Leonie and her good friend Fiona had talked about this project during Fiona’s final months. Leonie posthumously curated words from Fiona’s creative journals, images of her artistic works, and her poetry. She designed and produced Fiona’s memoir, and published them as a compendium book: Love Life—savouring every little morsel.

Fiona Cribben was an Irish textile artist, designer and mother living with metastatic breast cancer for almost 10 years. During this time she created textile art, for the living and for the dead.

Having worked as a fashion and textile designer throughout her life, Fiona created bespoke jewellery, costumes for music videos and film. However from 2016, after she was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, her focus turned to the art of surviving life. She made Lifewreaths—healing mandalas, to help her and others celebrate life.

Following Fiona’s death in November 2019, Leonie produced this book throughout Covid lockdown, to honor her friend and share her story through a collection of Fiona’s creative journalling, her artwork, her poetry and her positive outlook on life, in spite of her cancer diagnosis. Fiona’s journey started outward to far-off places, through a journey of creative expression, and finally to the most important and challenging journey—inward to the soul. This book documents the final years of Fiona’s life in her own words, with the hope of inspiring the reader to cherish every moment in life and “savour every little morsel”.

Love Life is a soft case bound cloth book with linen cover, screenprinting and hot foil detailing—echoing Fiona’s own spiritually-influenced tattoos. Wrapped in Fiona’s own art material ribbon, reflected in coordinating printed endpapers, with stitched binding and five satin ribbons throughout indicating each chapter of the book, and each of her final years. Over 365 interior pages with coloured edge painting on soft white uncoated paper stock, reflective of the tactile nature of the imagery used throughout, and using golden ratio proportions, to create a harmony and connection that the reader’s subconscious mind will feel comfort holding and reading a book of such  emotional content.

A postcard bookmark was created with ‘scratch & sniff’ fragrance of one of Fiona’s favourite perfumes. It has been infused into the paper stock: Maya Njie’s Nordic Cedar. This enhances the experience of the book as the senses of vision, touch, and smell are all awakened when the reader opens the book to read.

A portion of the proceeds from sales of books went to LauraLynn Children’s Hospice and ARC Cancer Support.

Once printed, the response to the book was overwhelming and the books sold out quickly. A second print run went into production immediately. As no two of Fiona’s artworks were the same, it was clear that the second print run should look different to the first, hence two cover colours, and interior paper stock, enhancing alternative experiences with each book.

The publication has been preserved in the National Irish Visual Arts Library.