It’s always fun when someone hires you to make a book and they trust you enough to just let you run with it. The book below is a perfect example.

Theresa has had me make several books for her over the past few years. Mostly she has ordered gifts for others, but this time, she wanted a prayer journal for herself. And she said I could design it any way I wanted!

I experimented with exposed board for this book. I cut ruby-red bookbinding cloth in a wave shape to cover the spine and connect the covers, and the white part of the cover is raw Davy board, which I shaded with a white Prismacolor pencil.

I then added snowflake brads to the spine for symbolism and to give the book a little embellishment.

Inside the book, I designed the paste pages. I printed the lyrics to the worship song “Nothing But The Blood” and accented that particular line.

I knew Theresa was planning to use this book as a prayer journal, and I wanted to keep this reminder at the forefront of her mind every time she opened her book.

Theresa: Thank you again for being such a loyal customer. I always enjoy designing books for you. I hope the pages of this book are now filled with answered prayers and reminders of God’s provision in your life!

Be blessed!!

I mentioned in this post that I love making books for other artists. Some times, other artists are even willing to trade their art for mine. Win-win!

Abi and I were meeting up to do a photoshoot for BodSchool, my personal training business. She takes incredible photos and I wanted to bring a thank you gift that I could give her until I was able to make her official sketchbook.

In college, I purchased a book that teaches how to bind books without any glue. As you can imagine, that makes the process much quicker, as you don’t have to wait for anything to dry!

I had some burlap scraps another friend had given me and decided that would be the perfect material to try something new.

I chose to make a “quarto” sized book (a fourth of a page) from 8.5 x 11 paper. The final size was roughly 4.25″ wide x 5.5″ tall…a great little book for stuffing in a purse or camera bag!

I burned the edges of the burlap to give it a more finished look (and also in hopes it would keep it from fraying so badly). Have you ever smelled burnt burlap?! Eww.

Since Abi loves green, I chose olive-colored paper for the pages. It also looks really great with the earthy burlap, don’t you think?

The stitching I chose was Long Stitch/Link Stitch. The sections are sewn together so the stitches are exposed on the spine like this:

I really like how you could see the stitches if you knew to look for them, but that the twine also blended in nicely with the burlap.

This was a really fast book the make. The thing that took the longest was learning the new stitch, but even that went quickly once I got the hang of it.

Abi, thank you again for being willing to trade art! I love making unique things for unique girls like you!

One of my favorite kind of books to make is a wedding guest book! It’s exciting to be a part of a day that marks a new beginning for a loving couple.

Melanie and Tony asked me to create a one-of-a-kind guest book for them. The Scripture verse “My lover is mine, and I am his” graced the cover.

Their wedding colors were earthy tones, so I mimicked this in their book using soft, brown recycled paper, brown satin tie ribbons, and earth-toned papers for the pages.

A nice, green paisley paper added the finished touches to the inside cover.

And no wedding book would be complete without a little personalization!

Names and a very important date, all surrounded by heart-shaped brads.

Tony and Melanie, thank you for allowing my art to be a detail in your special day. Here’s to many, many years of wedded bliss!

Cooking is an art. Loving your kids and keeping them fed, bathed, and entertained is an art. Crunching numbers in a budget is an art. Maintaining a healthy marriage is an art. Masterfully hammering boards together and building something that didn’t used to exist is an art.

Since art is everywhere, sometimes even the people who DO call themselves Artists don’t realize how many artistic passions they’ve left undiscovered.

One of my favorite artists, Miss Abi, is an A-MAZING photographer. And fashionista. And writer. And, and, and…as it turns out, a sketcher!! Who knew?!

Abi and I love to trade art with each other. She took some terrific photos for my new business, and I paid her back by making her an 8.5 x 11 sketchbook.

Her favorite color green in a fun pattern, plus her name and some BLING!

A pen loop (because what good is your sketchbook if you forget a pen?!) was built in as well.

Abi, thank you for being my go-to girl for all things photography (and fashion advice, which I am certain I desperately need more of!).

I love your zest for life and hope this book will be just one of the many places you chronicle all your dreams and adventures this year and beyond! Love you!

Personalized, handmade gifts are always a great thing to get someone beginning a new chapter of their life.

So when Kelley was graduating, Donna knew that a Z as in Zebra journal would be a great gift for her.

With your name on the front, there’s no mistaking it’s yours!!

I love funky geometric patterns, and this one portrays all the fun, exciting, scary, new adventures most graduates are just itching to embark upon.

Inside the front cover, Donna wanted to include an inscription with the verse Jeremiah 29:11

So fitting!

Donna, thank you for asking me to make Kelley’s journal! It excites me to think of all the dreams and plans and big ideas its pages contain by now!

So when she found the above title, I knew it would make the perfect diary for her experiences with motherhood. She just had her first baby in February and has been learning a “new normal” over the past 10 months.

Plus, since most moms don’t get much uninterrupted “me time”, a ribbon bookmark for saving her place was essential!

How about you? Do you journal? If so, how often do you look back on what you’ve written? What have you learned about yourself over the years?

Well, 2011 saw the addition of more little babies into our extended family. It was only fair that they get their very own memory books, too!

Today’s post is a showcase of the baby photo albums I’ve made this year.

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My newest nephew, Ethan Craig, was born on August 3. Let me tell you, boyish fabric is hard to find!! Even the prints that are blues and greens are usually paisleys or florals. Then there’s camouflage and trucks, but there’s not really any fabrics in between the two extremes. That said, I was able to find a geometric patterned one for Ethan’s album.

I just love these circular letters! They worked so well with this fabric, too!

Despite the fact that this album is for a boy, I couldn’t resist adding a little bling to the spine.

Black ribbon ties hold the memories inside.

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Niece Madilyn Rose arrived on October 21st…the first girl in a household of three older brothers! As you can imagine, her mommy was excited to finally have a baby to dress in  frilly, girly PINK things!

Her book was ultra-girly as well. Lots of pinks…the letter brads, the tie ribbons, and the rhinestones!

The inside pages were a fun orange-sherbet color. I LOVE how this turned out with the outside pattern. This book may be one of my favorite combos that I’ve done. In fact, I liked the cover fabric so much I bought extra yardage so I can use it again in future projects.

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In addition to the books I made for our family members, I was also hired to design books for other people’s loved ones.

This gender-neutral jungle book was created for a grandma to house all her photos of her grandkids.

The inside paste pages were chocolate brown, and each page held 4×6 photos, 2-up.

The spine was made of reinforced Davy board wrapped in leafy cardstock. The two patterns complemented each other perfectly!

Ahh, the memories that will be contained in these pages. Makes my heart smile just thinking about it.

Photo albums are among my most prized possessions. I treasure the memories they contain and I would love to make a one-of-a-kind album for someone special in your life! Email me for more details.

I love making photo albums as baby shower gifts, and the following album was even more special since it was for my first nephew on my side of the family!

I just LOVE how these marquee letters look on album covers! And doesn’t my nephew have such a fun name?!

My sister decorated the nursery in greens and browns with a tree theme as the main focus. I knew she’d love the green crosshatch pattern of the photo pages and the rich chocolate-brown color of the paste papers.

A satin brown ribbon ties it all together.

I love you, seester, and I’m glad we have each other to lean on as we navigate this journey called “motherhood!”

Dane is awesome. It’s been so fun watching him grow the past several months, and that sentiment is something I’m sure I’ll repeat a million times over the coming years!

Check back this Thursday for a photographic journey through the baby shower I hosted for Arica and Dane. You won’t want to miss it!

I know a gal named Donna who is one of the sweetest, giving people you could ever hope to know. She’s always putting others before herself, so I was ecstatic when she asked me if I would make a custom journal for HER. Just for her.

Her thoughts.

Her prayers.

Her struggles.

Her dreams.

Her gratitude.

Her frustrations.

Oh, the many things we can write in a journal that is for our eyes only!

Donna wanted a journal that was artsy and fun and had a biblical Scripture inside the front cover to set the tone for her journaling. Donna chose Psalm 51:10.

I just love this wild (but not too crazy) patterned paper, don’t you?!

Donna is a mom to four very energetic and imaginative kiddos and I wanted to make sure they knew this journal belongs to Mama and no one else! I added marquee letters to the front to personalize the cover.

As any parent knows, it’s good to occasionally have some ‘me-time’, whether you use it for journaling, exercise, gardening, reading, or just drinking a glass of wine alone! I am sure Donna has already begun filling up the pages of this book with the contents of her heart, soul, and mind.

Donna, when this book is full and you’re ready for another, let me know. From one mom to another, I want to help make sure you have the space you need to ‘roam free’…at least on paper!

She needed 15 books so I settled on a 3-inch x 3-inch size so I could make the most of the materials I had purchased for her project.

I started by cutting 30 squares from Davey board, which was no small job:

Each square was covered with green polka dot paper. A brown ribbon was added to the back cover that would serve as a tie closure.

All 15, tied with bows, in nice neat rows.

I love miniatures, don’t you?!

When family members untied the ribbon, this accordion message would unfurl, letting them in on Shonda and Chris’s secret.

We added this to the end in case someone was a little slow on the uptake.

As you can tell by the message, their baby is now several months old. And she is such a doll!! Congratulations again, Chris and Shonda. You are such wonderful parents and I have no doubt you are enjoying every second with your baby girl!