While creating a photo book of my Corgi, Pepper, in honor of “Love Your Pet Day,” I started to overdo it with the paws and bones background. To give my photo book a variety of backgrounds, I had to think outside the box.

Puppy Love

In terms of inspiration, it helps that “Love Your Pet Day” comes shortly after Valentine’s Day.  I used some of the hearts backgrounds when showing pictures of my family giving Pepper hugs and kisses.

Dog Days of Summer

I also branched out by using backgrounds that match with what Pepper is doing in each photo. For the pictures of her hanging out by a lake—and swimming in one– for instance, I went with one of the Summer backgrounds Inkubook offers.

Pet Photo Books

And, let’s not forget that for most of us, our dog or cat is our baby. So, there is always the option of using some of the Baby backgrounds in your photo book.

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Photo + Card + Candy = A sweet greeting they won’t forget.

Candy Hearts Photocard

Find this new background by creating a new project and choosing the Holiday theme, and then select Valentine’s Day. Choose a layout. Insert a picture and type a message. Review, order and send a smile.

But hurry, time is running out to get them by Valentine’s.

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If you’re like me, your children have more than two sets of grandparents, possibly some great-grandparents and many of them don’t live close by. Since my family is rather extended and far away, and I have a great need to keep in touch especially in the dreary winter months, I send photo card Valentines. I can’t think of a grandparent that wouldn’t melt over a SWAK card from one of their little love bugs.

The two examples in this post are cards I created for this coming Valentine’s Day. Creating great cards is easy. Throughout the year, as I take photos, I tag the ones I think would be great for certain usages or occasions. Then when the time comes, the photo selection process is much faster. Once I have my photos uploaded, I start playing with backgrounds, layouts, fonts and sayings. The hard part is deciding which to buy, as I’m only picking one.

Valentine Photo Card 1

Inkubook offers several Valentine’s backgrounds, solid colors – red, pink and white, as well as full-bleed photo options for those with digital scrapbooking and Photoshop skills.

Valentine Photo Card 2

Our 4×8 flat cards come packaged by the dozen and are priced at $15.48 a set, plus shipping. We always have a promo running (check Facebook and Twitter), so you’ll likely get your cards for less just by entering a promo code at checkout. They print in 2-6 business days and ship in about the same or less. To get your cards by Valentine’s, be sure to check out our shipping schedule.

Brighten their trip to the mailbox and their day by reminding them they are loved this Valentine’s Day. XOXO.

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Don’t fret if you missed the chance to get your holiday cards out in December. Buck tradition and surprise friends and family with a “Happy New Year” card.

We say a new year is plenty reason to say “hey” to all those people on your mailing list. But if you want more incentive, here’s why the Inkubook team is in favor of the New Year’s greeting card:

• Unique: Inkubookers like to stand out. Most people send out greeting cards in December, so your card will be a sweet surprise to ring in the new year.
• Versatile: “Happy New Year” is the new “Season’s Greetings.” No matter what religious holidays your friends and family celebrate, a new year’s card sends just the right message.
• Fun: Since you’re not tied to a specific holiday, you can get creative with your card. Inkubook has loads of backgrounds to choose from, no matter what sort of feel you’re going for:

Don’t drop the ball! Be one of the first to welcome your auld (and new) acquaintances into 2012 by making your photo greeting cards today (and check out Facebook and Twitter for our latest promotions so you can save when you send).

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The alphabet book may be the most quintessential children’s book of all time. It’s safe to say that the majority of kids began their reading career with the line “A is for Apple.” Books such as these are timeless, to say the least, but maybe it’s time to put a new, personal twist on the classic with custom Inkubook alphabet books.

Now, you can personalize every letter from A to Z with pictures of family members, vacation spots and other familiar things. Just think, instead of illustrating “D is for Dog” with a generic drawing of a random dog, you can show your child a photo of the family dog, a dog that your child knows and loves.

Putting your own special touch on the traditional ABC book will create a family keep-sake that your children are sure to treasure. So, start thinking of what pictures you want to use for each letter, especially X, and get started on your own personalized ABC Inkubook.

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Chanukah begins at sundown on December 20th, and so that means there’s plenty of time to get cards made, ordered and delivered — still giving you plenty of time to address, send and have your greetings arrive early even! If you’ve thought about making calendars for the special people in your life, we also have Chanukah backgrounds which can be found in the Year In Review theme within our Monthly Celebration category.

Dreidel

If you’re looking to make cards, click New on your bookshelf, select Card, click Next, then click Holiday. Christmas is the default, but if you click the right arrow for Browse Theme, Chanukah is next in the rotation [see image below]. Name your card and press Next. Upload your photos and click Finished. Once your photos are uploaded, you’ll be taken to the Editor where the Dreidel card is the default. If you click on Backgrounds, you’ll see the other Chanukah options [above image is one option]. Once you’ve settled on the card you want to make, it’ll just be another few minutes before you’re card is ready to order.

Chanukah Theme

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The fall months are known for many things, but none may be as important to us as the kickoff of football season. Whether it’s peewee, pick-up in the backyard or an NFL® game on Sunday afternoon, fall is for football.

Even with three days of the week devoted to the sport we love (four if you count Monday Night Football®) the season still goes by too fast. That’s why now is the time to start planning ahead for the dreaded offseason months. Begin gathering pictures, newspaper articles, old ticket stubs, and anything else you might want to include in a football season Inkubook.

Football Fun

Football is more than just a game. It’s the tailgates, pep-rallies, and painted fans that make the sport great. Include pictures and stories from every aspect of the season in your book so you can relive every game. Football season photo books are great for players and fans alike. Recap the entire season with stats and scores that take you right back to the stadium any time of year.

So, next time you’re on the way to the big game, make sure you have your giant foam finger and, of course, your camera so you can start capturing every tailgate, tackle and touchdown for your football season photo book.

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Getting married soon? Consider a wedding guest book with personality – your personality.

Real Simple, Martha Stewart and The Knot have a lot of great ideas from simple and fast to complex and time consuming for unique wedding guest books. Our suggestion is to get personal by building a wedding guestbook photo book.

Personalized Wedding Guest Book

Many betrothed couples had gorgeous engagement photos taken and those that didn’t likely have a vast collection of photos from your time as a couple.  A photo book guestbook is the perfect way to show those sharing your special day with you the great times you and your fiancée have shared.

For most weddings a 20-page book is sufficient for capturing the well wishes and signatures of your guests. Start by collecting 10-20 of your favorite photos. Decide what size book you want to make (we suggest 8.5×11 landscape or 8.5 square) and select a hardcover, so the book will lay open well while your attendees write. We suggest placing images on left facing pages (and the covers) and while you’re placing photos, add borders and captions if you like. Place the guestbook templates on the right facing pages. Our guest book templates are found by clicking on Backgrounds within the editor (be sure you have your book open to any page but the covers). In Show located on the upper left of your workspace, select Specialty – Romance – Wedding. Within the wedding section, you’ll find Classic Guest Book, Modern Guest Book, B&W Classic Guest, Modern Words of Wisdom and Black Guest Book.  Choose the one you like best and place on right facing pages. On your cover, we recommend a great picture of you as a couple as well as your names, wedding date and the words “Guestbook”. Be sure to proof your book and while it only takes 2-6 business days to print and then another 2-6 to deliver, you should place your order at least three weeks before your wedding (longer if you’re having a destination wedding) just to be safe and to lower your last minute stress.

Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.

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September 25 starts my 90-day holiday giving “crunch time” countdown allowing me time to make or purchase everyone on my list a thoughtful, creative gift. This year, I have extra incentive to get some of my photo-based gifts made first – I purchased a couple of Groupons and they expire at the end of the month. Even without the looming Groupon expiration, placing my more time-consuming gift making earlier in the crunch period lessens my stress over things like shipping and delivery.

This past summer was a 90-day whirlwind between travel, festivals, summer camp and days at the pool, we were busy and we were also shutter-happy (my iPhone makes it so easy to snap, snap, snap). As a result, I have about 400 photos from just Memorial Day to Labor Day!

I’ve decided to upload all of my photos to Inkubook using the Autofill feature and have Inkubook do the heavy lifting by building a chronological album for me.

Selecting Autofill

Since I had a lot of photos to upload – two books worth – I will have about a 20 minute wait while Inkubook builds for me. Twenty minutes is a lot shorter than what it would take if I were placing the photos myself. I will need to go in and rotate and adjust a few photos, but again, much less time than if I’d done it manually. Note: Before uploading photos to Inkubook, sort through and delete or withhold any you don’t want to have included, or in the case of the iPhone, hold back on the duplicates (low-res vs hi-res) to prevent from double image uploading.

Photo upload process

I’m keeping it simple using the portfolio option with white pages. The only addition I need to make to each page is add black photo corners, because I dig photo corners. I also figure this look is easy enough to replicate and will provide consistency volume after volume.

Adding Corners

From start to finish this book took me about two hours to build a 200 page book from pressing “I want photos placed for me” to pressing the Buy button where I ordered four copies, one for us and one for each set of grandparents. Three heartwarming, handmade (ok, Autofilled) gifts in two hours.

Now, on to making holiday cards…

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There’s nothing quite like the open road. A full tank of gas, windows down and a car full of friends… something about nice weather just gives you the urge to take a road trip. Making new memories with each mile marker, the old saying really is true: getting there is half the fun.

When you’re packing up the car to leave, make sure not to forget your camera and a journal. Document every moment, every cheesy road side attraction and every mom-and-pop diner. Then, when you’ve finally had your fill of life on the road, return home and put all of your adventures in an Inkubook road trip photo book. Record each new state and different town you pass through in a book that maps out your exact journey.

And one more thing before you leave: Be sure not to forget about us while you’re cruising down the highway. Let us know where you’re headed and where you’ve been on Facebook and by commenting on this blog. Think of it as a postcard from you to us, only you won’t need a stamp.

So what are you waiting for? Buckle up, hit the road and have the time of your life. Drive safe and tell us all about it when you get back.

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