Green Glass

While I was looking the other way

Since I was going to make covers for my next envelope journal, of course I decided to make a cover for something else instead.  I have a lot of text blocks from books I've ripped apart for the covers.  I love the texture of good old book paper, so I have a hard time just chucking them.  And no, there isn't much I have a easy time chucking.

Since I had been looking for potential cardboard covers, I came across some I'd spray painted.  Or really, this was the cardboard I used to blot the stencils when they got thick with wet paint.

Anyway, a bit of left over paper and some duct tape later… voila.

I'm not sure how this might hold up.  It will be interesting to see, and I guess it's a bit of a test.  I don't have anything to stitch through to more securely fix the block to the cover, which is what I want to do.  I'll have to observe and consider.

The last salvaged book I made like this, the text blocks just floated inside a shell cover I made to protect it.  I made it to give myself something  to just junk around in, but in the end I loved the texture of the paper with neo-colors and gouache.

Bloomin' flowers

I decided to start a new journal.  Although I already have three going.  Or four, depending on how you count.  Or I guess that would be five if you counted that way, but hey, if you have five, why not six?  This is the way my brain works.

I have my selfie project, with some random digressions as needed, and my digression journal that has become my practice-lettering-with-a-dip-pen journal, and the journal that I'm using to practice ideas from sketchbookery and sketchbook skool.  And then there is the one that is tucked in the car for emergencies and the catch-all...

But this, this is Cousin Maude, who I made two years ago.  I was taking Mary Ann Moss's Remains of the Day on-line class, and made several.  They have been waiting, fidgeting, wondering and now Maude's time has come.  Here is her first appearance.  Here is the post I did at her construction.  I enjoy constructing these journals as much as I like working in them.  Some people don't, and so they have to be really motivated to get the thread and needle and straight edge and japanese hole puncher out.  It takes the merest whiff of a new sheet of paper, and suddenly I'm knee deep in signatures and linen thread.  

But I digress.

She is filled with 140 lb. watercolor paper (I didn't make a note of the brand at the time, so I will have to look for a watermark.  It's taken a while, but I've gotten better at keeping track of these things since I am learning what a difference the paper makes).  She also has scraps of photos and paper sewn in, along with some pages of pictures of my own handicrafts that I printed on heavier paper from my printer.   I love the images I chose and the weight of the paper and the size, which is a little small but very manageable for me right now.  It's about 7 1/2 by 5" which makes a good 10" spread when open.  I am edging larger, but this will work for now.   

One of the things I want to learn is how to control the water/pigment ratio better so I don't get blooming or other problems.  Unless I want blooming, which is what I was exploring with these flowers.  

I don't know what kind of flower they are, except the kind that bloom in my brain.

#24 shut up and shelved

 I filled my latest journal.   Sort of counting, and not including IFJM journals or pamphlets (which seem an entirely different thing) and trip journals, this is journal #24.

I'm thinking about going back and labeling all my other journals in case there is a major earthquake and all my books jump off the shelf and mingle.  Not very likely in central North Carolina, but do I want to risk it?

Would I number them according to when I started them or when I filled them?  It doesn't seem to matter, as long as it's consistent, but when am I consistent?  What if I found a waylaid one?  I'm going to chew on this for a while.

I bound this book and it only took my three months to use it up.  I'm very proud of myself for all the play that went on in here.

This was my final page and one of my favorite ones in the book.  

It's the first time I used mostly 140 lb. weight watercolor paper.   I was nervous because I am definitely one of those people who gets put off if something is too 'precious'.  However, I have spent a good amount of time in the last couple years digging out old 'precious' journals/paints/fabric/... and committing myself to using them all up.  

I'm glad I did.   I loved working on this heavy paper, and having paper that was sized was a revelation!  I like using cheap paper sometimes, but it is so unforgiving.  Sometimes that's what I want.  But not always.  Right now I've enjoyed the kinder gentler paper.

I just made a new journal for the on-line class I did with Mary Ann Moss.  However, I'm not sure I want to use that one.  I have a whole shelf to consider.   I'm thinking I might dig back to one with some sewing and scrap paper in it.  What i'm NOT doing to do is make another new one.  No way.  Unless... 

In which I try to convince myself.

I had a glitch with my camera (I shouldn't blame the cable loan, should I?) and had trouble downloading my photos, but I think it's squared away.  This is Bessie drying from when I glued her together.

 

Right now the outside doesn't look any different since I didn't cut it apart, just took the insides out and substituted mine.  I meant to start in it right away, but I had forgotten about the IFJM imperative.  I'm churning through another purchased journal for that. Very productive, is my lady.

You may be able to tell from this picture that I did my signatures a little different this time.  I added skinny pages that I plan to glue onto.  I often don't want to bring a book along with me, so I have single sheets cut to the size to fit into this.  I can slip them into my bag and take them along with me and then stick them in as I go along.  I cut down scrapbook paper to hold the spine in the correct width so when I add pages the book shouldn't bulge.  

I'm hoping it will open flat.  I like to work across the spread when I can.  This will be a  mental challenge for me, since I'm pretty cheap on paper normally.  But once I heard someone talking about quilt fabric and it has stuck with me.  She said, if I'm going to spend potentially hundreds of hours (for a fancy hand quilted or appliquéd quilt) I'm not going to use discount fabric.  I know my journals aren't heirloom, but I still want to feel good about them - to enjoy the feel of them as much as anything. I do actually like to look back at them when I'm done. So this will be the one where I try out more expensive paper.  I can do this, right?

And I'm off

I've been working on finishing things.  I am always working on finishing things.  Until I get distracted by a bright shiny new interest and then I have more things to work on finishing.

But... I've been working on finishing this for quite some time.

I pull it out, I look at it, I put it away.  Then finally I realized that I needed to bind it with an internal binding.  I don't know the correct term.  I'm not in on the lingo.  But I realized that I like the spine the way it is.  

So...

I haven't downloaded the pictures of the finished product.  Maybe tomorrow.  Maybe.  But I love stitching the signatures up.  I love line thread.  I just love stitching.  Maybe i need to be doing a bit more of that.  Maybe.

 

skip skip skip

So although I'm moving slowly, I'm still moving.  I finished my Stories Journal.

 

I'm thinking about watercolor in this.  

And then I put together another pamphlet journal, because why not.  I save paper and cardboard and the next thing I know I have everything I need. 

I did an alternating half-hitch for the spine.  Not what I usually do, but I was inspired by my binding book.  And I was in a binding mood.

I do like a place to cut and paste.  And doodle and glue.

I'm trying to cut down on the number of journals I'm working on at any time, but I like to do different things in different spaces.

I'm going to try to keep it under control though.  And that's the sound of me laughing in the distance.  Can you hear it?

Fun is had

 

I woke up excited to write a post.  Now I can't remember the name of the stitch I ended up using for the middle three signatures.  Maybe I'll look it up but I'm a lazy bones right now.  I probably wouldn't use this again.  It was awkward getting in.  But it's a nice pattern.  I made a few mistakes with this - including not looking closely enough at the stitch pattern before I began.  The T's are suppose to alternate tilting to the right and left, but I didn't notice that and so they're all leaning in the same direction.  I figured out how to make the thread pattern work, but not as clean as if I had followed the instructions.

Also I didn't reinforce the spine, and it ended up ripping as I pulled one stitch through.  I wasn't even pulling that hard, which makes me a little nervous for how this will hold up. I didn't want to make the spine too thick, but clearly I should accept that I'm using old brittle papery things, and respect them accordingly.

Oh well.  Next time. I had even chosen a plain cover so I could glue things on it, and then didn't feel like it.  Maybe I'll add more as I work along.  Maybe.

This spine is pretty stiff, and usually I work with a more flexible spine, which makes the stitching easier.  I'll have to see what it is like to work in.

Again, this binding was from one of Keith Smith's excellent books.  My favorite is the 1 ,2 &3 signature binding book.  Most of them are variations on a theme, but it forces me to think about how the thread will wind it's way through the pattern.  I love that challenge.   I love the way I have to hold the pattern in my head as I flip the book around.  I love feeling the signatures in my fingers and seeing the thread shorten as I work my way down the spine.  I even enjoy the awkwardness of the first few stitches, trying to keep the signatures flush with the spine and not flopping around.

All in all, fun is had.

plod plod plod

Still sleeping like a hibernating sloth.  A hibernating sloth who does carpool duty.

I have, however slowly, been working on this new journal with thicker paper.  I got the signatures all put together and put holes in a couple signatures.  Then...

My dog got interested in one of them while I did the car taxi thing.  I would say he was feeling ignored, but I don't think he's that kind of dog.  I think he's the kind of dog who just found something interesting and investigated it.  He's a dog kind of dog.

My kids thought I was going to freak out, but funnily I had just set aside one signature because the journal was too thick (even before I started working in it).  I have learned to respect the width of the journal.  So I just repunched the signature and carried on.

 

Normally when I get to this point, I'm all gangbusters, but this binding has been interrupted by lots of naps.  I don't know why I'm so sleepy, but luckily I can indulge myself.  I also couldn't settle on the style of binding I wanted to do.  I had couple contenders, but nothing felt just right.

As it happened, I combined a couple different patterns.  I put chains on the outside.  I enjoy doing that stitch.  It reminds me of my embroidery days.  

I put the two outside signatures in and then paused for a nap.  I didn't reinforce the spine on this book because it seemed strong enough, which may have been a mistake. Because I have made journals that didn't get used right away, I'm taking this as a big experiment.  I will get to see what works and what doesn't.  That is actually part of the excitement for me.  

Here, a tortoise

I'll be done with my fourth notebook journal in a day or two.  I've bound a fair number of journal books but only used two or three blank ones that I've made myself.  I'm not counting travel journals, which are a different kettle of fish to me.  Right now, I'm looking at my shelf, and nothing jumps out to me.  So...

I'm slowly putting a new one together.  I want to use heavier paper than I've done in the past, and I've collected a couple different 140lb weight watercolor sheets from close outs and sales that I think will work.  I also bought some wall paper recently, which I've never used before...

I ordered it through the mail, so the texture was a little unexpected.  I have no idea if that is normal wallpaper or funky extra special texture.  It's been years since I used wallpaper on a wall.  

I have some page construction to do before I finish my signatures.  I don't want to rush into this (which is my usual style).  I like being swept along by enthusiasm sometimes, but right now I want to think about how I am using or want to use this book.  I want to be able to use wet media and not have a completely buckled page.  I don't want bleed through.  I don't want the pages to be too precious - which is why I like to use sale sheets - because I want to experiment and be sloppy and not have that backtalk in the back of my mind.  It shouldn't matter, but ...  

As slow as I'm going, I seem to need to go slower still.  Slow but not stopped.

And then...

I just couldn't stop myself. It started back in Oct, I think, when I made this puppy.

The inside is all envelopes turned inside out so the cool security paper is on show.

It was surprisingly easy to take them apart and re-glue them.  And since I have stacks of envelopes I kept thinking could be used for 'something', this seemed like the perfect something.

I also started a second one.  And decided to use an upholstery sample as my binding.

You can't see, but I used envelopes and other recycled papers for this one.  I cut up pages from a couple books (for different size/style text) and gessoed the pages before I stuck them in.  And I think there is some ledger paper or something.

But there it sat.  I hadn't really enjoyed the binding on the first 4"square book.  It was different, and I like trying things, but it was awkward and... not quite what I wanted.

When I made this little puppy above I was likewise dissatisfied with the binding.  Both of them do their job, but this one was easy to put together, but I didn't like the look. The little stitches really irk me, they're just too close together and don't show well.  But again, that's just aesthetic. It holds together nicely.

But I was just itching to try another one, so I went back to 4square journal B (as I named it in my enigmatic and completely arbitrary naming system).  I did plan this a little better (a small amount of forethought and planning really does make a difference).  I enjoy punching holes in the paper.

But not so much in the binding.  Especially in this, with the cloth/paper/book tape layers, and I'm just not exact by nature and my hand shakes a good bit, so ... I can see the wobbly placement even though it doesn't really matter it gets to me.

Yes, it does.  I need to chill about this.

But this is by far my favorite part.  This binding went in with two signatures worked together back and forth down the spine.  Because the book is so small (4" square plus or minus a bit) it was super easy to manipulate (especially with a flexible spine).

And although they are a little wiggly, I did manage to punch only the holes I needed for the pattern, and didn't lose my concentration and just punch out a bunch more, which has happened too many times.

The shot above is suppose to illustrate something.  No idea.  Should have take notes.  

This was the end product.  I LOVE IT!   I love the pattern inside and out, it's a relatively simple economical stitch pattern (which pleases my soul).  I love the texture and how the stitches show off.  I like the symmetrical pattern (again, a soul pleaser).

Those these were the two I finished on Friday.  Except these are the backs turned upside down.  Hmm....   Attention to detail not my strong suit.

But then I also wanted to show this.

These are the needles I'm using (although I've used everything from tapestry to embroidery to just whatever I could get my thread through).  They're blunt.  I have sharp ones too for specific situations because honestly I've hurt myself worse with them then I ever have with a quilting needle.  More force, I suppose, going through the binding and bigger.  I like the blunts which also are less likely to tear the paper.

But I show this also to plug John Neal Booksellers, which have both books on bookmaking/calligraphy etc. and the supplies to go along with those.  They are not that far from me, and although they don't have a store front and really only do mail order, they let random people wander in and ogle the supplies and then patiently answer really elementary senseless questions with really helpful advice.  And in front (although I've lost the picture) they have a bulletin board with some of the envelopes that calligraphers have sent them.  Amazing.  I would say inspiring, but ... ain't never going to happen with my wobbly hand.  Still.  Check out their website or just call and ask for a catalogue which is fun to pour over.

I mean, you don't have to.  But you could.

And now...

for something completely different.

I made a small envelope journal a couple months ago (was it that long?) inspired by a two little books I saw on Pinterest.  I've been going through piles of mail and papers and of course, I have a hard time throwing out things....

So I decided to made another little journal.

I folded up some envelopes and then decided that I wanted to paint over some of the markings.  On the first journal, I actually turned the envelopes inside out, which was one of the ideas I stole.  I couldn't be bothered this time. 

I used some of the Gelli prints I made at the end of the summer.  And duct tape I happen to have (although since I haven't  been actively replenishing it, I can say I'm down to under two dozen roles.  Oh, I do love that duct tape.

I whipped out my binding materials and started punching holes willie nilly.  Didn't even let myself get compulsive and get the ruler.  I winged it.  Like the fat pigeon I've been.

In my binding tin I found this length of purple something.  Ran it through my bees wax and voila - it was good to go.  I'm felt so radical, using non official bookbinding thread to bind my expensive recycled book.  Skating on the edge here. Which is pretty wild since getting the skates on my fat pigeon feet was a trick.

I picked a binding pattern and immediately made some oopses, but decided they fit in with my get it done theme.

I like binding patterns that are simple and economical.  Don't really like to double back on the thread - mostly because I like as little thread showing inside in the gutter as possible.  I thought this was straight forward, but in the end, didn't like it for this thin signature book.  I'm not so bright that way since it should have been obvious, but hey - why pay attention to those things when you can just lumber forward on your fat pigeon skate encased feet?

And if you keep lumbering, you will end up with a nifty little envelope book.  I'll show more inside when I actually start working in it, which I'm thinking I might just do instead of putting it straight onto my shelf of already made books.

And just to give you a hint of things I haven't shown you yet... Maybe tomorrow unless I nap instead.  Could happen.  All day.  Some days are just like that.

Another four square

I call them 4 square journals because - yup - they're about four inches square.  I bound the first one made of envelopes.

But in the second one I cut up some old book pages, well, and envelopes.  I've had envelopes on my mind I guess.  Or maybe the pile I've been accumulating just tipped over onto the desk.  Either way.

I decided to gesso the pages, something I don't usually do.  I'm not so big on the gesso.  Mostly because I don't really like the feel of my pen on a gessoed surface.  But I sucked it up and did it anyway.  I think that will encourage me to paint a little more, which I want to do.

I've put this together not in one big rush, which is my usual mode of new projects (at least before they get stalled and end up in my to-do pile), but in little bite size bursts. 

I decided to use a similar kind of binding/spine for this journal.

I bought a bunch of pink and orange book cloth tape on close out.  It's actually not very good - the adhesive is weak - but I'm using it anyway.  I wrapped the tape around my end boards/covers which I've done before with thin journals.  I wanted this to be sturdier, so I've added a thick cloth for the outside of the spine.

If you slop enough glue onto paper, it will - eventually- become flexible.

With enough glue.  Eventually.

I did remember the freezer paper because the cloth was wet with glue (and so a little sticky).  I layered the freezer paper on each and all sides of the book cloth/spine and put it under weights for a night.  Or two.  But it's dry now so no worries.  And the freezer paper just peeled right off.

 

No words, just pictures

 

Four square envelope journal

While I was working on this book, I talked to myself, trying to be clear about what I was doing and why.  After I got the cover finished and the book glued together, I kept turning them over and over until I realized that the signatures were so skinny, I didn't want to try to make individual holes for each stitch.  As soon as I saw that, I knew I'd cut slits, like I'd done in a Diane Trout on-line class for a long-stitch journal.

That simplified a lot of things. I had thoughts of trying to do a fancy pattern with different length stitches, but I let that go.  

Because I wasn't working from a diagram or a lesson, it took me a couple tries to get the first row of stitches in correctly.  It makes a difference sometimes if the stitch is started from inside the book or outside.  In the end, it didn't matter for this, but it took me a pass or two to figure that out.  I actually pullled out one length, and re stitched it.  That doesn't bother me, although it might someone else.  I like the puzzle part.  I also stitched the first row pretty loosely.

I even did the second row loosely.  Then I went back and tightened the stitches up.  Because it's a simple running or long stitch, that's easy to do.  Keeping it loose just made it easier to get the pattern down and feel confident in what I was doing.

If you hit a snag - do NOT just yank on your thread.  This was the first of only three knots, but the stupidest because I tried to force the waxed thread through.  WHY?  It's waxed.  It wants to stick together.  Several minutes later after teasing the knot out, I took a deep breath, slowed down and made things simpler for myself.

The outside looks a bit sloppy.  But it's a journal of recycled envelopes so ....

I'm not sure if it's clear from the picture below, but the thread is coming from the outside of the spine.  To make it easier to pass the needle into the signature, I first go inside and make a clear path with the needle, pushing from inside out.  Then it's easier to take the needle from the outside and go in.

After I'd run all the stitches up and down the signatures, I decided to go back and wrap the thread around the top of each of the signatures.  

One end looked neat.  The other not so much.  I had to kind of improvise the directions to get each signature.  But again... recycled... trying new things.

So this is what it looks like now.   

I have a head cold blooming, so I didn't spend the day starting to fill it.  Instead I did my house chores I'd set for myself (dragging things out of corners and cupboards and sorting) and then took a nap. I have the second small square journal I started to bind up next.  I got everything out to start, and then the nap jumped me.  Plus the cat who sat on my while I slept.  And then again when I rolled over.  Stubborn cat.

Slow and hazy

I stalled out on my little envelope journal, and not because it doesn't interest me.  One of the myriad of side effects of prednisone is that once you've taken it long enough it shuts down your thyroid (since you are flooded with adrenaline, why would you add more?).  Then as you wean off the prednisone it takes a while for it to kick back in.  

But another part of the delay has been not being settled with what kind of binding I want to use.  I wanted this book to be sturdy, although I haven't had any problems with my other books, but.... I wasn't satisfied.  So I went back and forth.  Tapes?  Yes tapes.  No tapes.  Yes open spine.  No open spine.  

I finally decided to glue the signatures together.  I did this before I put my holes for the binding in.  I don't recommend this, it was not a plan, it was just lazy lazy thinking.  So now along with a couple envelopes, each signature has a watercolor paper "cover", each of which has been glued to another.  This should stabilize the binding and not have it twist too much.  I don't glue the signatures into the binding as a block - just don't know how to do that yet.  Maybe won't.  But I will also be glueing the endpapers of the first and last signature onto the end boards/covers.

I used Modge Podge because for whatever reason I like the smell.

Then I left it under a little granite triangle I use as a weight.  So far I have managed, with the judicial use of freezer paper, not to glue all the envelopes together or to the table.  Yay me.

Sometimes I have a whole idea in my head for what I want a book to look like.  I thought I did for this, but it went hazy and is only slowly coming into focus.  At first this was disconcerting, but I'm enjoying it now.

Hide and peek

No brain at all today, but still in motion.  I don't have the links I want so I'll have to finish this post tomorrow, but - a peek -  just a peek.  Because as i've been brainlessly surfing Pinterest I saw not ONE but TWO little journals that made me stop everything and start hunting through my recycle pile (not my bin, my pile in my room).  So now I have two little journals taking shape.

That's all I'm going to say until I can get the links sorted and find my brain.

Coptic fun

before

after

In the two needle stitch form, the threads are crossed over each other, so there are two threads.  I like bindings with as little inside stitching as possible, so I'll probably try a different variation next time.  It maybe that's as good as it gets.

The signatures and thread are so thin, it doesn't show off the loop aspect of the stitch.  I still like the corded effect (affect? no effect, I think, ... maybe)

Talk about opening flat.

With all my little technical complaints, I really like the flexibility of the binding.  I could see how that would be very useful and workable.  I enjoy the feel of the book.

Thank you for your patience.

Coptic continued

I'm showing these pictures, hoping they give a sense of how the stitch builds.  I'm not sure they do unless you already have an image in your head of how they link together, but again, what struck me when I started was how much easier it was than I expected.  I did all six stations at once.  They could be done in pairs or even singularly (depending how how you run your thread between stations).  Starting with a clear image of how they work together is important.  I find I can visualize this pretty easily, but that's probably what appeals to me about binding and stitching.  If it seems too complicated, I try a simpler version or a different stitch.  No point in going crazy when I'm really all about utility and fun.

Threading the needle between the signatures is actually the most difficult part, since the middle stitches (in the middle of the pages) have no angle to twist back the needle with.  I found just using my fingernails to push the needle around and then back worked just well enough.  Not too easy, but doable.  The end stations (like below) were clearly the easiest.

 

The pattern the loops made didn't come out as pretty as I'd hoped.  That may be that I didn't spend any time neatening them up with my needle tip.  It might be that the signatures were too skinny or the thread too thin.  Such is life. I still liked it.

I took many many pictures of the stitching, but really, not that interesting.  When I got to the end, I placed the board on top.  You can see how it's possible to just tuck the needles in between the signatures and if the signature are held together, the needles stay put.  Between that and the waxed thread holding the needle onto the thread, all six needles were not such a problem.  Did I drop a needle?  Yeah, once or twice.  But really, not much different than if I was just using one at a time.  Just figure out a way to hold the body together with whatever hand position works for you.

 

 

At this point I stuck the needle between the signatures
and tied the thread off on the inside.

 

And Voila! It is done.  Well, after I tied them all off and cut the threads.  Pretty pictures tomorrow from silly perspectives.  Because I like them that way.

Coptic Stitches

I had pictures of the prep of this book, but again, with the computer crash I don't have all my files organized and after a while looking I gave up.  This was scrapbook paper that I'd had kicking around and decided to use to try a coptic stitch binding.  I've seen this binding all over, and it clearly has many different variations.  The prep was easy since there was only one template for the same hole spacing on all the signatures.  I didn't want to put too many papers in each signature and that shows in the tightness of the binding stitch.  Maybe another time with different paper. 

 I just love the way they're all stacked up.  The cover/end boards are just two pieces of cardboard I'd spray painted.

 For the particular variation I chose, I used two needles simultaneously in each paired set of 'stations'.  The stitches are basically a loop stitch running across the binding (rather than up the side as I did here).  

 This is the inside cover where you can see that the threads cross over.  They'll stitch in a look to the next signature and then cross again inside. 

It's also possible to do this stitch with a single needle.  Keith Smith all multiple variations and then I You tubed a whole lot more.  I wanted to try the two needle, and you will see later that I actually did the three paired sets for this book simultaneously(using six needles).  I happen to live closish to John Neal Booksellers and had bought a packet of binding needles (knowing how things get dispersed in my work space - not lost, dispersed).  I also had some I'd been using for knitting.  Really, can not have enough needles because that doesn't count the quilting/sewing/beading needles similarly dispersed in my room.

That's all for today.  More later as the stitch builds.

Book One

Right now I can't find the photos from when I prepped this book.  I'll try and dig them out of the mess and chaos of my current photo library.  When my hard drive died at the end of the summer, my well organized and edited library when up in a puff of smoke (or a scrapping of code) and it will just take time to find the right disk with the original photos on it.  But here, below, is the book as I was about to bind it.  I know I will be adding things to the pages, so I left a lot of play for the signatures to expand.  

The tricky part of this binding was making sure the holes in the spine and signature lined up.  When I dig up my fabulous shots, you will be able to see that I had to make a template with three different signature hole placements (one strip, coded) and then a different template with the whole spine layout.  There are faint Xs where I was reminding myself not to punch.  I did pretty well, not perfect, but pretty well. 

The second part that is tricky, is keeping the signatures in order while I'm stitching them in.  I plan and I plan and I plan and I still want to reorder them as I go, because something will shift in my brain and my new 'solution' always causes problems.  So I try to avoid adjusting anything once it's set.  Unless I completely goof up.  Which happens.

Below is one 'unit' of stitches.  This was one of those times that I was having so much fun, I forgot to take pictures of putting in the first set of three signatures.  Each set is a group of three stitches going vertically (slanted) down the book, so below is after I started putting the second set in.

I did like how the stitches ran simply down the spines inside the book.  No doubling back.  I like straightforward stitches that do the work without too much elaboration or waste.

I was glad for a flexible spine, because I had to work to get the needle through the back and then the pages.

 

 

 

 So that is another of the books I bound during camp.  I have one more I'll try to put up maybe over the weekend.  I would do this stitch again in a heartbeat.  I liked how uncomplicated it all was, once I'd gotten the piecings done.  I also liked how the spine looked.

Happy Friday1 

I had some things to say

 When I bound this journal, I remember very clearly that I had some things to say.  I took a lot of photos, which is unusual because I get so excited by the time I get to the binding that I often look up, realizing that I've stitched the whole thing without a photo taken.  I've actually undone a binding, just to photograph a bit of the steps.  I pick bindings that I think I can handle (although I'm pretty good with juggling pages and backs) and which fits with my skill set.  I use floppy spines so that gives me some flexibility in manipulating the book.  Also it lays flat.  Also I don't know how to do it differently.  

I am often hung up on doing things "right", which means I don't start until I have an idea in my head of how it goes on, but making journals been very freeing because I know they're just for me, there is no wrong, and if I run into a problem, I can figure a way that works for me.

I have learned- don't tighten the stitches until and unless you have to.  Usually there is a point where they can be loose, so you can flex and see what you're doing, get the structure aligned, work your needle easier, etc.  Then there is a point where I have to go back and tighten things up.  I try to go slowly with a new stitch to feel where that point is.  

Keeping a waxed thread from tangling takes practice and patience.  Below you see what happens quite a bit.  No problem.  Don't pull hard.  Use the needle to tease it apart again.  Just deep breaths and going slowly.  Take the time to keep the thread as untwisted as possible and except some mistakes.  No problem. 

I know I had more thoughts than that.  I know I did.  I can feel the echo of really instructive comments reverberating in my noggin, but ...

I loved the pattern of this stitch.  

As always, I got it from Keith Smith's bookbinding volumes.  This was probably from "Volume II Non-Adhesive Binding: 1-2- & 3-Section Sewings"  He has a website.  You could go to it and order from there. Easy peasy.

 

In the end, it didn't look exactly the way it had in the illustration, but without having a thicker thread or different proportions I don't see how it would.  I like it.   I could have run the stitch all the way down the spine, but for some reason I wanted to do it in sections.  It was probably the math - how many stitches in that length of spine.  

Maybe later I'll think of all my wise words and add them.  Probably not.  I'm on some medication and the brain (really doesn't feel like mine) is moving very slowly.  

Very. Slowly.

Probably just the right state to do a little binding.

When I was at camp....

I remembered.  

I forgot to post photos of some book binding I did this summer.

When we went to camp, we had a little tiny table in our cabin/bunk room.  I filled it up with my supplies.  That there, the American Heritage book, is the one I'm thinking of now.  I'd prepped the pages for that and a couple others before I went to camp, long before.  Sitting around gathering dust before.  So it seemed like a good think to tuck all the unbound books I'd gotten ready into a little tub and bring them along.  

Once at camp, since I had no cleaning or washing or laundry or nuttin to do, I got to play all day.

 This particular binding works with just two signatures.  Just right for a skinny book.  Turned out different than I'd thought, but when does it not?

This is not my favorite part of bookbinding.  Deciding which binding to use is fun.  Stitching - love love love the stitching.  But punching holes really requires time and concentration, both of which seem to elude me.  Camp was a good place to be able to focus.  No interruptions.  Although the holes for this one were the least complicated.

 I'm going slow right now, but I have more pictures to share.  Stitching.  It's all about the stitching.

Just pictures, no words

 

 

Making a vacation journal, part 3

I thought this would be fewer photos, but... I just love bindings.

(I think this shows all the tools I used.  Thread, wax, needle, scissors, awl, phonebook, ruler.)

What I didn't show is this, the book I use for my binding needs.  Actually I have three of his books, but this is the one with all the fancy smancy stitches (the other ones have fancy stitches too - just different structures).  I picked a variety called an Arrow, but there's more than one, which is why the books so great.

The book gives both wordy instructions and diagrams.  I like the diagrams because it's crystal clear to me what the pattern of the stitch sequence is.  Not that I get it right.  I usually have to stitch the first few positions and then take them out and try again.  One thing to remember with any binding is to know if you are looking at the plan from the outside or from the inside of the structure.  Sometimes I get that flipped.

Not that you would.  You're much better that way than I am, but please don't boast.  It hurts my feelings.

I could be using my fancy dancy japanese hold puncher, but once I use duct tape, that rules out the hole puncher.  I gummed it up good in the spring and I'm not cleaning that baby out again if I can help it.

From the diagram (either from a book, a class or just your plan), you should be able to figure out how much thread you're going to need.  Technically, my advice would be to use just what you need and no more, but in practice I always add more than I think I'll need because I make too many miscalculations and HATE tying new thread on (although that really is just my pathology - tying on thread is no biggie).

Some thread is prewaxed.  This one is not, so I had to run it across this bar of wax.  See the lines?  That's where the thread digs into the wax as it is being dragged across. With my herculean strength.  Really two or three passes would be enough.  And let me just add here from experience, if you think LOTS more wax would make it just that much stronger, it doesn't.  You just end up scrapping off excess wax from the thread as it pushes through your little holes, and that's a mess.  So don't even think about it.  Just stop.  Well, maybe one extra pass, but really, that's it.

I want to say this about John Neal booksellers.  They're mail order.  They're fairly small.  Their staff is FANTASTIC!  I live not far, and when I can I stop by.  They actually really know their stock and have given me terrific advice.  So I'm saying it's not just a bunch of people throwing stuff in boxes.  They really like this stuff.  Their biggest target customers are calligraphy/graphic artist people.  I lost the pictures of the wall of envelopes they've saved when people wrote in with fantastic penmanship.  Anyway, they have all the bookbinding materials you might want and a great section of instructional books.  Plus they sell packets of needles.  

I love that phrase.  Packets of needles.

Going back to the diagram (which you need.  Really you do.  Have a plan.  Measure it out.  Save yourself the headache. I use graph paper for mine and make it the size of the spine, so I can get a sense of the layout and how close the holes are etc.) I then marked out the places I needed to punch holes.

Can you see how the signature is nestled into the phone books crease?  That keeps the pages from shifting.  You want to go straight down and hit each page on the fold line, or as close as you can.  I hadn't clipped my pages together on this signature, but I usually do.  Very easy to do, and saves yourself a lot or rearranging and flopping.

Also, keep the awl straight up and down, so it's not angling away from the spine.

After the signatures are all punched (and a little groggy), you can start sewing the signatures in.  Usually I go through the cover, pull my thread mostly through, and then go through the signature.  Sometimes there is wiggling of the needle.  Sometimes the awl reappears, sometimes the papers need to be adjusted.  This is a good time to slow down, take a deep breath and relax your grip.  

For this particular binding with three signatures, the middle signature went in first.  I modified the plan just slightly.  Then later I had to live with the complication that made.  But I'm resourceful.  I figured it out.

After you do a bit, go back and check that you have in fact pulled all the threads through.  At least once every journal, the thread gets hooked up on a edge or knotted on itself and if I haven't checked quickly enough, I have to rework large sections to tighten everything up.  Check from several perspectives.

The more complicated the sewing stitch, the more likely you will have to grow extra fingers or hands to handle the signatures as they are sewn in.  

I love the rhythm of stitching.

Although I said you should keep checking the thread for looseness, there are also times it's good to leave a little play, so you can maneuver your needle more easily.  This isn't so necessary for the first signature, and by the end of that one, it is usually easier to know when it's time to make everything snug.

This is a slightly heavy thread, and it's going to show quite a bit on the inside spread of each signature.  That doesn't bother me.  But choosing binding color and thickness is a consideration.  Also, in this binding, one end of each signatures is "wrapped" by the thread, meaning it goes around it (and through the cover). It's more likely the pages can get cut into, which you can already see the the image below.  Again, not a big deal for me in this journal, but I could have planned that better.

Here is what the final binding looks like.  I didn't realize just how subtle the color choice was, but that makes it less bold on the inside, which might be good.  I like it, but might have chosen the blue thread if I'd realized.

Now the basic structure is done.  I've added tabs and I might modify it some (I just realized I didn't prep the two envelopes I inserted) but hey, that's all good.

Tonight I'll put it under a book to help the pages fold better.  I should have done that last night, probably, but I was befuddled by tape choices.  I fled.

Now peace has been restored to the valley. (Kung Fu Panda)

Sorry this post is so long.  No one asked for it. I just felt like it.

Bindings, yum!

Making a vacation journal, part 2

This morning I woke up with a splitting headache (bad weather, mutter mutter), so it's taken me a while to get back to my book making.  When I did, I started with what I knew I could decide easily, and that's getting the watercolor paper ready to go into the signatures.

I bought a sheet of Fabriano Artistico on close-out recently, and wanted to use that.  I also had a bit of Strathmore Aquarius II left over that I enjoyed at camp, so in it goes.

As a quilter, I have a big cutting table at standing height (I'm 5'9" and finally I got tired of stooping over the dining room table.).  I also happen to have a cutting mat, rotary cutter and long cutting rulers.  I could have ripped the paper, and it gives it that nice deckled edge, but honestly, I don't care about that for this and using a rotary cutter is quicker.  

Not all the pages are the same size.  Most were cut 8" by 10" plus or minus, so they fold into the folded-page-size journal I'm making. 

Some of them I left longer, and folded the paper so it will fold out into longer strips.  I liked that at camp this year, and look forward to seeing how that does.  

This was what one of the folded watercolor papers looked like, and this is what it looks like inserted into the signature.

 Next I finally decided which tape I was using on the outside (some yellow duct tape) and cut and laid that on the table.  I cut it a couple inches longer than the bristol board I'm using for the cover.  I laid it on my work surface and with a small ruler, laid the cover pages front and back.  Then I wrapped the tape around the edges.

(This is the back or inside of the cover)

In this case, I knew I wanted to use pink book cloth on the inside (why?  I have no idea), but if I hadn't, I would have just made the yellow duct tape much longer so that it covered front and  back completely and stuck to itself down the spine.  

As it is, I made sure to cut the pink tape long enough to overlap the yellow duct tape.  This strengthens the spine.  I could put a strip of board down the center between the duct tape layers, but I don't need it that strong and that would make it less flexible.  

I checked to make sure that all the signatures would fit in before I laid down the pink tape (being careful not to stick the spine of the signatures into the exposed yellow tape.  

In the end, I decided to have three signatures.  I think this might be overkill because it's easily double what I used last time and I'll be there for fewer days, but I didn't insert any photos into the last one, and I'm hoping for some collaboration. 

After the spine was taped outside and in, I moved on to covering the entire front and back with packing tape.  I happen to have some decorative packing tape (imagine that!) which I added at the last minute.  I had also glued the photos I wanted to the front and back and written info on the front.

By the the time I'm done, the entire front and back and all edges are covered in one or more layers of packing tape.  The inside covers are not totally covered, so if I want, I have some space to add writing or tape something, but I could even if it was taped.

That left the washi tape decision and since I'd chosen the various cover tapes, this actually helped me decide which washi tapes to bring.  I have six, but I'll probably use three or four the most.

I couldn't resist Scotches' bicycle tape.  I just adore that, and since someone I know is thinking I'm going to go on a tandem bike ride with them, I had to include it.  This in no way obligates me to actually GO on a tandem adventure.  Just saying.

Tomorrow I will show how the binding happened.  I have to finish today, but I need a break now.  Plus I love the binding.  It's the inside of the Oreo for me.

 

Making a vacation journal

This is the second in a few posts showing how I go about making a journal for travel.  Yesterday's post showed the journal I used two years ago when we went to the same beach house.  I began by looking at that and noticing what I liked and what I wanted to do again.

Since it was one of the first journals, and certainly the first travel journal I'd made, the success of it certainly influenced my feeling that this was something I wanted to keep doing.  It served as a real visual/written journal and fit in with my whole vacation.  The size and construction worked well.

I guess there are four signatures in it (looking at the threads) each with just a few sheets and I used a pamphlet binding stitch.  Very easy, very elegant in it's simplicity.  Maybe not elegant with the dangling threads, but I actually used those - I'd wrap my finger in them and that helped me hold the journal open.

So in looking at this, it occurred to me that it was a wonderful representation of where I was, skill and experience wise, when we took our vacation.  

So that helped me think about what I wanted to use.  Since I've been gelli printing on heavy card stock or bristol paper, I decided to use one of those pages for the cover.  I picked a sort of plain one and cut it in half, since I like that size.  It should be bigger than what I used at camp, but still easy to carry around down to the water.

I'm using this for the cover and taping some photos on it.  Then I'll cover it with packing tape again, because not only does that keep the journal dry, it stiffens the paper too, which I like.  I could use a heavier board, but since I know this worked well for me before and this is what I have on hand, I'm going with it.  I will use duct tape for the book cloth and that makes the spine very flexible so I'll be able to flip it open completely, which I also like.

Because of the computer crash, I've been going through old camera disks, trying to find photos I'd used or am using for this blog.  That mean I actually had to organize my disk pile, and voila - photos from that vacation.  I printed them out on double sided paper on my printer.  I don't have photoshop elements or any other thing I wanted to use, so I just used the simple settings my printer had for layout.  Works for me.  I realized I had quite a few I liked and want to incorporate, so I printed to pages with big images that I'll fold in half as pages.  One of these is above on the right.  The smaller ones I'll either glue to the cover or might use inside.  Any I don't use here will go into my piles of collage material for my next pamphlet journal (#8 - in the works).  

I pulled out a lot of paper, but finally realized that I wasn't going to use most of it.  The couple on the left made it in, the rest go back into the infamous stash. What I will include is some watercolor paper that I'm going to cut/rip today.

I pulled all this out too, but I think I'll just set it aside and take it with me to collage if I want.

Then came the issue of the tape for the spine and thread color.  I have more than a couple thread colors, and I love them all, so choosing is always a problem.  This is about the time I decide to make more than one journal, usually, because I can see so many different combinations.  And that is why I have a shelf of unused journals already, so... trying to restrain myself.

I had sort of decided on the green with the pink book cloth and blue cover when...

my eye was caught by the yellow duct tape.  Argh....

And that was before I considered washi tape.

I'm going to bed and tomorrow everything will become clear.  Or not.

 

Two points and then that's all I have to say.

Behind my eyes, this is what I see.

Before I left on our trip, I couldn't decide which journal to bring.  Since don't have a lot of experience using travel journals (as opposed to a simple sketchbook) I wasn't sure what was important to me.  This time, instead of letting myself get stuck, I just decided, BAM, this is a trail run, and therefor nothing I do is wrong because it will teach me what I want, either by having it or by not having it.

I ended up starting in one book, one that I had bound about a year ago.  This was the second one, and I had just bound it the week before we left while we were at camp.

The paper was Arches text wove, which ended up being the same paper used in the first journal I picked.  I like this paper to bind because it's thin and flexible and I can get a lot of pages in a relatively flat book but they're pretty tough.

As it turns out, it is not my favorite travel journal paper.  Now, I have no idea what my favorite paper might be, but this isn't it.

Now I know.

I love this bind, though.  It's from Keith Smith's book  (1,2,3 section bindings, I think is the subtitle, I'll check when I get home). 

 I tried to remember to take pictures while I was doing the stitches, but it went so fast - BAM - I was done before I knew it.

 

 

I am absolutely in love with it for simplicity and ease.  I'm thinking the next time I travel, I'll just have signatures to carry around, and then bind it when I get home.  This would be a good choice for something like that.

I started using this book for the final week or so of our trip.  I'll show more as I get home and get things going with it, but just wanted to give a taste today.

I loved being able to open this journal almost flat end even fold it back on itself and sketch while I standing.  Good point to consider.

But as I was going through these photos, I found this.

Just a reminder, that when one person starts complaining, everyone ends up in a grump mood.

Just another point to consider.

We are now interrupting the regularly scheduled program...

I had plans.  I have plans, but not the same plans.

The plan I had was about what I would post and, boy, were those good plans.

One of three journals I worked in, this ws the smallest and had foldouts.  It was leftover strips from when I tore my paper to make other books.

The plan I have is to get on a plane tomorrow.  So here's the lowdown skinny.  My daughter, who was at a nearby boarding school (which means I saw her during the weekends, which is not nearly enough, not nearly) last year, and I will be traveling to Madrid tomorrow.  We're there for a couple days of sights and sounds and then, BAM off to Salamanca we go, to study spanish and soak in the culture and take siestas.

I'm terribly terribly excited.

I had a blast with this binding.  Super super easy and fun.

Except that we just got back from camp and a week of sketching and more sketching and just a little watercolor so I am unpacking and wanting to scan and trying to remember where I put the passports to keep them handy (it only took me three tries) and cleaning out the frig which somehow got unplugged (but luckily I'd cleaned it out a good bit knowing it wouldn't be seeing much action -for once on the right side of that kind of fiasco).  So no scans and no big write ups, for now.  But hopefully when we have arrived and have internet service and a little time (right after the siesta but before we go for our pramanade).

Boats and more boats.  Little watercolor boats.  The black dots are buoys, but I wish I'd left them out - I think they look like mistakes.  I actually painted this upside down, which irks me.

So only these hints of what I've been up to.  

I finally finally did a coptic stitch binding.  Not sure how I feel about it but feeling very accomplished is a good thing, right?

Would I mind.

Sometimes unexpected pleasures pop up.

This weekend someone asked me if I would mind making a little journal for her for a spanish assignment.  She needs to write sentences, illustrate them and hand in a little booklet.

Really.  Would I mind.

Of course the number of questions I asked (how big, what kind of paper, cover?, thread color, opinion on design) far exceeded the amount she needs to write.

I had so much fun.  If I'd had more time, I would have gotten a little crazy with it, so it's probably good that I only had an hour or so.  Plus she's going to glue the drawings in so it doesn't need to be too sturdy.

Thank you my lovely Bean.

Sometimes things happen on impulse

I had some stuff

And on impulse, I wanted to do a thing

And some more stuff.

So I did.  On impulse.

And I wanted a wrapped binding.

All very Mary Ann Moss inspired and happily so.

All of that.

 

I did not just do that

All evidence to the contrary, I am sure that I did NOT just make another pamphlet journal.

One moment my table looked like this.  And the next...

I'm sorting through boxes of paper and

 duct tape has appeared and 

do I want to go with the grey tone or the taupe?

WHERE IS MY BRAIN?

I am NOT making journals.  I am completeing projects and cleaning out corners and getting old stuff DONE!

Except for all the night wear manufactoring going on here which is a COMPLETELY different story.

And IFJM which MUST be attended to because,

well, it must.

But aside from those detours, I'm lists and straight lines to finished products.

Except in a sense, using up old papers and supplies (because of course I would only be using OLD stuff) would be one way of dealing with all the clutter.

Plus there is all the energy you get from a new small project that is just TOO much fun.

And the Modge Podge high.  Which I shouldn't mention.  So I won't.

I do wonder at myself sometimes.