Do you sense a theme going on here? How I am trying to find solutions to make life easier so I can enjoy more? I've raved about Blue Apron meals, love the new grocery delivery service Shipt, and now I want to tell you about "Make My Book" at Shutterfly.
I feel many people are in the same boat as me when it comes to getting overwhelmed by pictures. Now that we carry a camera with us (phones) we may even be taking pictures on a daily basis whereas before it was only for specific reasons. I used to be an avid scrap booker, even showcase some pages on here (years ago), but I can't tell you the last time I had the ambition to scrap. So now I am so far behind it feels like I would never be able to catch up. I have a closet full of supplies in the basement that are messy and just taking up space. Most people would see this as a hobby, a way to relax. But when something becomes so overwhelming it becomes the complete opposite. It seriously stresses me out as "one more thing to do" or that I am failing at. I used to get together with friends for scrap nights or even weekend retreats. Hauling and setting up all of my supplies was a job in itself. That just doesn't fit into my lifestyle right now.
When I was pregnant with Richard, I started get all kinds of offers from companies - one of them being Shutterfly. I started making little hardcover books with my free offers, but honestly making them online was almost as time consuming as physical scrapping. There are backgrounds and page layouts and embellishments and text, just like in real scrapping. I was pleased with the result but the time it took still stressed me out. Last year, I saw that Shutterfly started offing a "Make My Book" option. Anyone who uses these online photo sites might be familiar with them trying to offer you a book of the pictures you just uploaded - it is just thrown together. "Make My Book" is different in that you select the photos you want, you select the theme, etc... and someone will actually make your book as you would. It will be ready in a few days and there is no obligation to purchase it. If you do choose to purchase it, the fee is $9.99 on top of the price of the book. Once it is complete, you do have the option of going in and moving things around, adding or taking anything away, etc.... just as you would if you made it. My changes are very minimal when I use this service.
$10 bucks for something that would take me hours and hours to do..... yes please! Pictured here are 4 of the recent books I have gotten. It is easy to group by holiday, vacation, school year and then I'll probably plan to do some random books of the leftover pictures. Since Carson is still using diapers/pull up, I have Pampers codes that earn me free books so then I am only paying the fee and shipping. Other tips I can share is that the books are often on sale (40% - 50% off) or they offer unlimited pages (each books has a standard number of pages and if you go over you pay per page). So you'll want to watch for those promos! A few weekends ago we were going through all of my 12 x 12 scrapbooks. They were so cumbersome and I was disappointed to see some of the archival supplies I used were not holding up. I love the scrapbooks I have, but going forward these 8 x 8 Shutterfly books are it for me! I plan to clean out my supplies, keep a few things, and sell/donate the rest. The mental and physical burden of "stuff" will be so uplifting!
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