Bellflower Books in time for the Holidays!

Trying to finish a Bellflower Book in time for Christmas? 

Use the code SHIPNOW by Friday, December 16th at Noon Eastern Time for us to upgrade you to expedited shipping. 

This cannot be used with any other offer, including discounted gift certificates.

We hope you are having a wonderful December full of meaningful moments:)

A Meaningful Gift for a Growing Girl

I spent the other day cleaning out my kids' playroom. The amount of abused and neglected toys made me sad. What a waste. We spend so much money on plastic toys that are rarely played with, when in reality, our children are happiest with an old sheet over the kitchen table playing "fort".

I was so impressed when my friend Molly decided to make a Bellflower Book to celebrate her daughter's 10th birthday. Instead of picking something up at the area "super store", she created a book full of childhood memories and letters from friends and loved ones. The finished product made me cry. It was beautiful. The best thing about this gift is that her daughter Maddie will now enter her preteen years with a book full of love and encouragement to remind her how special she is and boost her self confidence during what can sometimes be a difficult time in a young woman's life.

Just like Molly told me, "How many toys does a kid really need? I want to do something meaningful that she can treasure forever". I look forward to other parents discovering how Bellflower Books can enrich the lives of their children.

Helpful Hints for your Bellflower Book - Enlarging Photos

How to Enlarge the Photos in Your Bellflower Book

If you, or one of your contributors, has added a photo to your Bellflower Book that appears small on the page preview, we highly recommend that you take a few minutes to enlarge the photo.  Your final book will look much better if your photos are the proper size.  See the before and after example below.

Note that you do not need the "original" digital photo file in order to re-size the picture.  We will show you how to do it using the file that is already uploaded to the Bellflower Book page.

The Page Preview BEFORE the photo was enlarged

Page Preview with enlarged photo

Step 1:  After you have signed into your Bellflower account, go to the "Pages" tab and the  "Edit" screen.  Right click on the photo and save the photo to your computer as a “Bitmap” file.  

Step 2:  After you have saved your photo, open it in the wonderful photo enhancing (free) website www.picasa.com. 

·         If you do not currently use Picasa, start by downloading the free software and click "run" when asked if you want to "run" or "save" the software.  It only takes about 30 seconds, depending on the speed of your internet connection.

·         To open your photo in Picasa, find the photo you want to enlarge in your Windows Explorer and then right click on the file.  Choose the "Open with" option and then click on "Picasa."

When the photo appears in Picasa, click on the green picnic button labeled "Picnik" (see black arrow below), which will allow you to edit the picture.  Then click "yes" to confirm.

Step 3:  Your photo will automatically open in Picnik, as shown below.  Click on the “resize” button located on the left hand at the bottom of the row of choices (see black arrow below).

Step 4:  Next, you will need to enter new dimensions for your photo (see white arrow below).  The dimensions you enter will depend on whether the orientation of your photo is  horizontal (long) or vertical (tall).  The "keep proportions" box is checked by default.  Do not un-check that box.

·         For Horizontal pictures - enter 4000 in the first input box.  The second dimension will automatically calculate based on your photo's original proportions.

·         For Vertical pictures - enter 2800 in the first input box.  The second dimension will automatically calculate based on your photo's original proportions.

Click the “apply” button, which is underneath the boxes where you entered the dimensions. 

Next, click the yellow button at the top right that says “Save to Picasa” (see black arrow below) .  On the pop-up screen that follows, click the "replace" button to replace the original (small) photo and apply the resize.

Step 5:  You will then be automatically taken back to Picasa's main window.  From here,  simply save this file by clicking on the "File" menu and then choosing "Save As".

Step 6:  Go back to www.BellflowerBooks.com and from the "Pages" tab, click the "Edit" button.  The last thing you need to do is to switch out the "small" photo file for the enlarged photo file that you just created in Picasa. 

Click on the "Browse" button underneath the photo (see black arrow below).  Find the folder where you saved the enlarged photo and select the appropriate file. 

Step 7:  Lastly, go back to the "Pages" tab and click on the "Preview" button to see how your enlarged photo will look on the printed page. 

The finished product!





Etsy Favorites: Chloe & Maddie ~ A boutique for girlie girls...

I always enjoy stumbling upon a beautiful and unique product, so I couldn't help but LOVE the Etsy shop Chloe and Maddie.  I loved this product even more when I found out it was created by a fellow stay-at-home mom!

Since a Bellflower Book is commonly used as a meaningful gift for weddings and bridal showers, I am always on the lookout for wedding related products that have a unique and different flair. 

I know it sounds funny, but one of the few things I would have changed about my own wedding were the shoes I wore.  The were comfortable, but extremely ugly.  A pair of these pretty shoe clips would have been the perfect way to jazz up my practical heels and turn them into something special.  I could have even transferred them over to my flats later in the evening.    Even though Chloe and Maddie has a wide variety of neutral color designs made especially for weddings, I loved this colorful pair of clips.  It would have been fun to have something bright and colorful to wear under my all white dress.

These show clips would also make a fantastic bridesmaids gift.  What an excellent way to enhance a simple bridesmaid's dress!

The headbands would be great for a flower girl.

I also love her fancy hair clips.  A good friend of mine just got married and used a flower clip for her hair.  She was beautiful.

Chloe and Maddie offers a large variety of designs, products and colors so make sure to check out their Etsy store for more and make sure to forward this post on to wedding planners and future brides:)

Bellflower Books ~ an excellent way to offer your support to the people who really need it!

I am sure you have heard about our campiagn with the blog Just Be Enough where we are working to donate Bellflower Books to women battling breast cancer.  For every 20 people who link up with Just Be Enough on Mondays, we will donate a $75 gift certificate for a Bellflower Book to the organization Crickett's Answer, a non-proft that offers help and support to women diagnosed with breast cancer.

There are so many ways that a Bellflower Book can be used to provide love and support to people battling illness or loss. 

We love that our product can be used to help people cope during difficult times.  Here are some ideas of how to use a Bellflower Book to help that special person in your life who could use some extra support.

A personal memory book makes the ideal inspirational gift to provide support during difficult times.

It’s so hard to know what to do when someone you love is diagnosed with an illness. From personal experience, we have found that letters of love and support give the most comfort. This is a wonderful way to show your love, which is probably what they need the most!
Bellflower Books is grateful to offer just the right sympathy gift for a loved one struggling with breast cancer or any other illness.
Invite friends and relatives to help build a truly special and touching gift for a cancer patient or survivor. Your favorite photos and inspirational notes are sure to lift spirits!

Honor a great and generous loved one with a custom Mission Book.

Do you know someone who is preparing to do something wonderful or leaving for retreat? Create a custom photo book full of favorite images and supportive letters tell them how amazing you think they are!

Show love and support to a friend or relative serving our country overseas.

There’s no better way to honor a soldier or sailor who is making such a huge sacrifice. Gather favorite memories and photos and build a custom support book that they’ll treasure and keep close until they are safely home again.

Bring your church community together to create a custom Prayer Book full of special thoughts for someone in need.

Compliment the supportive words with peaceful photographs from nature. This is a wonderful way to support someone who is going through a particularly hard time.

Honor a passed love one with a beautiful custom Legacy Book.

When someone close to you passes away it can be therapeutic to create a book full of memories and photographs that document their entire life.
Include letters and memories from people who were around during different parts of their life. This is a wonderful way for people to share stories and memories of a much loved and amazing person.
A customized photo book commemorating a wonderful life is a keepsake that generations of family members will treasure forever.

****Please link up with Just Be Enough today and join the campaign!!!