52-Weeks of Book Binding, Journals and more...

Week 31

For this week's post, I made a "Multi-Pocket Travel Journal"

The journal is made with one sheet of paper; folded, cut and folded again.  I added some decorative paper and a couple of sheets more to my journal.  The book was sewn together and the edges and stitching covered with Washi tape.  

I like how the Washi tape looks on the pages.

Inside Pages

Outside Cover

I can use the added pages to journal and use the pockets to tuck away little pieces of odds and ends.

52-Weeks of Book Binding, Journals and more...

Week 30

"Ladies By The Sea"

Here in sunny southern California the weather is hot, hot, hot!  Some of us are spending the hot days at the beach, swimming, sunning and trying to stay cool.  

In one of my posts, I show you how to make a coaster using "Ice Resin".  That picture gave me the idea, to make this book.  This picture is similar to the one I used to make the coaster, but this time around I used high gloss varnish over the picture instead of Ice Resin.

I printed out my pictures on Marker Paper.  I have to different kinds and I think I mixed the two because the pictures printed out differently.

I cut drawing paper to the size I wanted and printed ocean/sea images onto the paper.  Before I printed the pictures, I  lighten them so that they were faint.  I wanted the picture to blend in the background, so you could journal over them. 

I added extra drawing paper, cut down to size and added them to the book as well, so I could have some blank pages in the book.   I put the pictures in the order I wanted them to go in the book and then bound everything together.

Here is the book with everything bound together with a few of the pictures shown ...

 

... and of course the end of the whale for the end of the book.

I was going to bind the book using a Coptic Stitch, but I did not want to put holes in my covers, so I used the same method I used for the map book.

The dimensions of the book are 7-1/4" high by 6" wide.  A nice little book to take along in your beach bag to sketch and/or journal while spending a day at the beach.

ARTbar

Zendalas

Today I spent the morning at the ARTbar today.  I have not been there for awhile as life got ahead of me.  So, I was very happy I was able to go today.  I got to create a couple of Zendalas.  One is a prestrung Zendala (bottom), the other I created using my own strings (above).

They both need to some more work before they are finished, but I wanted to share, just in case I put them away and don't get a chance to finish them.  NOT FINISH???

52-Weeks of Book Binding, Journals and more...

Week 29

The post for Week 29 comes late.  I have an excuse though.  I've been a bit under the weather the last few days, so have been slow moving, but as you can see, I did get it done.

With summer here, vacations are being taken, whether far or near.  Some of us like to take a journal along for the ride, to write about our adventures.  We sometimes take along a map to keep us from getting lost.  So, for this week's post I made a "Map Book".

I found an old map at the local library and the pages were folded to just the right size that I wanted for my book pages and cover.  I like the title of this map, "The Pathfinders".  

Supplies:  old map, drawing paper, and heavy cardboard.

I cut up the map to fit my cover and pages.  I covered the cardboard with sections of the map I found interesting, and then glued the other sections of the map to the front of my signatures.

I added two extra signatures to the front and back; plain white drawing paper and craft paper with an extended flap for pockets and then bound the book

I wanted an open spine for the book.

I glued the right side of the craft paper to the front of the white drawing paper and the left side to the inside of the front cover.  I repeated this for the back of the book.

Here you can see the pocket I added to store little odds and ends and even a map of my travels.  

back of book

Now I have a journal to take along with me where I can write about my travels and little storage compartments to fill with things I find along the way.

52-Weeks of Book Binding, Journals and more...

Watercolor Journal

For this weeks post I made a watercolor journal.

The covers of the Journal are made from clear divider folders. 

The packet of dividers I bought had different designs to choose from.  I chose this patter for my covers.  

 I cut off the tap and the end with the holes and then in half for the front and back covers.

For my pages I used regular watercolor paper, some mixed media paper and some Yupo watercolor paper.

I cut up some peerless watercolor paint into small squares and glued them to a sheet of watercolor paper ...

... and added a legend, so I would know what each of the colors are.  Peerless watercolors are not always what is on the paper.  For instance,  the color on the bottom left corner looks like brown, but the color is really a Pearl Grey.

I also added a sheet of pallet paper for mixing colors.

And there you have it.  All you need is a waterbrush and you're all set.

52-Weeks of Book Binding, Journals and more...

Week 27

Posting Week 27, I must say, is very, very late this time around.  If I didn't get this done today then I would have two books to post for week 28. 

This time around, I purchased a Book Kit from Button Farm Club.  This particular book reminded me of summer, the 4th of July and traveling on vacation.  

  As  you can see, there are lots and lots of pages.

Here are more pages from the book:

Inside cover and first page.

Back inside cover.

You can see more pictures here on their website:  http://buttonfarmclub.com/shop/button-farm-club-may-2015-kit/.

I had lots of fun creating this book and there are lot more pages to fill.  However, I had a couple of problems with this kit.  One, the instructions were not very clear and they did not always give you dimensions when cutting. You had to look at the pictures and kind of guess. My second complaint is the amount of materials that came with the kit.  To complete this book, I had to purchase another $20 worth of paper.  No matter how careful I was in cutting the paper, at the end I was only left with three sheets of 12" X 12" of paper. Had I not purchased the additional sheets of paper, I would not have been able to complete the book.  All in all, I did enjoy making the book.