Christmas quiet / busy book

I made a Christmas pudding yesterday - but not the sort you can eat...

This is the front cover of my first Christmas quiet / busy book. The pudding is a flap - can anyone guess what might be under the flap? I'll post more pictures later, because this book isn't quite finished. I ran out of time and inspiration for the last page yesterday,  and I also need to go shopping for a few bits and bobs in festive colours...

Christmas countdown in October...?

OK I know it's still October - but I'm already on a countdown to my first Christmas fair of the season...

On November 1st I'll be in Wetherby at the town hall. There's an exciting list of other traders and crafters, which always makes for a fun day - and there'll coffee and cake - what more could you want?

In my little corner of the fair I'll have books and sheep, possibly a few cats (not real ones - they'll be staying at home), and some of my new quiet / busy books, talking of which... I feel another one coming on.

I wonder what I can come up with this afternoon...?  something festive maybe...

New from Lost in a Book - putting books into tiny hands - Quiet / Busy Books - handmade and each one unique..

Because babies like to pull at things, chew things, and feel different textures...

A Quiet / Busy Book has all these things, bound into a soft book. It's a treasure trove of bits and bobs: button and zips, ribbons and cords, all safely stitched between soft but strong pages, to be discovered and grabbed!

All handmade and everyone different, these books will be going with me to this year's Christmas fairs. 

Books for babies, quiet / busy books

I'm always trying to find ways of getting books into little hands, but some parents take some convincing that their offspring won't destroy books. So I looked into writing a board book, as always my imagination took over and I soon had several fun ideas, but was thwarted by the high cost of producing board books apart from on a massive scale... so here's the plan...

Quiet / Busy Books these fun books were recently brought to my attention, and that was it - the sewing box was soon emptied onto the kitchen table and lots of colours and textures were stitched together to make my first quiet / busy book:

And in case you were wondering what became of this book - it went straight into the little hands of a very special little boy... but the good news is that there are going to be more where this one came from...

Coming soon from Lost in a Book - some very special books for babies. 

Author rambling on...

So what does a quiet / busy book have in common with a regular book...?

• Both need a heap of imagination to write
• Both will entertain 
• Both have pages to turn

So how are they different...?

Quiet / busy books:

• Must be strong enough to withstand a baby, and never underestimate that...
• Can have all kinds of stuff stitched into them to stimulate a baby
• Must be chewable and washable
• A very tactile way of creating a book, by rummaging through fabrics and objects
• Not as easy to mass produce

Regular books:

• Must be strong enough to withstand reasonable use
• The content relies on words and pictures to entertain
• Will not take kindly to being chewed or washed
• An equally creative process needed to create, but less to do with things you can touch, more rummaging around in the imagination and daydreaming...
• Easily mass produced

Quiet books

How have I never heard of these before...?

Of course a book, by it's very nature is quiet, so maybe it's other name of busy book is more appropriate. Now this whole concept is new to me, and nothing like the old style cloth / rag books.

For anyone else who hasn't heard of this wonderful invention, a quiet book is a cloth book with a riot of fun stuff stitched into it for a baby to pull at and play with, anything from buttons and zips, to string puzzles and things in pockets. So, I've been out to buy a selection of fun fabric and wadding, and I'm going to stitch the contents of my sewing box into it - OK so maybe that would be a bit over the top - but I'm sure I can find some fun stuff in there...

I'll add a photo to my blog of the finished book.
Why do I do this to myself...? Now I'm under pressure to do the project - and it's got to be good, not only to show you lot, but to withstand the excited hands of my grandson...