I NEED A HARD COPY - ENTER BLURB.COM

I admit the computer and the internet mystify me, and I don't quite trust it!  Being both old and old-fashioned, I've always been a fan of a hard copy -- just can't entrust what is important in my life to something so nebulous as the internet.  As a matter of fact, just last week; I lost my entire Pinterest account -- boards, pictures, and all.  It was probably through my own ineptitude -- but where did it all go?  

  I started this blog five years ago to document our lifestyle and some of the people and things that inhabit our home.  I wanted to leave something behind in words and pictures that might possibly be of interest to our descendants. I know I would love to have more documentation about my ancestors' lifestyles.  So, about 2 1/2 years ago, I got to thinking - will those grandchildren, great grandchildren, etc. be able to find out there in space all that I have labored over?  Thus, enter the hard copy and blurb.com.  Blurb is a company that prints books (one copy or more) from info that you have written through their software called Booksmart (it's free).  

BLOG BOOK ONE

In 2010, I did my first blog book that covered all of my blog posts from 7/22/08 to 9/23/l0, a total of 370 pages.  It is a fairly easy process as you are able to slurp your blog directly to the software.  You can print it just as is, or change it to more of a book format as opposed to a blog format by changing page and picture layouts.  This can become a bit tedious especially if you have hundreds of pages; but, to me, I enjoy this type of detail work.  The blurburati (tech support) is handy and prompt through email to help with any problems you may encounter, and stay with you until problems are solved.

BLOG BOOK TWO

This summer it was time to do another blog book that covers my posts from 10/2/10 to 6/18/13, that ended up being 292 pages.  The two blog books together contain about 2000 pictures. It took me several weeks of evening work editing; but once I finished, my hard copy showed up in the mail in five days.

DEDICATION PAGE -- BLOG BOOK TWO

I've done a total of seven blurb books now.  My 99 year-old mother-in-law especially enjoys the books I have put together as gifts for her of old-time pictures.  There are all kinds of possibilities -- recipe books, photo books, travel books; the cost is resonable.

The two blog books have already produced the intended results.  My grandkids don't always read my blog, but they have sat down and perused the books more than once.  

There have been comments from them about how they have changed and grown in five years.  I heard comments about remembering when they did the Halloween cupcakes; when they went to the go-cart track; wondering about where the antique child's rocker came from, etc. etc.

THE POST ON THE ROCKING CHAIR

I have not been compensated by blurb.com for anything -- I just enjoy their product -- a hard copy, in my hands!

THE END FLAP ON THE DUST JACKET OF BLOG BOOK TWO

I'm joining the following parties:
Pieced Pastimes for Saturday Sparks
Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
Creative Home Expressions for The Creative Home and Garden Hop Sunday
Dwellings for Amaze Me Monday
Our Home Away from Home for Tuesdays at Our Home
A Stroll Thru Life for Inspire Me Tuesday
Cozy Little House for Tweak It Tuesday
Ivy and Elephants for What's It Wednesday
Have a Daily Cup for Share Your Cup Thursday
Common Ground for Be Inspired Friday
Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Thanks to these bloggers for hosting these events!

BLURBING!

I have become a 'blurbarian' as I have now 'blurbed'. I learned how to 'slurp' my blog, and have had contact with the 'blurberati'! Yes, I am now addicted to Blurb.com, which has a very easy, free software to download called Booksmart that allows you to create books. I was surprised at how inexpensive it was to have your book printed for gifts and for your own use. This is what I have been up to on Blurb. I found it hard to photograph the books for this post; the pictures in the books really are sharp and clear.

Last Christmas, I scrapbooked (the old-fashioned way with papers & adornments) pictures of my Mother-in-law's ancestors. This year, we wanted to gather together some of the pictures since her marriage in 1931. She is now 96 years old, and we thought she might enjoy a look back. Here is a sample of the Blurb book we created. Below are family pictures from her 90th birthday and 95th birthday. There are about 60 pictures total in this little book - the cost was under $20, as Blurb gave me a promotional code for free shipping.

Since my granddaughter was about 8 years old, we have scrapbooked (again the old fashioned way) a photo book for her to give her parents of the pictures that I have taken of the kids during the previous year. Since Caitlin is definitely of the computer generation, she was excited to give Blurb a try. She had so much fun choosing different backgrounds, colors, fonts, etc. for each page. Once again, the cost was under $20. I know I have spent way more than that in previous years for a binder, papers, and stickers.

The following book was the reason I checked out Blurb in the first place. This blog was started as a journal to record and photograph a variety of things for my descendants (if they are interested). So, I thought it would be a good idea to have a hard copy of my posts. This book ended up being 372 pages long with a little over two years of posts. I had it bound as a hardcover book, so it was more expensive at about $60.

Some examples of the pages:

It was very easy to 'slurp' my blog posts and all the pictures into Booksmart. It took some editing to transform it from a blog format to more of a book format, but I enjoyed the process. In the middle of the editing, we had to buy a new computer which caused a few problems during transfer of data. But, the blurbarati (the technical staff) were quick to respond to my email with lots of suggestions and ideas.

I can think of all kinds of books I now want to do. For instance, I'm thinking of a book of all the Christmas pictures from the last 52 years; or maybe a book with pictures of the houses we have lived in during our married life. Yes, I do have a lot of pictures.

By the way, Blurb.com did not compensate me for this post. I just enjoyed my experiences and wanted to share!