Leesa’s birthday book

Today, I have another book project to show you. This time, a birthday book I made for my friend & SU team member Leesa, whose birthday was at the end of January.

If you haven't heard of birthday books (or card organisers), they include a perpetual calendar of dates/months for you to record special occasions like birthdays & anniversaries & pocket pages to store cards you've made ready to send in that month (if you're organised that is!). I've wanted to make one for ages & thought it would be a great pressie for Leesa, as she is very organised, as well as being very thoughtful.

The whole book is completely handmade (well, except for the wire binding). I used lots of different papers from the retired 'Afternoon Tea' DSP pack & matching 'Live your Dream' stamp set, as I thought Leesa would like the colours & theme. Here's a closer view of the front cover.

The covers are made from the thick card backing sheets included in our designer series paper packs. I covered the outside cover in DSP & the inside cover in cardstock. You can see a close up of the front decoration here. (A big thanks to Nette for lending me her 'Life Definitions' set for the 'remember' definition, which worked so well). You can see the inside cover & first pocket here:

Each pocket page is made with half a 12x12 sheet of card. I included 13 pockets in the book (1 extra, so that you can store stamps, tags etc in the front of the book & so the January calendar wouldn't have to be on the inside cover). The finished pocket pages are about 20 x 15cm. The covers are a little bigger.

For the calendar, I made a table in word & added the month & days (the font is called Amelie in case you're interested!). I stamped a couple of tiny flowers either side of the month, to carry the theme over to the calendar. Here's a pic of a calendar page:

I bound the book with a binding machine to make the holes & a ¾ inch o ring. I don't think you could add any more pages than this for that size. I hindsight, I would probably use less layers around the pockets too, as it made them quite thick in the middle. Nevertheless, I was really happy how it all turned out & I think Leesa liked it too, which is what it's all about.

If you'd like to try making your own book, you can find a similar book here at Splitcoast. Please contact  me if you have any questions.

Thanks for visiting & hope to see you back again soon.
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies
Stamps: Live Your Dream (Retired) Life Definitions
Card/Paper: choc chip, soft sky, groovy guava, wild wasabi card (all retired), whisper white card,  Afternoon Tea DSP (retired)
Ink: choc chip, groovy guava, wild wasabi, soft sky
Accessories: choc chip grosgrain ribbon, ruby red brads
Tools: scallop edge punch, binding machine