Sarah Nielsen » guest book

going away guest book

sarah — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 12:22:00 +0000

A month or so ago, some friends of ours moved away from Texas. For their going away party, Kathleen had the brilliant idea of having a guest book there for everyone to sign. Great idea. So I came up with this guest book.

I found this great blue and white fabric for the cover. The guest book is bound with teal waxed linen thread. Inside paper is Mohawk Superfine.

I included a simple title page with the name and date of the party.

We miss you, Bevins family!

funeral guest book

sarah — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:17:27 +0000

So, they say there is a first time for everything. In April, I had a first: a funeral guest book.

About a month ago Chris’ grandmother passed away. I made a special guest book for the family to use at the viewing and funeral service.

Grandma’s favorite color was pink so I used a pink silk for the cover. The endsheets were handmade paper with pink flower petals pressed in.

The first few pages were lined for guests to sign their names at the viewing and funeral service.

The next section was reserved for the family to write their memories of Grandma. We took turns writing in it when we were just hanging around together – lunchtime, late night chats, etc.

The last few pages were for recording tributes made. Flowers, meals, cards, etc for the family. Everyone showed so much love to Chris’ family.

While we miss Grandma, we know she is in a better place now with people she loves.

wedding guest book

sarah — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:00:20 +0000

Here’s another recent handmade guest book I made. The bride, Jill, wanted a gold cover. This was a first for me, but I found the perfect golden silk without much trouble. Beautiful, don’t you think? The guest book is bound with the oatmeal waxed linen thread. Inside, the endsheets were golden with a white damask-type pattern on them. Of course I used my favorite franfurt paper for the guests to sign. A few engagement photos printed in color were distributed throughout the guest book.

So elegant!

Here’s to you, Jill and Garyn!

(side note: I taught Jill piano lessons when I was in high school and she was in elementary school! That feels like ages ago)

wedding guest book

sarah — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 12:02:12 +0000

I really enjoy making wedding guest books.

Kristina’s wedding colors were purple and green. Since purple was more favorite than green, that’s what I went with for the cover. I found a beautiful lavender silk for the front and back covers. Frankfurt paper is on the inside (my favorite!). The endsheets were white with a black paisley design. I bound it with slate gray waxed linen thread. The happy couple’s engagement photos were mounted throughout the guest book and they (the couple and the photos) were amazing. Professional pics in the guest books always look better than snapshots. Of course I delivered the book in a muslin bag.

Wishing you the best, Kristina!

guest book: author reception

sarah — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:54:04 +0000

I just finished and shipped off this guest book for Mitchell College. They are hosting an author reception soon and commissioned this guest book for the event. The covers are navy linen and bound together with white waxed linen thread. I used the same paper I use in my wedding guest books: Frankfurt white. It has such a beautiful texture.

Thank you Mitchell College! Enjoy!

wedding guest book: leah & eliot

sarah — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 13:05:50 +0000

Just finished up this custom wedding book for Leah & Eliot way over in the UK. Leah had such a beautiful vision of what she wanted her guest book to be and I think I made it reality.

The covers are covered in a cotton fabric with a white lacy pattern printed on it. I used my favorite paper for the inside – frankfurt white. It has the most beautiful texture and feel to it. Every other page has a photo of the bride and groom on it. Opposite those pages we included some of Leah’s favorite quotes about love and marriage. One of the great things about the link stitch binding that I use to sew my wedding guest books is this: it lays completely flat. The binding will never break or crack or fall apart. Plus, the braiding on the spine is beautiful.

Congratulations, Leah and Eliot! I wish you all the best!

guest book for the pink party

sarah — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:16:19 +0000

Tomorrow there is a very special party at my great auntie’s house. She’s calling it, Pink Party. On the surface, it’s a celebration of the pink dresser that was a Christmas gift given to her and her sister (my grandma) when they were girls. The pink dresser is famous in our family – and the story that goes along with it. Aunt Ellie wrote it down and you can read it here or here (the pdf is very slow so give it a second to load). I wish I could be at the party! My mom will be there and I hope she takes a lot of photos.

Aunt Ellie asked me to make a book for the party. (umm, yes, I would love to!) It’s about 8″ square with a silk cover. It’s a beautiful silvery-green (Steph, that’s your wedding fabric!) with white pages. The first half is for guests to sign while they are at the party – there will be four generations of Ashton girls there. The back half is for photos of the party Aunt Ellie can add after the day is over. The pages in the back are thick to hold the photos. The back cover has a pocket to tuck other mementos she collects from the party (the invitation, etc). I designed the title page and drew a simple line drawing of the dresser. I’m in love with this book!

I’m happy to know that a piece of me will be at the party after all.

I love my family!

wedding guest book

sarah — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:07:57 +0000

This is a sneak peek for Britten who ordered one of my handmade wedding guest books from PersonalizeYourWedding.com (my website). She chose a chocolate brown silk cover with butterscotch colored waxed linen thread binding. I added a title page at the front with a photo and their names, wedding date, and location. It turned out beautifully! I used my favorite paper – Frankfurt white – on the inside. It has the most luxurious texture. Really beautiful.

One surprise came Friday when I was ready to ship it off. I was all out of the cellophane bags I typically package my guest books in. Since I was going out of town for the weekend, I really wanted to get it shipped off before I left. I scrounged through my supplies to find something – anything – to make it beautiful.

[Confession: I often spend more time packaging my products than I do making them!]

Then I found it. Muslin. Ha! I made a little pouch for the guest book out of muslin and tied it up with jute twine. Not bad, eh? I’m thinking I should do this from now on. Forget the plastic bags! The muslin pouch really completed the look.

Thanks for the order Britten! Wishing you the best on your wedding day!

wedding guest book

sarah — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:00:41 +0000

Like I mentioned before, this guest book is in my top favorites.

Can you blame me?

Check out those endsheets. And the aqua silk covers. And the well thought out details with the song lyrics and engagement photos.

Working with Alison to design this guest book was such a treat. Thank you Alison! Happy wedding!

wedding guest book sneak peek

sarah — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:51:15 +0000

I love making books. Especially when I know the person who owns the book loves it as much as I do. That’s one reason working for Alison was such a joy! I just shipped her guest book to her this afternoon so I’m only posting a few photos now – I don’t want to spoil her surprise. More photos later. I promise. The guest book is beautiful and one of my favorites (ever!). I’ll post all the juicy details next week.