Kistner Supply

First, the box was very important. I wanted it to be sturdy, yet attractive so I had it custom-made for the book and it is a perfect fit.  Having the book wrapped in acid-free tissue was very important both for the long term storage of a precious heirloom and for “the reveal.” I decided that adding a package of photo-corners and an acid-free gel pen would help inspire people to jump in and start using the book.  For the ribbon, I spent a long day at a Chicago Merchandise Mart gift show, ribbons, ribbons everywhere!  Having grown up on the North Shore of Chicago, I am a prep at heart.  I finally selected a grosgrain with colorful stripes that I still love even after 12 years!

When it came to the pen I was very picky.  As you learned in my last post, penmanship is important to me, so I headed back to Paper Source and every other arts and crafts and office store to try pens, pens and more pens.  The Jimnie gel pen from Zebra was just right.  A medium 0.7mm tip is not too thick, not too thin and it has a smooth line.  I used it to fill out my kids books and love them.  After shopping for prepackaged photocorners, I couldn’t find any that fit the bill, so I decided we would package our own from 3L Scrapbooking Adhesives photocorners because of their outstanding quality.  There is also a card inserted into the package with a note of congratulations and some information about the book. The grouping is held together by a piece of cotton tying tape which is traditionally used by book restorers to tie together books.

Finally, the card.  I had some inspiration for the card from a baby shower card from Barneys New York (I wish I could remember the brand) and a tag by She’s Crafty Knits from New Zealand.  They were both letterpressed and I decided that was what I had to do.  Fortunately, I have a friend at Dexterity Press who used to be in Chicago.  Jeff Mueller, the owner, spent lots of time with me brainstorming about the entire project before I even got started since he and his bookmaking wife knew everything about printing and constructing a book.  We ended up doing a lovely little gift card that is perfect.

After 12 years I still think the final presentation of Mother Stork’s Baby Book, 100th Anniversary Edition is the best gift to celebrate a new baby.  We have customers in the United States from coast to coast as well as Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.  Many of our customers are celebrities, designers, film executives, business professionals, doctors, academics and lawyers, but most importantly they are moms and dads starting an amazing journey and I am thrilled that Mother Stork’s Baby Book gets to go along for the ride!