In the Meantime...

Front Cover

While the Princess is busy cutting apart all your Woot Loot entries so we can put them in the tiara for the big draw later this morning, and while we wait for the incredibly fun annoucement I referred to yesterday, and in honor of the upcoming "holiday", I thought I would share some book pages I made.

Inside front cover

(Just a note: The Queen hates Valentine's Day. Always has. It has never been particularly good to the Queen...but seeing as how she won't be able to abolish the red-and-pink, flower-and-love-filled, I-love-you-til-I-could-just-barf "holiday" - at least before it crops up again this year - she relents and will participate. But kind of like eating liver, she won't like it.)
For years I have been making books as "little" gifts, to say thank you, happy birthday, or even just to let someone know they are special. I started making these twenty years ago (is the Queen showing her age? ) before scrapbooking was popular and prior to paper becoming a mainstream art. I say "little" because the books never end up being little. It's a sickness I have. I'll start out making a ten page book...and before I know it, I have seventy ideas I think are equally great - and I can't bear to let any of them go. So my book goes from 10 to 70 pages in the blink of an eye...well, not really. More like a month of hard work and a lot of "I'm sorry this is taking me so long!" apologies. In the end it always seems worth it - the recipient is usually so amped to receive the book, the tardiness of the gift becomes a non-issue. Usually.

I was involved in a relationship for several years - and as a Christmas gift one year, I made a handmade book for my then-sweetie. Apparently men don't get the amount of time, thought, energy, or heart that goes into one of my handmade books...or maybe some of them do? I'm not sure if he got the amount of passion I put into this book - or the meaning behind it. Do men just lack appreciation for handmade gifts? Or was it just him who didn't get everything this book represented?
Since this book got so out-of-hand in size, I had to use metal rings to bind it...a whopping eight of them! I can't bring myself to throw it out even though I have no use for it. It is still quite the (extremely heavy & bulky) masterpiece to look at - but it's been relegated to a box in my closet. This seems like a sad waste because it's a great book - and I think it deserves to see the light at least once more, before being permanently retired to my foot locker full of memories. You may be wondering why I have it if it was a gift for someone? Well, he sent it back to me during a fight. That simple act was enough to tell me we wouldn't be facing many more gift-exchanging events as a couple.
The book is so large I could probably dedicate an entire website to its contents. Since I'm pretty sure there isn't a huge call for that, I will share a few pages with you every now and then, starting with today.
Today's installment includes the first few pages of the book. I hope you enjoy looking at them - and that they inspire you. Try making one of these books - they are a great release of creativity, are fun to make, allow you to try many techniques, and are true keepsakes. My advice tho? Save it for the women in your life. For the guys, gor for (insert favorite sports team here) tickets instead.