Saturday 9 August 2008

Art Portfolio Book

I wanted to have a permanent record of Ebi-kun's artwork without having to keep a squillion bits of paper, so a while ago I decided to make a photo book then decided to wait until his 3rd birthday so that I caould include all his art from 0-3  years.
I though I would give Blurb a go this time, I have made photo books before but haven't found a company I really like yet but I must say, Blurb it is GREAT, the software is easy to use, there is no need to wait forever for pictures to upload and there are loads of page styles to pick from. Not only that the prices are great too, so yes, they get the thumbs up from me!

So, here are some random pages for you











and finally, my favourite spread, who would have though a 2 year old did it? :o)



Ebi-kun really likes his book to and has enjoyed showing it to my cousin and mom, so if you just don't have the space to keep all those wonderful masterpieces your kiddy produces, get yourself one of these books!


Right, I am off to bed, we were up a lot last night with nose bleeds again, hopefully tonight will be a quiet one...

34 comments:

  1. That book is incredible. What a sweet idea.

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  2. What a beautiful way to keep his work. He will be able to look back on it and savor the memories.

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  3. Wow, what a beautiful book. Everything backed onto black makes his art really pop. What a wonderful way to save all his art!

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  4. What a fabulous idea! Very inspiring. It looks so professional. And so much better than keeping a box full of wrinkled paper. Not that I'm organized enough to even have a box. I must start photo documenting my kids work more!

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  5. What a great idea! The book is beautiful!

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  6. Absolutely gorgeous :)

    I am inspired to make one of my own. Did you photograph the art or scan it in?

    Thanks for sharing a wonderful idea with us

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  7. Thank you for the lovely comments :o)

    I took photos of all his work, recently I have got into the habit of taking a picture or two when he has finished something, the rest have been kept in a portfolio of sorts (made out of a beer box!).
    I couldn't be bothered to scan them all plus some many are too big for our scanner, it was just easier and quicker to use the camera.

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  8. Forgive me if this is too simpleton of a question, but how did you get his doodles in color? That portfolio is too fabulous.

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  9. to do the colour doodles I take the doodle into photoshop and add a new layer. Then I trace over the original with the crayon nib. Then I hide the original doodle and Ebi-kun picks which colours to fill which parts and we use the paint bucket to colour it.

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  10. That looks great! What a good idea. I may have to do the same at some point... Thanks for sharing. -Jean

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  11. Hi Jojoebi,
    I've been reading your blog for a while now and must admit that I envie you for being so resoursfull. I have a 3-years old boy who just won't draw, or paint, or play with dough or anything whatsoever. I regret that, especialy when I see the work of Ebu-kun. Loved his self-portret.
    I hope to see something of that kind in years to come, from Pelle.
    Also love the stories of your life in Japan. The bathing ritual made me think of a book by Josie Dew, who wrote that not taking a shower before going into the tub is like spitting in the soup. Maybe you know her book, she's a funny English woman who biked trough Japan.
    Greetings, Ria

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  12. This is so beautiful. What a wonderful idea! Thank you for sharing.

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  13. Thanks for getting back to us with more details. I can't wait to get started and of course, taking a photograph gives you the date too, even better :)

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  14. I love this idea... I wish I had started it when my girl was a baby... It is fabulous...

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  15. Hi! I'd love to Blog about these portfolio's on my new Blog at http://www.MontessoriCandy.com Would you give me permission to include one of the picture's you took of the portfolio and add a link to your site? Let me know! Thanks! :)

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  16. Re: something sweet for the journey...
    yes, feel free to use a picture and link ;o)

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  17. Hi! Thanks for letting me blog about your art potfolio post! You can read my blog at http://montessoricandy.com

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  18. What a great idea. I used snapfish to make a book of photos for the grandparents and that came out really well. I can see how well now it would work out to make a little gallery book of my children's art, too. Great archive.

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  19. I think this is a superb idea to cherish your child's childhood memories.

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  20. I really love this! I've saved most of my boys' art, but now I wish I'd saved it all. This is on the must-do list for our house now. Thanks for the awesome suggestion!!

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  21. What a beautiful way to preserve artwork. My children are 7 and 3, I am going to start today! Thanks so much for the inspiration.

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  22. What a great book idea! Love it! I have used Blurb for making a blog book, and I really liked how it came out!

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  23. What a great idea! I used Blurb on a birthday book for my mom. I agree - very easy to use and inexpensive to print.

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  24. Thank you for the photos and sharing the link. My son draws ALL THE TIME. I would love to make a book of some of his masterpieces. Thanks again!

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  25. Wow, I am really very impressed by the your son's artistic ability. Kudos to him and you!

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  26. I love this :) I have heard of blurb but haven't had a chance to try it out yet but I'm really going to have to! Could you share what other book site you used to make a book? and which one you liked better? Thank you so much :)

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  27. the first couple of books I made were using Canon's Japanese site which was hard, mainly because I don't read Japanese! Then I made a couple with PhotoBox, the quality of the books were fine and they often have good deals 2 for 1 etc. BUT the software is slow and clumbsy, Blurbs software was fantastic in comparison, with photobox it took me a good few days to put the book together but Blurb I did in a couple of hours. I will certainly be using Blurb in the future - plus the shipping was cheaper!

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  28. What an amazing book! I will definitely be doing something like this for my children's artwork in the future. It looks so beautiful.

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  29. I don't think I ever told you how brilliant this idea is! This was the first post of yours I read. :)

    Heather

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  30. I just saw this awesome post via pinterest. Would you mind if I used it in a blog post I am making about what to do with all of your children's art? I'm intending to post it for my parents.. I teach art at an elementary school. I would include a link to this post.

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  31. Hi! I would like to link a picture of your idea for children's art on my blog. I am writing a post about what to do with all of your kid's masterpieces. I will be posting it for the parents at my school (K-6) to see. I would of course, link back to your blog.

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  32. Marica - sure, as long as you link back! let me know when you put up the post and I would like to have a read

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