ABM's Messy Book & Messy Box Review
When my dad was young he took a photography class, and he fell in love with taking beautiful photos. And so we have tons of beautiful photo albums that record our childhood beautifully. So when I found out I was pregnant I knew that I wanted to continue this tradition with my own family.
When I found out that the girls from A Beautiful Mess were coming out with a scrap book to fill with beautiful designs and photos I could print and keep forever I knew I wanted to invest into this. And so I purchased both the Messy Book and the Messy Box.
The inserts (Life is Beautiful) that you see in the photo above are from the Messy Box. It is not included when you order your Messy Book.
The messy book is a 9X12 scarp book that comes with 8 acid free and archival 9x12" photo sleeves:
2 Westwood (5, 3x4" pockets and 2, 4x6" pockets)
2 Plain Jane (1, 9x12" pocket)
2 Monroe ( 12, 3x3" pockets)
2 Bardot (9, 3x4" pockets)
I have to admit that when I received my Messy Book (I got mine in the Mineral color) I was beyond happy with how beautiful it is. The book has a beautiful leather-like cover and the cover pages it comes with I believe are enough to get you started.
I do have to say that, it being my first scrap book, I didn't know that the inserts for the photos come in card stock sizes and not photo print sizes. Which means that the sizes for the page inserts are not sizes you would typically print at Walgreens or even an online photo print site. You would either have to order them specially sized or, what I've done, is to make collage in Photoshop and have them printed in regular photo sizes.
For example: There are 9 3X4" inserts or pockets that come with ordering the Messy Book. However, I couldn't find photo prints for that size. So what I figured was that a 3X4" photo is actually half of a regular 4X6" photo. So I took two vertical photos cropped them to fit 3X4" and joined them together to make one 4X6" photo. Like this:
So when I order my print, let's say at Walgreens, I'll just order this exact print as a 4X6" and cut it in half to fit it perfectly in the book.
All of that to say it's a bit more complex than just printing the photos and placing them in the inserts. So keep that in mind when ordering.
When ABM announced the Messy Box I originally wasn't going to purchase it. However, as soon as I received my Messy Book and was so happy with it I knew I wanted to have the products from Messy Box also.
Messy Box is a subscription service of goodies and cards you can use to fill your Messy Book or Scrap Book and decorate it beautifully. Although this is subscription service, you can also choose to order it month by month without commitment for a bit of a higher price. Which is what I did.
Here's a video of what this month's Messy Box brings: Keep in mind that the products change from month to month so this is what it brings for March 2015.
I loved all the Messy Box products and I cannot wait to fill my Scrap Book with lots of photos and beautiful memories. :)
When I found out that the girls from A Beautiful Mess were coming out with a scrap book to fill with beautiful designs and photos I could print and keep forever I knew I wanted to invest into this. And so I purchased both the Messy Book and the Messy Box.
Messy Book
The inserts (Life is Beautiful) that you see in the photo above are from the Messy Box. It is not included when you order your Messy Book.
The messy book is a 9X12 scarp book that comes with 8 acid free and archival 9x12" photo sleeves:
2 Westwood (5, 3x4" pockets and 2, 4x6" pockets)
2 Plain Jane (1, 9x12" pocket)
2 Monroe ( 12, 3x3" pockets)
2 Bardot (9, 3x4" pockets)
I have to admit that when I received my Messy Book (I got mine in the Mineral color) I was beyond happy with how beautiful it is. The book has a beautiful leather-like cover and the cover pages it comes with I believe are enough to get you started.
I do have to say that, it being my first scrap book, I didn't know that the inserts for the photos come in card stock sizes and not photo print sizes. Which means that the sizes for the page inserts are not sizes you would typically print at Walgreens or even an online photo print site. You would either have to order them specially sized or, what I've done, is to make collage in Photoshop and have them printed in regular photo sizes.
For example: There are 9 3X4" inserts or pockets that come with ordering the Messy Book. However, I couldn't find photo prints for that size. So what I figured was that a 3X4" photo is actually half of a regular 4X6" photo. So I took two vertical photos cropped them to fit 3X4" and joined them together to make one 4X6" photo. Like this:
So when I order my print, let's say at Walgreens, I'll just order this exact print as a 4X6" and cut it in half to fit it perfectly in the book.
All of that to say it's a bit more complex than just printing the photos and placing them in the inserts. So keep that in mind when ordering.
Messy Box
When ABM announced the Messy Box I originally wasn't going to purchase it. However, as soon as I received my Messy Book and was so happy with it I knew I wanted to have the products from Messy Box also.
Messy Box is a subscription service of goodies and cards you can use to fill your Messy Book or Scrap Book and decorate it beautifully. Although this is subscription service, you can also choose to order it month by month without commitment for a bit of a higher price. Which is what I did.
Here's a video of what this month's Messy Box brings: Keep in mind that the products change from month to month so this is what it brings for March 2015.
I loved all the Messy Box products and I cannot wait to fill my Scrap Book with lots of photos and beautiful memories. :)