This custom order was for a woman who had found some rough characters in her family history. She gathered their information, stories and photos and we made these rustic albums for her.
We antiqued the leather by hand, spending hours stripping the original hide. We learned our lesson on that one. We'll always start with a hide that is either very easy to strip the sealant off or just use a hide that has not been sealed. We then hand colored the leather and stained it to make it look older and then sealed it with wax. The results were great. The hide went perfectly with the Rives BFK Cream paper that was used for the inside. We also printed out title pages for each person she was giving the book to.
A note from the gift giver:
"I just wanted to let you know how much everybody loved the albums. There were tears all round when they opened them and this with five of the six being 20-something year old boys. Of course my 92 year old aunt and 84 year old Mom loved getting to point out the relatives they remembered and tell the family stories. Everybody loved the leather and the way the paper and binding worked with the old photos. I had printed the pictures in sepia tones and the finished products really hang together nicely.
These albums are something very special and they would not have happened without your husband's and your creativity and skill. Thank you."
