Printed Photo Book Reviews Part 1 – a major undertaking…

(Please excuse the white blotches on the covers.  I wasn’t comfortable with our last name showing.)

I’m interested in moving from scrapbooking with individual sheets (later to be put into a purchased scrapbook) to bound photo books.  A lot of it is space-related – they take up so much less shelf space!  But also because they tend to be cheaper for digital scrapbooking.  Printing a single sheet is about $3 (12x12), but a book is generally half that (or less) per page.  (Prices vary widely!)

There are so many photo book printers that the options are almost overwhelming.  I decided to pick a handful of printers (based on cost, book sizes available, page counts allowed, and positive comments from other people) and print the same photo book through each of them to determine which I felt would be “best” for our family albums.

Book size – I’m most interested in square books.  Probably 12x12, but 8x8 for the kids (when I print books for them to keep in their own space).  Mainly because digital scrapbooking supplies are 12x12 and it’s what I’m used to, I guess.  I didn’t really consider companies that don’t print square formats.

Page counts – I want to be able to put a lot of photos in one book.  Preferably, I’d hope that I can get one year’s photos into each book for our family.  (We’ll see how that goes once I get started!)  So those with lower page limits (75 or less) weren’t being considered.

The contenders:

1. ArtsCow – I have used them in the past for several photo projects, including one photo book for my kids.  Their prices (with ubiquitous coupons) are great.  There are often coupons for free 8x8 books (shipping is not free, though).  I’m not sure that their quality is top-notch, but their prices pushed them onto the list easily.
2. Blurb – I hadn’t heard of this company until I started researching (actually, someone’s recommendation of Blurb was what caused me to start this project).  My favorite feature, right off the bat is that their books can hold up to 440 pages!  Woohoo!
3. Mixbook – I didn’t see many reviews of this company, but I like that their books can hold 399 pages, so I figured they were worth a try.

A few that I considered but didn’t end up trying:

1. Costco – We actually just let our Costco membership expire (oops!).  Oh, and they didn’t have a small square book.  Before I realized our Costco membership had expired, that was the real deterrent.
2. AdoramaPix – These books were VERY highly recommended but VERY expensive.  And they can only be purchased in discreet increments – 14 pages, 26, 38, 50, or 76.   I don’t like to be forced into something like that.
3. Walgreens – Based mostly on price (although they often have coupons/sales).  I might still try them at some point.
4. Snapfish – Again, I didn’t have a coupon.  I used them in the past for prints and was annoyed with them (I printed tons of pictures and they were not sent in order – even by album – so I had to sort through 144 pictures to get them in order).  Their prices seem reasonable, and they have a 150 page limit.  I might consider them at some point if there was a coupon/sale.

A couple of last-minute additions:

1. Shutterfly – They were more expensive than other options, so I wasn’t going to try them.  But I got a coupon for a free book (paying for shipping only), so I went for it.
2. MyPublisher – They don’t offer square book formats, so I wasn’t even going to bother, but, again, I got a coupon for a free book, so I decided I’d use it and just test the waters.

A summary of pertinent details of all the options I looked into:

Photo Book	Book sizes available (width x height, inches)	Cover	Page Limit	12x12 price	Paper Weight
ArtsCow Regular	6x6, 7x5, 8x8, 9x7, 11x8.5, 12x12	glossy	101	24.99/20 pgs +1.50/page	110#
ArtsCow Deluxe	4x4, 6x6, 7x5, 8x8, 9x7, 10x8, 9x12	matte	32 for 8x8	n/a	525#
Blurb	7x7, 8x10, 10x8, 13x11, 12x12, 5x8, 6x9	matte	440 regular 240 premium	48.95/20 pgs incremented up to 192.50/440 pages	80# regular 100# premium
Mixbook	6x4, 8x6, 11x8.5, 14x11, 8.5x8.5, 12x12	glossy	399	49.99/20 pgs +1.25/page	100#
Shutterfly	7x5, 9x7, 8x8, 11x8, 12x12	extra glossy	101-110	54.99/20 pgs +1.50/page	80#
My Publisher	3.5x2.75, 7.75x5.75, 11.25x8.75, 15x11.5	glossy	100	n/a	115# (largest  book=80#)
Costco	12x12, 11.25x8.75	glossy	100	39.99/30 pgs +1.38/2 pgs	?
Walgreens	3x2, 6x4.5, 7x5, 8x8, 11x8.5, 12x12	?	150	49.99/20 pgs +1.99/2 pgs	?
Snapfish	7x5, 8x8, 11x8, 12x12	?	150	49.99/20 pgs +1.99/2 pgs	100#

My process for creating photo books was maybe not what everyone would choose.  As a  digital scrapbooker, I want to create/design my own pages.  I don’t want to throw my photos into a pre-existing scrapbook page design provided by the publisher.  Luckily, all companies allow a full-page “photo”, which was my scrapbook layout.  In order to test the differences in publishing only, I uploaded the exact same digital files (at 12x12) to each program to be used in the books.  I had previously purchased ArtsCow square templates for photo books from Studio Wendy, so I used those to determine bleed areas.  (I did not research all scrapbook companies’ bleed areas – I just decided to try it and see what happened.)  I uploaded 20 page files, plus a front cover, back cover, and a spine to each of the company’s programs and then plugged them in.

More details from each experience will follow in the next post…

Other posts in this series:
Part 2 - two ArtsCow photo book reviews
Part 3 - Blurb and Shutterfly
Part 4 - Mixbook and MyPublisher, plus wrap-up

And the World's Worst Blogger Award goes to...

I should make a plan to blog every week, at least. This is kind of pathetic. It's that whole "online world is really for showing the most interesting parts of our lives" concept. I guess I haven't felt like anything interesting has been going on.

This past weekend I finally started my "get rid of half my stuff" plan. It was our community-wide garage sale and my youngest wanted to earn more money toward her iPod touch stash (she was already up to $135!), so she insisted that we participate in the garage sale. Not my idea of a good time, but when my baby wants to earn money, I need to help her. Plus, it gets us to go through some of our "junk", too! We didn't really plan ahead too much but just started grabbing items as we could.

I, unfortunately, didn't do an official count of everything. Maybe I'll count what we still have (that's going to Goodwill/Craigslist/Play It Again Sports). I did count clothes, shoes, candles/decor already. I was shocked to find that I did NOT want to throw out everything in my closet, as I had suspected. On my first pass through, I got rid of about 28% of my clothes/shoes (which was over 100 items!). And 31% of my candles/decor. I wanted to get rid of more of that, but the hubby kept trying to keep everything. I'll be more ruthless the next time through (or do it while he's not looking!).

This was my first ever garage sale and fairly interesting. So many types of people! From the hard-core "I'm going to offer you way less than what this is worth, even though it's 10 minutes into the sale" to the easy-going, pay full price ones. We had a decent time. It was forecast 80% chance of rain, but it held off until just after 1:00 (when we performed a mad dash to get everything into the garage before it was soaked).

 

We made a decent amount of money, when we added in what we sold on Craigslist earlier in the week.  (I asked hubby to list a few of the larger items there before the sale.  Seemed like we'd get more money that way.)  The kids only made $36 each (we split it evenly, since most of their items are shared).  So the little one still doesn't have enough for that iPod.  But she only needs $20 more!  I'm pretty sure the yard needs weeding if she wants some more money....

I'm disappointed that on my first pass I only let go of 30% of the categories that I thought would be easiest to get rid of.  In the kitchen, I only let go a few items.  I'm thinking it's going to be more difficult than I thought to get down to 50%.  But I still have 8 months to keep trying!

The Big One

My biggest project for the year is really a big one.  I honestly haven't started yet, even though we're already 1.5 months into the year.  (Where does the time go??)  But it's a real, measurable goal that I am going to work toward.

I plan to get rid of half of the items we own.  As far as it is in my power (because I do live with other people who do have some say in what we own, whether I like it or not).  And not a clean split - like half my clothes, half my kitchen items, etc.  But about half of the total count of our possessions.  I'll just say right now that I have little to no control over anything in the garage (which is way too much stuff!), so that won't count in my tally at all.  Neither will DH's clothes or toys, I'm afraid.  (Although maybe he'll find me a good influence and make changes on his own!)

The first step in this process is to count up our total possessions (approximately), which is an ugly chore.  I'm afraid that's really why I haven't started yet.  Although I could just count up what I get rid of and add that to the total when I do count later.  Hmmm...



I think my first stop will be my closet.  Last year, I gave myself until Allison's 5th birthday to lose the "baby weight" which was the reason for hanging onto hundreds of pieces of clothing that don't fit me.  Well, that's next week and I'm not even in the ballpark.  I'm not sure I'm even in the same state where the ballpark is located.  So, it's time to cut them loose.   I might (we'll see) give myself some leeway - maybe one bin worth of clothes I like enough to store for maybe another 6-12 months.  And that's it.  And only items that I really, truly like.   Keeping in mind, of course, that while I don't like many of my clothes at all, that I do have to have something to put on my body.  So not every piece I hate will leave just yet.  I would guess that 75% of my wardrobe will be leaving the house.  Wow.  (And kind of sad.)

So, that's step one of the journey to owning less and being surrounded by less clutter.  Anyone want to join me?

2012 - Changes

I think my word for 2012 is "change".  I see a lot of areas of my life that need change and I'm going to make some progress on that this year.  Unfortunately, there are so many areas that I didn't make "resolutions" (thank goodness!).  But I just have a lot of ideas in my head.

As a start, I've been trying to get up before my kids.  So I can start the day on my terms, not by reacting to whatever stimulus the kids decide to throw at me that day.  I'm NOT a morning person, but by getting up on my time and having a chance to get the day started my way, it sure helps me to be less cranky in the morning, once my kids start whistling, dawdling, screeching, etc.  (Why do they do all my least favorite things before 8:00 am???)

I've joined an accountability group for this through Kat at Inspired to Action.  Her Hello Mornings Challenge (and free e-book - check it out!) is just what I need.  The accountability group I was assigned to is even full of other women from Florida - cool!

I'm not excellent at mornings, still.  But if I can at least get up 10 minutes before the kids (or go hide in my office if the kids are already up, which they seem to always be - why don't they believe in sleep???), I find myself a lot more cheerful once I start being "mom".  Tomorrow I hope to start C25K, too.  But we'll see.  I'm just not a morning exercise person.  At all.  It's not my idea of a good time.   (Sounds like I really want to do this, doesn't it??)

So, that's my first project for the year.  More to come.  Maybe even a list (although it scares me a bit to write everything down at once - overwhelming!)...

I know, I know...

What a bad blogger I am! Things got a little crazy there for a while.

The first offer on our house fell through, which added to the stress that school was starting in Florida but our house wasn't sold yet so we couldn't move. We finally accepted an offer that was lower than we wanted, just so we could be done. But at least we didn't have to make any significant home repairs to sell it (part of our stipulated contract if we accepted their lower offer).

So we packed up and moved across the country at the end of August. Found a house to purchase but closing would be over a month later and we didn't want to keep living in (or paying for) a hotel, so we found the ONE rental in the area that was short-term. It was awful, and I'm sorry I wasn't blogging during that time so I could have described it more fully. Between the bugs and dirt, we joked that it was like we were on some reality show where they were trying to get us to leave the house. But we survived!

We moved into our new home on Oct. 13th and have been getting settled, trying to make it "ours". We redid all the closets and the laundry room, plus unpacked everything (literally - no boxes are left!!!). But there are still projects we want to do. Even though it's not a "fixer", it just needs better storage.

We've been visiting a church that I hope we'll like. I hate church shopping. There just isn't that "perfect" church out there - the one that's in my head. Well, really, it's just my old church. I liked it a lot and attended for almost 15 years. Change is hard...

So, that's it. My blog is now caught up for the past 6 months. All in one post. Wasn't this more efficient??

It's time...

Well, it's been a while. But I'm starting to feel a little less stressed. At least temporarily, which I'm guessing it will be.

Since I posted last we:

1) Finished almost all projects around the house. This is huge. I'll post some pictures soon. Really it's a beautiful house now. But that's because we...

2) Listed our house for sale last Saturday.

3) Received an offer Tuesday, dickered a bit, and settled on a deal on Thursday.

4) Plan to move to Florida before school starts (4 weeks from now).

So, the high stress levels are reasonable, considering all of this.

I'm looking forward to our new adventures, but am nervous about finding a home quickly so we don't have to move twice. And moving. And leaving all of our family and friends here, because I know that's going to be really difficult.

But we'll have each other. And lots of new experiences to come!

Realization...

I have come to realize that I detest living in a house that is a constant project. I could put up with the occasional "why don't we redo this bathroom" or "painting this room would be nice". But to live in a house where the list is longer than my arm is getting so old. This is our second fixer-upper in a row, and we moved out of the previous one before it was even finished. And we hope to sell this one as soon as it's finished. So, we have lived in houses in disrepair for 8.5 years straight.

My children think it's "normal" to have a living room full of broken drywall or 2x4's. They don't bat an eyelash at electric outlets hanging out of the walls. (And, NO, they don't touch them, either.) I'm sorry that they think this is how the rest of the world lives.

But what I'm more sorry about is that we don't plan fun things very often. We think, "Oh, the weather is nice - better work on the landscaping" or "We have a free weekend, so we'd better tile the bathroom". I'd love to think, "What a nice day - why don't we go pick strawberries!" Or really, anything that would be an enriching activity, rather than working on the house. (Although, if the kids were older, we'd put them to work on the house and they'd be learning great skills that way, too.)

I am SO looking forward to our next house. Wherever it is, IT WILL NOT BE A FIXER-UPPER!!!