Because I don’t have *enough* projects to work on .… Last night I began designing my Scotland vacation Blurb book.
I’ve been coming across so many boxes of scrapbooking supplies that we have had in storage for 4 years …. I was SURE when I packed them up that I would be able to use them any time. But now I look at all these diecuts and just think “bleck” …
I am more and more leaning toward doing most (if not all) of our event-related memory keeping in Blurb books. I look at it like digital scrapbooking (without having to have photoshop), or the ‘simple scrapbooking’ method without actual supplies.
And I DO love not having to buy/store/organize supplies…..
So even though I have 40 other things on my plate right now, I think that putting together this book will be relatively easy (not quick because my computer is a dinosaur, but easy).
I already have all the photos edited and organized (no need to order prints). I already have everything I need for the pages themselves (again, no scrapbooking supplies. Just a computer and software). And I already have about 98% of the journaling done AND typed up (visit Those Crazy Schuberts for our Scotland stories). I will likely make *some* journaling tweaks, depending on the various layouts, but all in all most of the work is DONE!
Very much like my Alaska Blurb book ….
Here’s the little bit that I’ve gotten done so far. It doesn’t look like much, but it DID require loading all 1000-ish photos AND choosing a typeface.
Tricky ….. very tricky ….
This is the cover (so far). The book will be a 11×13″ landscape, hardcover, image wrap book. Very coffee-table-book style. And the exact same specifications as the Alaska Blurb book you can see here. The only difference will be the content (and more or less pages).
I’m not 100% on the front cover image. But I do really love the way the word Scotland stands out so well against the sky. I love love love the image on the back cover. One of my favorites from the trip, hands down. Plus it’s super colorful, plus it tells a little bit of the story of visiting a rainy country. Definitely keeping that part of the design. (Image taken from Edinburgh Castle, leaning over one of the levels to look to another castle level lower on the hill).
Blurb’s BookSmart software lets you use whatever typefaces you have installed on your computer.
The display font I am using for the title, and will use for section headers, is called Romeral. Download Romeral for free here.
I’m not *in love* with the green I have used on the spine. I may change it to a charcoal gray (I had also thought about a rich navy blue, but there isn’t a good shade available).
Next will be a (boring-ish) title page….
And then the table-of-contents:
This page (on the right) will be 2 rows of 4 photos each. As you can see, the 2nd and 3rd photos are missing. Those are days that I was crazy sick, so the better stories are told in Andrew’s iPhone photos. Must put them on my computer!
Each photo represents a different day of the trip (Friday to Friday) – the day/location and corresponding page number will be in text below the image. Example: The image that looks like a field is from the day we drove north and visited Culloden battlefield and Loch Ness. Each are *very roughly* in the area around Inverness. So right below the photo will probably say Inverness; August 17; page 128 (or whatever it will be).
That’s literally all I have done so far. The fact that my computer is 5 years old, and that I’m working with about 5+Gbs of photos is really slowing me down….
BUT, like I said, the bulk of the actual work is done (photo taking/editing; journaling; gathering of “supplies”) … so I’m hoping to get this printed by the summer!
Any questions? Are you interested in seeing more of the process or prefer just the final result?
Have you used Blurb yet?
P.S. If you are designing a book get 15% off Blurb Books | Code: 15OFFBOOK | Offer expires 5/30/12
