How Do You Put a Feeling into a Box?

When I become immersed in a book, I imagine what it would feel like to be there. To hold something a character holds, recognise a scent described on the page, or see something I’ve been picturing come to life in front of me. That excitement is what I want to share through Everbound.

I want readers to feel connected to both the story and the items they unwrap along the way. I hope there’s a moment of recognition when they open something and realise where it belongs in the book. Something they’ve just read about is suddenly there, in their hands.

Every item has a different meaning, and I want it to bring out the feeling it was intended to evoke in the story. Sometimes that might be comfort or belonging. Other times it might be longing, excitement or the tension of a particular moment. The feeling depends on what that item means within the book.

That’s why every item I choose is special to me. There’s a reason I’m drawn to it, and I hope readers can see that reason too. Something that seems ordinary on its own can mean so much once you know its story. It might remind a character of home, connect them to someone they love, or become important in a way you only understand later. That meaning is part of what I’m trying to carry into the finished piece.

The process of getting there means a lot to me as well. From the first idea to finally holding the finished product, I become invested in what it could be. When I sit with a designer to discuss my vision, I’m trying to explain something that has already taken shape in my imagination. We talk about how it should look, but also why those details matter and how they connect to the story.

The same care goes into creating fragrances for candles. Sitting with the person developing the fragrance, testing scents and comparing them with the description in the book is an important part of getting it right. A scent can be beautiful, but I still need to consider whether it belongs in the scene it’s meant to bring to life. I want readers to recognise something of what they’re reading when they experience it for themselves.

What I imagine won’t be exactly what every other reader imagines. We can read the same description and picture things differently. I love that about books. My hope is that an item adds to the reader’s own experience and helps them feel closer to the world they’ve created in their mind.

I wanted to create a box where the connection to the book continues through everything inside it, giving readers something to discover as the story unfolds. Each piece should feel like it belongs there, with a purpose that becomes clear through the reading experience.

At the heart of all this is the author’s work. None of these ideas would exist without the stories that inspired them. One of my hopes for Everbound is to build relationships with authors who trust me to bring elements of their worlds to life for readers. That trust matters to me because I know how much those stories can mean to the people who love them.

I become deeply absorbed in these incredible worlds myself. I know the feeling of loving a book so much that you want to stay with it a little longer, and the excitement of finding something that reminds you of it.

That’s what I hope readers feel in the care behind a box. I hope they enjoy discovering each item, understand why it was chosen and feel its place in the story. And when the book is finished, I hope those pieces help them return to the moments that stayed with them.

For me, putting a feeling into a box begins with understanding what an item means in the story, then carrying that meaning through every decision involved in creating it. The moment a reader unwraps it and feels that connection is what I’m working towards.