{"id":3333,"date":"2013-05-27T20:00:42","date_gmt":"2013-05-27T19:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3333"},"modified":"2021-02-08T15:49:11","modified_gmt":"2021-02-08T15:49:11","slug":"interview-with-storybook-creator-dani-crawshaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/interview-with-storybook-creator-dani-crawshaw\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Storybook Creator Dani Crawshaw"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/h2>\n

\"Front<\/a><\/h2>\n

Tell us, what exactly do you do?<\/h2>\n

I make customised story books for all occasions. \u00a0For weddings\u00a0I write the story\u00a0based on the bride and groom\u00a0which rhymes\u00a0and the illustrations look like them too. \u00a0They’re A4 hardback with\u00a016 pages of unique\u00a0illustrations and on each page\u00a04 lines of\u00a0words which rhyme. \u00a0The front cover’s also different\u00a0and there’s space for a personal message at the front\u00a0(from the\u00a0client – to whoever the book’s intended for). \u00a0The scope for a book is great\u00a0because lots of family members and\/or\u00a0friends can be included. \u00a0It can be from the bride to the groom, or friends\/family of the bride\/groom\u00a0to the couple. \u00a0It can be done before the wedding day or\u00a0after and include things that happened on the\u00a0day (bit of the groom’s speech\u00a0etc.) \u00a0 The process begins with a client telling me stories about the couple, the more I’m told – the more personal it can be. \u00a0The most recent book I’ve done is ‘Kate and Tom’ – made for the bride and groom from\u00a0the Maid of Honour. \u00a0 She told me about the couple’s first date – and how Kate (the bride) was nervous and spilt red wine on Tom (the groom) – so I included that which makes it\u00a0personal and adds\u00a0humour. \u00a0She also told me where the couple were getting married and the date, details which\u00a0can all be included.\u00a0 It takes me a week to do the illustrations and during that time\u00a0I can send\u00a0updates to make sure the client is happy with the work. \u00a0 A\u00a0client can be really involved (sending me lots of stories and photos) – or not – it’s up to them. \u00a0<\/span> \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Were you always an Illustrator?<\/h2>\n

In my spare time yes – but\u00a0I’ve been a broadcast journalist since graduating from Uni in 2003,\u00a0which has been great. \u00a0I started off in local radio\u00a0reading the news and reporting, and then freelanced in London at national stations\u00a0and moved into TV. \u00a0Then I took some time out, moved to Spain – learnt Spanish. \u00a0Came back into journalism – but decided I wanted to travel more, so became an airline stewardess. \u00a0 So….have always liked to try new things! \u00a0One thing has always been consistent though, I love to draw and make up stories.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Dani<\/a><\/p>\n

What gave you the idea of creating these story books?<\/h2>\n

In my spare time I’ve always loved to illustrate, making\u00a0cards and\u00a0short funny stories for friends and family – which has always gone down well. \u00a0 \u00a0And about a year ago I thought,\u00a0hold on, maybe I could do this for a living – or at least try (have always been of the opinion you have to try – or you’ll never know). \u00a0So, that’s what I have done – set up my own business doing customised story books. \u00a0I read about how to set up your own <\/span>website and got on with that\u00a0and found a printing company that creates what I want\u00a0–\u00a0A4 hardback books. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What makes your story books so unique for couples?<\/h2>\n

It’s about their story – how they met, so it’s very personal\u00a0and the illustrations look like them. \u00a0 It’s something that will last forever – and they\u00a0can look back on and smile (and maybe show their children if that’s part of the plan).<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/h2>\n

What do you use to create these stories?<\/h2>\n

My imagination mostly! \u00a0It doesn’t take me long to write the story, then I sit and look through\u00a0the photographs of the couple, think about how pictures can fit with the words I’ve written\u00a0– and get on with illustrating. \u00a0Just my desk, pencils and me. \u00a0I get a bit lost when I am drawing – and don’t realise how much time’s passed. \u00a0I recently met one of the brides I did a book for, and it was difficult not to feel like I knew her\u00a0quite well –\u00a0as I’d been drawing and looking at pictures of her for a week!<\/span><\/p>\n

What\u2019s been your favourite story so far?<\/h2>\n

I like all of them in their own way. \u00a0Each couple’s unique, and that’s what’s great about it. \u00a0 I love the\u00a0reaction from someone who’s really happy with what you’ve created – that’s just brilliant and I thrive on that.<\/span><\/p>\n

What advice would you give to a couple hoping to tie the knot?<\/h2>\n

I guess for them to try and enjoy the process of getting married and not get stressed with all the organising and problems that can sometimes arise.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Dani<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dani Crawshaw started off as a broadcast journalist, reading the news on the radio, reporting for TV stations and writing articles for papers like The Telegraph. \u00a0She’s always enjoyed being creative – making funny poems and stories for family and friends and drawing pictures that look like them. \u00a0So she decided to spread that happiness!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tell us, what exactly do you do? I make customised story books for all occasions. \u00a0For weddings\u00a0I write the story\u00a0based on the bride and groom\u00a0which rhymes\u00a0and the illustrations look like them too. \u00a0They’re A4 hardback with\u00a016 pages of unique\u00a0illustrations and on each page\u00a04 lines of\u00a0words which rhyme. \u00a0The front cover’s also different\u00a0and there’s space for a personal message at the front\u00a0(from the\u00a0client – to whoever the book’s intended for). \u00a0The scope for a book is great\u00a0because lots of family members […]","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":3336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[44],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3333"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3333"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49621,"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3333\/revisions\/49621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qa.weddingdates.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}