I just got a flyer in the mail from Shutterfly showcasing their new memory book formats.  WOW!  these have come a long way! You can choose a size all the way up to 12 x 12 in hardcover even.  The pages come out glossy and professional looking. The new formats provide all sorts of options from page backgrounds to font choices. I was not so fond of the kiddie pages but if you look at the general, travel, portfolio, and journal sets you will be pleasantly surprised by the sophisticated, artsy designs. There are watercolor, distressed, and vintage patterns available. Under the baby book section there is a nice washed floral. Under the travel heading there is a vintage set that would look very nice with black and white heritage pics.  Under wedding there is a pale blue toile-like pattern which would look lovely as a baby girl’s scrapbook. So do look around all the sets before you settle on one.  Then, you can choose a border color for the pictures so they appear matted. Some, like the journal book format, allow for lots of text to tell your stories.  And nary a glue stick or scissors required. <g>

Now, these aren’t cheap.  You can expect to pay around $50 for a finished, hardcover 12×12 book.  Those of us who scrapbook the oldfashioned way will be quick to point out that this is still likely a savings over a traditional book. If you have been procrastinating about jumping into memory books this is a great way to get your feet wet! The year Brendan was born – the same year my husband retired from USAF, started a new career, and we started the dairy and chicken projects – I did very little scrapping.  That Christmas I made one of these books and have been very very happy with it.