Sunday, March 21, 2010

Altered Board Book: Hopes and Dreams

A photo shoot I did with ER when she was two months old was particularly memorable for me. It was one of the first times I thought I really captured her personality, along with a big happy smile. I wanted to do something truly special with the photos. I decided to alter an old children's board book, literacy lovers don't worry I got it secondhand and it was pretty beat up, after a sheet of stickers with the theme of "My Hopes and Dreams for You" with poignant sayings printed on them, inspired me. I combined it with a sheet of sticker tabs and used them for most of my journaling throughout it. If you need some tips on altering board books, you can refer to my previous tutorial.

For the front cover, I used an exact-o knife to cut out a frame for a photo. I placed the photo under the opening on the page beneath the cover page and a piece cut from a page protector on top of that. Then I adhered the cover and first page together for stability. Some rick rack, buttons, and a metal label with tags with her named spelled out in stickers decorate the cover.
For the first page I printed out the lyrics to I Hope You Dance, as performed by Lee Ann Womack. I have always thought they were so beautiful and poignant. I added ER's name with stickers, but removed them for privacy. I was in a rush so the cloning isn't exactly flawless but it's good enough for sharing purposes. Then I continued to use my favorite pictures, laying them out through the book, using paper scraps, sticker sayings, and sticker tags. I painted the right side above, and also painted all of the edges of the book pages with the same blue. The blue side was created in the same manner of the cover, using two consecutive pages and gluing them together.
Same thing for this page of tags. I cut out opening for each tag on the right side from the top page; the actual stickers are on the page below. I knew I wanted to use metal brads, but didn't want to add too much bulk. They are a bit recessed this way.
The top left side of this page is blank, because I added a personal message for ER after taking these pictures of the project.
This is my favorite picture, with ER giving me a wide open smile and a big gurgle and giggle. Another special message for her is printed it out on vellum for this page. I hope that when she gets older she'll treasure it. Perhaps she'll look through it, when we're apart and it'll remind her how much I love her.
My friend Maridith at Strictly Homemade has started a montly challenge, on the 20th, to show off our hand make gifts for loved ones called Gifts from the Heart. This book for my daughter is linked up. It doesn't have to be a craft, it can be a home cooked meal, or even the gift of time. It's not about the money you spend but giving from the heart. I think it's a lovely sentiment and hope you'll join us.

Signature

Shared At:

The DIY Show Off
Scrappy Saturdays at Scrappy Gifts
It's So Very Creative at It's So Very Cheri
Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts
Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple
Making the World Cuter Monday
Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative
Market Yourselft Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff


23 Friends Said:

Cheryl said...

That is beautiful! You are so talented!

♥ Noelle ♥ said...

she's so happy cute and chubby in these pics!! you did a great job as always!!

Kasey said...

What a great idea to re-purpose old books! Yours turned out great.

Teri said...

What a great idea! Love those cute Easter colours, and your baby is adorable! :)

Ticia said...

And for those who are worried you can go over to bare books, and get blank board books, but considering you can get them super cheap at Goodwill and the like........
Turned out super duper cute!

Mama King said...

what a great idea! miss er looks adorable gurgling!

Amber said...

so cute, what a fun idea! I bet it will be her favorite book!

Crafty Mommy Diva said...

So Beautiful! Clever to use an old board book. Love the tags in the openings. Thanks for linking up!

Kaysi said...

So cute!

Anonymous said...

You amaze me! So talented. Love it!

Victoria said...

That is adorable and what a darling baby you have!

Unknown said...

Katie- I LOVE THIS! I can't believe you used and old children't book. What a great idea. This is priceless and something ER will truly treasure. Great job! There is no doubt your daughter knows how much you love her!!

Thank you for the sweet write-up about my party. You are always so kind!

I hope you will join me next month on the 20th! Have a great week!

Vickie said...

OMG!! That book is so adorable! Your altered books are so nice!

ER was such a cutie baby. Of course she has turned into a cutie kid:)

Sorry I haven't been around. Kind of lost my blogging mojo.

Jenn @ Delicious Ambiguity said...

What a great idea. I've been wanting to make a lift the flap board book for ever but have been to scared to give it a go. Your has turned out beautiful! I've got a MckLinky party called Tot Tuesdays. I hope you'll stop by & share:
http://delicious-ambiguity-nennyk.blogspot.com/2010/03/tot-tuesdays-2.html

Valerie @ Inner Child Fun said...

What a precious board book! An absolute treasure!!

Sarah said...

I love this book that you created. Beautiful job!! :)

Sarah

Holly Lefevre said...

What a wonderful way to use old board books. This album is absolutely adorable. I really want to try this! We have plenty of board books! I added your comment to my post and gave you credit and a link!

Heather said...

That is brillant to repurpose old board books, seriously smart! Love how it turned out, thanks so much for sharing!

Lorie Shewbridge said...

This is so beautiful! I know that ER will adore it when she is older. It really brought me to tears and made me think of a book I made for my boys.

mommy2luke2008 said...

This is beautiful and your daughter is beautiful!!! I featured this on my friday favorites, I used one of your pictures, if you don't want it on my blog just let me know and I'll take it off.
http://lilbitofus.blogspot.com/2010/03/friday-favorites_26.html

Kaysi said...

I LOVE this!!! What a great idea, thanks for sharing!

Its So Very Cheri said...

You are so talented--those are beautiful.

Cheri

Linda Miller said...

Hi!

I just wanted to let you know that we used your board book as one of the examples on our site: ThoseCraftySisters.com

Thanks for the inspiration!

Linda
Sister #2
ThoseCraftySisters.com

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