Shush!

It's baby time again!


No, not me. Mom knows that if she brings up me having children, even in my absence, black helicopters will suddenly appear from above to take her away never to be heard from again. That subject is forbidden.

BUT - other people are having kiddos, and even giving kiddos that are not biologically theirs a home and a family. Yes, I've got some baby showers coming up. And, with this, I'm resurrecting the quiet book concept to improve it, snazzify it (yes, that's a word), and most of all, make a gift whose purpose in life isn't to catch puke, poop, or drool. All things I have plenty of here at home with a dog and cat.

How am I going to improve it? Well, if you've been a SWWS reader for a while, you'll know that I've recently gotten into machine embroidery now that I have a pretty slick sewing machine. I'll be able to do some fantastic finishing techniques with this monster :D It's also much friendlier to the curves I like to put into things.

How am I going to snazzify it? I'm paying closer attention to color harmonies and making each page more dynamic by creating backgrounds and setting the scene. I've created new scenes (that will work better) and I'm bumping up the scale to allow more detail and interaction. I've also ordered some really cool stuff that will allow me to make custom text for each page that gives instructions or commentary on what's going on. I'm actually quite excited to start playing with my vinyl!

I think that perhaps what I'm most excited about is that once I get the pattern down in the process of making my first book, I get to teach two very good friends how to sew by helping them make their own books for their babies! You might have seen me mention them here before...here and here. I'm super duper excited and we're going to have so much fun! Admittedly, it's quite an overwhelming project for a beginner, but that takes me to my next note...

This also marks my first Shellebelle Designs freebie! In the interest of a little cross promotion and perhaps expanding Shellebelle away from graphics-only adventures, I think it'd be fun to make my patterns available to the great group of people that support me! What constitutes the tutorial will be hosted here for the brave to sort out (I won't go into nitty gritty details, but there will be enough) and assuming the vinyl doesn't explode, I'll also be making the wordings available for purchase. Fun little project for everyone.

Given I only have a month to pull this quiet book together, I obviously need to get moving, but I've bought new fabric and oodled some doodles, so I am hitting the ground running next week! My intention is to post the pages as I finish, and perhaps include the pattern pieces alongside as well. Stay tuned!