Quiet Books - Busy Books - Pop-up Books - Just Plain FUN!

The little Scotty dog pictured here was made from a free pattern offered by Jenny B, an extremely talented children's book illustrator, at one of my all-time favorite blogs:

http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/ 

I don't know if there are many of us out there, but I, for one, am wishing that the Cricut could cut felt. Thick, fuzzy, felt. I am in the process of working on two quiet books - one for my granddaughter(s), and one for a little fella named Ethan. Now, I only have one granddaughter - the beautiful little Juliette pictured here -

and I started out making this quiet book only for her, when she was just 6 months old (I know my discipline level - I was aiming to give it to her for her 3rd birthday.) A year later, although I haven't worked on it steadily, I have put in enough hours to know that it will stay at Grammie's house for all of Grammie's little girlies to play with when they come over. It is a labor of love, and a lot of work. Now, granted this particular quiet book is on rather a grand scale. It will be a doll house when it's finished, with doors that connect rooms (pages) together, and cupboards that open, an armoire in which the little outfits can hang when not in use, as well as seating for two & a doggy & toys for the little mistress of the house to play with. It is, for all intents and purposes, a pop-up book in felt. I loved pop-ups so much as a kid that I still try to get one for at least one of my kids for Christmas every year, just so I can indulge in it's pages. (Robert Sabuda, you are my hero!) I digress.

It is my plan to post my progress on this book, as well as Ethan's book, so that I will have some impetus to get it done. Ethan's book is nearly finished. In fact, today is his first birthday, and while he is still too small to play with it, I will attempt to get it to his mama within the week in honor of his birthday. Oh, yeah, I also intend to make one for all of Grammies little fellas, too. When they come along.

Disclaimer: The characters in this book are fictional and are not based on any actual persons, although the dolly's hair, eyes and complexion bear a striking resemblance to my own (especially the hair, unfortunately)!

On to the pix. These are only layouts so far - none of the pages have been sewn (or backgrounds ironed - oops!).

The doll can be slipped into both the bed and the big pink chair.

The dolls can be slipped into the chairs behind the table. The light fixture is an homage to my love of contemporary design, I had a traditional chandelier, but it just got lost on the "wallpaper". All my rooms need baseboard - I see that, now. More to come.