January 16, 2013

My Pregnancy Scrapbook [in Full]

I've made this post public for two reasons: 

1. To share with my family and friends who have listened to me talk about this project for a long time now; and

2. To inspire anyone who happens to find this post through search engines that there are many ways to document a pregnancy, and digital scrapbooking is one of them. :)

Just after Christmas, I finished working on my pregnancy scrapbook which had been over two years in the making. I taught myself digital scrapbooking when I was pregnant with Rowan so that I could undertake this project, and when I look back over my earlier layouts to the more recent ones in the book, I can really tell the difference. I thought about remaking a few of them before printing, but resisted the urge because I have memories associated with these earlier pages. So instead I tweaked the shadows and fixed up any glaring mistakes, and sent it all off for printing.

I printed with an Australian company called 123Cheese, as I had a coupon I'd bought earlier during 2012 with this purpose in mind. Basically, I got a $100+ project printed for $30, including postage/shipping. I was impressed with that, and had printed with the company before (photobooks, not digital scrapbooking projects) so I could vouch for their printing quality. Blurb are another printing company that I recommend, their quality is phenomenal but they are more expensive (you can search out coupons online pretty easily though, there are generally 15% coupons floating around; even up to 25% off before Christmas).

Anyway, back to the book... it was quite literally a labour of love and although I've shared pages here and there from it before, I've never posted it in its entirety before now. So without further ado, here are some pictures of the printed book itself and all week-by-week layouts. Lots of text (mainly for me to look back on, plenty of belly pictures and all the things I deemed important to tell at the time. I've had people ask me if I'd go to this much "effort" for subsequent pregnancies and I've said no, though I'd probably do a more abridged version if time allowed.

Some of the text/pictures might be difficult to make out, but that's due to the compression and resizing. In the printed book, everything looks crystal clear - even the thin journalling fonts. :)

The book itself; hardcover and linen-bound, printed in 12x12".
Hand for size comparision!

An example of layouts in the book (weeks 16-17)

The printing quality is exceptional, though a stitch-bound album would have been lovely,
glue-bound was only available from this company.

Following the week-by-week pages, I have his (lengthy) birth story, and a spread of 10 photographs of Rowan's first week in the world

ONTO THE ALBUM!

To view all pictures at a better size, click on one of them and it will take you to a full-windowed gallery (displaying bigger than in this post)

Inside front cover












































Thank you for looking, and I'd love to hear any feedback you have on my pregnancy album project. Please note that these words are entirely my own and I have no affiliation or sponsorship with 123Cheese, I am simply a grateful customer.

Happy scrapbooking! :)

8 comments:

  1. This is gorgeous and you did a fab job with it ! In bookform it is even more beautiful and a keepsake to be treasured! Lovely!!

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  2. This is amazing!! Loveeeee it.

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  3. WOW...not the type of Scrapping Im into...but its such a wonderful keepsake full of personal memories to share with others. Well done Bec XXX

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  4. Your blog is absolutely beautiful! -- I absolutely love your pregnancy scrapbook. :) Thank you for sharing with us all. I look forward to looking at more of your blogs. *hugs*

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  5. you did such a beautiful job, what an absolutely precious way to preserve the memory of your long awaited pregnancy. Congratulations!

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  6. I have read you blog regarding your pregnancy with Rowan. You were so lucky that you had no abnormal food cravings ‘cause I’m finding it hard to look for the type of fruit that my taste buds would love. :) By the way, your scrapbook is great! I’m very much excited about my pregnancy and I would also love to have this kind of souvenir to treasure every moment. Thanks for the idea. :)

    -- Chelsea Leis

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