March 25, 2015

Publish your Own Book

Shesh this took long enough... I got a new laptop the kind with a fancy touch screen and windows 8.1. It's been a challenge to figure out and I'm still learning. It gets confusing to go between touch screen and keyboard but it's fun. Let me know if things are looking funky so I can fix them.

I'm so excited to share with you the book I made for my baby girl. I received it in the mail over a month ago and have been dying to tell you about it. Considering I put it together right after I became a mom for the first time I feel pretty accomplished.

The writing started when I found out I was pregnant. I kept a journal of sorts in letter format to my baby. I always planned to capture photos along the way and combine them with the letters into a book. This is that book.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cQ8EeyROOrF9n8_BeFHEX0qQt782APn2rBKXwiRaoyg/pub
Since the birth of my daughter it's become really important for me not to store all our memories on a hard drive but have them available to enjoy. I've been printing more photos then ever!

I'm really happy with how this book turned out.  I used a company called Blurb to publish my book and also used the software they provide to create it. Have you heard of Blurb before? If not you will be so glad I told you about it!

The possibilities are endless with Blurb and the software they provide makes the process fun and easy. What I like most about the software is that you can really customize your book how you want. It's not the kind of program where you choose a template and plug in your photos and text. You can really customize every single thing. In my book I used some templates and also made my own. 
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cQ8EeyROOrF9n8_BeFHEX0qQt782APn2rBKXwiRaoyg/pub
I wanted to have a variety of options for the pages in my book since some of the letters are much longer than others.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cQ8EeyROOrF9n8_BeFHEX0qQt782APn2rBKXwiRaoyg/pub
The pages can be filled with all text or all pictures, even a little bit of both.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cQ8EeyROOrF9n8_BeFHEX0qQt782APn2rBKXwiRaoyg/pub
When finished with your book you can choose the size of the book, cover style, and the weight/finish of the pages. You also have the option to turn your book into an electronic version or set it up to distribute and sell online. My book is personal so I don't intend to sell it but it looks and feels professional and not like a scrapbook. It's a book my daughter will enjoy for years to come.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cQ8EeyROOrF9n8_BeFHEX0qQt782APn2rBKXwiRaoyg/pub
I plan to order a second copy to store away in her memory box and this copy she can enjoy all she wants. I have lots of ideas for future books too. I need to get started on her 1 year book right away so that I keep track of all the memories we're capturing. If you just have a few minutes every day to work on it you'll have a book before you know it!

Until the 31st of March Blurb is offering a 20% off discount. Use promo code: 2015BLURBMAR

They are also offering 20% cookbooks! Click the banner below for that deal. I love the idea of making a cookbook, how fun! If only I had more time on my hands...

http://www.shareasale.com/u.cfm?d=257064&m=31260&u=851217

Disclaimer: Blurb did send me the copy of my book for free.

March 2, 2015

Our Dog Princeton

Today marks the day that we adopted our dog Princeton!  In April 2013 I wrote a post about him and his name you can read it HERE.  He's no longer the baby of the family and we've since moved back to Colorado. It's amazing to me how much has happened to our family in the 2 years that we've had him. To celebrate we all went on a snowy walk today.
This dog sure has filled our lives with a lot of joy!