And the winner is...

When I decided to host a handmade book giveaway, I was flooded with comments on Instagram and Facebook, each sharing an idea for how this book could be put to use. I enjoyed reading everyone's creative and meaningful ideas, and it was difficult to choose a winner.

After carefully reviewing all of the entries, I've chosen a winner. This book will be headed to Instagram user @msshawnflowers. Here's her inspiring and thoughtful idea for how she plans to use this book:

"I'm newly engaged at 37 years old. My fiancé and I have been together for almost two years and plan to marry this October. We would fill these pages together as our bedside communication journal. Anytime either of us has something to share with the other that can be more easily expressed in writing we would write an honest note and leave it on his/her nightstand. Perhaps some pages would be filled with prayers for one another... or confessions of difficulty in one area or another... or invitations to make love... or words of affirmation... or concerns... or love poems... or honey-do-lists!! 💛"

Congratulations, Shawn! I hope you and your fiancé will enjoy filling this book with messages. And I wish you both all the best in your lives together. 

For more creative ideas about how you could fill a book of your own, check out the #myusedbook campaign and this gallery of books in action. 

A wedding guest book filled with Polaroids

Our dear friends Amy and Drew celebrate their one year wedding anniversary today. This time last year, my husband Tony and I headed up to Chicago for their big day.

Tony and Drew have been best friends since middle school, and Tony was the best man in their wedding (just as Drew was the best man when Tony and I tied the knot). For my contribution to the festivities I created a custom wedding guest book, which was filled with Polaroid pictures and messages from guests.

I made a handbound hardcover guest book with landscape-format pages. Amy and Drew wanted each page to be large enough to hold a Polaroid photo and a handwritten message.

The book was displayed on a large wooden table near the entrance of their wedding venue. Several Polaroid cameras and a box to hold the photos as they developed sat along side the guest book. And the table decor was completed with an awesome print from Hatch Show Print that they picked up on one of their trips to visit us in Nashville. 

Amy and Drew picked out some great film from The Impossible Project that had golden, rounded edges. The photos really looked great against the textured, light gray pages and the black photo corners. They requested a minimalist design for the covers — black bookcloth paired with black handmade paper and black thread for the exposed binding — so the photos inside the book would be the focal point. 

I don't often get to see exactly how my handmade books are put to use once they leave my studio. But I love it when I get the chance. I really enjoyed seeing guests interact with the book and pose for pictures at the wedding, as well as writing in the book myself. 

And when Drew and Amy came to visit us in Nashville again earlier this month, they brought their guest book with them. I had the chance to flip through the finished book, filled to the brim with photos and congratulatory messages. There's nothing better for me than to see one of my blank books transformed into a treasured keepsake, and I was honored to be able to create such a book for my friends.

To see more examples of how my handmade books have been filled and enjoyed, check out the inspiration page on my website or explore the #myusedbook hashtag on social media. 

Enter to win a handmade book!

As you probably know, I’m passionate about the way books can be used to enrich our lives, which is why I created the #myusedbook campaign to showcase books in action. And now I've decided to give away one of my handmade books to someone who has a creative idea for how they'd use it. 

So to win this little Coptic bound book, please post a comment on either Facebook or Instagram that explains your idea for how you would fill this book in a meaningful or creative way.

I’ll choose a winner on May 31 based on the idea that’s most inspiring. And I’ll hope that the recipient will share photos of how they put this book to use.

I can't wait to hear all of your clever ideas for how you would fill this book. And best of luck to you!

Instagram photo album filled with pictures of paper flowers

Early last year, my friend Meredith and her mom launched a paper flower business called Amaranthus Paper & Flora. They make beautiful handcrafted crepe paper flowers that are always in bloom. I have a bright bouquet of their flowers on display in my home, and it's so nice to have a lovely arrangement that won't ever wilt or fade. 

When Meredith and her mom started selling their paper flowers at craft shows, she picked out one of my handbound leather Instagram photo albums to use as a portfolio to showcase their paper flowers to potential customers. She printed her Instagram photos using this service, and the finished product turned out so well. Plus, she posted these pictures of her new photo album in action using the hashtag #myusedbook, to contribute to my new project showcasing ways to use handmade books.

To learn more about these beautiful paper flowers, visit the Amaranthus Paper & Flora website, shop on Etsy, or follow their creations on Instagram. 

Inspiring ways to fill handmade books

For years, my husband and I have been passionate about using handmade books in our everyday lives and for special occasions.

But we do meet people — often at art shows — who aren’t quite sure how they would fill a blank book. “I don’t journal,” is a common refrain.

But that’s the thing. I don’t journal either, but I have many other ways in which I do use my books, along with those made by other great bookbinders.

With this in mind, I’ve started a new project to document all the ways that handmade books can be put to use. This way of thinking has already changed how I talk about my work, how I arrange my booth at art shows, and how I encourage students in my classes. I’ve also dedicated a page on my new website to showcasing these inspiring books in action, along with using the hashtag #myusedbook.

For starters, I’ve been looking closer at all the quirky and meaningful ways that my husband and I use books.

When we bought our first home we started a guestbook that began to be filled at our housewarming party and which continues today to hold messages from overnight guests. We’ve printed Instagram photos and bound them in leather albums. And we stash little notebooks in our pockets while traveling.

I keep a garden journal now. My husband fills in a “house book” with all of our home improvement projects and the ongoing story of our home. And I love the colorful sketchbook I made for myself.

We’ve found that keeping these books encourages us to observe our lives a little more closely, and to preserve the things that matter.

In turn, I hope this project inspires others to put their books into action and then share the results with others.

To take part, you can either email your photos and a story to me at linenlaidfelt@gmail.com or post a photo of how you use your book on social media with the hashtag #myusedbook — and you can tag me in it with @linenlaidfelt so that I take note. I hope you will!

See #myusedbook online:

Inspiration page

Pinterest board

Social tagboard