My family ala Sgt Peppers Lonely Heart's Club Band

This I never got to finish, started it about 4 years ago on my old lap top which crashed, probably from making this picture.
It took me a long time especially because I didn't plan it out before I started adding pictures and layering them and because of cropping sometimes individuals by themselves and even when it was 2 or 3 people in a photo, it takes time.

"Let's start at the very beginning..."
My intention obviously was something like the Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band album cover. I wanted to include movie stars in there too, but decided to just add family members, the kids at various ages, old pictures, black and white photos, even using the same picture and flipping it to face the opposite way, pictures of family members who have passed on, as well as my four-legged family members who have crossed the Rainbow Bridge, including my Molly Brown and my sister's family dog, Fred.

I'm sorry I didn't finish this, not only because I wanted to add more pictures, but it needed some tweaking. I only have one small post card sized copy of it, which I printed just as a test run at a time I was low on ink, and then...crash...which was my own fault, I was putting too much on my computer and wasn't backing up. I've learned my lesson and back everything up on a cd or dvd, I just have to have a better system of finding what I need.

If (little word, big meaning)...If I retry this project first I would gather all the pictures I wanted to use, deciding which ones would work best as the front layer, full body shots. I would lay out a design on paper and the back row is where to start and layer over that.

For the picture above, I started with the picture right around the "Full Hearts" sign and kept adding around that. Live and learn.

I collected the beautiful yellow leaves from down the block, the ones outside my house were pretty, but darker, I loved the yellow, the light! I placed them in the street and made the word family.
I tried to take the picture from on top of my brother's van, but I'm too short, had to have Joey take the picture for me!

Even though it's not done, I love this picture. And as you've noticed it's my "full heart" club band, as I sometimes am alone, but never lonely, all of these people are a phone call, email, text message, or prayer away...I wish you all a full heart like mine.