Sunday, July 1, 2012

Love and Sequins

Gala Darling's blog is one of my favorites to read. She is positive and all about believing in yourself... and she always posts fun, gorgeous, colorful pictures from the almost-ethereal photo shoots that seem to be a regular part of her life. Her bright tattoos have made me reconsider getting my own future tattoo(s) in color... but that's another conversation for another day. The point is, Gala wrote an eBook (which she also recorded as an audio book) called "Love and Sequins," available here. It's all about self-affirmation, finding out who you are, and your place in the world. I have to say - I have never been the type to go for "self-help" books or anything of that nature, but I love Gala's attitude and writing... which led me to this project.


A very good friend of mine is going through some rough times, and I felt that Love and Sequins would be perfect for her. I also enjoy projects and making things for people I love. So Jacob and I purchased Love and Sequins for our friend and then I printed it out and made it into a book.


I had a chance to put some of my numerous craft supplies to use, including delicious glittery sorbet print  cardstock, a string of Christmas Sequins (fitting, I thought), some pop-up alphabet stickers, pink glitter glue, maraschino twine from The Twinery, colorful rhinestones, washi tape, and other fun embellishments. I made a mini flag banner as well - something I have been seeing on lots of handmade cards recently.


Love and Sequins is a hefty twelve chapters. I personalized it by writing a thirteenth chapter, specifically for the recipient. I didn't quite make it to the 10,000 minimum word count promised by Gala in each chapter... but hey, four pages is not too bad, right?


I added colorful chapter separators and compiled the book. Then hole punched everything and bound it with more maraschino baker's twine. Here is the resulting book.















My chapter. =)



For the audio portion of the eBook, I burned twelve CD's - one for each chapter. They average around an hour each, so trust me - only one chapter fits on each CD!


The final product! I hope my friend enjoys reading/listening to Love and Sequins as much as I enjoyed working on this project. I was very rushed on time, so I did not have a chance to photograph the steps in greater detail, but maybe I will do a book project tutorial sometime.


Also, a Kelsea Echo ice cream shoppe jewelry set is part of a giveaway on Miss Indie's blog today, so be sure to head over there if you are interested!

XOXO,
Kelsea

19 comments:

  1. Oh, it came out so pretty! And what an awesome gift for your friend. I think it means so much when friends really put a lot of thought and time into gifts. Lovely :)

    xo

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    1. Thank you, Aubree! I am happy with how it turned out, although I would have done a better job of the binding if I had the time!

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  2. Anonymous7/01/2012

    This is a really great idea, inspiring!

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  3. So beautiful! I think when I finish buying Love & Sequins I will follow your lead :]]

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    1. Cool! I would love to see that! =)

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  4. I love what you did! And such a sweet gift for your friend

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  5. I would love to buy that instead of just audiobooks! Wonderfully made, you should collaborate with Gala herself :)

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    1. Aw thanks, Ria Ria! It was fun to make. =)

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  6. Really lovely, and thoughtful, too!

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  7. What a great idea! I love Gala's blog, but I even love more how you transformed the book into the most awesome and personalized present for your friend. She is really lucky to have you! Awesome :)

    x

    Marielle

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    1. Thank you, Marielle! Gala is awesome. =)

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  8. This is such a sweet giift idea!

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  9. Such a cool gift. You are such a thoughtful friend!!!

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