I love this book. Robin wanted to make a book for her brother-in-law’s 40th. But really she wanted to honor the amazing couple that he and her sister have been since the day they met.

She gave me some great photos, lyrics to a Jack Johnson song they love - “Better Together”, a great dedication - “From the moment you started dating you were better together.” and some priceless quotes from their two kids, ages 4 and 3.

And here’s what we made.

I am telling you, I think direct quotes from the mouths of kids are just about the cutest thing ever. I love how Robin even wrote down the “um, yeah” before “i love poppa”.

Precious.

Thank you, Robin! I’m excited to meet you next week!

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Here, at long last are the pocket books! These are Janda’s latest volumes of her family ancestry - The Chamberlains and The Blacks. I love the way they turned out!

In the photo above, we used a collage of census records and documents to make a full page diagonal pocket for storing family information.

For the book cover below, we matched the look and feel of her Janda book but selected new fabric colors - rust and light grey.

We used pockets of varying sizes throughout the book, depending how much storage was needed for that section. Here’s one for Artifacts & Letters.

And another pocket for Famous Family Connections. I already know the first thing that will go in this one, too. Right after going to press Janda discovered she is related to Anne Boleyn! Exactly why we made pockets.

And here are some of the page layouts.

As always, it was such a fun, rewarding collaboration creating these books! Thank you thank you, Janda…enjoy them!

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After much noodling and a bit of paper cutter drama, I’m really pleased with how these accordion books turned out. They’ll be for sale on the site soon, and available through photographers as well (if you’re a photographer, contact me!)

Here’s an example of a baby book, with some seriously cute pictures by Teddi Yaeger.

And wedding books! So excited to finally offer a wedding book idea. We can match the ribbon and pattern to your invitations, colors, etc.

You can choose a full bleed or a white border for the images, and some images look best over 2 pages, like so…

Sign up for the mailing list (at the end of this page) to be notified when these are available for ordering!

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I can’t wait to share these next books with you. They won’t be ready for a few weeks, so today is just a sneak peek.

Volumes 2 and 3 of Janda’s family history (this is Volume 1) will contain pockets. Many many pockets.

Here’s why. Janda discovers new branches of her family at an astonishing rate (is there a cure for ancestry.com addiction?) So there will naturally be new family charts, documents, photos, etc. And that’s where the pockets come in. She’ll just insert them as she finds them, and the books will be her ongoing family archives.

So this week was Pocket Making Week. Armed with straight edges, exactos, and plenty of adhesive, Maggie and I whipped up 54 (dare I say) stunning pockets.

Here’s a before/after of one of the map pockets (apologies for terrible lighting - the paper is not really yellow).

It’s a diagonal pocket all the way across the page, one of several pocket styles we used. I’ll post lots more photos when the books are all finished!

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 I have been meaning to share this book for a while, and St Patrick’s Day is the perfect excuse. At least if you’re color-oriented like me. (And Irish!)

This book contains the memoirs of Jaime’s grandfather, Paul, whom she hardly remembers and wouldn’t really know were it not for this memoir.

In 1971, inspired by reading his uncle’s memoirs, Paul typed his own story. In his own words, “I began to realize that many of these tales of over 100 years ago might be of interest to coming generations.” Indeed.

Jaime collected photographs, family tree information, and a timeline of her grandfather’s life to accompany his writings, and gave a copy of the book to each family member for Christmas. What a treasure.

(images top to bottom, l to r: book dedication as written by jaime’s grandfather in 1971, alongside his photo; book spine; mother’s family chapter page; fold-out family tree; closeup of family tree chapter page; closeup of timeline showing key events of paul’s life, like his son’s graduation in 1964)

Thank you, Jaime. This was a beautiful project!

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I’m designing a new accordion book style right now, with the hopes it will become a photo brag book - for weddings, babies, vacations, family photos, etc.

I’m not sure how most people design new products, but for me it is trial, error, trial, error…until I finally have it. I’m not really keeping track, but I’m probably on error #3 right now!

I thought I’d share some of my experimenting.

mockup #1 (pics are of two different books)
 

mockup #2 - thicker paper and ribbon better incorporated into cover
 

And now I am wondering about one image per page vs multiple, and white border around photos vs bleeding to edge. Any thoughts?
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My mom dug out this funny little wedding book of hers last summer right before Steven and I got married. It was a promotional book for Frederick & Nelson department store with all sorts of (now hilariously outdated) advice about trousseaus, proper invitation etiquette, preparing for your first home, etc.

But at the very back of the book is a gem. It’s called The Bride’s Gift Record, and it’s where my parents recorded all the wedding gifts they received in 1966.

As it turns out, there were some extra pages. So naturally, we used them! Not only was it incredibly helpful to track our gift information all in one place, but it also has turned into this great little heirloom.

And yes, there are a few pages left for another generation.

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Ok, very excited over here. This golden little book is the first I’ve published that was designed by someone else. And now I want to do more of it!

Creative collaboration inspires me no end. And the idea I can help other designers make beautiful, handcrafted books? I’m in! So, tell all your designer friends itching to make books to get in touch with me.

Here is what Maggie made for her husband Luke’s golden birthday (he turned 24 on August 24.) It is a compilation of letters and photos from friends and family paying tribute to a really great guy.

 
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Our new site is up! I hope you love it, and enjoy exploring all our books in a much better format than we could offer before.

This photo is from Seneca’s first year book - a picture a day. What a great photo idea!

Happy day of LOVE.

kim

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