There is nothing like a custom keepsake print to commemorate an event or special place. When I was growing up, my grandparent had a cabin in Wisconsin on a small lake called Paulson Lake. It was a short and adventurous car ride form our hometown of Lakeville, in MN. As a result, we went often and in every season and my mom took photographs everything so we always had the memories and prints.
We would spend our spring getting the cabin ready and cleaning out the shed. Also, we would have to clean out the lake from all the winter muck.
Subsequently, our summers were spent hunting for frogs and catching fish with stale saltine crackers. We would swimming off the back of the pontoon and enjoy the evenings by a campfire (complete with scary stories). There was one about a girl named Jade but I’ll save that for another time.
Fall and winter would bring their own magic. Fall bought changing colors, and falling leaves. Naturally, we would take nature walks by Hidden Lake. Above all, our favorite activity was sneaking peaks in neighbor’s cabins who had left for the season. Barry’s cabin was our favorite because they left all sorts of lures and “treasures” behind.
Winter would bring silence and serenity (and skiing, which I hated as a kid). Not many people went up to that lake in the winter but we had fun just the same. We would go sledding and snowmobiling. Then we would make the trek out to the ice house with left over Christmas candy and go ice fishing. After that, we ate those fish for dinner and then made smores.
Anyways, I started this custom keepsake print for a client who wanted something special for her friend. They own a cabin on a lake in Wisconsin and my client had the perfect idea. She sent me a picture of the lake and it was amazing. More like a string of lakes connected by water ways and rivers. Each lake had a special name and Bony Lake is where the cabin is.
As I got working and finished, I felt very nostalgic. I got thinking about all the magic that happens at special places like this. The special times you get with your family. Most importantly, time seems to slow a bit and the world seems perfect. These are the gifts we hope to give our children, and the memories we hope to share with our grandchildren.
In short, this project was a special one. You can bet I am going to make a custom keepsake print like this for our cabin in Big Bear Lake, CA. Let me know if I can help you make something special for your family and for generations to enjoy. I would be honored to create a lasting token to hang on the wall for people to tell stories about.
