Blog Update & Introducing the Cricut Explore One

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links. 

Like any blogger or crafter, there are times that we get writers block and become uninspired.  Have you ever experienced one of those dry spells?  When this happens, I take a little time off from crafting to catch up with the other things that need attention.  The bad thing is that it leaves me with no material to share with you.  But, I have some good news. I will be posting some projects in a few days, so check in or subscribe to the blog to get it in your e-mail box first!  

In the mean time, I want to share with you a craft machine that is perfect for those who are beginners to the wonderful world of crafting -- or even if you consider yourself to be more of a "basic" crafter -- then Cricut's brand new machine is just for you! This nifty new machine is called the Cricut Explore One™ and it's perfect because it offers a simplified design-and-cut system that is incredibly user-friendly. The Explore One™ actually offers most of the same features as Cricut's other Explore machines, it's just priced lower!

In addition to its affordable price, here are a few other things about the Cricut Explore One™ that you're sure to love:

• It can cut over 60 different materials, from the most delicate materials like vellum to thicker things like leather. It can also cut card-stock, vinyl, fabric, balsa wood, leather, and more…without complicated settings.
• You'll have free access to Cricut's Design Space™ online software and iPad® app so you'll able to design on your computer or your Pad®. You'll also be able to use a Bluetooth® adapter for wireless cutting.
• The Explore One allows you to cut a wide range of shapes and sizes with exceptional precision, from ¼" tall up to 11½" wide x 23½" tall. You just select the material that you're using on the Smart Set® dial. From there, the machine's Cut Smart® technology will deliver a clean, professional cut.
• You can upload your own images and use your own fonts -- for free!
• Each machine comes with over 25 free 1-click projects and 50+ free images to get them started right away.
• If you want to use the machine to write or score, you can easily swap out the cutting cartridge with the Cricut Explore One™ Accessory Adapter and Pen.

The Cricut Explore One™ makes it easy, fast, and affordable for you to explore your creativity and delight your loved ones with personal handmade projects and gifts! And if you purchase your very own Cricut Explore One™ before the end of May - you'll get free shipping when you use code MAYSHIP!  You can't beat that!

Didn't I tell you that it is perfect?  So lets get our craft on!
Watch out for my next craft post coming in a few days, see you then!

Effectiveness & Quality of Blurb (Part 3)

*This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

Thus far you've heard the Blurb story and learned a bit about the extensive tools and resources that Blurb makes available to their book-making customers. While all that is impressive, what’s really remarkable to me is how they offer all of that and provide visually stunning books made on photo-quality paper—AND do it all at such an incredibly affordable price. It’s really is something to marvel at. 

Since day one, Blurb has been praised for their unwavering commitment to quality, which is why renowned photographers, graphic designers, architects, artists, and other creative professionals repeatedly choose Blurb to display their works of art. That speaks volumes in my book (no pun intended) because, if they trust Blurb to showcase their work, then it just seems logical that I should too. 

Professional-Quality Books and Magazines
Whether you’re creating a photo book, a trade book, or a magazine, Blurb allows you to choose from a wide range of trim size, covers, fonts, layouts, and paper. Paper type is actually really key to any book which displays images. Other book-making platforms may have some nice quality paper, but you’re going to pay out the wazoo for your book. Others use recycled paper, which is good environmentally, but not so great for producing visually-rich images. 

Blurb, on the other hand, provides customers with several paper options, including standard paper that has a smooth, semi-matte finish on 80# stock, to un-coated Pro Line semi-gloss paper on 140# stock that’s ideal for high-end photography and design books. 

Digital Books/Ebooks
Blurb is actually one of the few book-making platforms that gives you complete control over creating an ebook. Blurb lets you make ebooks in both fixed-layout (Apple iPad®-only) and flowable formats (iPad and Kindle devices). You can even convert any book or magazine you create into a gorgeous ebook so you can share and distribute it in a way that’s easy, affordable, and earth-friendly! 

Price
If price is a factor (when is it not?), Blurb is bar none one of the most affordable printers out there with one of the lowest price per page available – especially when you consider their quality and array of creative options. So that you will know exactly what you’re getting at what cost, Blurb developed a Pricing Calculator. I mentioned their pricing calculator in my last post, but to recap, this fantastic tool lets you see what your price per book will be based on the selections you choose (e.g. soft cover, 7 x 7 photobook, on Pro Line un-coated #100 paper). 

You can also compare the pricing of different types of books (trade book vs. magazine, vs. ebook, etc.), covers (hard or soft), sizes (7 x 7 vs 13 x 11), paper type (matte, glossy), etc. 

Although their pricing is already impressive, take note that Blurb is generously offering you 15% off any book you create from now through 5/30! Get started now! 

I recommend sorting through those pictures on your camera, smartphone, Facebook feed, or Instagram page and start creating your very own book. You’ll be so excited with the results that you’ll probably want to make a copy for all of your friends and family (I’m speaking from experience here!). 

If you need some inspiration, I’ll be sharing examples in next week’s post of how some people have used Blurb to create their own creative and useful books—so stay tuned! 

What You Should Know About Blurb

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

So last week I shared a bit of the Blurb story and how they came to unleash the power of self-publishing. But Blurb is actually way more than a self-publishing platform. They are really a tour de force of creativity that strives to help give your story – your inspiration – a stage.  And they provide some really incredible tools to make that possible. 

Here are a few of my faves:

1. Free book making tools – This one may be obvious, but there’s more here than meets the eye. Blurb offers multiple easy-to-use bookmaking tools and templates to give you complete creative control and customization:
   BookWright: The only desktop publishing software built for creating professional-looking print books, magazines, and ebooks. It’s super simple to use, which means you won't need to hire a fancy designer, know a line of code, or buy expensive software. BookSmart: A user-friendly book-making tool that allows you to create beautiful, professional-quality photo books, notebooks, and planners.
   Adobe InDesign Plug-In: If you use Adobe® InDesign® then this Blurb plug-in is for you. It lets you create and lay out books and magazines directly within InDesign and output in both print and digital formats. It also includes free professionally designed starter templates for photo books, cookbooks, portfolios, and magazines.
   Adobe Lightroom: This book creation tool is fully integrated into Lightroom, so users can make a gorgeous photography book without needing to leave the Lightroom workflow. It also includes 5 paper choices, including high-end photo-quality paper from Mohawk Fine Papers®.
2. Online photo books – With this tool, you can create your very own online photo book in less than an hour. The online templates and layouts are gorgeous. All you have to do is drag & drop your photos from your computer, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.
   Instagram Photo Book: Blurb allows you to make a little 7 x7 book that’s as unique as your Instagram feed. You can start with up to 60 images and go up to 240 pages! It’s like a tiny museum devoted to your style!
   Facebook Photo Book: Now you can turn those favorite socially-shared memories into a book-store quality book! You just curate your photos and any Facebook comments you want to include and voilà! You’ve got a beautiful 60-page book of shared experiences.
3. Step-by-step Tutorials & Webinars – If you ever get stuck on how to do something or just need some creative inspiration, you’ll definitely appreciate Blurb’s interesting and informative Webinars and Tips and Tutorials sections. So helpful.
4. Free Tools to Use - Not sure what size book you want? Blurb shows you what a 10 x 8 book would look like versus a 13 x 11 with their creation and layout tools. You can also see what different paper types would look like, such as Premium Matte or Proline Uncoated and what makes them different.
5. Pricing Tool – Blurb’s Pricing Calculator will save you from pricing surprises. You just select your book type, number of pages, type of cover, and paper you want and this tool calculates what your book will cost. They also have special pricing on large orders (e.g. 300+ books).

I encourage you to take some creative time for yourself and explore Blurb’s unique and valuable book-making tools. And remember that from now through 4/30 you can get 20% off any book you create, just use code: APRILLIGHTS! If you are thinking of self-publishing or starting a fundraiser use code: BIGAPRIL and get 20% off 20 or more books! 

What are your favorite Blurb tools? 

An Intro To Blurb

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking through my links.

I really enjoy Blurb and the quality of their books, and yes I know that there are other companies out there that do the same, if not similar work.  But having seen other books, Blurb tops them all. 

 I want to share with you Blurb's story.  

Like many great companies before it, Blurb was actually started by accident.  In the early 2000s, Eileen Gittins, Blurbs' Founder, rekindled a passion for photography while trying to figure out her next career gig. 

She wanted to compile her photos into a nice coffee table photo book, but she only wanted to print a handful of copies. The conundrum was that every publisher was quoting her hundreds of dollars for each book! She found this curious – and frustrating.  So she asked herself, are there other people like me who want to affordably create their own high-quality book from their photos? The answer, of course, was yes, and it changed her life – and book publishing – forever. 

In 2006, Eileen launched Blurb, a simple book-designing platform and a publishing process that could quickly produce beautifully made books at game-changing price. 

Everyone from award-winning photographers, to couples wanting to commemorate the birth of their child started using Blurb – and they continue to do so today. Even after almost a decade, people are still blown away by Blurb’s user-friendliness, quality, and affordability. People trust Blurb to create every kind of book imaginable, including:

• Cookbooks
• Photo books
• Yearbooks
• Ebooks
• Magazines, and more

Blurb doesn’t just help people make books and magazines, they also help market them by providing publishers with their own dedicated sales page. Blurb’s dedicated sales pages allows authors to:

• Make their book or magazine available to the public or by invitation-only
• Write a compelling book description
• Customize a preview of their book
• Share their book with others on social media

Blurb also created their publishing platform to work seamlessly with Amazon and Apple iBooks Store so authors would have even more options for how they sell their books. 

There are so many remarkable things to share about Blurb – too much for just one post! So keep an eye out for next week’s post, because I’ll be sharing some of my favorite Blurb tools and tips -- which, if you’re like me, will leave you thinking … “I didn’t know Blurb could do all that!” 

Oh! And I almost forgot to mention that now through 4/28 you can get 20% off any book you create! 
Can’t wait to see what kind of book you create! 

Words Matter Letterpress

Aren't these wooden letter blocks cool?  They have a simplicity to them and yet have a big
impact on any home decor when put to good use.  My favorites are the numbers on the
front of the home and the Est. sign as well.  You can find these over at DaySpring by clicking the images.

DaySpring is currently offering these lovely letterpress blocks so that you can create
your own words for your decorating needs.  Drop by their site and view some of the decorative ideas that they have available.

What is your favorite?

*(This post contains affiliate links and may be compensated if you make a purchase.  
   Thank you so much for your support.)