Accordion Books - My Newest Obsession

Now that I officially have "clients" {I prefer to call them models}, my absolute favorite thing is finding the absolute coolest products to offer them.  Accordion Books are my newest obsession as the coolest photo product ever!


I had seen them on several of the big lab sites and the ones that weren't carrying them just a few months ago are carrying them now....WHCC, Millers, BayPhoto, MPixPro....pretty much anywhere. I ordered mine from WHCC and was very pleased with the quality and quick turnaround.


These little brag books are just so perfect for throwing in your purse and then popping them out whenever you want to show off pics of the kiddos or the family.  They're small and stay together with a hidden magnet so no need to worry about your pics getting crumpled or bent.


You've probably seen them before so instead of showing you more pics of the finished product I'll show you how I created the ones I've made...


First of all, you don't need a template to place your photos in an accordion book, but I couldn't resist the templates on Jamie Schultz Designs.  She's got tons of ultra modern, way cool templates to purchase that are specifically arranged for these brag books.  I purchased the SOHO Mini Book Collections for $45 which I think was the best bang for my buck considering I got 6 different designs in the collection.


Here's the template I chose to make my first book:
 This was the front~

This was the back~

And this was the cover~

When I opened the template in photoshop elements 6 for Mac this is what my layers palette looked like:

There are A LOT of layers!  I was intimidated!

But after working with it for a while and just taking my time I figured it out.  The reason there's so many layers is because you can pretty much change/alter/delete any graphics or colors you want to.  I was really pleased with how customizable they are.

I even figured out how to change the first pic from a horizontal to vertical orientation...I was pretty proud~

Here's what my final jpeg looked like:

Front~

Back~

...and final...

I used the Pearl paper and the colors are Fantastic!  I don't think I'll even offer anything but the Pearl from now on.

I decided on the leather cover for this one but ended up using the cover design for a different session and the photo cover was excellent.

Here's one more using a different template:

Here's my screenshot of the layers palette....LOTS more layers!

But I figured out how to change the colors and here's my final jpeg:

And the beautiful product~

I just love these little things!

So if you're looking for new products to offer your clients I would definitely add Accordion Books to your list.  But even if you're not a "professional" you can still order these great brag books.  All you need to do is sign up for an account at whatever print lab you choose then make the books for yourself and everyone else you know!

As I mentioned, I love the templates at Jamie Schultz Designs but I would love to look at more templates....any suggestions for sites that offer fabulous accordion book templates?  I'd love to check them out!

Creative Motion Design

It's a cold hard fact ~ If you have a business you need a professional website.


Earlier this year I spent a lot of time researching "website sites" trying to decide which one was best for my business, Inspired by christy.  There's sooooo many good ones and I was a bit overwhelmed with the amount of sites tailored just for photographers.


I had already set up a site on Wix.com that was free, then upgraded to the $10 per month option to get the white branding bar off my site.  The Wix site was perfect for an inexpensive option but I just couldn't set it up like I wanted.  The interface was confusing to me but if you can figure it out I think it's an excellent option to start a website without a large financial commitment.


I ended up choosing Creative Motion Design for my new site and so far I really love it.  If you're in need of a new site I highly recommend this company.  I'll tell what I like the best about CMD...


Price
I'm working on a budget.  And although CMD isn't the cheapest, the price was reasonable for what I get with my site.  They often have 25% off selected templates and I bought the Armande template when it was on sale.  The hosting is $100 per year so I spent $321 total for the site and one year of hosting.  I think they have several of their templates on sale now if you want to take a look~


Proofing Cart
I really wanted a professional proofing cart that was attached to my site.  This not only gets my clients on the site again but also most people will tell their friends and family to take a look at their proofs.  


You know how women are...gotta call up their girlfriends and their mommas to check out their new pics!  


I also like the proofing cart because I'm in control of the size they're viewing their images at for the first time.   You can also have clients order prints and pay thru the proofing cart but I haven't set that up yet.  For now, I'd rather speak to them personally and give my recommendations for prints rather than leave them on their own.  


The main page opens to one single photo of my choice then they click thru to their gallery.  It looks like this...

Once the client is here they click the first thumbnail to see each image at the size I've put it to.  It's pretty easy for people to understand and I hear they're updating their proofing gallery soon to include lots more perks....can't wait!

Simple Interface
Before I committed to this site I downloaded the FREE 10 day trial...this is a great feature!  I was so surprised at how simple the site is to work in.  Here's a screenshot of the main page of my interface...

Seriously....it's soooo simple....and all updates are immediately active just like a blog.  There's no obligation if you do the trial but if you do decide to purchase the template all your trial info is saved and you don't have to start over.  Cool~

Customer Service 

I've admitted before, I'm a stalker.  These tendencies also carry over in the customer service realms of my world ~ if I have a question I will do the live chat while dialing the 800 # and emailing tech support all at the same time!  

CMD was *fabulous* in quickly responding to my emails and were very helpful on the phone.  They even extended my trial period when I had more questions for them.  I've read several reviews on all the template sites and there was good and bad about all of them.  But my experience with CMD has been superior thru the whole process and I can't say enough good things.

There's plenty more to rave about but I'm sure you get the point by now~  A few things I don't like are the small logo placement and the black text screens.  The text screen color can be changed for a small fee but it's not a priority for me right now.

Now, as usual, I would like your help with a few finishing touches on my site...here's my dilemmas ~

1.  Music or no music?  ...I just can't decide...I picked some pretty radical music to add but not sure it's jivin' with me...your opinion is welcome!

2.  I'm going to add a page that shows photos of a few of the specialty products I offer such as Accordion Brag Books, Albums, Metal Prints...should I add pricing info for the products or save that for interested parties only? 

Check out my site at inspiredbychristy.com and then share with me your opinions...good or bad...I can take it!

My Canvas On Demand

Is it just me, or does anyone else get ridiculously excited when the delivery truck pulls up in front of your home?


Last week was a rare treat for me because the delivery was actually for ME!  Trust me, when you have 4 kids and a husband who owns a business, the packages are never for mom:)


My Canvas on Demand was delivered and I finally got to see my Princess on the Steps that you all voted for in all of it's 16x24 glory~


I thought I'd take a lovely picture for everyone to see of beautiful children standing by my new canvas...but unfortunately my real children were the only ones available and this was the best shot I got out of about 20 attempts...

I can't explain those expressions...I just can't~


So here's the scoop...I saw their ad on another site and thought I'd give it a try.  I'm doing a trade show in March {more on that later} and I'm trying to build up a nice set of display samples on a very tiny budget.  
I signed up for a PRO account thru my photo biz and received a voucher for a discount off my first purchase.  


The order process was very easy...it's definitely aimed at 'the novice' and not as difficult as ordering thru professional print labs ROES software.  The pro online ordering was a simple page of choosing your options and the regular ordering page is very similar....here's a screenshot from their Order page....

There's plenty of pictures to help explain the options which I personally think is awesome.  I need pictures!  What I also thought was really cool is that you don't have to have a digital photo to upload.  If you've got an older photo that's not living in your computer there's an option to mail it in and it can also be made into a canvas.  How neat!


Another option that I haven't seen in other sites is the edge color options...you can choose from Black, White, Photo Wrap or Match the Color.  I chose Black.  If I hadn't been in such a hurry I would have done the photo wrap but I was too excited to order it and didn't want to re-do the proportions!


Also, let me tell you about their very helpful Customer Service.  Me, being the *brilliant* pro that I am, uploaded my picture and thought I had sized it correctly for a 16x20.  I didn't.  Their Customer Service department emailed me, very politely, informing that my photo wasn't sized correctly and it would need to be printed to a 16x24 to maintain the proportions.  They took care of it for me free of charge.  You don't see that every day!


The packaging was very secure and it arrived 6 days after I ordered it...I love fast shipping!


Alexis's Mum stopped by right after I got it and I just had to show off my new canvas.  It took her all of 7 seconds to write me a check so I could order her own canvas.  She ordered this one:

It's stunning to see in person...it's a 16x24 and I'm tellin' ya, bigger is better!

So there you have it...I've found something I love and now hope you love it too...and if you order a canvas you can submit your review on their site and they'll feature a picture of it with your story...love that too!  I think my review is #11 in the Kids Showcase category, check it out~

I've got more before & afters coming, a new obsession that's little tiny and I need your advice badly on a trade show I'm doing next month...so Stay Tuned!