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| Fireworks: Bonfire Night |
Some time ago, I wanted to do something special for my parents. My dad had recently been very ill and I was really feeling that distance. Everything was touch and go for a while, The Canadian and I discussed the likelihood of me flying home because things were changing constantly. I was, needless to say, feeling pretty rubbish. During that time, I found myself pulling up memories of my parents and their love. I wrote them down and then, when I got tired of writing, I drew little pictures to represent the memory. One of the things I miss most is the silly conversations you miss when you're so far away, the ones often rooted deep in shared experiences.
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| Barbie and the Multitude of Handmade Barbie Clothes. Oh, and that time my mum gave Ariel a shiny new bob because not even a dinglehopper could have helped out her tangles. |
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| Custom Dolls House: Complete with Victorian era furnishings, dolls and handcrafted fimo food |
Such as all those times we listened to the cassette that played the
Windmill in Old Amsterdam and not quite understanding why my Dad didn't just have it ready to go whenever we had it in the car (a. it was very annoying and b. he probably wasn't all that into listening to it when we weren't around).
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| Only experiencing The Hobbit whilst being in the car. Miracle cure for travel sickness. |
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| Tick Tock: All the hours of waiting up |
As a way of coping with the upheaval, I started putting together a little watercolour book for them. You have likely seen one of the images already, as I had it posted to
Society6.
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| The Green Dress and The Memories of HAVING to Wear The Buttons at the Front |
Each image reflects a small memory that, for me, is a big deal. I sketched each one out on watercolour paper, the only ones I had on hand were from the dollarstore. After that, I painted them, somewhat messily. Once they'd dried, I layered on more colour until I was happy with the messy look.
Finally, I used my stockpile of
hand made cardstock as fillers; writing on them to tell my story, the meanings behind the pictures and little notes of love.
Once this was all piled up together, I hole punched the card and papers and tied it up with twine. The end result was a very messily bound book filled with messy memories and love, which, in my opinion, makes it all very perfect and reflective of the intent. I didn't get a great final picture but that's ok. I made them to be shared with my parents, posting it here was an afterthought, which I'm also happy about. I don't think they would have been so organic had I known I'd be posting it on here.
That was that. I loved being able to put these together for them. When I spoke with my dad, he was most amused that he remembered it differently or that it had triggered other memories for him. My sisters even informed me that I had drawn the little mice incorrectly because they remember the stories my mum told and they had imagined the mice to have waistcoats. I'm glad I took the time to do this for them and that it brightened up their holidays.
Would you do this? Is it a good idea generally, or is it just for super dooper sentimental people like me?
As an aside, my dad is much better ;)
