Another Illustration for the Mary Book

Posted on January 21, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

I thought I would share the latest illustration for our Mary book project. This illustration is of Brigham Young telling the people in the Salt Lake Valley about the handcart pioneer in need of help. It is exciting to be making steady progress on getting this book finished. My mom turns 90 in a couple of months and this will be a major part of her birthday.

I’ve been working on the text and made some major changes to it which I think will make it more interesting. Plus during a brainstorming session we came up with the idea of having an image to search for in each illustration which relates to another story from the Martin Handcart company. The back of the book will give the images to search for and the little story. I think I’ll post the text on my next update.

More Illustration for the Mary Book

Posted on December 27, 2012 by tellingfamilytales

Sleeping in big round tent

Kimberli has been busy get more illustrations done for the Mary book. I’ve worked hard the last few days on the text and I’ve narrowed things down so the book isn’t so long. With these four new illustration we just have five to go plus the cover. My mom turns 90 the end of March so we have to have it done by then. She is going to love this book. The text is evolving in what I hope is a good way. I’m sure it still needs lots more work, but I’m going to work on some other projects for a few days and let it sit. Then I’ll look at it again with fresh eyes. I don’t consider myself a writer and I’ve prayed that someone else would come along to write this book. But no one has come along so I’m forging ahead, hoping for inspiration and a miracle so this book can really share the story of my great-great-grandmother.

Mary being nursed back to health

children playing in the river

Mary with a mob threatening

Gift Idea #7 – Children’s Story Book

Posted on November 24, 2012 by tellingfamilytales

If you have followed my blog you know how excited I am about the illustrated children’s story book we are working on about my great-great-grandmother, Mary Taylor. Even though we won’t have this project finished for Christmas it would make a great gift. (Our deadline is actually for my mom’s 90th birthday in March.) With the Mary book I try to imagine it being used as a bed time story for Mary’s many descendants.

Do you have a family story that would lend itself to a story with illustrations? The pictures could be simple drawings or you could set up a photo shoot and have “actors” dress up to illustrate the story. The text doesn’t have to be complicated or long, the illustrations will help tell the story. Publishing could be as simple as printing it on your computer and/or taking it to your local copy center to make copies and have it bound. Of course a print on demand service such as Blurb or Lulu would also work. I think this project would be a perfect way to share one of your family stories with the next generation. Plus I think that even the older members of your family will take the time to read a short illustrated story when they would never take the time to read a long family history book.

Mary – three more illustrations

Posted on September 6, 2012 by tellingfamilytales

I’m past due for an update on how the illustrated children’s book of my great-great-grandmother, Mary Taylor, is coming. Kim has completed 4 illustrations now and I’m happy with how they all look. I decided that I might as well start the actually book document now that I have 4 of the images.

Crossing the Platte River

We are planning to use blurb.com to publish this book. I love the 7×7 format that I’ve used for several other projects and we are using that again for this one. The blurb plug-in for InDesign is great. I put in the book size and the number of pages and it creates my blank document and then a second document for the cover. It is a much nicer system then the old templates. I took my outline for the book, (you can read it here in the original post about this project) and placed it on the pasteboard. The pasteboard is a handy area outside the page in InDesign. It is a great place to gather the items for a page until you know where you want them to go. It really helps me to get things organized without cluttering up the page. Then it was easy to make sure I was putting the illustrations in the right place. Plus I have a reminder there of what the text for that page should cover. It feels good to have the actually document started. I hope it will inspire me to get started on the text soon.

Fog and Icebergs Crossing the Atlantic

I recently finished a book about the Willie and Martin handcart companies called “The Price We Paid” by Andrew Olsen. Several of the missionaries when we were at Martin’s Cove recommended it. I skipped the section on the Willie company but it really gave me a much clearer understanding of the timeline and how everything happened, especially around the rescue. If you are looking to learn more about either of these handcart companies, you should read this book.

Mary’s Baptism

I have a lot of things on my plate now so I’m not sure when I can fit it in but at the same time I hate to put it off too long. I’d really like to have the text mostly written by the time Kim finishes the illustrations. Then I can quickly put the finishing touches on the project and get it printed. I think I’ll talk to Kim and see if we can figure out a timeline. Now that she has a few of the illustrations done, she should have a better feel for how much time she needs to get this project complete. I do best with deadlines, otherwise my projects can stretch out for ever and never get done.