Finishing the pages

It has been a long time since I have really worked on the books- and so today I decided that I had to do SOMETHING... so I finished the pages for David's book. Now to figure out how to get them in the cover... :)

Overall, I think they came out ok. I could have called my friend and borrowed her serger- but who wants to take the time to learn that?? :) ha, ok... so I just wanted to try it this way. And figured it looked good enough!

Next up-- figuring out getting them INTO the cover... got a few ideas, but not positive what I will do yet.

Page 24: The Monster at the End of the Book...

Here's to hoping that their parents have read the book "The Monster At The End Of This Book" (starring Grover)... it was one of my absolute favorites as a child.

Anyhow, this page loosely relates to this book- the title for the page is "The Monster" at the end of the book .... is LOVED!

I did call my brothers and make sure that they wouldn't oppose to having their angelic boys called "monsters". They assured me that it was a-ok with them.

There's a mirror (plastic) and the title, surrounded by the "stars" who love them! :)

Here's a picture that shows the whole scene... along with my reflection while trying to take the picture... :)

This is the last page, granted I have some finishing touches to put on some of the pages still, and then of course to actually "finish" the edges, create some sort of system to keep them all together in the cover, AND find a way to personalize the cover a little bit. (Still haven't figured that one out). So, I still have a LOOOONNNNGGGG way to go with this project, but the pages are done (well, mostly!)

Page 22-23: ABCs

"ABC it's easy as 1 2 3" has been running through my mind the whole time I have worked on this page. I got my inspiration for this page here. I had to make the pocket twice, the first one I made was just too small for ALL those letters. I did have to add a couple of letters so that they will be able to spell their names... so there's about 55 letters.

When you open the page- this is how it will look. Thinking about a title, but not sure there's really room for one... 

The pocket flips down- and the letters are stored there.

The alphabet. With a couple of punctuation marks.

There's enough letters to spell out a few different words, and like I said their names for sure! :)

This page took a little bit of time- I had to cut 3 inch squares of cloth, then I ironed on letters I bought at Micheals (1 letter per square), then pinned the squares of materials onto felt- whatever I had left over from this quiet book project, and then zig-zagged around each letter, then cut them out with pinking shears. The tutorial I was following suggested using velcro- but I think felt against felt sticks well enough.... and if not, then I guess I will be ironing on velcro. ... or maybe their mothers will be? :)


Just one more page. I am not sure exactly what it will be yet, but there's some ideas trying to take form in my mind that will eventually result in the last page! :)

Page 20 -21: Make a Face

Well this page was a great idea in theory. I am not sure that I am super happy with the results, but at this moment in time... it will have to suffice. :) I got my inspiration for this page somewhere out there on the web, but who knows, I didn't bookmark this page. Probably should have cause I needed a little help! lol

So the face is blank, and made out of felt, the face pieces have velcro on the back of them...

And tilted your head.... to the right, and you can see one option of a funny face

Here's another option.

And another option.

I don't know. I guess this page required a bit more artistic ability then I possess. The part that I am most unhappy with is the mouth, I think I need to make a new mouth, then I may be ok with this page.

Oh well, it's supposed to be goofy- and I guess it is! :)

Page 19: Barn & Finger Pupppets

I have been WAITING to do this page for so long. From the very first time I saw this page here, and then again here, I KNEW I was doing this one. I have resisted moving it forward in the book, but I thought about it more than once, cause I was so excited to make it! :)

Here's the barn. I am thinking about adding a rooster and putting him up in the window, what do you think?

And tilt your head to the right to see this one (thanks a lot auto-rotate!!) There's a little pocket for the puppet animals to hang out in when they are not in use. 

And here's the puppets... they turned out so cute! :) 

I am getting down to the very end of this book, I think I will have 3 more page posts (page 20-21, pages 22-23, and then page 24). I can't believe that I am almost finished with the pages. Of course, then I need to actually "finish" the pages and get them into the cover- which may prove to be an entertaining challenge... BUT I will cross that bridge when I get there.

Page:18 - Family Tree

Well, here's the page. It's not really quite completed-- but close enough. I still need to laminate the pictures, once they are "approved" by Jared and Clayton. For now, I have included the pictures that I think will work.

David's Family Tree

Van's Family Tree

The pictures all in the pocket underneath the tree, and then they just place them in the correct location on the tree.

I borrowed my aunt's embroidery machine. I learned a lot about how to use it! :)

Pages 16 & 17: Puzzles

Ok, so this page was going to be a page with a train on it, that you remove the wheels by unbuttoning them. But I just wasn't into it... so, I did this one instead! :) And I think it turned out pretty neat!

Here they are- the page on the left has pockets that contain the puzzles, and the page on the right is where you assemble the puzzles. 

The assembly square is made of felt, so are the backs of the puzzle pieces- and they stick together decently.

The pocket page. 

Talk about a learning process. I made the middle one first, but didn't bother to measure anything, just eye-balled it. And then I needed to make 2 more, so I tried to use it as a pattern, but as you can see, my other 2 pockets are just a little bit bigger. Oh well. Character matters, right?! :)

Oh, and I hand stitched the titles "Puzzle 1, 2, and 3". Not too hard, but I doubt I will sign up to do that again any time soon. Just time consuming, but it turned out quite cute! :)

Assembly page. Kinda plain, I know.

The pocket is open.

Pocket with the puzzle pieces showing...

Puzzle 3: The Helicopter assembled

Puzzle 2: The Truck assembled

Puzzle 2- showing the felt on the back of the puzzle.

Puzzle 1: The Train assembled

The puzzles weren't too bad to make. I found some printable puzzles online here, and printed them onto printable fabric, ironed on some iron on backing, and then ironed them onto the felt. Then I just cut out the pieces. No big deal, and totally adorable! :)

Oh and I chose the "easy" puzzles they have more complicated ones for older kids. I figure these are complicated enough for now! :)

Page 15: 3..2..1...Blast Off (Rocket Ship Page)

Ok, this one has been mostly done for about a week. But I have been waiting for some of the materials I needed to arrive.... and they finally came in the mail yesterday!! :)

Anyhow... on to the page. It's sort of simple, just slide the rocketship from the earth to the moon. And I know, I know, the rocketship is out of proportion with the earth and the moon, but here's my take on it: it's the perspective from which you are viewing the rocketship that makes it look bigger... ha ha! :) Ok, truth is-- I found them (the rocket ships) on clearance at Micheals for 29 cents a piece. Now, would you have walked away from that deal??!! :)

Here are the 2 pages I made, side by side... amazing that even though they are similar, they are still different...

A little bit of a close up...

And thanks to the auto-rotate you will need to tilt your head to see this one right side up, but it's a close up of the earth I made...

And here's a somewhat close up of the moon, and the rocket ship.

I used eyelets to thread the ribbon through, and then the rocket just slides up and down fairly easily.

I got my inspiration for this page--- well, somewhere out there. It surely wasn't an original idea on my part! :)

Page 14: The Counting Page

This page was fairly simple in the scheme of things... although I learned that the cricut does not like to cut material that only has pellon on the back of it. But it did well enough that I could just use my scissors to cut them out in the places that weren't so great.

Dang auto-rotate... anyhow, this is it. I was a little disappointed that the cars and trains are sideways, but that's just how it's gonna be... cause I already bought them and used them... lol

A closer look

And an even closer look! :) Not perfect, but lots and lots of character.

I got my inspiration for this page somewhere out there in this vast "internet universe"! Thanks to whomever posted the picture that inspired me!  Oh, and I more then 1/2 finished! yay me!

Pages 12 & 13: Head Hunter

Okay, so this page isn't completely done.... but close enough for me! I am waiting on the velcro to come in the mail. The point of this page is to match the heads to the correct animal. :) Of course, they can choose to put the wrong heads on the animals too.... which is my favorite!

With the correct heads

With some mismatched heads

A close up with some mismatched heads! :)


I got my inspiration for this page here.

Pages 10 & 11: Help me get dressed

Ok, this has been a page full of learning how to use my Cricut machine to cut material! :) Also, a page of thinking- "hey, they are probably going to lose those tiny pieces.... what to do about that?" and I came up with a solution, that I hope will work! :)

Page 10 and 11

Again with the annoying auto-rotation of the page.... grrrr....

Page 10- the Closet

Page 11- the kid who needs to be dressed-- who's dressed as a cowboy! :)

The "naked" kid

The "clown" kid 1

The Clown Kid 2

The goin' to church kid

Just another possible outfit

And another possibility

And another possibility

Superboy 1

Superboy 2

What an adventure this page has been. I hope that clothes hold up to little fingers and mouths! :) I loved playing with my Cricut --- the paperdoll cartridge. I think it turned out cute! :)

I got my inspiration for this page here.