Blog in Print

I spent quite some time researching and seeking out ways to EASILY have my blog converted to print for posterity. So many stories contained within these electronic walls, even if they are somewhat sporadic of late.

I first started off with Blurb, which offered the most control in the way of formatting the layout. However – 1. this was NOT user friendly, and 2. it slurped up the WHOLE blog in its entirety in one hit, not allowing for any filters to be applied beforehand. One then had to remove the posts that you didn’t want to include (this takes a while if you have been blogging for years).

Next I went to Blog2Print. Hear the angels chorus. It allows limited formatting options for layout BUT filters the dates you put in, if like me you only wanted to print a one year at a time.

Let me point out that blog photos are generally reduced in resolution for web viewing, so not optimum for printing. There is a way around this – if you want gloriously large images you can one by one replace the images you have used with the full sized ones from your computer. Did I do this? NO.

I have now printed FOUR years of blog books and the family adores them….

I did blog in 08/09 I think but the posts sporadic and not worthy of collating.

One can choose the colour of the cover and a pattern. Can also choose a photo to put on the front AND the back. I picked my favourite of the kids for each year and the annual Christmas shot for the the back.

The front page inside the cover also allows for a short dedication or few words (not pictured) for a little bit of literary prose to sum up the year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The layout seems to vary from book to book and sometimes the pics are slightly out of order from the text…but I’m not overly worried. As you can see the images aren’t big, they are as big as they can be given their resolution.

I have printed the comments usually (you can ask it to NOT include them) as some of the best bits are there.

As you can see I still ended up with pretty hearty looking books, which was another reason why I decided I wasn’t overly fussed about making the layout all pretty. I think each year has cost around $100-145 to print, which as I have hardly printed a photo in the past four years, pretty cheap. If I never ever print or scrapbook again, these stories are saved.

And…they take up so little space on the shelf opposed to the regular old (albeit much loved) scrapbook album. These really have cemented in me that I will be doing digital and printed albums from now on, even just the regular yearly gathering of photos (a great many of which don’t ever make it to the public blog by their very nature!) which I have spoken about before.

We love our blog books,the kids and husband often get them out and peruse, and I often go searching for something I know I have included to check on date etc.

Do let me know if you have any experiences in transferring your blog to print, and if you have used any different company.

one I had to own

Not one of the batch of books I recently bought, but one I borrowed from a friend (thanks Mel) and then just had to have a copy for myself, so that I could revisit and savour it over again. It is that good. I thought I would share it here, just in case you haven't come across it yet.

 

"January 1946 - London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb. Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends - and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is.' The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society' - born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island - boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all. Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society's members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever"  Review from HERE

Utterly charming, and one that I couldn't put down. I was devastated to find the author had died before the book was published, I was so looking forward to more of her writing.

If you haven't read this book yet, do! And if you have read it, did you love it as much as I did?!

new favourite books

So if you get Scholastic Book Club at your school you would have probably seen these books recently, or even come across them in the past.  We just bought these from bookclub, and they have become firm favourites, especially with the one small boy. And his mum.

This has been around for awhile, and it has a host of awards for good reason.  My boy's favourite illustrated page is this one (though he loves them all, he has chosen the oldest child to represent himself when he goes through the book).

This is a bird's eye view of the farm, and Angus just loves looking at the road and where the sheds and other things are.  I quite like it myself!

My own personal favourite  - first heard as a slightly wicked song by John Williamson and sung with great gusto by all persons in the car when it comes on.  John Williamson is quite a clever man, and I intend to get the "kids cd" he has had out for awhile....in preference to listening to Pink, who's words I hadn't really listened to until in the car recently...lets just I was quick to change the words when I caught some of "fun house".  {the girls just love Pink! why oh why!} Anyhow, may I present:

I'm a bush I'm a bush, I'm a bush bush ranger

runnin from the law, livin on danger

bang bang here! come stick em up stranger!

I'm a big bad bush bush ranger!

The story book is wonderfully illustrated with a hilarous bushranger wombat and his gang featuring throughout.

Take note of the expression on the face of his faithful fat pony!

And his girlfriend Gayle, who appears to be, quite literally, a fox!

I enjoy this book every time I flick through it, sometime with a child, sometimes NOT!  And I always hear the song in my head as I read the words.

I can so see this being translated into a play for school kids!