Meet Lanie, our Usability Specialist

How long have you been at Mixbook? Since November 2011.

What is your favorite thing about working at Mixbook? Being able to solve difficult problems in order to make in-house software better for our employees and our website and editor easier to use for our customers.

How long did it take for you to order your first project? I had created Mixbook books and cards before I ever started working at Mixbook, and have made Christmas cards, birthday cards, Mother's Day cards, Halloween cards, 2 travel books and a cook book since I have started working at Mixbook.

If you could have one super power, what would it be and why? The ability to slow down and stop time because I have so many interests and things I want to do and not enough time to do them all in.

Can you share one of your Mixbook projects with the Mixbook community? I didn't create a "year in review" type of book this year, *hangs head in shame* but I did create a calendar which serves the same purpose. All of the photos in the 2012 calendar were taken in 2011, and the months correspond, so the photos on July were taken July 2011.

What prompted you to make a calendar? A calendar is a useful way of displaying photos year round. I don't have to think about pulling out a photo book to look my photos because they are readily displayed.

You mentioned that the photos in your 2012 calendar are photos from the corresponding month, except in 2011. What inspired you to do this? Yes, the photos correspond with the month of the previous year, except for October - I used our wedding photos which are from 2008. I thought that it would be a nice way to see where we were in life this time last year.

How did you choose which photos would make the cut - since calendar space is limited? Only highlights were chosen for each month. Buying our house was highlighted one month, birthday photos another, Mother's Day another, etc. You can't pick all of the photos taken from each month, there is just too many photos. But leaving it to just highlights makes it easier. I actually picked what event I wanted to highlight for each month before looking at all the photos. This way, my photos were already narrowed down. It kept me from seeing photos unrelated to my highlighted event and making me want to go "Oh I should try to fit these in too...and these!". It kept me focused.

Anything else you'd like to add? At first I thought the calendar would be just that...a calendar, something I would simply throw it away after the year is over. But it's too beautiful, it's a photo book with dates. It's like a photo journal, and I'll definitely be keeping it for years to come.

Want to create a calendar similar to Lanie's?  Start yours now!

For more calendar inspiration, check out our calendar photo shoot tips!