The Perfect Holiday Gift
This post was created in partnership with Blurb.
Do you have anyone in your life that is hard to shop for? They just seem to have everything already, so finding something unique and usable just gets harder and harder every year? We’ve found the perfect holiday gift for that person – a custom photo book! We’ve partnered with Blurb Books to showcase their brand new Layflat photo books that feature seamless spreads that display your photos across two pages!
My husband is one of the people on my shopping list that I struggle the most with to find a gift. He’s the type of guy that when he needs something, he just goes out and gets it. So, I used Blurb to make him a gorgeous photo book from our recent trip to Iceland, filled with both amazing scenic photographs and fun little pics of the girls on the trip.
Creating this photo book with Blurb was easy. Since I use InDesign for all my graphic design work, I was thrilled to be able to use Blurb’s InDesign plug-in to design my book. I was able to custom design my pages this way, and I also played around with their in-house bookmaking option that was super user-friendly as well. Honestly, the hardest part for me was narrowing down which images to choose for my book! After going through all my images from our trip, I put all my favorites in a folder that I wanted to use for the book.
My goal was to create a photo book that would become a family heirloom. I wanted it to feel like a coffee table book, but also provide an intimate look into our family trip to Iceland. The Layflat paper is thick; it’s 100 lb. stock that I love with just a slight sheen that looks so professional. The colors are vibrant and the printing was flawless. I was especially pleased that even though many of the photos I used in the book were from my iPhone, they printed really well! Some of my favorite pages in the book were the ones with the big sweeping landscape photos, stretched across both pages. When you look at it, you feel like you’re back in Iceland.
I’m already thinking about more books I want to design using Blurb. I’ve always thought it would be a fun project to put together a book of Sara and my work with indigo. I can already see the cover design in my mind…
Blurb offers so many options for printing and they are even a self-publishing platform so you can publish and sell your work! A Blurb book is the perfect solution to those looking for a more unique and meaningful gift this holiday season. Also, be sure to check out Blurb’s Holiday Gift Guide for some creative inspiration to get your book started, and for order-by dates so you get it in time for the holidays! What kind of book will you make?
photos by Melissa Fenlon