neglected blog.

I neglected the blog for the last month while I was working on our 7th blog book.  I was so happy to see that Blurb was offering 40% off (I've never seen that good of a promotion before) and wanted to finish it in time.  I did!  Dad and I decided that we wanted to invest in our own family history and purchased a set of our blog books for each of you.  We hope that they will be special and meaningful.  In any case, I hope to get back to blogging before long.  I'd love to blog about Christmas before Summer is here ;0)

I was just telling a friend tonight that I'm convinced that I personally can not excel at being a house wife AND a mother.  The days that I have all the dishes done, the house straightened and a wonderful dinner on the table you kids have most likely been doing their own thing.  On days when I take you kids to the library, spend lots of time doing projects and reading, the house is a dull rumble of chaos and clutter.  Now, I'm sure that a better balance can be struck, but I sure have a dickens of a time striking it!  But I'm learning more and more that I really can't do it all and don't need to do it all.  Some things can be left undone or not done "perfectly" and it will be OK.

winterizing the blog.

Over the break I gave a little bit of input to my sister (-in-law) as she got her blog up and running...it turned out to be so cute and fresh.  Our poor blog has taken the back seat and was in major need of a face lift.  Having just decorated for January (with beautiful glittery snowflakes from my mom), and with it being SO cold and snowy here in Normal I decided it was time to winterize our blog :0)  I don't have the latest and greatest family pictures back yet (from the Sheets and Graden photo shoots), so I am simply putting up last years header again for now.  In any case, HAPPY WINTER!  Hope you're all staying safe and warm.

Blog -----> Book. Blurb.

Quite a few people have asked about the blog books that I make, so I thought I'd do a little post to answer a few questions.  

First off, I use BookSmart from Blurb.com and have been really happy with the results.  We've gone with the standard 7x7 size with standard paper.  The first one I made 4+ years ago has a few pages that are coming loose from the binding, but the kids LOVE to look at them and in a not-so-gentle kid way ;0)  But I have a friend who pays for the premium paper and hard book cover and probably won't ever have that problem.  If you get on Blurb's email list, a few times a year they email out promotions where you can get 20-25% off.  I usually wait for the promotions.  So for a book that is about 280 pages, full color, shipping + handling, I usually pay $55.  Not bad for almost 300 pages of MY OWN family history IN COLOR.  Plus Blurb keeps your books on file if you ever want to order more copies.  (Bry & I are thinking of eventually buying a set of the books for each kid to have.)  Also, if you want, you can make your book available for other people to buy.  So if the grand parents want their own copy they can order it and have it shipped to them.  Pretty cool.

Here are a few screenshots of BookSmart.  It doesn't offer all the cutesy "scrapbooking" elements that other book makers have, but it allows you to fully customize your layout.  You can have the software auto fill your book, but I haven't liked the way it turns out so I layout it out on my own.  There is a little bit of a learning curve, but once you get the swing of things, it's not so bad.

I've definitely learned a lot with each book that I make. One of the biggest reasons I do collages for my blog is because they make for SUPER easy page layouts in our book and they usually look pretty polished and nice.  BUT I learned from the first book that you DON'T cram a collage into a tiny photo box.  If you can see at all below, there is a collage in about every one of those little boxes.  You can't even tell what's going on.

This one (below on the left page) looks a lot better, but now I usually do a full-page bleed for each collage.

Also in my first book I used a black background because I thought it'd set off the pictures.  It looks OK, but now I try to vary the background, usually using bright colors because I love color :0)  In any case, you learn as you go.  With each book it's gotten easier, I've learned a lot and am more and more pleased with the finished  product.  Here are a few examples of my last books.  I decided to show pages where I've used different collages...

I hope that answers a few questions.  If you have more, please ask.  This is something that I really enjoy doing and would be happy to help you.  I think it's a fun creative outlet and such a great way to keep a family history.

Phew.

Today I finally finished laying out the pages for our Summer Vacation in our blog book (#6) AND I just finished the LAST post from our Christmas Vacation.  YAY!  I historically take an UBER amount of pictures when we're with family and it is so nice to have both of those documented and done.  Here's to hoping our {family history} blog books will be more and more meaningful for our kiddos as they get older.  I enjoy all of this blogging business, but it sure takes a lot of work.

oh, that was simple.

My sister Emily started a blog for all of her CUTE and creative teaching ideas.  (Check it out here!)  While talking her through blogging 101, we were chatting about backgrounds, where to find cute ones, how to upload them...I decided to google how to make your own.  It was WAY simpler than I thought it would be.  So if any of you have always wondered the same thing, check out this easy tutorial!

What blog is this?

I decided it was time for a little change. I must admit that I love when my favorite bloggers change their blog according to the season. It may seem trivial...it may BE trivial, but hey...we all need a little change from time to time :0) So maybe I'll get around to doing the same for ours. Here's to Spring!

Blurb : Great motivation to keep me blogging

Have you heard of www.blurb.com? It's an AWESOME website for making books. Thanks to them I just published my first book, ever.

200 full color pages = $25, family history = priceless :0)

Maybe I shouldn't admit it, but I was SO excited when it arrived. You know when your breath catches in the back of your throat? Yep, one of those moments. Anyhoo, here it is, in all it's plastic-wrapped glory...

The Bryan and Sarah Graden Family
Volume 1

Front Cover.

Back Cover.

Pretty cool, eh? Bry and I have decided that each year, as a Christmas present to our family, we're going to print out a book of our blog from that year. It'll be a way to add to our family history, one volume at a time. It's definitely given me motivation to keep up with my blogging.

(I was telling Bry that there is something about blogging that brings out my cheesiness. Gotta love it :0))

New camera, New special!

So I am loving my new camera and REALLY wanting to use it for some photo shoots :0) I've got an offer up on my photo blog that ends Saturday...check it out if you're interested and spread the word. Thanks everyone!

www.bellepetitephoto.blogspot.com

Thecutestblogontheblock.

SO...I love the cutest blog on the block website, but I haven't quite figured out this background thing. Shouldn't the background also be in the center of the blog page? In any case, if any of you know how to make that one work, I'd love to know. Thanks!

Collages of Mine.

Let's be honest, since Brie's birth I have taken many a picture and made many a collage :0) Yesterday I decided it'd be fun to set up a blog so I could easily share my latest collages with friends and family. It's password protected (I don't want Brie's pictures to be floating out there on the internet!) so if any of you would be interested in "subscribing" just let me know and I'll send you an "invite" email.