Blurb Review! And Going Away..

My Blurb book is here! We are so happy to receive it!! Ryan called me at work to tell me it arrived, he knew I've been looking out for it, so sweet of him! To hold it in full 114 pages and in 12x12 size to see the entire trip in one album is just fantastic!!

 As promised, I will review it for you. (Dh is quite amused at how excited I am to do this :) ! ) I've roped him in for his opinions too, to give you as objective views as possible, and since I've only ever printed with Shutterfly, any comparison with be against our books printed with Shutterfly.

Overall, we are pleased with the quality of the book. The pictures and colors are crisp and sharp, paper is thick and not filmsy at all, (I chose the premium matte paper at Blurb) and dh especially is very pleased with the clarity of all details and thinks there is no difference in quality in terms of the printing against Shutterfly!

Here is a close up of an enlarged photo (that took up the whole of the left page) for you to see (a bit of light reflecting) it was perfect in my dh's view

I however felt that the colors of the layouts printed in Blurb appeared somewhat deeper/darker then they did with Shutterfly. Shutterfly colors seem brighter? But this is based on my impression only, since I did not print the same page so can't compare objectively. Here you see a page from my US album (shutterfly) above, and a page from my Japan album (Blurb) below, can't really tell the difference actually..

There are a few areas where Blurb did not fare as well as Shutterfly:
- The spine on the cover cannot be customed with our own background paper using BookSmart (I believe it can be done if you use PDF to Book option, which I did not try). I chose to use white for the spine, thinking it matches the white frames on my photos on the cover

- The corners on the inside front and back covers (as shown below, right is Blurb, left is shutterfly) was not well done, and stuck out somewhat

- The pages appear to be 'wavy' as if the paper did not dry properly after printing? This is not obvious and could be due to the thickness of my book?

- Shutterfly's cover is laminated, but Blurb's is not. There is high risk of my Blurb cover getting dirtied! Do also read Sarah G's review (further down) about Blurb's cover.

There are also other differences, though not necessarily good or bad
- My Blurb book does not open up as flat as my Shutterfly book (I am comparing my 114 page blurb book versus my 101 page shutterfly book). As such, my usual 3/8 inch adjustment for the middle of the double page layout did not work as well as they did with Shutterfly. Of course if I print with Blurb in future I can make a greater adjustment, maybe 5/8 inch, so this is a matter of adjusting.

 - For the same reason, it seems the Blurb book will not have as high a chance of a page falling out. (1 page in my shutterfly soft cover fell out) Only time will tell though :)
- I keep thinking shutterfly pages had more sheen than Blurb's, but dh thinks I'm imagining things! Lol!

To summarise, in view of the price (Blurb is about 30% savings compared to Shutterfly I believe) I would say Blurb is really value for money, good enough, and other than the cover, has indiscernable differences where the printing quality is concerned.  I would however, print with Shutterfly if my book is less than 101 pages in future, mainly because I already got the adjustment for the middle of the double page figured out, and I do much prefer the laminated cover. Just got to take advantage of those discounts! :)

Sarah G had this helpful review of her Blurb book in comments to my last post, I would like you to read her views too: (thanks Sarah!)

I have used Shutterfly exclusively, but last year I had a 115-page annual album (due to my Project 365) and I tried Blurb b/c of the 101-page limit in Shutterfly.


I am not happy with it, after having it on my shelf for a few months. The cover is not a laminate like Shutterfly, it's a heavy piece of cardboard that is printed on. As a result, the cover image will be darker than you'd expect. (My title page and cover are the same, so I could compare.) It looks like the cover absorbs too much ink.


You do a completely custom front and back, but they don't let you upload your image for the spine. I went into Photoshop and grabbed the predominant color in my cover with the color picker, found the hex# and entered that for my spine in Blurb.


It was considerably cheaper than Shutterfly, and my only option in a 12X12 100+ page book.


I am displeased enough with the overall quality that I won't use them again---I will either trim books down to <100 pages, or break projects into pieces.


I hope that you receive a better product! I am, overall, grateful to have the book printed---I should make that clear! It is a great blessing to have all my layouts in a book. But I've been spoiled by Shutterfly. :)


Hope our reviews was helpful!

I have completed 3 layouts of my Hokkaido trip!! Tada!!

Two new templates are in the store and template 204  is now available as a set in the store HERE

And in one day's time we leave for Shanghai, China! I know, we are really blessed, my cousin lives in Shanghai, and invited us for a visit in time to catch the World Expo. The kids are very excited, we have been browsing webpages like this and this to read about it, and of course, Shanghai itself is truly magnificent!! It is our (the boys and I) first trip to China and we will come back with lots of photos and more fodder for layouts!

Another Book Completed!

Yes! I have completed my Japan 2008 vacation photobook and uploaded it to Blurb.com. Am trying Blurb for the first time, as the book came up to 114 pages, exceeding the Shutterfly limit. Blurb costs less, but has less consistent reviews, but I decided to give it a shot. The software was very easy to use, but unfortunately, does not allow a complete self-customised wrap around cover. Anyway when the book arrives I will review it for you. Can't wait! Here's a preview - worth the hard work ? (took a year!) I think so!!!
You know, I ended up not really liking the pages where I joined up two single pages - the left and right sides did not coordinate :(  And I could have done better on the cover, but still, I'm SO happy with the album of that Amazing trip!!

Note: I realised that my Blurb album preview will not show up unless I set my book to "public" setting which would mean others could buy a copy of my book (!) Not what I want, so I've set up a preview using photobucket instead.

Now I can start on my Hokkaido 2009 vacation photos! After taking quite a long break, I'm quite motivated to start on the double page spreads again :)

Dh had had the fantastic opportunity to work in Singapore's world class performing arts venue, The Esplanade, for a 3 month stint, and we have been enjoying some great concerts, performances, getting an "education" on the latest on the arts scene, and yesterday the children went along for the fun, free program including installation art and all, that is now going on as part of our annual Arts Festival. Here are some shots from last night, we hope it will rub off on them, and that they can enjoy and appreciate arts more as they grow up, well, it's a start :P

Had worked on several more daily layouts, am thinking maybe I'll make a mini 8X8 album out of them...this first one is just one of those times I journal more than I place photos - I must do more of these, they capture my thoughts for my family - so important!

And the next is of my oldest and best friends - we have been childhood friends and firm friends to this day - no journaling, too much to be said, and yet nothing needs to be said.. KWIM?

And one from last year's photos of the boys - my brother, my best friend!

And now for some wonderful layouts by my talented friends and readers, thanks ladies for sharing them with us! Firstly from my lovely CT Christie Stearns, who is currently recovering very well from a surgery, you can send your regards to her here

 Now for some layouts by the talented Tawn, I always love her simplicity and yet how she makes the photos stand out so beautifully!

Finally, these are by Karen Mathre, her family has so much fun activities and outings which she captures in colorful, fun layouts like these:

Thanks again, ladies, I really appreciate your taking time to show me and link me to your creations.


Here's the final layout I made to complete my Japan album, it was the last night of our trip, and we went to the famed electric 'town' that sells all the mens' toys, starting with electronics stuff, to manga figurines to action hero toys of ALL kinds!

 This template is now available as a set in the store HERE

Happy Mothers' Day!

Happy Mothers' Day !
To every mom out there, a Blessed day to you to celebrate that which has changed us forever, make us worriers for life, yet brings us the greatest joy and fulfillment!

Been a while since the last post. I had been busy with work, and also these few weeks with the boys preparing for their mid year exams. You must read a lot about us studying for exams. Education is a big thing in Singapore, as in most Asian countries, for various reasons, whether right or wrong, good or bad, we are very affected by it. The boys spend a lot of time on homework, projects, and exams, we try our best to support them through it, and expand their life in as many other ways as we can. If you are interested to find out more, the best place is at my friend Monica's blog, Of Kids and Education, she shares with wit and honesty, finds the beauty, fun, and christian perspective in bringing up kids in Singapore. We love her and her blog. And you should read her post today on Mother's Day!

Scrapping-wise, I had been playing catch up on ''everyday" layouts and moments & thoughts I want to capture. Am re-visiting the clean and linear style I used for 365, another style I enjoy and also because I can do 3 layouts in one night!! Will probably start on the travel layouts again soon. (I have the entire Hokkaido trip to scrap!) And here's 8 layouts I did this week!

This is my favourite. I had wanted to scrap this for the longest time, and finally remembered to, after prompting from this post by Katie the Scrapbook Lady. Her blog is another of my favourites. Jared began his 'love affair' with Miffy when he had the first when he was four, maybe, and when he was about six, he wrote this 'song'- Ode to Miffy - scribbled on a note pad. It is sung to ''Old Macdonalds had a farm'' and it goes:
I love Miffy, yes I do,
Do you, do you too?
Oh Miffy is the cutest toy,
In the wholewide world!
Finally I scanned this and preserved it for my scrapbook for all time!

And these are photos I took of my family reading at the library, our weekly haunt:

Next some of our very old soft toys (mostly mine and dh's) with which we had to part with recently (sob)

Had to scrap these photos of how cool Jared is:

And of the movie outings we have been having, took a big risk and took these photos (many of them, actually!) in the dark cinema, to catch them in those 3D specs!

A Chinese New Year layout - and our almost a tradition Loh Hei (Yu Sheng) - a homemade 'raw fish' salad where everyone joins in to 'mix' it, lifting it high up with chopsticks while declaring 'blessings'!

Just a fun moment captured of the boys laughing out loud - they do it a lot, but I do love this lot of shots

And here's me and dh on our weekly date nights - a big part of our lives that I must not leave out of our scrapbooks!

Have turned these 10 layouts into an album template set for you in the store with papers and brads included, so you can make a quick album if you like.

And finally a layout just of nothing in particular, of silly shots I forced my boys to take with me while we were waiting for and in the lift one day, but just tugs at my heart to say these are the people and the moments that make it all worthwhile for me. :)

This template is now available as a set in the store HERE

More Dailiness Moments

Thanks everyone for your support and wonderful comments in the last post, I feel so blessed! And best of all, convinced that I'm actually helping gals like myself scrapbook your memories and capture more of them quickly and beautifully. I'm honored! And makes it all so worthwhile! :) Thanks too for visiting the store and the sale, sale ends in two days, a big THANK YOU once again!


I've been taking a break from travel layouts and wanting to catch up on capturing moments from our dailiness (see last post). Since deciding not to do the 365 project this year, I've taken significantly less photos (gasp!) and dh and I are thinking we're missing something here. (sob!) I have been jotting down stories & moments that I want to scrap, but some are 'pictureless' :(  But whatever, I am determined to add them to my scrapbooks!

Like, just yesterday, I had one of these moments, when I was at our shared computer, and Ryan wanted to play games on it, while waiting for me, I let him (or he let me) snuggle and sit on my lap (he was heavy) for long enough while I got him to watch Katrina's video (see last post) with me !!!!!! PRICELESS. I think he understood and felt some of the sentiments she was talking about, that these are how I feel as I watch him grow up. At the point in the video where she talks about her sons leaving home for college, I gasped as I remembered Ryan will have a year of boarding in Year 5 (he's in year 1 now) - to which he calmly replied, "Mom don't worry, I'll be back in year 6." I hugged him tight and wanted to say that being back in year 6 doesn't help the fact that you're going to be away for the whole of year 5(!) but simply thought, how steady and independent he has become. :) No photos for this moment, but need to capture!!


Happily, I did these two layouts this week - in the simple linear style which is so much easier and faster (did not make templates of them since they are so simple, but if you like to have them, let me know)
It's Ryan learning how to tie his school tie from his dad, and then Jared also wanting to get into the action (doing the men thing) I just loved watching them....

Have you been capturing your daily moments? Link us to some of your layouts!

And now thanks to Rheanne I realised that Templates 146 & 147 (which were contributions to The Digi Files 8 of Oct 2009) were not packaged for the store. I must have forgotten.

This template is now available as a set in the store HERE

Blessed Easter! And Loving Dailiness

Thank you for the cross, the mighty cross
That God himself should die for such as us
And everyday we're changed
Into Your image more and more
Yes, by the cross we've truly been transformed

And we're so amazed and we give you praise
That you would save us at such a cost
And we're so amazed and we give you praise
For the power of the cross
For the power of the cross
Copyright: 1990 Integrity's Praise! Music


Blessed Easter to everyone! Trust you had a wonderful time with your family too. We celebrated in church together the gift of God that was given through Christ. The lyrics above is one of the songs my family sang together on Good Friday in our own little worship time together at home. It was just too wonderful to worship as a family, hearing Ryan's tenorish voice with Jared's childish one blend with dh's base voice and my piano notes singing to the Lord. The boys were for once both quiet and attentive as dh shared of the Lord's amazing Love, and then he led us all in prayer. A truly wonderful morning! We must do this more often.

Of all the everyday things we do as a family sometimes a moment like this will stand out and mark a special place in our memory and I want to have many such ones with my family, especially as the boys are growing up in light speed ! (in their speak)

In my last post, Jenny shared a beautiful video of author Katrina Kenison, reading a chapter from her book, The Gift of an Ordinary Day: A Mother's Memoir. It's so beautiful I wanted to share it here with you but do not know how to fit it in the post. So I'm gonna send you to the video here instead. If you have not seen it or read the book please go over, you won't regret it!

My mission now : To make sure the special and meaningful happen but also to capture and savour the daily ones that seem mundane but will pass us only too quickly!

Amazingly, when I went over to order a copy of the book, I found that Katrina had written an earlier book, Mitten Strings for God - Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry, also about discovering the sacred in the ordinary, written when her children when younger. And that I have read and loved it! When I fished out my copy I was very excited to find that I had scribbled a few precious daily moments (in 2002) in the margins of the first chapter - Dailiness. And I immediately made this layout :)  That's the boys aged two and four ...

Getting to template 200 means I'm closing in on completing my 2008 Japan Album - only one or two more layouts to go!! Here are the latest creations from the days and nights we spent in our favorite city of Kyoto. It is the loveliest, quaintest, city with a wonderful old city air, we really loved wondering around. We also skipped the largest, most famous temples and sights for smaller, less crowded ones where it sometimes felt we were the only ones there. Totally loved it. Hopefully one day we get to go back :)
                                 
                                          (click on images to enlarge)

Here is one more layout from Himeiji - it is so lovely and picture perfect I had to make one more layout!

And one more layout is needed for these cute pics of what we and Jared were constantly doing on the trip - perhaps only we know what I am talking about, lol, but that's why it's precious to us!

And a final two pager to capture all the quirky single photos of the magnificent experience of Japan.

The templates below are for downloading! Will love it if you leave a comment! Thank you  ;P

                                          Download template 198 here
                                          Template 199  is now available as a set in the store HERE
                                          Template 200 is now available as a set in the store HERE