Happy 70th Birthday Mom!!!!!!

​Today is a very special day! My dear Mama, Judy Squier, is now 70 years old!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mama Mia!
I can not believe it – how time flies! Yet you are so young at heart and have so much life you –
I know that turning 70 is just a tiny stepping stone in this life you are living!

A couple years back my dad turned 70 and we made a very special book for him called “70 Reasons to Celebrate David Squier” (see blog post). So there was no question that we had to do the same and create “70 Reasons to Celebrate Judy Squier!” Finding 70 reasons to celebrate my mom is a VERY EASY task but putting together a book about it is quite another. There was much work to be done and my dad and I went about it immediately upon the arrival of the new year.

We outlined all the family and friends we needed to contact to contribute something for the book. We built spreadsheets with their contact info and then my dad emailed them. I went through all my photo archives to find the photos with my mom. Then I made lists of photos needed for my dad to search through the scrapbooks and scan for me (this was a huge struggle since Mom was so close nearby and he needed to do it secretly). Then began the gathering and organizing of materials – letters, photos, memorabilia, and random Judy doodads. There was a lot to sort through! And things were a little crazy for a while – but  by the grace of God – it all came together and I had what I needed to build her book!

Laying the book out is the fun part . . . but it’s a LOT of work!!!!!
For weeks, I worked tirelessly on putting everything together. Thankfully I already had the star template design from my Dad’s book so I only had to work through the page layouts. There were so many different directions each page could go and there was so much content to fit in so I had many decisions to make. My dad was an amazing help – when I didn’t know an individual or what photos might work best with a message, he would give me more information and go hunting for additional photos. My sweet sisters were my cheerleaders and sister Emily graciously proofed everything – bless her heart! And after figuring out how to squeeze everything in – the project finally was complete!
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​Some Layouts from the Book:

View the entire book online at Blurb here:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/5419000/5f2e3704ae78c3c3d9a7f0764bac93baf972a92b
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​This was a SUPER FUN project! I love when personal and professional projects coincidence!! I am feeling better and better about working with InDesign to design and layout books. And I have yet to be disappointed with Blurb’s printing of the books! If you are interested in doing a project like this or just creating a photobook, please let me know. I’d love to help you! Or at least point you in the right direction as creating a book can be oh-so-daunting! But it’s always worth the hard work in the end!

Thanks to EVERYONE who helped and contributed to this book! We could not have done it without you! We appreciate all the heartfelt notes, timeless photographs, and every ounce of energy that was used toward making this book special!

Mom, you bless so many people on a day to day basis – it was truly an amazing thing to see others bless you through this book! I hope you enjoy and treasure it! Much Love to you on this SPECIAL day!!!!!

– Naphtalie JOY Joiner