In this day and age I believe people in general have taken action to capture their memories. I also believe it is much easier now than it ever has been. I mean how many times have you heard the stories of the parents who just couldn’t afford to or get their hands on a camera for numerous reasons and as a result have close to zero pictures of their children? Now it’s pretty much standard to have one built right into your cell phone, not to mention much less expensive for a simple point and shoot or even a disposable. The issue though is that majority of cameras available and easy to use are digital, which in itself is really not an issue. The issue lies in the fact that we plug these images into our computer, flash drives, etc. and then we do nothing with them. Maybe post them to Facebook, email them and such, but print them and put them into an album? Not likely. I’m guilty of this, until now.

Another common story is one that comes usually from a parent that has more than one child. A family I know, for example, have a total of 3 children. The oldest has a completed baby book, first teeth and the whole works. The middle child has a partial and my husband? Not one at all. I’ve heard this story over and over again from so many families, am even guilty of this myself. I promised myself when Ryan was 14 months with a completed 1st year, handmade by myself, scrapbook that if he had any siblings I would do the same for them. No question. After Olivia was born I got as far as buying the same scrapbook for her as I had for Ryan, only in a different color. Now, Olivia is almost 2 and it sits empty in a drawer. We just get busy, it’s sad and true. Recently I’ve been able to somewhat clear my bad rep and say thank goodness for PhotoWorks.com.

Photo Works Studio has 4 themes to choose from. In this situation I of course chose “Baby”. You choose boy or girl, upload your pictures and voila! It really can be as easy or hard as you choose. It took me give or take 20 minutes total from start to finish. I uploaded my favorite photos from Olivia’s first year and chose the option for Photo Works to insert and choose the layout for me. Then I went through and sort of critiqued it and moved a couple photos around to spots I preferred. You have the option to choose how many images you want on one page as well as the background color and pattern. This is a hardcover book with your choice of photos on the front and rear covers as well as titles and descriptions for each photo.

I would also like to add how fabulous the customer service is. When it came time to check out for some reason my order was coming to $400 and some odd dollars. This was incorrect, so I called the number which is very accessible, and they had the issue fixed in no time. I received my “Olivia’s First Year” book in under 1 week. My husband and I are very pleased with the results. The colors are vibrant, the pages are sturdy and the images looked just as they had in the preview before I checked out. I have to say I feel a little guilty that I spent a fraction of the time on her book as I did on Ryan’s, but not too guilty, because at least I have something to show for all those hundreds of photos I took.

You can create your own Photo Works Studio book. Just head to Photoworks.com and click on Studio. If you’re in need of any other photo project, you will find a variety of photo gifts waiting for you to create as well!

“I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of American Greetings PhotoWorks and received a free photo book to facilitate my review.”