19 January 2015

Project Life finished album 2014

It's here. The best happy mail there is. A year in book form.
Holding so many photos and stories and memories in my hands is magical and really doesn't get old.



When my book arrived I took an hour out and sat on my bed and just read it cover to cover. There are some pages that make me laugh, there are pages that are sweet and there are stories that make me cry.

The book starts with a simple sentiment.


I then wrote a brief blurb about my year of memory keeping before launching into the weekly pages.


I love that on each page there is a lot to see. This is partly because the pages are so big. It really does feel like a coffee table book.



I pondered for a while about what to do with the covers this year. There were plenty of photos I wanted to include so the most sensible option was to do a grid. It is totally over the top but wonderful at the same time!


Just like last year I ordered my book through blurb. I think they are a great company, the delivery was speedy for such a large book and they offer a book making program that you download to your computer. This made creating my PL book so quick and easy as I could plug in my pages when I had five minutes to spare.


I used a page template that blurb offer. It is essentially one big photo with a white border. I then just uploaded my pages as jpegs and popped in one per page.
From experience, blurb books don't lie flat, hence why I like the white boarder. It means that nothing gets lost down the 'gutter' of the spine.


This book is big. I went for a 12x12 hardcover. I think any smaller would make the text inside very hard to read.
As some weeks I only did a single page, the book is slightly smaller than last years by about twenty pages. It still feels substantial though!


Last year I had a slight qualm about the colours of some of the photos in my book but either my computer is more accurate or blurb have upped their game because the colours are just gorgeous this year. Very true to life/sceen and the picture quality is fab.



Project life as a craft is very cheap for me as I rarely buy new supplies and I don't print anything throughout the year. When buying my book I tend to therefore pay a bit more to have nicer quality. I chose the matt lustre pages this year and they feel lovely and thick.


I can't begin to describe what it feels like to have two years documented in this form. When project life feels heavy, I come back to the books to remind myself why I do it.


Memory keeping. It's just the best.

17 comments:

Sian said...

It's just gorgeous ! I bet you can't stop looking at it. And I love how you have pictured it on the quilt

Jane said...

something to treasure, it's beautiful.

Melissa said...

Abi, your book looks gorgeous. Something to treasure for years to come.

Cristina said...

Your book it's beautiful!! ♥ I'm going to print my PL 2014 with blurb too and it's good to know your opinion. Thank you for sharing! Regards from Spain ;-)

Ruth said...

It looks amazing, you're right about the colours popping off the page! Fabulous!

scrappyjacky said...

It looks stunning,Abi....no wonder you are so pleased.

Fiona@Staring at the Sea said...

I can just imagine your delight upon receiving it.

Karen said...

This is fabulous, Abi. You can tell how wonderful the photos are from your post, and the quality shines right through. No wonder you are thrilled.

Beverly said...

Abi, I can't tell you how much I love that you these books, you will be even happier decades from now. I was so frustrated when I created 12x12 pages covering 2013 then everywhere I uploaded them to said the resolution was too lo.

Sandra said...

Oh it absolutely beautiful. You must be so proud of it, I can imagine you're smiling the whole time while flicking through

alexa said...

Oh my goodness, Abi, I think you have just totally converted me! These pages are just bursting with colour and delight ... Did you use their Booksmart option? I was really hesitant about the size but it looks so gorgeous, I might just give the big size a go!

KraftyKaren said...

Really beautiful book, it is so lovely that you get each year printed rather than just leaving them saved digitally

Alison said...

Love it ABI! Xx

JO SOWERBY said...

I love your book Abi and it's so great you already have two wonderful years of stories stored up and ready to read whenever you feel like it. I love the design and the collage of pictures is great. So glad you're happy with your book again.
I am thrilled with your lovey comment too and I'm hoping this word will lift me up in 2015
JO XXX

Rachel Brett said...

These are gorgeous! I love this way of doing PL, it almost makes me want to do PL both ways. Thanks for sharing :)

Melinda said...

I love doing traditional project life but your book nearly has me thinking digital is the way to go! And it is certainly a fantastic answer while you're at Uni with limited space. Best of luck to you for your 2015 adventures!

Anonymous said...

It looks gorgeous. I'm glad to hear how happy you are with Blurb and your trick of loading each page in as a separate jpg. I must get my 2014 book finished. Think it just moved to the top of the pile.