“Life is a book…long, if we’re lucky, and we write it as we go.”
— Maggie Smith
There are many ways to tell a life’s story.
Whether in the form of a memoir or a tribute book of reminiscences from one’s family and friends, we aim to artfully convey the significance of one’s life journey.
Wanderlust is in Marilyn Fischel's blood. A self-made woman who was confined to a hospital polio ward at a young age, her life was anything but confined.
We knew the first time we walked into Marilyn's home that her book was meant to feel exotic, like her taste in everything.
We photographed her wall of key tags collected from around the world using them as the end pages for the interior of the book.
Marilyn had meticulously crafted scrapbooks documenting her life decade by decade. We wanted to feature this labor of love.
We curated her travel photos into sections by continent allowing the reader to see the world through Marilyn's eyes.
We sourced the perfect quotes to further drive the photographic narrative throughout the book, reflecting her humor and deep thoughts.
Marilyn's taste is exotic. We chose a vintage looking velour fabric reminiscent of ancient tribal rugs for the cover and clamshell case.
We created a custom gold embossed logo for the cover in a nod to her having circumnavigated the globe four times, as well as a fabric-covered matching clamshell box for presentation.
Children of the War is a triumphant tale of two remarkable people, who crafted a magnificent life in America, living out the American dream.
Our client wanted their book to feel historical, like an old Russian bible. Rounded corners, and blind embossed leather along with gold title gave it an old world feeling.
Gold foil stamping of the title on accompanying clamshell case.
The Fire Bird, a mythical creature from Russian fairytales, whose blinding beauty represents rebirth, luck, and protection featured prominently.
The sharing of their history depicts the ancestral stories of personal heroism and determination is captivating and eerily reminiscent of the struggle today.
Vintage photography and custom font flourishes flowed throughout. Antique gold foil paper for end pages created a rich expression of an opulent culture in a bygone era.
This book consists of three parts: his story; her story and their story...the perfect trilogy of a family's legacy.
Barb Groth has touched many people's lives and hearts. They all came together to reflect the impact she had on their lives.
The dragonfly is a significant totem in Barb's life. The book's title, Carousel of Time is taken from Joni Mitchell's song "Circle Game."
The blue linen, foil-stamped cover and handmade tie-dyed paper from India add to the elegant, organic nature of Barb's creative gifts and sensitive soul. Over 110 individual contributions present a kaleidoscopic image of a loving, kind an exquisite human being.
Wanting to celebrate her, family, friends collectively created this book by reflecting her essence in three worlds.
Wanting to celebrate her, family, friends collectively created this book by reflecting her essence in three worlds.
The exquisite two-volume set (450 pages each) chronicle the lives of two extraordinary people, each of whom lived to be 100+ years old.
The epic saga depicting the lives of Emory & Janet Williams is not only a work of art; it is a family heirloom for future generations.
The Road Traveled and Show Me the Way share a similar motif and cover design with different foil stamped icons; for Emory, his treasured compass.
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Janet's book spans seven generations and is written looking backwards and forwards at seven generations of pioneering ancestors and progeny.
Emory's book is a sweeping narrative of his 102 year history, detailing life growing up in the South, his life of service and corporate success, a focus on building family and future with strong visionary and ethical threads running through the story. Emory Williams represents the very best of his generation and was deeply inspiring to those who knew him.
Janet's book spans seven generations, written looking backwards and forwards at seven generations of pioneering ancestors and progeny.
Margaret Penelle was a unique woman. The Book of Margaret recounts stories of her life through the eyes of her children and grandchildren.
Though Marge's life was not easy, Marge made life fun and adventurous.
The end pages showcasing the Appalachian Trail she hiked were among her happiest memories.
The design of the 12' x 12' book lent itself to large photographs and quotes that open each chapter, setting the context for the themed stories to follow.
The life story of Dr. Pratiba Malhotra is a colorful tale of a vibrant woman, determined to become a doctor against all the odds.
Love and Laughter is the Fuel for My Life sums up Guddi's approach to rising above difficult circumstances that life presents each of us.
The burgundy linen cover with gold foil stamping is paired with customized end pages featuring images of silk wedding sari.
In My Next Life, I want to Come Back as My Dog is the memoir and portrait of a very courageous man.
Glenn Felner's life-long love of animals led to the title of his book and many of the themes within.
As an eighteen year old Jewish soldier in WW2, one of the first to arrive at Buchenwald to liberate the Jewish prisoners, his book captures the gravity of his experience.
Later in his life, he became well acquainted with Nobel Prize winning author, Elie Wiesel, whom he had liberated from Buchenwald concentration camp, 50 years before.
Glenn's book was crafted using khaki linen bookcloth with foil stamping on the cover and matching clamshell box and gold hand silk-screened paper featuring dogs for end pages.
Sondra Greer's children and grandchildren, upon hearing of her reluctance to share her life story wanted to show her how meaningful and important her life really was.
Sondra Greer was reluctant to share her life story in memoir form. She thought it was not "exciting" enough. Her beautiful life was not free from hard times, but through it all she navigated the grief with grace. When asked for a title that might describe her life's story, she proclaimed, "Life Goes On”.
Each family member shared a photo and a letter telling her how their life path was influenced by her love and devotion to her family. Dreams do come true and life does go on.
Sondra's book and accompanying clamshell box was gold foil stamped on pearlescent book cloth. The choice for the interior end pages for the book was a hand silkscreened floral pattern inspired by Japanese Kimono fabrics with vibrant color and metallic gold highlights.
Sexy, Stunning, Sixty Tribute Book
Shelley Harris was turning sixty. Vibrant and sexy, she redefined the notion of aging. Her friends and family came together and chose a Souvenera Tribute book that reflected her essence in three words with an accompanying anecdote.
Inspired by our client's unusual aesthetic, we designed a very elegant book using Japanese silk book cloth, incorporating an old world book binding technique.
In a nod to Shelley's natural, organic nature, we enveloped the book with a matching wrapper and raffia ribbon. This gift was presented in a natural wood hand-constructed box.
As a surprise gift for a friend, the Souvenera team was commissioned to design a beautiful hand crafted volume of poetry, preserving the legacy of Suzanne Palister.
The late Suzanne Palister's handwritten poetry was found in long forgotten notebook on her daughter's bookshelf. Suzanne had been a copy editor for some of the greatest writers of the 20th century. Her poetry revealed a finely hidden interior life, exposed to no one.
The choice of the radiant blue linen book cloth along with the hand silkscreened Japanese end pages replete with metallic gold highlights created a precious treasure for Suzanne's daughter.
Claudia Zenez always carried the light within. Selflessly serving others for most of her life, she projected her beauty, light and inner knowing outward like a lighthouse in a storm.
Claudia's friends contacted Souvenera in an effort to give her a gift that would reflect back the love they had for her. We contacted her friends with an invitation to contribute a story and three words to describe her essence. The repetitive themes of intuition, grace, selflessness, beauty emerged, capturing a perfect portrait of Claudia's character.
The cover features a piece of art by fine artist Laurie Bain Hamilton that reflects a spiritual goddess holding the light. It could not be more perfect.
We chose complimentary colored end pages for the interior and dropped the artwork into a debossed, berry colored velour book cloth The finishing touch was a hand-made, purple suede bag with an attached pewter charm.