My New Look

It's Time!

Thanks to Katelyn Wray at designsbyksw.com, I've got this great new look at www.blotchesbooks.blogspot.com.

My new business name is "Blotches." Check it out my blog here!

Wedding Guest Sign-in Book, the III

This is the third Wedding Guest Sign-in Book that I've made. Per request of Tori, I put a picture of the lovebirds on the front cover. She didn't specify that she wanted it in a window, but I thought that would be the best way to protect the photo.
I've never done a window in my book covers before. There was quite a bit of trial and error to make sure the window looked just right, and in the end, I realized I loved the look.

Each page had an engagement photo on it, with room for the guests to sign their names and give a small message for the bride and groom.Congratulations Tori! Thanks for letting me a part of your special day!


By the way . . . Home-Bound Books is getting a HUGE makeover! Check back soon for the exciting changes!

Seeing the Miracles

Ultimately, aside from lots of fun, I create these books because they can be personalized and meaningful gifts to loved ones. This book was so neat to put together. It was a collection of letters from April to her parents while her parents were away on a church mission in Mongolia. April was pregnant at the time, and so she decided to record the events of the family for her parents to read about when they returned.

I had a lot of fun designing the name plate. April suggested the title, but I chose the fonts and a layout.
I also used a cursive, handwritten font for her signature. I thought it personalized it a bit more.

Thanks, April, for letting me be a part of this!

Experiences Worth Remembering and Sunday Letters

One of the neatest books I've been able to make was a Christmas order for a friend in California. She had contacted all of her cousins, aunts, and uncles, and asked them to record some of their favorite memories (and anything else they wanted to share) about their grandparents. Then she compiled all the stories, plus pictures, into a book for the grandparents. I had the honor of making the covers and binding it together.


The title page of the book: Out of respect for the family's privacy, I am not posting any pictures of the pages inside the book, but Jenny did a great job of putting it together. It was almost 90 pages (8.5x11) long and even included her own design of their family tree!

Jenny was not only busy putting "Experiences Worth Remembering" together, but she was also busy writing her husband weekly letters. This was the second book I made for her, which she titled, "Sunday Letters."It was neat to be able to work on something that someone else had spent hours of time and energy on to make it so special. She provided the cover paper, and the document text, and I provided her with the finished product. Great teamwork. Thanks Jenny!

Year-Record Books

The purpose of these books is to record the events that took place during the year these people served in their callings. Five books were ordered--one for each member of the presidency. The first year was typed up and presented on the first few pages of each book; the remaining years will be handwritten in. I also added a picture of the presidency on the front cover.

It was fun working with the texture-like print. I thought it made the books look very nice.

Christmas Order

These are two journals also ordered for Christmas gifts. I love this medium size and think they are so handy.

Gifts for Christmas

I made a few adjustments per request on some Christmas orders, and here's how they turned out. It was fun to put the name plates on and see a little personality added to them.

Wedding Photo Album

This was my first attempt at an actual photo album. It was for my sister-in-law for her wedding pictures.
She said she had about 100 pictures she wanted to put in the album, so we decided to go with two books. She chose the paper, which matched her colors, and I loved working with it.
Both books are pretty much identical, except for the designs which are in different locations. I thought the paper made the books look exceptional!

A Recent Order

This was an order for a friend who had me send the books straight to the birthday girls: Sharlie and Kaylinn. The book for Sharlie was a large journal with blank pages.


The book for Kaylinn was similar to the one for Wren--full of fun, colorful pages, sticker, stripes, and swirls.They were both fun projects, and I almost had just as much fun wrapping them up in birthday tissue paper to send out!

SALE!

Part II: Large Journals
Here's the list of large journals that are for sale. The first few contain blank pages, while the rest have print and journal prompts.
(See the prior post for Part I:Photo Explosion Books)

Ideas for blank journals: (Great for the upcoming Family Gatherings!)
*Distant Relative--Not through blood, but in miles. Have each family member write a message to the family (member) who can't make it to the celebrations, then send it to them for Christmas.
*Favorite Family Memories--Have family members record their favorite memories spent together with family, then give the journal to parents or grandparents for Christmas.
* Guestbook--Assign a few pages for the party guests to sign, then use it for future party celebrations too.
*Messages of Celebration--Have the children and grandchildren sign it with loving messages for the grandparents who are celebrating an anniversary.
*Thankful Journal--Use it during the month of November to record all the things you and your family are thankful for. Then read it together on Thanksgiving Day.
*Love Letters--Write love letters back and forth with your spouse.

SALE!

With the holidays approaching, all of my current items are going on sale. Today, I'm posting the explosion books. Tomorrow I'll be posting all the large journals on sale--so be sure to check back!

Part I: Photo Explosion Books
Here is a list of all the photo explosion books available:
(Sneak Peek of photo explosion books--look here to see the original post for this picture)








--Fill them with themed photos (wedding, Halloween, first Christmas etc.) or any random photos you love and want on display!

--Each book comes with hints and tips on how to insert photos for maximum success! :)

--Don't forget to check back tomorrow for more great deals!

26 Haikus for You

This year for Rhett's birthday, I wanted to do another book for him from family and friends, but different than last year's book. So I put together a book of haikus for him. He turned 26, and I wanted to get 26 haikus written by family and friends. I started collecting haikus about a month and a half ago--and what fun it was! Each time I got a new haiku, I'd burst with excitement to share it with Rhett. It was so hard to keep it a secret! They were so great! Everyone's was so creative and unique--some listed off qualities they admired in Rhett, others wrote about memories they had with him. One friend even wrote a line in Portuguese! It turned out to be a great collection. And Rhett loved it. He was impressed with everyone's talent at haiku-writing (as was I!), and he was excited to see what everyone had to write.

Here are some pictures of the book. I was going to make it in the usual style of books I do, but since I had given one to him for our recent anniversary (found here), I thought I'd try something different.

The body of the book was made from one sheet of paper, just folded and cut in certain places to create all the pages. I then stitched in the red pages. Here are some sample pages:

It was a fun size and such a fun project. Thanks to everyone who helped make it such a success! He loves it!

And . . . check back soon for the upcoming holiday sale!

Another Wedding Album and Gift

I had another order for a wedding guest sign-in book. It turned out quite similar to my sister's, except for a different print of paper for the cover (which was the same print used on the bride and groom's wedding invitations) and the ribbon which is orange instead of green. I didn't put any of the pictures in this one--the bride didn't have them yet--so she decided she would do that part.

As a gift to the bride and groom, I made these two 52 Reasons books for them.