Sunday, June 7, 2009

Nothing new

I never got around to posting the Friday update, but there really wasn't much to report. No referrals and nothing new.

So the wait continues. Maybe this will be our week.

There hasn't been a whole lot going on around here this weekend, except that I'm working on the picture book for Clarissa that I talked about earlier. When I first got the idea for the project I had absolutely no idea how I was actually going to accomplish it. I knew that I wanted it to be a board book so that the pages will be sturdy and he foster mother wouldn't have to worry about her ripping the pages or anything, but I couldn't find a company that prints custom board books.

So then I decided to try to make one myself, but I couldn't figure out the best way to do it. I bought a blank board book at the scapbook store, and they had SUPER cute examples of how to make a little scapbook, but they were totally impractical to give to a baby. I don't want bows or embellishments on it or anything that could come off, and if she chewed on a book covered in scrapbook paper it would ruin it.

It had to be sturdy and it had to be drool/chew resistant. That was a challenge.

So to make a very long story short, after trying a billion different ideas I finally came up with one that is working perfectly. I bought full sheet clear printer labels and printed the photos on that and then laminated the front of each sheet. Then I cut it to the right size, peeled the back off and stuck it on each page like one big sticker.

It really looks great! With each page being laminated it's not going to hurt anything if she drools or chews on it. It almost looks like I bought the book at a store.

I'm not done with the whole thing yet, but I'll take photos as soon as I finish. It's really been a fun project that I've enjoyed working on, but it took me the entire day yesterday! I started working on it before noon and it wasn't until about 6:00 last night that I finally figured out the laminated printer label idea and actually got a few pictures in the book. Oh, and it didn't help that I have a Photoshop crisis in the middle of it and I had to reinstall it. That took up a fair amount of time.

I'll work on it some more today and hopefully get it done by this evening. I'm going to be happy when it's all done!

So stay tuned for photos of the book and for the continuing saga of the referral wait. Maybe this will be our week!

3 comments:

My5Blessings said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
My5Blessings said...

I am so sorry Wendy. I hope THIS is your week too!

Jenn said...

That sounds like such a great idea Wendy, can you imagine how much relief a gift like that will give Clarissa's foster mom? Atleast she'll have the peace of mind that when it's time for Clarissa to come to you that she'll be going to a truehearted and loving family, because only that kind of family would work so hard on a project like that to familiarize a baby with her future family :)

I hope your day is coming up soon, we had no internet for four weeks and all I could think about was that you'd get your referral and I'd miss it!! Each day passed is a day closer to Clarissa :)