Digitally Archive the Finger Paints with Save My Kids Art

Children are creative little things and before they reach the sixth grade they’ll have a Louvre sized collection of art for you - attics and closets overflowing with priceless portraits of Fido, finger painted abstracts, cut-out picture collages, Thanksgiving turkey drawings, self-portraits and other memorable pieces. So, how can you save your little Picasso’s works for decades to come and de-clutter the house in the process? The answer: Save My Kid’s Art.

One day, while cleaning and organizing her home, Aimée Bickers, a professional photographer, happened upon a box of her husband’s old things and found moldy, rotting, ruined artwork from his childhood. That prompted Aimée to check her son’s things and found his items torn, showing signs of wear and well on the way to ruin. Then she had a Thomas Edison moment. ‘I thought there would be no better way to keep those pieces than to have them saved digitally,’ says Aimée. ‘So, I archived about 50 of his pieces from kindergarten through 3rd grade.’

Aimée’s MBA training kicked in and she decided to turn her idea into a business. ‘When an opportunity stares you in the face, it must be addressed! So, I jumped on it and used the rest of my vacation time to develop the concept, the plan, the website and started marketing it for launch on January 1st, 2006.’

How does it work?

1. Mail. Mail your artwork to Aimée. Start by stacking the pieces you want to archive (biggest piece on the bottom, smallest piece on top), roll them so that the biggest piece is on the outside of the roll, put them in a wrapping paper tube, cover it with a garbage bag (to prevent moisture from seeping through) and mail it. Easy, convenient, economical.

2. Archive. In the studio, Aimée will take a high-resolution digital photograph of each piece under perfect lighting conditions. You can even request wrinkles, scratches, rips, folds, creases, be removed. When archival is complete, Aimée returns the originals and sends a CD with the graphic files (mailed separately).

3. Get Creative. Once your child’s artwork is archived, the possibilities are endless. Add the image to your blog to show the grandparents what your child has created, email it to friends and family, print the artwork on calendars, mugs, t-shirts, mousepads - even photo handbags are easy to do through the Save My Kid’s Art partner site - http://www.savemykidsart.com/art_gifts.html.

Get Your Child’s School Involved. Aimée’s art archiving is available to schools and PTA groups as a fundraiser. This is similar to programs run by schools where you can purchase a magnet or mug with a school selected piece of art from your child. Aimée’s twist is that she’ll let you pick the art you’d like on your mug and then give the school 20% of the proceeds. So it’s a fundraiser for the school, but Mom and Dad get to pick the art they’ll see every morning when they have coffee.

So what are Aimée’s favorite art projects for her own children? “I love my son’s artwork. I have two pieces framed and hanging in my office that I must digitize as the fluorescent lights are sadly fading the colors. I love when he picks up any piece of paper and takes out his paints and just paints. It’s magical.

As for my little munchkins… we’re just now getting into finger paints, so that will be interesting.”

To learn more about Save My Kid’s Art, visit www.savemykidsart.com.

- Aimee Bickers, Clever Parent to an 8 year old son and identical twin 20 month old girls, lives in Apex, North Carolina and also owns Pure Expressions Photography - www.pureexpressionsphotography.com.