Dear Everyone ~
I’ve made more than a few tribute books over the years,
and I always enjoy being the assembler of the diverse
expressions of admiration and affection from friends, family,
or colleagues. While I’m putting a book together, I get to see
all the pages, and sometimes splendid ephemera. As I’m doing
my gluing and covering and binding, I like to think about the
recipient and how he or she will feel when seeing their book for
the first time … and realizing what it represents …
and then starting to look page-by-page.
I recently made a book of pages gathered by Kelly,
to celebrate her mother’s 70th birthday. I am in deepest bow
to Kelly for allowing me to share her inspiration with everyone.
Here’s how Kelly first described her idea to me:
“ I want to give my Mom something special for a
milestone birthday, in which her family and closest friends
from across the country can express to her how much she means
to them and how special she is. I’ve asked everyone ahead
of time whether they would like to participate.”
I prepared blank drilled pages for Kelly to mail participants,
and explained what she might want to let them know about how
the pages would be bound into the book. She did a perfect job of
sending out pages in a big envelope, protected with backing
cardboard, plus an envelope in which to return the finished pages to her.
When Kelly had started asking friends and family to create
a page for Wendy’s birthday book, the virus crisis was not yet
in full force. As it happened, Kelly’s invitation to participate
became even more meaningful:
“ I expressed to the participants how much I knew
she would love hearing from them and treasure
their expressions of love and art. ”
As you can see, Wendy’s friends and family responded
with love and creativity.
“ Participants wrote letters, painted, wrote calligraphy, sketched art,
and included pictures. My stepsister made an incredible illustration
featuring Hebrew words that resonated with her when thinking
of her relationship with my Mom. My Mom's best friend made a pocket,
decorated with gorgeous calligraphy, and tucked her private note inside.
Everyone's creativity and love blew me away. ”
Kelly selected bookcloth to cover a screw-post binder.
I added a spacer near the spine edge between certain pages,
so that the book wouldn’t start to “pooch.”
I had to know how Kelly was going to get the book to her mother,
given the shelter-in-place protocols. So I asked,
and here are the lovely details she shared with me:
“ For the drop off, I drove the gift over to her home,
left it on her doorstep (along with a special dinner and cake),
and wished her happy birthday from 10 feet away. ”
And then, of course, I had to know what happened next,
so I asked again. Kelly reported:
“ Hi there! My mom opened it that night, and was overjoyed.
She just LOVES it. It was so, so special to be able to give this to her.
Thank you so much for making it so beautiful! ”
And when I shared Kelly’s report with Tammy,
my nimble shop assistant, she said, “Oh, perfect!
The book was the party!” How much do I love that idea?!
Yours in bookbinding, Bari