Cheers to all the hard working Moms out there. They deserve the BEST!
Check out our special Mothers Day gift guide here to help you select that special something for your Mom.

-Hiten

Love That Shot Magazine published this recent profile extolling the design details of Kolo's little rockstar the Noci. We love the idea of using Noci not just as a scrapbook but much more, "These photo albums can be used for all sorts of different things, not just scrapbooking. Why not fill one with your favorite recipes, along with a few of your own food photos, to give a friend as a bridal shower gift?" Click here to read the full issue for more ideas and tips.

Wanna start on your Noci today? Just upload your photos and have us load it for you! Easy huh. Click here to get started.

For awesome ideas, photography tips and photo-editing workshops make sure to check out Love That Shot.

-Hiten

Long time friend and illustrator Steve Light has launched his newest book titled “Trains Go”. Steve conceived his latest children’s book about trains and used the Kolo Vineyard as his sketch book. Say’s Steve, “it was the perfect size and I love the paper.” The Vineyard is no longer available from Kolo, but the same great paper is used in all Kolo products and many artists and illustrators use Kolo products for more than just photos since the paper is designed to accept light wash, ink and other media.

To see more from author and illustrator, Steve Light, visit www.stevelightart.com. Also, maybe you remember a few of his other projects, like the Kolo Noci used in the Christmas Giant , the tea-soaked Kolo Cortina Lux or the Kolo Newport “Sweetness and Light” baby book. If you would like a copy of Steves book please click here.

-Hiten

There has always been something missing in our Kolo family. We have the super best selling Noci that holds 24 photos. We have the Catalina that holds 200. And of course, we have the super popular Hudson 2 and Hudson 3 that hold 200 and 300 4 x 6 photos, respectively. But there was that gap between 24 and 200. That’s a big gap and tons of people told us that. Thanks for all the feedback! We listened.

Introducing Hudson 1!

Yeah, it’s a super nice photo album. It works nicely with the other Hudsons. But like the Noci, it has also has removable sleeves so it makes it really versatile. Some of our staff are using it for portfolios, some are using it as a nice journal since you can write in it and add photos. It’s a perfect Instagram book too.

Meet the Hudson family. Click here.

Kathleen Jacobs, a professional painter from Northampton, MA used it as her portfolio of light sketches and washes while painting in Truro, MA last summer. “I love the size” she said. “It’s cute and stubby and allows me to paint light wash sketches right on the page, snap a few study photos when I am in the field. It’s a great new tool for me.” The new Hudson 1 has been test driven by painters, professional photographers, designers and all sorts of folks. Verdict? They love it…for different reasons.

Don’t forget, if you really don’t want to do all the work of getting your photos printed and loaded, you can go to mykolo.com, create an account, upload 100 photos and have Kolo print them and load them into your new Hudson 1 for you. Pretty easy huh? And it only costs $5 more. Crazy good value! You can have the Noci and Hudson’s loaded too. Check it out here.

-Kate

Kolo will be hosting a free "Save the Photos" Photography and Photo Book Workshop at The Mall at Chestnut Hill, 199 Boylston St, Chestnut Hill, MA on Saturday, October 29th from 2 - 6 pm.

Save the photos stuck on your phone. Save the photos sitting on your hard drive. Save the photos lost in the cloud. KoloPros will help you get your photos off your hard drives, off photo-hosting websites or out of old, harmful albums and into personalized Kolo photo books and archival albums.

Professional photographer Roger Pelissier will provide photography tips on lighting, composition and posing subjects. Photographic consultant Bob Williams will show you how to organize your digital files. KoloPros will give interactive demonstrations on how to turn your photos into beautiful Kolo photo books and archival albums.

Event participants are encouraged to bring 25 of their favorite photos on a USB, CD or camera card. At the workshop, 25 of each participant’s photos will be high-quality printed in 4”x6” format, and loaded into a free archival Kolo Noci album. Limit one per person.

Bring your digital cameras and files to get started on the spot.

If you live near Boston or are in the area, be sure to stop by.

Trust us. Saving photos is fun!

Learn more, here.

-Kate

It's two months later, but I finally have my Week in the Life album to share. I took a pretty minimalist approach to the documentation process and just focused on taking a lot of photos and writing a blurb about what I did Monday - Friday. (You can see all the posts here : M, T, W, Th, F.) The plan all along was to get the text and images off the computer and into something but I didn't have a plan of attack.



Which is why I was pretty excited to make my second Kolo project a digital album. (You can see the first project I took on with Kolo here.) I uploaded my images to their photo book online program, selected templates, dropped in my photos and copied in my text. I spread the upload/design process out over a couple days (the program saves your progress) and the album shipped in about a week. I was very pleased with the quality of the printing. At the end of this post, there is a 5 minute video which shows how I used the program.





For my title page, I combined a self-portrait from the week and some of the text from this post about my thoughts on the project.







For me, this was definitely a project where the photos were the most important. I chose simple layouts and repeated them throughout the album. Not every photo that was taken each day made it in, but a lot did. I especially liked the template for a row of photos because I thought they told the best chronological story.





As mentioned, the only text in the book was what I jotted down here on the blog. I chose to keep it all in a block and paired it with photos from the appropriate day. Each day ended up with 3-4 two pages spreads depending on how many photos I had.







Overall, I am so pleased with the result. It was nice to upload, arrange and send to print. Because I didn't save any scraps of paper or handwritten thoughts, the digital format worked really well for me and this project. I will definitely be participating in Week in the Life again (hopefully capturing a week Paul is home next time) and may use the same format or experiment with something new. Because the program was so easy to use and the quality was good, I am going to be making another album (topic to be determined!) soon. I am also hoping to work with Kolo to develop more templates for the program. I will be sure to share when they are available.

And as promised, here's the short video that shows how to use the backend of myKolo.com. I am happy to answer any questions in the comments!

using mykolo.com from elise blaha on Vimeo.

Check out Elise's blog - enJOY it. Thank you, Elise!

-Kate

Load your photos into a Kolo Noci album in just seconds. Watch this video of one of Kolo's graphic designers loading photos from India into a Kolo Noci Album. Photos were submitted from contestants of the Kolo Photo Contest.

-Kate

Elise Blaha, writer of popular blog, enJOY it, recently took on the project of taking her family’s old photos and transferring them into new, archival Kolo albums. Elise chose to use Lake Hudson 3-Ups, each holding 300 4 in. x 6 in. photos.

I ended up working with Kolo to take the old photos that belonged to my parents – four decades of photos – and put them into new albums. It included everything from their life before my brother and I were born till now. These pictures were stored in disintegrating albums or boxes or bags, tucked into a cabinet on the upstairs floor – dusty, dirty, disorganized and falling apart.

Here is an easy four-step tutorial from Elise. Watch the video for extra tips on making your albums.

Check back for other videos from Elise. Look at her blog, here.

-Kate

Announcing the “Album Trade-In” Event at the Kolo Shop in Boston.

Do your albums have yellowing pages? Are your priceless photos being destroyed by your old albums that were meant to protect them?

Come visit the Kolo Album Bar at the Mall at Chestnut Hill before July 31st for the “Album Trade-In” event. Drop off your old, worn albums and we will give you up to $10 off your new, archival Kolo album ($5 off a Noci album). Limit one $10 credit per album purchase. But there is no limit on how many times you take advantage of this offer. So if you bring in ten albums, you could buy ten albums and get $10 off each album!

Don’t have time to load your album with photos? Don’t worry! Drop off your old filled album and a KoloPro will carefully remove your photos and load them into your new Kolo album for only $15 for each album! No limit on this offer. Bring your whole collection.

Imagine how nice it would be to have all your old albums methodically redone and perfectly laid out in an assortment of beautiful albums. You’d bring all those great memories back to life.

The Kolo Album Bar is near Bloomingdale’s and the Apple Store in the Mall at Chestnut Hill, 199 Boylston Street in Boston’s Chestnut Hill neighborhood. Click here for directions.

The Album Trade-In promotion runs now through July 31st. In-store only.

-Kate

Looking for a way to document all of this year’s events in your busy life? Take some tips from Elise Blaha as she creates a Catalina album to record the events of 2011.

I considered a lot of ideas and for awhile thought I was going to go entirely digital with an album or book. But printing all those digital 8.5x11 pages seemed expensive and waiting until the end of the year to have book printed did not appeal to my impatient side. I wanted something I could work on at the end of every month.

The Catalina album I chose has two photo sleeves on each page that are about 4x7.75 and are designed to hold a 4x6 photo. Slipping a 4x6 photo into each sleeve felt a bit too basic so I decided to have my photos printed 4x8 and then at home trim off that extra quarter inch so they would fit in my book. At this size, the photos take up the whole half of the page which makes the book seem more full and less like a traditional photo album. I first mapped out how my pages would go then adhered the photos that would be sharing a sleeve back to back. Next, I slipped the photos into the removed page protectors and punched three holes through both photos, using the existing holes in the sleeve as a guide.

I am planning on doing a monthly "here's what happened" write up in addition to the photo pages.

Now, almost halfway through, I really hope this becomes a yearly tradition that I keep even when do have a bigger family and our lives are more chaotic. I love this album so much. I'm already so glad to have these photos printed and my thoughts saved all together.

Check out Elise’s blog for monthly updates on the project!

-Kate

Stationery Magazine in Japan published this recent profile extolling the design details of Kolo's albums and photo books, singling out the differences between the Kolo Hudson, Kolo Newport, Kolo Newbury and Kolo Noci.

- Ugo

Fall seven times; stand up eight.

In recent days, the Japanese people have shown perseverance, courage and strength, proving their character true to this ancient Japanese proverb. Our prayers and best wishes go out to the people of Japan as they struggle to restore and rebuild.

For additional impressive images showing the aftermath of Japan’s recent tragedies, go here.

-Ugo

No time to make photo albums? Let the experts do it for you!

If you’re in or near Boston, bring your favorite photos in digital format (memory card, CD, camera, smart phone or laptop) to Boston’s new Kolo Album Bar. A KoloPro will print ‘em out beautifully and help you pick out a Kolo book, album or photo box…

…Take all the creative control you want -- hang out and use Kolo’s computers and iPads to organize and edit your photos, add text and create layouts. A KoloPro will be there to assist…

…Or just bring your photos, drop, shop and let Kolo do all the work! Some Kolo books and photo albums can be turned around same day, and some in just an hour.

Imagine that. An archival Kolo album filled with your photos in just an hour. Starting at $18.

The Kolo Album Bar is near Bloomingdale’s and the Apple store in the Mall at Chestnut Hill, 199 Boylston Street in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Boston.

-Kate

Saint – Germain's covers are beautifully wrapped with luxurious Italian Merino wool felt, available in four rich colors. Each album is lined with our classic book cloth in an accent color that coordinates with the thread color of the sewing detail.

Available in our two best-selling sizes, 11 x 14 and 8.5 x 11. Midnight Blue and Charcoal are loaded with ten black cloth-hinged pages, while Brick and Ivy come with ten soft white cloth-hinged pages. Archival. Refillable.

Read more, here.

-Kate

Making a Valentine’s Day photo album for your sweetheart? I am -- a quick, small Kolo Noci photo album -- though mine is more skiing trip theme than wedding theme. (Skiing is romantic, right? It is, isn’t it?)

For those who want to play it safe, creating a photo book with your favorite wedding or just-you-two photos is a great option. Probably a surefire, hit-it-out-of-the-ballpark Valentine’s gift idea, come to think of it. (I hope skiing is romantic.)

Layouts like these three Kolo Newport layouts can be created at myKOLO.com.

For more Valentine's Day gift ideas, go here and here and here.

(Layout designs by Karalee Serra for Kolo.)

- Ugo

Among the panel of judges were Boston-based photojournalist Mikki Ansin, Chicago photographer Kelli Taylor and artist Steve Light.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Monthly Photo Contest 2010. Best wishes to you all!

Winners will be directly contacted with information about receiving their prize. To read more about Kolo's Monthly Photo Contest 2010, go here.

GRAND PRIZE WINNER:



artist: Zoltán Balogh
country: Hungary
title: The 100 Years Old Man
theme: Green

SECOND PLACE WINNERS:

artist: Sudip Roychoudhury
title: Return
country: India
theme: Yellow

artist: Tirion Jenkins
title: A Fragment of the Old Crete
country: Hong Kong
theme: Travel

artist: Viktorija Vaisvilaite Skirutiene
country: Lithuania
title: Two For the Road
theme: Happy

artist: David Lazar
title: Our World
country: Australia
theme: Travel

artist: Gurdas Dua
country: India
title: Temple at Step Farms
theme: Green

artist: Wael Eldeep
title: Working Young
country: Egypt
theme: Travel

Stay tuned for the announcement of the grand prize winner and six second place winners on February 1st, 2011.

To read more about Kolo's Monthly Photo Contest 2010, go here.

artist: Md. Akhlas Uddin
title: Fishing Time
country: Bangladesh

artist: Diana Montgomery
title: Lake Mohonk
country: United States

artist: Zdenko Vukelić
title: The Boat..
country: Croatia

artist: Clement Burelle
title: Smily times
country: France

artist: Zoltán Balogh
title: Break
country: Hungary

artist: S P Mukherjee
title: Boating in tranquility
country: India

artist: Alam syah
title: weave
country: Indonesia

artist: Annamaria Quaratesi
title: Serenity
country: Italy

artist: Aliya Utenova
title: Summer steppe
country: Kazakstan

artist: KRZYSZTOF BROWKO
title: OLD FARM...
country: Poland

artist: Elsa Gonçalves
title: By the end of Summer
country: Portugal

artist: Meyrem Bulucek
title: Summer Game
country: Romania

artist: Marta Witt
title: Summer Dinner
country: United Kingdom

artist: Crystal Hartis
title: Secret Hiding Place
country: United States

artist: Ashton Hurlburt
title: Alone
country: United States

Regular Koloist contributor and children’s book author Steve Light used a Kolo Noci and Kolo Havana Box to store sketches and things as he was creating his new book "The Christmas Giant.”

I also made a little inspiration book using a Kolo Noci album with Christmas art to look at, to inspire me when working on the book. I created a "Christmas Giant Facebook Page" where I am posting a picture a day, usually from the Kolo sketchbook I used to create the book.

For more about The Christmas Giant, go here or here.

For another post about Steve’s inspiration book technique, go here.

Congratulations on your new book, Steve!

- Ugo

Be sure to send in your photos for December's "Summer" theme. Good Luck!

To read more about Kolo's Monthly Photo Contest 2010, go here.

artist: Leacia Sharp
Title: Longtail
Country: Australia

artist: Md. Akhlas Uddin
Title: Blue Sky
Country: Bangladesh

artist: Erin Wallis
Title: A Horse and the Sea
Country: Canada

artist: Deanna Brown
Title: Introspect
Country: Greece

artist: Laura Barry
Title: Worthy of Painting
Country: Australia

artist: Andrius Bulota
Title: Grandmother
Country: Lithuania

artist: Muthukumaran Rangarajan
Title: Shades of Blue
Country: India

artist: Viktorija Vaisvilaite Skirutiene
Title: Over the Fence
Country: Lithuania

artist: S P Mukherji
Title: Blue Fishing Net
Country: India

artist: Karolina Jablonska
Title: Port in Essaouira, Morocco
Country: Poland

artist: Chyi-Dean Shu
Title: Boat
Country: United States

artist: Noppadon Imocha
Title: Culture with Blue
Country: Thailand

artist: Sirsendu Gayen
Title: Steam Engine
Country: India

artist: Hoang Long Ly
Title: Tranquility
Country: Vietnam

artist: Serban Pop
Title: In Waiting
Country: United Kingdom

Pro photographer Itaru Hirama was recently featured in a photo workshop article in the famous Japanese magazine, BRUTUS. Hirama san used a mango Kolo Newport photo album to highlight his stunning techniques with pictures, tips and layouts.

Brutus is one of the most popular Japanese magazines, devoted to pop culture, lifestyles and design in Toyko.

Itaru Hirama is a professional photographer famous for his portraits of musicians and celebrities. He shot the 2010 Tower Record ad labeled “No Music, No Life.” At “The Album Expo 2009” in Osaka, Japan, Itaru Hirama ran a workshop called “Photo Album Is Love,” demonstrating photography techniques and album tips using Kolo Newbury photo albums. Read more about it, here.

The popularity of Kolo in Japan has grown tremendously over the last few years. Kolo is sold in great stores ranging from Ito Ya, the famous stationery chain, to Loft, the popular lifestyle chain. Live in Japan? Check here for our store locator to find the nearest shop that carries the Kolo line up.

-Kate

As the cold of winter draws near, let us take this opportunity to remember the warmth of the summer months. December’s theme for the Kolo Monthly Photo Contest 2010 is SUMMER. This month is your last opportunity to enter to win the grand prize of $500 cash and $500 Kolo merchandise, to be announced on February 1st, 2011. Deadline for submissions is December 31st.

The fifteen monthly winners for the theme “summer” will be announced on January 10th, 2011. Each winner will take home $50 worth of Kolo merchandise.

Don’t forget to upload November’s “blue” photos. To start uploading, go here.

For more information on the contest, go here.

“Like us” on Facebook to keep updated on all photo contest announcements.

-Kate

Paisless Press blog editor and digital scrapbook designer Liz Tamanaha shared with us her Thanksgiving album. After collecting her favorite memories, mementos and photos that were scattered around her house throughout the year, she brought them together in a mango Noci photo album to show what she was thankful for.

It’s a simple mini-album with a whole lot of heart: A collection of your favorite photos of the year and why you are thankful for these moments, in three easy steps:

1. Pick 10-12 of your favorite photos from the year
2. Jot down why you are thankful for the moment or memory that the photo depicts
3. Put the photo and the corresponding journaling side-by-side in the album

I'm thinking of doing one of these every year around Thanksgiving time. It'll be neat a few years from now to look through this collection of thankful moments and see how things have changed (or remained the same).

To see more from Liz on Paislee Press, go here.

-Kate

Be sure to send in your photos for November's "Blue" theme. Good Luck!

To read more about Kolo's Monthly Photo Contest 2010, go here.

artist: Justin Tiew
title: The London Eye
country: Australia

artist: Zoltán Balogh
title: Questions
country: Hungary

artist: Tirion Jenkins
title: A fragment of the old Crete
country: Hong Kong

artist: David Lazar
title: Our World
country: Australia

artist: Somnath Chatterjee
title: The Land of Endless Discovery 1
country: India

artist: Mohammed Alkharari
title: think
country: Saudi Arabia

artist: Leslie Reinbold
title: Peace of the Land
country: United States

artist: Dibyendu Dey Choudhury
title: First ride
country: India

artist: S P Mukherji
title: Fishing Cans
country: India

artist: Wael Eldeep
title: Working Young
country: Egypt

artist: Paul Zizka
title: Wrecks of Luganville
country: Canada

artist: David Rich
title: Knee Deep
country: United States

artist: J.J. Guy Longtin
title: Low Tide
country: Canada

artist: ian leyland
title: Boats for hire
country: United Kingdom

artist: Gilberto Sendtko
title: Loneliness
country: Brazil

There’s only two months remaining to enter your photos into the Kolo Monthly Photo Contest 2010. This is your chance to win your favorite Kolo albums and boxes, along with earning some extra cash. The grand prize winner will get $500 cash and $500 worth of Kolo merchandise. Six second place winners will receive $100 cash and $100 worth of Kolo merchandise, announced on February 1st, 2011.

November’s theme is BLUE. Get creative, the more variety of photos, the better! The fifteen monthly winners for “blue,” receiving $50 worth of Kolo product and a pass to the next round, will be announced on December 10th.

Don’t forget to upload October’s “travel” photos by Sunday! To start uploading, go here.

For more information on the contest, visit our site.

“Like us” on Facebook to keep updated on photo contest announcements.

-Kate

Iwona Borkowska transformed this red Kolo Cotrina Lux album into a photo collage sharing countless stories of a city’s daily life to its deep history. The mixture of photographs and written words throughout the book tells a narrative through one citizen’s eyes. The careful arrangement and layout design of each page helps capture the feeling of a vast city and place it onto the pages of one singular book.

While attending the College of Technology and Economy and the Art Academy WI Strzeminski, Iwona Borkowska studied textile design, photography, film and video communication.

-Kate

Be sure to send in your photos for October's "Travel" theme. Good Luck!

To read more about Kolo's Monthly Photo Contest 2010, go here.

artist: Sudip Roychoudhury
title: Return
country: India

artist: Hansa Tangmanpoowadol
title: Energy
country: Thailand

artist: Susan Watkins
title: Frosty Sunset
country: United Kingdom

artist: Viktorija Vaisvilaite Skirutiene
title: Viola
country: Lithuania

artist: SP Mukherji
title: Yellow Sunrise
country: India

artist: Zoltajn Balogh
title: Silence
country: Hungary

artist: Serge Claes
title: Flowers
country: Belgium

artist: Md.Shahadat Hossain
title: Color of Life
country: Bangladesh

artist: Marieta Culibao
title: Vintage Yellow
country: Philippines

artist: Arup Halder
title: World of Flowers
country: India

artist: Maarja Kliiman
title: Color of the Night
country: Estonia

artist: Jenna Lambdin
title: Yellow Pansy
country: United States

artist: Graham Scheer
title: Canola Field
country: Australia

artist: François-Ferdinand Bozso
title: Crossing the Euphrates
country: Switzerland

artist: Dominique Meynier
title: Pinar del Rio
country: France

“Travels in the albums,” this year’s annual event run by Ito Ya, explores diverse places and cultures through various Kolo albums on display. This week, visitors walking into the front of the Ito Ya location in Ginza, Tokyo will be pleasantly surprised by the number of albums that will allow you to glimpse into other parts of the world. An assortment of Kolo Essex Travel Books is on display, allowing you to flip through and experience photos, postcards, journal entries and memorabilia from each highlighted destination.

For more information from Ito Ya’s website, go here or find Ito Ya products sold in the US. Event ran from September 22nd-28th.

See more pictures from this event.

-Kate

Where have you been?

Show the world all the places you’ve experienced. Kolo’s October photo contest theme will be TRAVEL. Starting Friday, October 1st, you can submit your favorite travel photos Kolo.com. Fifteen monthly winners will win $50 worth of Kolo merchandise which in turn qualifies you for the grand prize competition at yearend.

There’s only three months remaining to submit your photos for the opportunity to win the grand prize of $500 cash and $500 worth of Kolo merchandise. All entries must be in by December 31st, 2010 and the winners will be announced on February 1st, 2011.

Be sure to check back on October 10th for September’s “Yellow” winners.

For more information or to upload photos, go here.

-Kate

Photographer Vanessa Pelletier recently hopped a plane to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to photograph a friend’s destination wedding. After the ceremony, she wanted to present them with an elegant wedding album.

To capture the feel of the island, Vanessa chose a mango Kolo Newbury album and added a string of pearls through the binding. The wedding colors were yellow and coral, so the mango of the album complemented the carefully chosen professional luster prints, visually enhancing the story told throughout the album.

To see more from Vanessa Pelletier, visit her website here.

Also, check out Jen Jafarzadeh L'Italien’s Riva destination wedding album.

-Kate

Be sure to send in your photos for September's "Yellow" theme. Good Luck!

To read more about Kolo's Monthly Photo Contest 2010, go here.

artist: Prakash Hatvalne
title: Dul Lake Srinagar
country: India

artist: Ruben Toquero
title: Atardecer
country: Spain

artist: Serge Claes
title: Souvenir of China
country: Belgium

artist: Dennis Ramos
title: The Grand Canyon
country: United States

artist: Anjali Chaugule
title: Challenges of Water
country: India

artist: Bruce Bain
title: Reeds
country: United States

artist: Paul Saunders
title: Elephant Play
country: United Kingdom

artist: Elliott Fotherby
title: Half Moon Peak
country: Canada

artist: Kristen Diorio
title: 12 Apostles
country: United States

artist: William Lee
title: Hiking in Paradise
country: United States

artist: Petrisor Adrian
title: Foggy Morning
country: Romania

artist: David Lazar
title: Surreal
country: Australia

artist: Atanu Paul
title: Carefree Flow
country: India

artist: Alexandr Vlassyuk
title: Sunset
country: Kazakstan

artist: Diane Hua
title: On the Border
country: United States

Paislee Press blog editor Liz Tamanaha recently shared this album filled with pictures she compiled from her trip to Italy and Paris with her husband. Using a Kolo Riva album, she carefully designed each spread by selecting a picture of a place that they visited and then paired it with her favorite portrait taken at that landmark.

The opening page of the album highlights a quote from T.S. Eliot, “The journey not the arrival matters.”

I love how the pages in this album are designed. The individual matted window frames makes each page an instant work of art and pages are designed for ease of use - a regular 4x6 photo fits perfectly in the slots.

I originally set out to create more of a art journaled look - with little notes, random thoughts, dates, location info, scrawled all over the pages. I attempted this on one page (with a pencil) but the results were disastrous so I ended up going really simple and straightforward.

Visit Paislee Press for more great album ideas from Liz.

-Kate

As we make our way into the fall season and the leaves start to change colors, we begin to appreciate the beauty of the vibrant world around us. September's theme will be YELLOW. There are no limitations on how to interpret this theme, so be creative!

Starting September 1st, upload up to 10 photos that follow the theme “yellow” for the chance to win $50 worth of Kolo merchandise. Winners will be automatically entered to win the grand prize of $500 cash and $500 of Kolo merchandise. The grand prize winner and six second place winners will be announced February 1st, 2011.

Don’t forget to check back on September 10th for the “nature” winners.

To get more information or to upload photos, go here.

-Kate

Here is the long-awaited conclusion of Steve Light's "A Boy and His Red Umbrella" Kolo Noci storybook. Glad to see that the boy and his red umbrella returned safely home to his bed after his flight over the city, an adventure through a field of flowers and a chilling encounter with a fire breathing dragon.

Visit Steve Light’s website.

-Kate

Chicago photographer Kelli Taylor just finished this “Little Black Book” bridal shower recipe book for one of her good friends, Ali.

Ali, bride-to-be, yoga instructor and nutritionist, is marrying a man that cannot survive for the rest of his life on only fiber. For his sake, I collected everyone’s favorite homemade recipe and brought them together into a recipe-themed book filled with her closest friend’s past memories and future wishes.

Each spread of the black Cortina Lux scrapbook is dedicated to one of the shower’s attendees. On the left side of the spread, Kelli features a Q&A about their relationship with the bride. The right side highlights the person’s favorite recipe securely tucked into a decorative envelope.

I wanted it to be functional without sacrificing the look of the book. Instead of carting a book cloth album into the kitchen, I designed it so the recipe cards were removable. I typed each recipe on an individual card, attached a string and slid it into a custom made envelope.

I got all of the paper from Paper Source. I was weary about spending the money for each individual piece of pattern paper, so instead, I decided to purchase a roll of pattern wrapping paper and cut it myself. This turned out to be way cheaper than the pre-cut swatches.

Thank you to always-creative Kelli for sharing another great project!

Visit Kelli’s site, here. More pictures of this project on flickr.

-Kate

California photographer and artist Emet Martinez created this collection of books for the Tustin Area Council for Fine Arts, an organization dedicated to advancing the study of arts through the support of local artists. The collection is entitled “A Modern Look at Old Tustin,” visually documenting the city using his own photographic style.

The goal of the project was to document Old Tustin’s architecture, greeneries, open spaces and sceneries at different times of the day through a modern photographer’s eye. I used a contemporary approach using selective focusing, creative angles and the use of watercolor filter to create unique images that are modern in terms of image capture style but traditional in terms of look and feel through the watercolor effect.

The collection consists of four books. I used three bonded leather 11 x 14 Kolo Newport albums with 8 in. x 12 in. prints and one platinum 8.5 x 11 Kolo Newport album with 5 in. x 7 in. prints adhered using double sided tape. I gave the first copy to the Tustin Area Council of Fine Arts, another copy to the Tustin Museum and with the last two serving as my hardcopy portfolios.

Emet Martinez has exhibited his work throughout California. Visit Emet Martinez’s website, here.

To see more photos of the art collection on flickr.

-Kate

The Kolo Essex Travel Book is now available in full grain leather. Kolo uses the highest quality full grain leather, unveiling each book’s unique natural beauty. The leather is carefully crafted to ensure the retention and preservation of the hide’s natural patina.

Customize the leather Kolo Essex using the trademark cover window and your choice of inserts. Available in two colors; black and loden. Both sizes come with a photo sleeve booklet and a lined journal booklet (the medium size holds one additional booklet). The inserts are easily interchangeable using elastic loops.

For more information on the leather Kolo Essex Travel Book, go here.

View these Koloist projects using the Kolo Essex Travel Book: Alero Boyo's Berlin Book, Blair Roberts' Mugshot Book or Patrick Ng's mind.Depositor.

Kate

Be sure to send in your photos for August's "Nature" theme. Good Luck!

To read more about Kolo's Monthly Photo Contest 2010, go here.

artist: Olga Filatova Kontrimiene
country: Lithuania
title: Mio amico

artist: Avijit Bhakta
country: India
title: Moods

artist: Laura Schneider
country: United States
title: Traditions

artist: Buchachon Petthanya
country: Thailand
title: Enjoy Together

artist: Viktorija Vaisvilaite Skirutiene
country: Lithuania
title: Rainy days

artist: Olga Filatova Kontrimiene
Country: Lithuania
title: Only Girls

artist: Sandipan Majumdar
country: India
title: End of the day

artist: Kristine Jarosz
country: United States
title: Four Fives

artist: Viktorija Vaisvilaite Skirutiene
country: Lithuania
title: Winter's Tale

artist: Aaron Sosa
country: Venezuela
title: Serie: Ambiguities of Paris

artist: Somenath Mukhopadhyay
country: India
title: Old Friends

artist: Wanda Locke
country: Canada
title: Buddies

artist: Laura Darrell
country: United States
title: Make me laugh...

artist: Kristine Jarosz
country: United States
title: Flight

artist: DeeDee DiMarco
country: United States
title: Buddies

As promised, here are a few more pages from illustrator Steve Light's Kolo Noci storybook "A Boy and His Red Umbrella." As the pages are turned, each intricate cut-out and illustration adds to the imaginative story that slowly unfolds of the little boy and his adventures.

Check back to see how the story ends! Thanks for sharing this great project, Steve.

To see the first pages of the book, go here.

See Steve Light's website, here.

-Kate

After spending most of her life in Nigeria, the home country of her father, Alero Boyo moved to Berlin to continue her education. Now, she has become an influential painter and artist in the city.

In a Kolo Essex Travel Book, Alero combined excerpts, quotes, drawings, photographs and various pieces of artwork to convey the message "...after all, life still goes on." Her optimistic view of life in Berlin shines through in the vibrant artistic pieces she has brought together to create this work.

To see a Mugshot Book made with a Kolo Essex Travel Book, go here.

-Kate

All Steve Light needs is a few rainy days and a stash of simple supplies to make the story A Boy and His Red Umbrella come to life. Using a sage Kolo Noci album as a base, Steve added carefully cut black paper and a touch of gouache to complete the illustrations. On each page prior to an illustration, Steve cut shapes into the Noci pages, showing a glimpse of what was on the page below. The shapes leave just enough of the illustration hidden to let the reader’s imagination run wild.

I liked trying to relate the first cut-out shapes to the second more illustrated page. It is fun to look through the first page to view the illustration below.

Check back for more pages from Steve Light’s story “A Boy and His Red Umbrella.”

To see more from author and illustrator, Steve Light, visit his website. Also, maybe you remember a few of his other projects, like the tea-soaked Kolo Cortina Lux or the Kolo Newport “Sweetness and Light” baby book.

-Kate

Carsch Haus first opened in Düsseldorf, Germany in 1915 and has emerged today as a leading premium department store in Europe. The store features the latest fashion styles, along with a vast selection of household goods, unique gift ideas, and most recently a full Kolo department. Carsch Haus is now a Kolo LX special dealer with trained expert staff to serve new and existing Kolo fans in Düsseldorf.

If you haven't been to Düsseldorf, you should see this amazing city first hand. Modern Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and also renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Culturally, as a city by the River Rhine, Düsseldorf is a home to Rhenish carnival celebrations. Every year in July more than 4.5 million people visit the city's Größte Kirmes am Rhein funfair.

To find a store carrying Kolo near you, visit our store locator located on the website.

For more about Carsch Haus department stores, go here.

-Kate

Quote from the Wikipedia article on Düsseldorf.

Through June’s “happiness” theme, some fantastic portraits were submitted expressing blissful moments and the joys in life. Now we want challenge you to explore the world around you. August’s theme for the Kolo Monthly Photo Contest 2010 will be NATURE. Upload up to 10 of your favorite nature photographs between August 1st and the 31st for the chance to win $50 worth of Kolo merchandise. Winners will be entered to win the grand prize, to be announced on February 1st, 2011.

Don’t forget, you still have 1 week to upload 10 photos for the theme “Friend.”

To get more information or to upload photos, go here. View the winners from May’s GREEN theme and June’s HAPPINESS theme.

-Kate

Kudos to the talented graphic designer and photographers Debra McClinton and Tara Donne responsible for the Real Simple Weddings guide now on newsstands everywhere. The entire issue is cleverly laid out like a photo album.

And thanks to the fine taste of prop stylist Michele Michael, the Photo Preservation section shows off Kolo Newport photo albums and a Kolo Havana Photo Box.

- Ugo

A large red Kolo Havana archival box established a base for artist Falko Reipe to construct this work representing the “Building Blocks of Berlin.” Each piece of art is carefully crafted to fit strategically into the space provided by the Kolo Havana Box. The pieces can be removed and arranged to symbolize different characteristics of the city.

Falko Riepe, born in 1963, studied a variety of different subjects throughout his life, ranging from history and literature to industrial art. Most recently, he works in the construction of exhibitions, stage and theater design and much more.

Also, check out The Personification of Berlin or Karen Stukes's Opera Stage Design, also made with a large red Kolo Havana Box.

-Kate

Artist and photographer Ophelia Chong recently experimented designing collages in her Kolo Essex Travel Book. You may recall seeing her work on Koloist before; she used Kolo archival paper for the work entitled “Her Love” and a Kolo Newport post-bound album to display her “Slips of Paper” collection. Ophelia on her experience using the Kolo Essex Blank Booklet as her canvas:

I usually work from 8 x 10 paper and larger. I love the Essex because it gives me the freedom to just play and not try to complete a larger collage. It is a sketchbook that helps me leap to larger ideas.

To see more from Ophelia Chong, visit her site or flickr page.

-Kate

American heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz has been called one of Time Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People,” Esquire’s 75 “Most Influential People of the 21st Century,” and a “Global Leader of Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum.

When Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., gave Dr. Oz an archival Kolo Newport photo album filled with Oz family photos and documents of his ancestral past, it was a trip down Memory Lane for him.

He remembered stories of his parents’ humble beginnings in Turkey and the courage of his father, who immigrated to the United States to work as a doctor even though he spoke no English.

And he recalled one conversation he had with his dad that would shape the rest of his life. Dr. Oz was seven years old, standing in line at an ice cream shop. His dad struck up a conversation with a boy next to them, asking what he wanted to be when he grew up. The boy answered, “I don’t know. I’m ten.”

Later, Dr. Oz recalled, his father said to him, “Don’t ever give me that answer that that kid gave me. I don’t care what you’re going to become. I don’t care if you change your mind a hundred times, but always know your goal.”

For more about Dr. Oz and the PBS series Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., go here.

- Ugo

For more info about Kolo's monthly photo contests, go here.

artist: Viktorija Vaisvilaite Skirutiene
country: Lithuania
title: Fairy Bubble

artist: Olga Filatova Kontrimiene
country: Lithuania
title: Flowering Time

artist: Sandipan Majumdar
country: India
title: Gossiping

artist: Laura Schneider
country: United States
title: Cheese

artist: Partha Pal
country: India
title: Child Within

artist: Zoltán Balogh
country: Hungary
title: Indian Summer

artist: Debashis Mukherjee
country: India
title: Love

artist: Nimai Chandra Ghosh
country: India
title: Two Brothers

artist: Suzy Thompson
country: Canada
title: Meali Kids

artist: Olga Filatova Kontrimiene
country: Lithuania
title: Up!

artist: Erik Estrada
country: Singapore
title: Smile from Cambodia

artist: Viktorija Vaisvilaite Skirutiene
country: Lithuania
title: Two For the Road

artist: Kristine Jarosz
country: United States
title: jump

artist: Viktorija Vaisvilaite Skirutiene
country: Lithuania
title: Coming Home for Christmas

artist: DEBA PRASAD ROY
country: India
title: ROPE MAKING LABOURER

Meet Geneva, Kolo's latest product. The Kolo Geneva is a simple guest book filled with 30 heavyweight pages with one side ruled for writing and the other blank. The versatile Geneva can be used as a photo journal, sketch book, recipe book... or as the perfect guest book. Available in three colors.

Learn more here.

-Kate

The grand opening of ITO-YA's new “Top Drawer” Shop in Umeda, Osaka in Japan will be July 24th. The new store will be located on the ground floor of the Hankyu Umeda Station building in Osaka and will sell a broad range of Kolo products.

Since 1904, ITO-YA has been one of the world’s finest places to find all of the latest trends in stationery, calligraphy and paper supplies. To see which ITO-YA stores carry Kolo or to find a Kolo retailer near you, visit Kolo's store locator.

Check out last year’s Kolo event at the ITO-YA store in the Ginza section of Tokyo. The Kolo Ginza event will take place again in September. Stay tuned for the scheduled dates.

-Kate