Inspired by Love, Crafted with Heart
After losing my dad, I created a memory journal combining his precious cards, handwritten notes, music sheets, and his favourite shirt as a cover. This deeply personal project inspired me to offer handcrafted memory journals so others can cherish their special moments and loved ones in a unique, tangible way.
Why I do what I do
I’m sharing with you a photograph of my dad and me on my wedding day. It’s my favourite picture of the two of us.
A week before Christmas 2025, he died completely unexpectedly from a stroke.
In the weeks that followed, I found myself looking for a way to hold on to him, not just in memory, but in something tangible. As we sorted through his things, I discovered all the little pieces of paper he had kept over the years. Handwritten shopping lists. Guitar tabs he had been practising. The Christmas letters he wrote each year. Emails he had printed out and scribbled notes on.
Some people might have thrown those things away. I couldn’t. He wasn’t going to be writing anything ever again. Those small, handwritten traces of him, the ordinary, everyday marks of his life, became my greatest treasures.
So I turned them into something lasting.
I created journal pages from those precious papers and bound them together into a hardback book, covered in fabric from one of his favourite shirts. A book that quite literally holds him within its pages.
I made one for each member of my family, including my eight-year-old nephew, who had lost his “Grandude”. I found drawings my nephew had made that my dad had carefully kept, and I included them in his journal so he would always know how much he was loved, and that his grandad had cared enough to keep his artwork safe.
Creating those books meant more to us than I can properly explain. They gave us something to hold on to when everything felt unsteady.
That’s why I want to offer this service to others.
Sometimes it will be about preserving someone you’ve lost. It can also be about celebrating joyful moments. A book made from your children’s artwork. A memory book for a milestone birthday or anniversary. A wedding keepsake created from your cards, RSVPs, menus or those carefully saved pieces of wedding stationery that feel too special to throw away.
We generate so much paper as we move through life. Why not turn it into something beautiful and meaningful, a book that holds your story?
I can also incorporate envelopes and additional blank pages for you to add future memories and keepsakes, so your book can continue to grow with you.
If this speaks to you, I would love to hear from you. Get in touch and we can begin creating something truly personal together.
