On Saturday we were invited to the Christmas Ideal Home Show by CEWE Photobooks. They asked would we like to come and look around the show with them, have a spot of lunch, take to the ice for some skating and learn how their photobooks work. Now, I have used CEWE Photobooks before and I liked their site so much I bought a canvas picture from them too so I didn’t need persuading to make another book with them!

I went to my cousin’s wedding in the summer, took loads of pictures with my DSLR and fully intended her wedding present to be a photobook. I never got around to it (I am slack) so I saw this as the perfect opportunity to finally create it for her! I remember when using the CEWE Photobook service before that I found it incredibly easy to navigate around but at the show I was told there would be someone on hand to give me loads of tips and tricks I might not have found. I thought the whole process was quite artistic last time as you can make it as intricate as you like and I couldn’t wait to start my cousin’s photobook and make it all weddingy! (I must say if you’re not terribly creative or prefer plain then they do that pretty well too!)

So, we arrived at the show which was bedecked with holly and tinsel and met up with the guys at CEWE! They made us feel so welcome as we flicked through the books on their stand getting inspiration for our own. There were some fabulous wedding albums that I couldn’t believe had just been created by people at home on their computers and not by professionals! I started to wonder if I would have the skills to make mine as good…

But that would all come later on in the day! First and before we really got down to business it was time for some lunch and a catch up with the other bloggers all there to enjoy the day with me. It’s always great to see my friends Emily and Becky and it was delightful to meet Chelsea and Stephanie too! Lunch was delicious at Pizza Express which is Florence’s favourite and the children had a ball playing with Emily’s children over lunch! 

My fellow bloggers over a yummy lunch!

And then of course we got to look round the show (awesome – got some great Christmas presents, decorations and ideas) and even got to do ice skating. TWICE! Thanks to the CEWE team for looking after Jimmy while Florence and I twirled and slid around, it was beautiful!

We had a brilliant day and when I sat down with Bradley from CEWE to make a start on my photobook I just knew it was going to get even better!

We’d already had a brilliant day by the time we sat down to make our photobook!

Bradley used my USB stick to upload my photos then showed me how to download the software and get started. It’s very self explanatory but he used some things which were really handy that I might not have noticed at first. Because I was making a wedding album I wanted all the pictures in the order they were taken so he simply sorted it to do that and then all my images came up in a book ready for me to tweak!

It’s so easy, you can use some photographs as back ground pictures or choose from different colours. You can add overlays, cut outs and clip art! I couldn’t believe how much there was to play with while all still being super easy! Effects can change the look of the pictures from normal to black and white and even to an oil painting if you want! It really is so much more than choosing a book type, size and cover! Bradley showed me how easy it is to crop, rotate and zoom in on pictures and did the first few pages with me which was ace! It really set me up to go home and finish the book with lots of inspiration!

Bradley simply saved all we’d done to my USB and then when I got home I put it in my own computer, downloaded the software and then I could pick up where I left off! Amazing! I haven’t actually finished yet because I’m really taking my time as I want this to be perfect, it’s for a wedding present after all! I want my cousin to look at the book and think it’s even better than her professional album! I absolutely know it can be just that having seen some of the ones on display! Even though I’m not a professional photographer I think the quality of the books is so great that it could easily be mistaken for the work of a pro wedding snapper! I’ll let you know when it’s done!

I’d just like to say a big thanks to CEWE Photobooks for a fabulous day and getting me started on the album! I hope you all like my mini video of the fun we had at the Ideal Home Show!

I have not been paid to write this post. CEWE photobooks invited me to the Ideal Home Show to see their process and review them honestly.

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