We went to Oahu in May of 2014. It was our first “big” family vacation and I felt this milestone was one that needed to be documented in photobook format.
I decided to go with the Moleskine Photo Notebook for several reasons.
First, Moleskine’s photo notebook option has a set number of pages – 96 to be exact. That seemed to be just the right amount of space to document a week’s worth of adventures. Second, there are limited layout options in Moleskine’s book making software, which in this case I felt would help speed up the completion process. Having less design options to choose from can be a good thing.
Lastly, and probably the most important deciding factor for me (along with price point), is Moleskine’s open-flat binding feature. I wanted to be able to build large format photo spreads that spanned across two pages without losing any details in the gutter.
Overall, I am beyond thrilled with the way it turned out.
You have the ability to include blank, lined or grid dotted journal pages. I plan on hand writing in the journaling in these spots.
The quality of the cardstock is top notch. It’s a nice sturdy weight and has an incredible finish – a soft velvety-matte sheen that you have to see (and feel) in person to truly appreciate.
A few more details I love…
The inside cover includes the same “please return to” message that you would find in the classic moleskine notebook. The back includes their signature expandable pocket folder, perfect for storing memorabilia.
How wonderful!!! It looks fantastic!
Thanks so much Kaly!
LOVE!
Thank you Donna!
I agree. I am completely smitten. And I just adore that photo of you and the girls with the sunset in the distance. Ronnie xo
The moleskine aethetics is so very aligned with yours…it’s a perfect fit for you! And thank you! I like that photo too (maybe not so much the fact that he caught me looking at my phone in the shot, but haha, it’s real life).
I had no idea Moleskin did photo books. What a great idea for travel and gifts!
I was excited when I realized Moleskine printed photobooks too!
Liz!!
The book looks absolutely amazing! LOVE love it.
Thanks so much Gabi! xo
O.M.Geee!!!! I love Moleskine’s and I had no idea they had a photo book option. It looks AH-MAZING! Thanks for sharing 🙂
You will love it even more when you have it in your hands! Have fun making your book Sarah!
Wow, this is awesome!!! Thanks for sharing! I may do this for my UK trip!
Thanks Claudette! I’m already plotting other events/trips I can “moleskine” 🙂
YES! So glad you did this!
Me too! Hands down, my favorite photobook to date. Not at beautiful and artistic as yours though. Can you come over one of these days and make photobooks for me? A girl can wish….xoxo.
it really looks great! Guess I will try that. Thank you!
Thanks so much for your kind words Catalina!
That’s GORGEOUS. What a beautiful keepsake.
HUGEST compliment coming from you Erica. Thank you friend!!xo
Could you tell me how you did the across two pages layouts? Thank you.
This turned out to be the most time consuming part of the project actually. Upload the same photo to both pages, select the full photo page layout design, drop the photos in then carefully try to match them up. Want to poke my eyes out just thinking about it, lol! Not an exact science at all but it was well worth the trouble. Maybe Moleskine will add a 2 page photo feature to their book making software in the future. *crossing fingers*
Hi Liz,
Thanks for your beautiful blog and book, here at Moleskine + MILK (moleskine.milkbooks.com) we just love seeing customers books. Especially stunning ones like yours! We will be doing some work on our creation tool during this year and will be looking at making it easier to create double page spreads. If you have anything else on your wishlist please let us know!
Thanks again
Tracey
That’s fantastic news Tracey! The one other thing on my wishlist is an editing function that allows you to see ALL the pages to make it easier to switch/change the page order. Hope that makes sense!
Thanks so much Tracey. Looking forward making more moleskine photobooks soon!
Thank you for explaining this! love your book! 🙂
Oh wow ! Liz ! This is so beautiful, just makes me want to create one ! Now, I need to find good photos… 🙂
Thanks so much Marie! Have fun with it!
wow, liz—i am dying here! so incredibly wonderful! i am bookmarking this to try. i love the moleskin journals–but did not know about the photo books! thanks for sharing.
Thank you kindly Kristin, can’t wait to see how your album turns out! Please do share when you’re done!
This is so pretty!!! I LOVE your photos and this book is just perfect.
omigosh, thank you so much Brenda!
I swear we stayed in the same location when we visited Oahu in April. The background behind your kids looks exactly like background behind mine! =) Lovely book. xoxo
Oh what a coincidence! Did you stay in Waikiki or Ko Olina and did your kids love it??
We actually rented an apartment in Hawaii Kai and yes, my kids loved it! It was the second time we’d been there, but my DS doesn’t remember much about the first time except the fire dancers at the luau; he was only 3 then. 🙂 The second trip they were 6 & 8.
But we had beach access that looked out towards Kokohead and the back side of Hanauma Bay. Although now that I look harder, I think your photos are actually of Diamond Head.
Such great images you have, I love the ones of your girls playing in the sprinklers.
Moleskine photo books? This is going to change my life. Love matte pages. Your book looks spectacular.
The sheen is incredible Yolanda, especially if you love matte pages. It’s the ideal matte…still has a soft sheen to it but no sticky textures to catch finger prints, smudges etc. Perfection.
This is amazing. Your photography is gorgeous! Yes to the whole thing. Just yes!
Wow, thank you so much for your kind words, you made my day!
This is just gorgeous. I’m in love!
Thanks so much Shellie! xo.
Uau! Just what I wanted for my trip to NYC. Too bad they don’t deliver in Portugal 🙁
Your photo book is just fabulous, like always.
Oh that’s a bummer Carla! Maybe try contacting customer service to inquire on the possibility of international shipping? Keeping my fingers crossed for you!
Awesome!! Did you get the monograph or the photo book?
The 96 Page Photo Notebook. 🙂
Is it printed on good quality photo paper?
Excellent!! It’s thick cardstock, just like the ones you would find in their blank moleskine journals.
Wow – gorgeous! Love this idea.
Thanks so much Heidi!
Aloha from Oahu! Your book came out extremely beautiful, love it.
Mahalo Kristin! xo
ooooooooooooooooooooooh! Liz!
Amazing book!
I also didn’t realize moleskin did books!
You always inspire me!
Our family had an amazing vacation in Nantucket this past summer
and I wanted to do something different in a photobook! THIS is
what I was looking for!
LOVE!
Sue
Oh SUE. A Nantucket vacation is begging to be moleskined!! Please do share your album when you finish it! I’d love to see it!
Liz! I just looked through this post again and showed it to Nick, who’s sitting here making an omelette. Ha! The photos are stunning and the quality looks amazing! I love how the Moleskines lie FLAT (as opposed to my Blurb books which are harder to crack and lose so much in the gutter). So happy to hear another great review. I’ve seen Caylee’s approach with these and she had me convinced, but now I just feel silly for not taking the plunge sooner. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful project! xoxo
An omelette sounds good right about now. LOL! I agree, the lie-flat binding. Oh man. it’s a game changer. It will be hard to go back to the conventional photobooks after this. Cannot wait to see your albums!
WOW Liz this is so amazing!!!!
Thank you so much Dunia! Miss you! xo
this is really wonderful. I want to make one like it. now if only I could take a vacation……
Lol…a vacation sounds so great right about now. I hope you get yours soon!
This is just stunning Liz! <3
Thanks so much Katie!
Just beautiful. Thank you for sharing another way to save and share our precious memories. My daughter has earned her Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards and I’m thinking this would be a great way to document all three, together in one beautiful book.
Wow, what an accomplishment, congrats to your daughter!
My goodness!! This is amazing! I love that it’s neat. I can put my own notes on some pictures using my favourite pen. I love this idea!
Thanks Cherry!
[…] Love this memory keeping idea. […]
I love it Liz! I just came back from there 2 weeks ago and it looks like we were in a lot of the same places (we stayed at the Ko’Olina Beach Villas). I wish I could be there now!
Lovely book and wonderful photos! A real inspiration. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks Cari!! I wish I was back in Oahu again too!
This looks so lovely, what a great idea!
Hannah x
Hanniemc.co.uk
Thank you kindly Hannah!
I didn’t know this existed! Definitely going to be making (at least) one of these myself! Yours turned out great. Thanks for sharing!
Have fun Jen!!
This is AWESOME! I’m going to make one entitled #palmtreelove. I sorta have a palm tree addiction and plan to fill it with palm photos! Thanks for the inspiration!
Hey there Liz! Quick question… Im not able to see the “please return to” words on the first page. Mine is now blue with my title in white. Did I somehow change that page? Hmmm… And if it is still there does the book actually have 98 pages? I’m confused. 🙂
Hi Carla,
That’s page part of the inside cover, it’s automatically included with your photo notebook and does not count toward the number of pages you design. Hope that helps.
AMAZING!!
This book is so beautiful. I didn’t know moleskine made photobooks. Thanks so much for sharing. It turned out wonderfully!
Absolutely gorgeous!!! I didn’t know moleskin made photo books either! And I agree, this is perfect for documenting a fun trip!
Really love this simple and beautiful book. Love the color tone of your pictures too. I just want to ask, do you use some specific PTS actions or Lightroom presets to have that tone? Really curious ^^
Iphone photos are edited on my phone using PicTapGo, an app by Get Totally Rad. DSLR photos are edited in lightroom using Replichrome Presets (also by Get Totally Rad).
Hi Liz, you have inspired me to create a book of our last vacation. Want to ask what preset of Replichrome did you use to achieve those colours? Thanks, Paulo from Germany.
I love this! It’s absolutely adorable and so simple. I had no idea Moleskin offered this type of service.
Thanks for sharing!
How fabulous is this? I’m blown away. I love how nice moleskin paper feels and the fact you say that they’ve kept that feel is such a plus…
This is simplicity perfection! I LOVE it!
[…] Moleskine Photo Notebook from Paislee Press: You guys. One of you out there knew that Moleskine made photo books and did not tell me. How rude. […]
Love! Thanks for sharing!
Based on your post, I have created a photo notebook for our vow renewal. On your title page you have text placed over your photo. How did you manage that?
[…] 1 I find this Justina Blakeney’s charity home makeover on a budget ($11000 for the entire home) so inspiring. (The Jungalow pt. 1 and 2) | 2 This Moleskin photo notebook is gorgeous and would make such a beautiful Mother’s Day gift. (Paislee Press) […]
Hello, Great work ! But you said that there is open-flat binding feature with the ability to build large format photo spreads that spanned across two pages without losing any details in the gutter, I’ve asked to Moleskine + Milkbooks, they don’t do that anymore, can you tell me where you’ve printed your photo album ?
Warm regards
Sylvie from Paris
Hi Liz, love your work on this. Can you advise how it is possible to add in the empty pages (grid/lined/empty). We’ve tried on the software but does not seem to have that option.
Thanks!
WTan
Congrats for this amazingly beautiful work. I´m stunned!!!