The book - finished



Just made it in time - the book was finished a couple of days before I needed it for Sam's 3rd birthday.

The idea was that it would be partly for now and partly as a memory to look back on in the future.

Luckily he enjoyed it now :>) , recognised the farmer, cat, his mum, his grandads legs, beaches, himself etc - and keeps looking back and forward between pages. He absolutely loves books and stories.

It's a mix of sketches I'd done in the area with added extra images of him and his activities - all scanned into Photoshop.

I used a vivid sea coloured painting he did on the beach, in my sketchbook, lightening it, and using it as a background for the text, linking the text and images through the book; changing the colour of it in Photoshop to match sand or city scenes as necessary.

The pages were put together in Publisher using a simple sans serif font, so that when he learns to read in a year or two, it will be straightforward for him to read for himself.

I decided I wanted the images to fill the pages, with no border. This meant cutting every page to size before assembling it - and my trimmer/guillotine had died so it was down to craft knife and ruler - and I don't do neat very well!

Hinges of paper on the back join the pages together to enable the concertina/banner opening up to a looooooong panorama.

The writing skill isn't the greatest ! I'm better at painting than writing so forgive please .

Now to start on one for Christmas ......


Links to previous posts on the beginnings of this book here and here

Comments

Jean Spitzer said…
It's captivating. Using his painting is a great choice, too. (I'm not so neat either, and I'm very impressed with your labor.)
10:59 pm
dinahmow said…
It's a lovely book for Sam to grow up with.More personal than the usual out-of-focus snapshots that many of us had!
11:15 pm
annie said…
Precious...evocative...But words don't really say enough, Vivien... What fun for Sam, now, and what a memory book. As the slide rolls along before me I marvel at the time and care it took to create all those images. I love that you used Sam's painting as background for the text, and how I would like to see that concertina/banner.

annie
2:05 am
vivien said…
Jean, Dinah and Annie - thanks :>)
4:57 pm
Julie said…
Your book is beautiful Vivian. What a great pleasure for you to make and what a treasure for Sam both now and when he grows up.
7:46 pm
Pam Johnson Brickell said…
Sam is one lucky boy! What a treasure you've created!
4:44 pm
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