My littlest lady got herself a very special book for her very special first birthday. Just like the one her big sister got on her first birthday (that I documented in The Creative Family), and was and continues to be adored to this day, six years later (my how time flies).
Had I been a bit more on top of the ball, there would be many photographs documenting the process of the making of said book to share with you on this here blog of mine. But alas, this in-progress photograph is all I have. And this is rather telling, for the project came together - I must confess - on the eve of her birthday. What can I say? Inspiration struck. Mama love hit. Sentimentally reigned Queen. Whatever the reason, this little fabric book was the happy result.
Thankfully, I'm raising a bunch of last-minute nellies. Or rather, siblings who love their baby sister so much that they'll drop everything the night before to 'make some art' or 'write a poem' or 'tell me a story' to include in her book. With pride, and glee, and excitement - because truly, they adore this baby girl.
The stories they wrote, the poems they penned, the art they drew? Goodness, it made my Mama heart happy. SO much love.
The construction of the book itself is based loosely on Adelaide's. Each 'page' is two pieces of fabric with a single layer of batting in the middle. All of the fabric comes from Charlotte Lyon's Walnut Hill collection. I love this collection - so sweet and warm, and just perfect, I thought, as a comfy background to the story we wanted to tell without taking over the story.
The photographs and drawings were printed onto printer fabric sheets, and simply because I ran out of that, the text is printed with an iron-on transfer fabric that I happened to have a bit of. Had I had enough of the fabric photo paper, I would have preferred to do it all that way.
The trickiest part of making the book was keeping straight which pieces of fabric ended up as which pages in the book, and which photographs and text belonged on them. It helped enormously to create a mock book with pieces of paper to follow as I went along in the construction of it all.
The little miss loves her book. Love, love, loves it. I wasn't certain she would, given that board books in general hold little interest for her at the moment. But put a few pictures of the people (and animals) she loves on some soft and touchable fabric? Yes, please. Put down anywhere in the house, she'll soon find her way to the coffee table where this book lives, and begin clapping and pointing until there is an audience nearby to read to. Thank goodness, for this youngest baby of five, that there is always an audience.
Sweet pea. We love her so.
