New handmade albums

Just before we left Finland, like about one month ago we started doing a couple of new albums: the teacher's assistant was going on maternity leave (Album Nr.1) and the teacher celebrated her birthday (Album Nr.2). And that's what the assignment was for kids:

• each child should make a drawing of the bespoke assistant aka mom-to-be and make a short sentence about what babies make, must have, and so on. She is expecting her first baby and that's how the album was entitled: BABY, users manual. 

• for the teacher each child should make a portrait of a teacher and tell me what he/she likes about school, about the teacher, what he/she would like to make additionally, and what would he/she do if one day they become a teacher. The album had a working title I LOVE my teacher, I LOVE my school.

That's it! This time I've taken two pieces of heavy cardboard for each album, and covered them with my new favorite papers (middle heavy, soft, nice tempered colors - pink, rusted orange, purple, lemon green - all the usuals). Those papers have interesting surface - a bit like canvas, which is great. And they are soft, so they adjust perfectly without much crinkling and breaking. 

I've hand printed and painted on them (white cream and orange, and pink). 

After the raw paper collages were finished and dried, I've coated the covers in aqua blue, put the headings. Those were stencils, custom made by me from heavy paper and with a x-acto knife: "UN BEBE, mode d'emploi" and "j'adore MA MAITRESSE, j'aime MON ECOLE" - "BABY, users manual" and "I ADORE my teacher, I LOVE my school". I added some hand written phrases like "pas comme les autres" (a different one), and UUTUS (new - in finnish). All in all it was a great pleasure working on those albums. As usual, I had trouble giving them away, yes I do, but each time I'm THAT happy for people receiving them!

As the covers were all handmade, they needed holes and appropriate finishing, which means I've put eyelets on them to bind them. 

Pages were cut to size and coated in that spring lemon green color that is just so awesome right now with spring starting all over here.

There's nothing more to be said, except of a couple of hours of simple cutting of drawings, phrases and putting them into the album with double-face adhesive tape. And a happy time spending going through those little treasures full of fun, tender and quirky kids' thoughts, drawings, and enjoying the moment of sharing them with those whom they were made for.