Today I'm going to show you a photo journal that was commissioned by an attorney I worked with a couple of years ago as a gift for her daughter's 21st birthday. This little project took lots of collaboration and coordination with the mom because she didn't just want me to create the book, she asked me to place all the photos and do all the journal entries for it as well. Because I was working full time and only had evenings and weekends to spend on it, it took almost a month to complete. It's sort of like a mini scrapbook except that I made the book from cover to cover out of heavy manila cardstock like the kind file folders are made from. The paper I used to cover the pages changed every page or two and it's bound with raffia ribbon. The pictures had to be sized, cropped, then printed and I made mats or frames for almost all of them.
The book started before the child's birth, with pictures of an ultrasound, and ended at her 21st birthday. It was an awesome project and I felt a big sense of accomplishment when I finished the last page. It was my first commissioned piece. I'm not sure I would tackle one that large and complex again unless it was for a family member or I could charge what I really had invested in it (in the way of time and materials), but it was good experience for me. I won't show every page as it would take up entirely too much space. This post is pretty graphics-intensive so if you'd like to grab a cup of tea or glass of wine to sip while you peruse these photos, now would be the time to do so! Okay, here we go....
I used a wide variety of embellishments, including images cut on the Cricut, stickers, tags, charms, ribbons, brads and pre-made die cuts. I forgot to mention it but the mom also asked me to include quotes from famous people that had some bearing on the different stages of her daughter's life. This required a little bit of research on my part because I wanted to include thumbnail pictures of the person or something pertaining to the person being quoted. It was fun listening to the mother tell stories about her daughter and by the time this project was finished, I felt like I knew her daughter despite the fact that I had never met her. Her mom told me that that journal was her daughter's favorite gift that year, which made me feel really good and made all the time and effort it took worthwhile.
If you're still reading, I'd like to thank you for humoring me. I'm trying to display a variety of the projects I have worked on in hopes of giving some insight into my creative process and the methods to my madness. Thanks for stopping by today!
Anniebee
