All right everyone! At last I have the pictures up of the present for the friend I was hinting about. I made her a cookbook called "Shake Me Up, Judy!" The Purist's Guide to Dickensian Cookery. I scoured my copies of Dickens looking for mentions of food in the text, then pulled those quotes, rummaged up corresponding recipes, and generally knocked myself out making it into a lovely cook-book for her. I tea-stained paper (which I can do a tutorial of sometime if you'd like) and used that as the base, then sort of "Scrapped" it with other paper and original illustrations. Anyway, here is a peek at it! (There were many more pages, but I didn't want to bore you)
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| This is the page right before "Fezziwig Pie", which is a variation of Mince-meat pie. |
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| Mrs. Cratchit's Christmas Pudding |
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| From The Cricket on the Hearth... |
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| Moving on from the Christmas Tales into Bleak House... |
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| "You have four classes this afternoon--I would recommend a hasty sandwich " ~Mr. Turveydrop, the model of Deportment, and father of Prince. |
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| Mrs. Joe Gargery's Pudding from Great Expectations... |
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| A page from the Great Expectations section with a scene between Pip and Pocket. :) |
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| I had fun with the decor on this one... |
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| Nothin' like a good pen and some ink to set you up for success... |
Here are some pictures of the little things my sisters loved that I made to add some flair to the pages...
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| ♫"Brown paper packages tied up with string...."♫ |
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| A teeny pass-port...hee-hee. :) |
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| If you look closely you will see that the letters are indeed addressed to Honoria Barbary, (eventually Lady Dedlock) and I took care to include the "Smells like ladies" quote on that page. :D |
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| Love letters... |
Anyway, that is just a peep at it! I hope you enjoyed seeing what I've been working on. I know I told you that you could make fabulous presents at home...I spent hours making this book, but guess how much money I spent on this gift?
Any guesses?
Come on now, guess!
Ready?
Okay....
Four Cents. Yep. That's all, and that was for ribbon to tie it with. Score! ;) What sorts of gifts have you made this year?
This was so clever! (and so economical! haha) I love the idea. You are very creative, and I for one would love to see a tutorial on how to tea-stain paper.
ReplyDeleteWhere did you get the illustrations?
So creative! What a lovely idea. :) I was thinking about doing something similar with one of my own characters who likes to cook but I haven't had the time recently. Thank you for sharing your beautiful handiwork. It's perfectly lovely.
ReplyDeleteWell, this is absolutely brilliant! You just got my creative spinning wheel going; never even considered the possibility of putting together a cookbook with recipes mentioned in favorite books. I have one friend, for one, who would absolutely love something like this.
ReplyDeleteLove how the recipes are hand-written and all the little embellishments you included...
A notepaper set, is one gift I've worked on for the past week. In the style of those folded sheets of paper/envelopes as used in Jane Austen movies. Except mine got dressed up with watercolor paintings of flowers...
Overwhelemed with how beautiful this is. You are certainly talented.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful idea!! I love it. This year, I had a little spending money, so I've been able to buy my family gifts, most of which I wouldn't be able to make myself. So, I'm excited for Christmas so I can give them the gifts! Usually I have to scrounge something up and make stuff, but I'm not necessarily super creative, and I've certainly not thought of doing what you did here! Great job!
ReplyDeleteWow Rachel, what a great idea! :) Very well done!
ReplyDeleteI am so lucky!!! :) Rachel, you are an amazing friend! I absolutely love my present! Thanks for spending so much time and effort on my gift! Love you friend!
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful gift!!! You are so creative!
ReplyDeleteAmazing!!! :D
ReplyDeleteI love this! This is such a great present!
ReplyDeleteoh my gosh!!!!! that's SO AMAZING!!!! i want one...
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