Clara's ABC Book

[lindajay]

I've started an ABC book for my granddaughter, Clara, who will be 2 months old tomorrow. I'm about 1/4 of the way done. Here are three of the pages. I will be sending the pages off to be printed, and haven't yet decided for sure which company to go with. Anyway -- all of the pages will be in a similar format as these three. The "Y is for yawn" page features Clara, herself. I want all of the photos to be ones I have taken. If anyone has any wonderful suggestions for some of the letters, let me know!

--Linda

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/6084/lion6od.th.jpg (http://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=lion6od.jpg)

http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/2875/soap6wh.th.jpg (http://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soap6wh.jpg)

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/552/yawn4ma.th.jpg (http://img51.imageshack.us/my.php?image=yawn4ma.jpg)

[CarolLHB]

Linda-just wonderful! What a special keepsake it will make:)

[Ellen]

Linda,
Those are wonderful! Will you post the whole alphabet? Great photos and a beautiful thing to do for your grand-baby.
Ellen

[kevq]

Linda,
Wonderful idea. Lovely photos.
A Heirloom in the making.
Kev.

[Wendy]

Linda ...

Those are totally delightful ... and I look forward to seing more pages. :)

Wendy

[Robyn]

Linda,
They are lovely. Clara is lucky to have such a thoughtful and talented grandmother.

[Norm F]

Linda,

What a cool idea. My grandma made doilys.

[Carbone]

This is a great idea!!!

Ray

[Bayla]

Linda,

I'm in the middle of doing something similar for my oldest granddaughter, inspired by Kay on this thread

http://www.photoshopelementsuser.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4813&highlight=flashcards

I've done about thirteen so far: I used pictures of the family for lots of the letters, and although I did want to use my own photos I have found it difficult and have resorted to free photos found on the internet for some. I had to remember that M was for Mommy (rather than the english Mummy!) I like the Y for Yawn idea. I have done Y for Yaffa which is my eldest granddaughter's name.

Each picture is a 7"x5" with the background colours in bright primary colours. I've written the letter in both upper and lower case and highlighted the letter in the word as well.

Here's an example:

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3108/eforegg2no.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=eforegg2no.jpg)

I have laminated them back to back and then I'll put a metal keyring through them all so they can be flipped through. I'm desperately trying to finish them all in time for next week when I fly off to the States. I'm also trying to finish some knitting for both the girls as well (I'm a traditional grandma at times!)

Enjoy finishing your ABC book. How big are the pages going to be? I'm sure that our masterpieces will be appreciated....I know my kids all loved the wonderful sweaters that my own mother knitted for them each year...they realised the love that went into each stitch (or in this case, click of the shutter and mouse!)

Bayla

[Lloyd G]

Linda
Thank-you for the great idea-our new granddaughter was 2 months old last week, and I was wondering when and what I could start something for her? I found IT!! Thanks to you

Lloyd

[NMarti]

Linda
Very cute. You are doing a really nice job. I bet she will cherish it!

[lindajay]

Hey everyone, thanks for your encouragement! :)

Bayla, I, too, read Kay's post, and that started me thinking about this. I'm just now getting going on it. So we can both give Kay the credit for inspiring us! As for size . . . I was thinking of sending it off through iPhoto to be bound, and they say the size of their books are 9" x 11". However I'm still considering some other sources for printing. And, if I get cold feet about spending the money, I may go the route you are talking about. I've got to think about it awhile. Stay tuned for updates ;)

Lloyd -- glad my message gave you some inspiration. And be sure to let us see some of the pages (or all) when you get them done.

Norm :D you're funny! Mine made doilies, too!

--Linda

[kayser]

This was a great thing to come home to today, seeing that I inspired someone. :) I still have a long way to go to give back all I've gotten from this forum.

Linda and Bayla- your projects are great! I have finished the pictures for mine but haven't actually presented it to my daughter. She was bombarded with gifts for Christmas, so I thought it would be a good thing in a month or two. I am sure your grandchildren will love what you have created, looking forward to hearing their reactions!

[lindajay]

Kay, thanks very much! I think that's what's so great about this forum . . . the inspiration that everyone gives to others.

--Linda

[jo]

What a great idea! I have 2 grandchildren whose ages are between 1 and 3. I'll have to give this a try!

[Karin Sue]

I love the Yawn photo. I think you should use photos of Clara in as many pages as possible:

G is for Grandma. Grandma is holding Clara.

D is for Duck. Clara likes to take baths with her yellow duck.

Z is for Zebra. Clara is holding her stuffed Zebra Sam.

X is for Xylophone. Clara is playing the xylophone. (Probably not at 2 months though)

etc.

You don't seem to be using words though. So maybe this should be for the next book. Clara will be older and easier to pose with alphabet objects.