The Process of Making the Book, Step 1

There are many ways to create a book. Since I am a very visually-oriented person, I like to work with printed thumbnails of my images to organize my pages.
I start with printing out all the good images that I want to consider for inclusion in a project. Since this was a special book, covering all my best works, I had to look at over 1000 images and then try to narrow it down to about 300 to begin. I printed out thumbnails of those images and sorted them according to season and content.


Here you can see the beginning of the sorting process. I'm also using my other books to compare images that I have already published. Whenever possible, I will use images not previously published... but sometimes, the best shot is the one that has already been chosen for a previous book.



Here I have begun organizing the framework for the Faerie Houses segment. Using the thumbnails allows me to see how the pages flow from one to the next and also how images look next to each other when you open up the book.

I arrange each "chapter" this way. I have 8 "chapters" ; Each season has two sub-chapters- one for Faerie Houses, one for my Eartherial sculptures.

However, each "chapter" was far too large. Had I published to book with every image I wanted to use, the book would have been over 250 pages long! Sounds nice, but it would have been far too expensive. So then I had to do the very painful final cut selections.

Here you can see the 8 "final" chapters with the images I really want to use. This book would be 116 pages if nothing changes. But this is just a first step. Now I have to go to all my files and find these particular images and make certain that they are indeed the very best images of each sculpture. I also have to make certain that the horizontal and vertical images are the best options for the sculptures that have been selected.

So there you have a peek at the process of creating this next book.

Stay tuned for more news soon and don't forget to tell your friends about this project! We still need to raise just over 2K in the next 3 weeks. We are very close but we still have to make sure we get there!

Thanks Everyone!!

A FRESH (Re) START

Hi there Everyone!

As you hopefully know by now, we needed more time to successfully complete our funding goal, so we "moved" to a "new" project and are up and running again ! Thanks soooo much to all of you who signed up again and re-pledged your support for the book project.

If you have not yet had a chance to re-pledge you may do so by clicking on the Kickstarter photo to the right or by clicking HERE.

One final important note for now;
I'm creating a special Backers only email list for this project. I had been relying on the Kickstarter email service to send out updates but too many of my backers reported that they did not get these messages. So, I'll set up my own list.

If you are a backer and would like to receive these emails and have not contacted me personally before, please send me a quick email at: greenspiritarts@westelcom.com and I'll make sure you are included in my backers email list.

Thanks so very much for your patience and understanding!

Best wishes,

Sally

Welcome and News!

Greetings Everyone and Welcome!!

The Greenspirit Arts Kickstarter project is off to an amazing start!! I've been blown away and humbled by everyone's generous support and enthusiasm for this project. Like many of you, I've been spending a few days with friends and family and generally taking a bit of time off to catch up with them over this holiday break which is why things been somewhat quiet here.

But I have some really exciting news for ALL my supporters, both present and future. I've created two adorable little Faerie House cottages that will be given away to two lucky supporters in a drawing that will happen after the project ends successfully. I will put everyone's name into a magic pot and a small friend has agreed to help me pull two names out to determine who will be the lucky winners! ANYone who has contributed at the $5 and above level to this project will be eligible. And... EACH additional pledge by any one donor will be entered as separate entries, so you can increase your odds of winning with multiple pledges! The winners will be notified by email after the close of the fund-raising portion of this project.

You can see each of the houses in detail by visiting the separate page links at the top of this blog... just look for Prize# 1 and Prize #2 . There you can see images of the two houses and read more about the features of each house.

I'll post more news soon, but I wanted to let everyone know of these special prizes that will be given away to two lucky supporters, but ONLY if we reach the goal, so PLEASE do continue to tell your friends about the project and share the dream. We have made really good progress but there are only 45 days left and a long ways to go to get to the goal. Remember, if we don't meet the goal, I won't be able to make the book... and no prizes can be given so PLEASE do keep the inspiration and enthusiasm going forward and we WILL get there together!

Happy NEW Year!!

Thank you so much!!

Sally

Under Construction

Launching soon!

I will be posting images of the Faerie Houses and portals that I will have as rewards for my donors who wish to support the book project at this level. PLEASE note: the houses will be available only if the project meets the funding goal deadline and we will know that on Feb. 16, 2011. This means that the houses cannot be considered for gifts for the 2010 holiday season.

There will be much more news on this project very soon!