I have a little shop. I use it to sell T-shirts and photographs relating to Abruzzo.
Want to see? Just follow this link.
Right now I’ve seven different T-shirt styles for sale. It’s been that way for a few months. I don’t consider 7 to be a magic number so I plan to add more over the next few weeks.
I also sell photographs.
Nora, a happy and very satisfied customer wrote of the Dancing Olive Trees
“The breathtakingly beautiful enlarged image of your olive trees arrived this morning! Photobox have a fast delivery service – just 2 working days. I was impressed with the excellent quality of the photo, the amazing detail it contains and the wonderful mix of light and shade. Thank you again for sharing your stunning pictures!”
then followed up with
“I’m extremely happy with the print and can’t wait to get it framed and see it hanging in the living-room. The picture is so sharp and clear, the colours are beautiful; you can almost feel the warmth of the sunlight coming through the branches.”
It’s a great feeling when something you’ve created brings joy to others.
With all of these little projects going on along with the day job and home life, I need a place to jot down ideas. I’m no Luddite – I have a smartphone and I also use Evernote, but nothing beats pen and paper for scribbles.
So I’ve created this – an Abruzzo themed 80 page notebook that will (along with my camera) be my constant companion.
If the notebook doesn’t display just follow this link to see it.
What do you think?
It may not have been used by the big names that have poured their thoughts into a Moleskine (Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway and Bruce Chatwin) but I bet they’d have considered an Abruzzo notebook if it was available!
I’m sure it’s only a short time before I read something like “My first book of poetry – what inspired me? That’s easy, travelling around Abruzzo during the onset of autumn with my trusty aboutabruzzo.com notebook.”
I can dream. Why not?
The 80 page notebook has 13 pages of photographs to remind you of Abruzzo and hopefully inspire you. My friends don’t know it yet but I think I’ve indentified a cool gift idea! 
The field of sunflowers on the front and back covers is a personal favourite of mine and it was taken not far from Loreto Aprutino.
If you’d like one (or two or three…) they are available on Blurb. I’m taking the same approach as I do with the T-shirts (Zazzle) and the photographs (Photobox) by using a company that will handle all the ordering,payment and shipping and produces excellent quality products. They’re based in the US and my order of a few notebooks took a little over a week to get to me in Ireland. Not bad going.
I plan to make a few more and I’d really love your help. I’ve been writing this blog for nearly 3 years and I’ve great fun doing it. Writing about Abruzzo, discovering new places and reacquainting myself with the familiar has been and still is an inspiring experience. During that time I’ve posted many photographs of my travels. If you see a photo I’ve taken on any post, or in the Photo Album, that you think should be available as a print, as a page on a notebook or displayed proudly on a T-shirt, please let me know.
I’d love to hear what your favourites are.
Hi Bodach and P,
Hope you both are doing well.
Ok this is what I think about the note book….I like the idea! However, I personally would prefer pictures that are shouting Abruzzo, Italy…some of the pics that have been selected could be almost anywhere in the world…while they are very nice pictures in themselves, they are not shouting about the region….
Also it would be nice to see captions on pictures, maybe use part of the page behind picture page to write something about the area the picture was taken in, time of year, etc….so as to be a little more defining. Which is very useful when giving this notebook as a gift to people who have visited the region and especially those who have not visited the region…oh oh, I can sense a suggestion of placing a map of Abruzzo on the inside of the front or back of the notebook…..I always find myself asking “where is that?” when I see lovely pictures of Italy, or anywhere else in the world.
I really like the idea!
Hi CKC,
many thanks for the comment and your suggestions.
Could you go a bit further and indicate what scenes shout Abruzzo to you? Maybe there are photos of that nature in my Photo Album, please take a look and let me know – I’ll add them to my list of notebook photos.
The manufacturer (Blurb) have some restrictions on where images can be placed and caption locations, that’s why my text appears on the pages facing the image page.
I’m delighted you like the idea – there’ll be more versions on the way.
Ciao for now!
Hi
In the preview of the notebook, I was not able to see the captions, so apologize for any repetitive suggestions.
As for suggesting pics that shout Abruzzo (to me)….
Bear with me, I went through your albums as best I could and have the following suggestions just to give you an idea of my point of view…
Album name Roccaslegna photo # 10 (if the photo could be made a little lighter)
Loreto to Collecorvino # 7
Silvi Paese # 2, 3, 4
Here comes the sun # 1
Trabocci # 1
Contera # 1
Penne # 1
Campo Imperatore Abruzzo # 18
Album 1 Gallery 5 # 7
These are just my suggestions and many of your pictures are wonderful so the choices are difficult….so just to give another point of view.
All the best and thanks
Well now, what can I say – a bit of constructive criticism and practical suggestions for improvement.
Many thanks CKC – I really appreciate you taking the time to look – I wasn’t expecting such a detailed reply so soon.
I’ll take a look at your suggestions over the next few days and you never know…
And thank you once again for taking the time and making such lovely comments like “many of your pictures are wonderful so the choices are difficult” – what a way to start the day.