lost. When you print a photo, it is brought to life—removed from the dream-like existence of its .jpg beginnings and made beautifully permanent. When photos aren’t printed its a bit like a play that is never performed or a musical composition that is never played by all the instruments it was written for. It’s less than it could be. I truly believe this.

Next month I’m headed to Toronto, Canada to teach two photo-based classes at the Crop & Create event by Scrapbook & Cards Today magazine. I’m so excited. I LOVE to TEACH.

Today, I made this little video to share with those that are considering my classes—to remind them to bring PRINTED photos—and I thought since I’m making it available to them, I would also make it available to you.

I just printed 10 photos (only 10) for a Story Starter album—one of my projects for 20in20. I’m jazzed about this little book—it’s a look at me (right now) at the beginning of 2020. It documents a few of the things I’m doing and loving and looking forward to—one of which is not pictured, because she (my granddaughter) is not here yet 👵🏼. Speaking of grandmas, can you imagine having a little book created by your grandmother documenting what she loved about her life—at any age or stage.

Yes, we take thousands of photos and yes, thinking about how to organize and tag and use them is (yes) easily overwhelming. In the meantime, why not pick two photos you LOVE that you’ve taken since Christmas and print them to stick on your fridge. This small action alone will bring a smile to your face—every time you reach for the milk, eggs, jam, yogurt, lunch meat, mayo, ketchup, pickles or celery—right? You open the fridge a LOT. Why not spend a fraction of a second multiple times a day enjoying a moment you want to remember. It’s more powerful than you might imagine.

You’ll be glad you did!