Tears of Joy
Occasionally we receive requests for projects that are not wedding-related, and sometimes they evoke tears of joy. This project was one of them. I was told to take creative liberty for this project, and that we did! I received a fabulous email from my sweet client that I will treasure forever that read:
Michelle,
I can’t thank you enough for creating a magical gift that brought our mom/grandmother to weep tears of joy. Every heartfelt thought we shared with you was beautifully captured and detailed in the gorgeous book. I could not have imagined a better gift to give to show how much we love her. Each page is a work of art and I would highly recommend you to anyone looking to create a lasting and loving memory of any sort for any and all occasions. It was the best gift I have ever given to anyone and she said it was the most special gift she’s ever received in her entire life (and we just celebrated her 70th).
With love and appreciation,
Jodi
A Happy Birthday Gift
We had less than three weeks to conceive the idea, create the butterfly artwork, have it made into a die, hand-pen and paint the interior, and, of course, make the book itself. We moved this project to the top of our list to make a birthday night super special for a beloved mother/grandmother. We were told that she cried happy tears of joy when she opened her gift, and that made me cry a little bit to know we made someone so happy.
Now is the time I wish I had taken better photos of the book before we mailed it out. Excuse the cell phone photo quality! My bad for not owning a good camera. In my defense, however, we were super rushed to get this book in the mail. We finished Wednesday afternoon and shipped it the same day for a Thursday arrival. The birthday party was on Friday night.
This butterfly book was designed with the following details in mind. Being given as a gift to a treasured family member, we considered creating a book with a DIY yet elegant feel. We chose calligraphy based on male/female aspects, giving the young girl a fun, youthful feminine lettering, and the teen boy one specific block lettering popular with boys his age. Using these elements, we were able to create a beautiful and luxurious book without a manufactured feel. We left one blank page which may be used for personal love notes if needed, perhaps an “I love you” or something of that nature–or it can be left blank.
The paper we used was luxuriously thick, but we were able to fold it into signatures so that we could still tie it with a silk ribbon. (We did not have enough content to create a hand-sewn book.) We placed a vellum cover protector over the watercolor butterfly and spiral art for added effect. The butterfly cover is designed and hand-drawn piece by our team, created into a magnesium die, and foil stamped with a rainbow foil.
Details:
White flocked velvet Italian book cloth (the photos make it look lavender–it is not lavender).
Reinforced spine
Hand-designed butterfly embossed cover
Iridescent rainbow foil
Lavender Japanese paper interior
Hand-made silk ribbon
French watercolor paper
Musical notes to the client’s two favorite songs (rights-to-use purchased)
Ten pages of hand-calligraphy with touches of original watercolor art
Custom layout design
For other birthday gift ideas, read this article.