2nd of the 11 journals from that large order.  I’m pretty pleased with how this one came out, especially with how quickly it came together.  Maybe 2 hours total not counting printing the paper?

~5 1/2″ wide x 8 1/2″ long x 1/2″ thick; quarter cloth case binding; heavy-weight bookboard; 128 pages, lined; 64 lb. (95 g/sq.m.) charcoal paper; inner cover pages of  65# cardstock; cover of hand made
100% cotton bookcloth and ribbon in a quarter cloth style with ribbon bookmark and appliqued logo printed on 100% cotton; hand-sewn; bound by hand

This one’s not for sale as it was a custom order, but there are a couple in my Etsy shop all set and ready to go for anyone who’s interested.  ^_~  (Also, a reminder that any journal covered in bookcloth can be customized with an appliqued logo.)

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So, in honor of the fact that another of the journals on my Etsy page sold (YAY!!  :D), here are some pictures of the first of the set of 11 journals that my therapist commissioned from me.  ^_^  This one is 160 pages instead of the usual 128, lined, and I printed and appliqued her logo onto the front.

(Sorry this one’s not for sale, but there are others available in my shop that are! ^_^)

I have a few new bookbinding tools and things to make my life easier and WOW did this one come out better and easier than the last one I made!  Since I was having a terrible time finding 8 ½ x 11 paper that was the right thickness and would still get through the printer so I could make lined paper, I decided to approach the problem from the other side and get a paper cutter so I could just cut down the 9 x 12 paper that I love and use that instead.  It worked MUCH better!  ^_^  So, this one will probably go up for sale in my Etsy shop, but I’ll probably wait until I have some natural light tomorrow to get some better pictures.

~5 3/4″ wide x 8 3/4″ long x 1/2″ thick; quarter cloth case binding; heavy-weight bookboard; 120
sheets; 64 lb. (95 g/sq.m.) charcoal paper; inner covers of canvas texture 65# cardstock; cover of hand made
100% cotton bookcloth and fine paper with ribbon bookmark; hand-sewn; bound by hand

New tools:

• standard sized metal square rods to measure out the gutters on either side of the spine – SO USEFUL
• paper trimmer
• parchment paper – works much better as backing for gluing with the super because it doesn’t stick to it.  YAY! ^_^
• Not new, but unearthed
• iron
• tabletop ironing board

Thanks to those last two finds, I was able to make new bookcloth without having to schlep down to the basement to use my Uncle’s iron and the big ironing board which was SO HELPFUL because the lighting down there is CRAP.  This was MUCH easier. Also, man I love my little craft cart.  It’s so much nicer having everything in one place!

Wow.  I have NEVER had a book give me as much trouble as this one did.  O_o;;;  First of all, the paper I found, thought it’s gorgeous paper, is really just a hair too thick.  So it makes for very stiff page turns.  So that’s a problem.  It also made it really hard to cut down the text block.  So, AS YOU CAN SEE, it’s quite a bit smaller (5″ x 7.25″) than it was when it started out (5.5″ x 8.5″).  And I ended up having to hand-tear each page.  I actually really like the hand-torn effect and may try it again someday, but WOW this was not a good first intro to the technique.  😛

This was also my first time working with super as a reinforcement for the text block and I really liked it, but I need to invest in some wax paper.  Because, unlike using paper as a text block reinforcement, super has very large holes in the weave… and glue sticks to paper quite nicely through it.  OOPS.  Anyway, that was relatively easily taken care of by just gluing the endpapers in quickly, but still… lesson learned.  Wax paper is our friend.  ^_^

Finally, this was my first foray into making my own lined paper.  I AM really happy with how that came out, but I really need to find different paper.  *sigh*  Honestly, I LOVE the charcoal/drawing paper I buy in pads at Michael’s, but it’s 9 x 12, so my printer can’t do anything with it.  I guess I could invest in a paper cutter of some kind and just cut it down to 8.5 x 11, but that seems like such a massive pain in the rear.  There HAS to be a heavier-than-copy-paper-but-still-nice-for-writing-with-fountain-pens paper out there that’s 8.5 x 11.  I just need to FIND IT.

Anyway.  I’ll get all the final specs/official description up when I post it to my other blog, but for now… enjoy some pictures?  ^_^

irenicalarts:

Hand-bound case bound journal, currently available in my Etsy Shop, Irenical Arts.

Listing can be found here.

This journal is 9.25 x 6.25 inches, made with high quality (64 lb. / 104 g/sq.m.), unlined, drawing paper (128 sheets) and light-weight bookboard for the covers. It is covered in a quarter cloth style with a fox print fine paper and handmade 100% cotton bookcloth in gold with a green ribbon bookmark. These vibrant, refreshing colors are sure to inspire creativity!

This journal is hand-bound in a case binding technique with thread and PVA glue.

Whether you choose to use it as a journal, a sketchbook, a scrapbook, or you come up with another use entirely, I hope this journal will be an inspiration to you and a suitable place to keep your deepest thoughts, fondest memories, and creative endeavors!

6 1/4″ wide x 9 1/4″ long x 1/2″ thick; quarter cloth case binding; light-weight bookboard; 128 sheets; 64 lb. (95 g/sq.m.) charcoal paper; inner covers of canvas texture 65# cardstock; cover of hand made 100% cotton bookcloth and fine paper with ribbon bookmark; hand-sewn; bound by hand

Also still available: Pink Blue Gold Black coptic stitch journal, Blue Gold Green Purple coptic stitch journal, and Gold Red Brown with Butterflies Case Bound Journal

Been a while since I did one of these, but I’ve been itching to do something crafty for days now, so I thought this was a good time for it.  ^_^  And I’ve been wanting to use the fox paper for something for a while, so…  there you go?

6 1/3″ wide x 9 1/4″ long x 1/2″ thick; quarter cloth case binding; light-weight bookboard; 128
sheets; 64 lb. (95 g/sq.m.) charcoal paper; inner covers of canvas texture 65# cardstock; cover of hand made
100% cotton bookcloth and fine paper with ribbon bookmark; hand-sewn; bound by hand

Haven’t had much luck on Etsy with these, but I think I’ll put this one up and see what happens?

irenicalarts:

Hand-bound case bound journal, currently available in my Etsy Shop, Irenical Arts.

Listing can be found here.

This journal is 8.5 x 5.75 inches, made with
high quality (64 lb. / 104 g/sq.m.), unlined, drawing paper (120
sheets) and light-weight bookboard for the covers.  It is covered in a
quarter cloth style with handmade 100% cotton bookcloth in red and gold
with brown ribbon embellishments and bookmark.  These vibrant,
refreshing colors are sure to inspire creativity!

This journal is hand-bound in a case binding technique with thread and PVA glue.  

Whether
you choose to use it as a journal, a sketchbook, a scrapbook, or you
come up with another use entirely, I hope these journals will be an
inspiration to you and a suitable place to keep your deepest thoughts,
fondest memories, and creative endeavors!

8 1/2″ long x 5 3/4″
wide x 5/8″ thick; quarter cloth case binding; light-weight bookboard;
120 sheets; 64 lb. (104 g/sq.m.) medium surface drawing paper; inner
covers of canvas texture 65# cardstock; hand made 100% cotton bookcloth
cover with ribbon embellishment and bookmark; hand-sewn; bound by hand

Also still available: Pink Blue Gold Black coptic stitch journal and Blue Gold Green Purple coptic stitch journal

I just realized I never posted this from Sunday.  Oops.  ^_^

6 1/3″ wide x 9 1/4″ long x 1/2″ thick; quarter cloth case binding; light-weight bookboard; 120
sheets; 64 lb. (95 g/sq.m.) charcoal paper; inner covers of canvas texture 65# cardstock; hand made
100% cotton bookcloth cover with ribbon embellishment and bookmark; hand-sewn; bound by hand

I didn’t have time to make Arbender a scarf before his last day, but I didn’t want to show up empty handed, either, so I made him a journal and told him he had an IOU for the scarf (and he loved the Bahorel pattern, BTW ^_~), but I was NOT expecting the reaction I got from him about this journal.  ^_^  His eyes went HUGE and he broke into this amazing grin and was just like “NO WAY.  No. Way.  You made this?  This is for me?” and it was BEYOND ADORABLE.  ^____^  In addition, it turned out to be amazing timing, too.  Apparently he starts a new journal for every show that he’s in and he had just been starting to think about picking one up for his next show… and now he doesn’t have to!  And that is adorable and amazing and just AW.  ^_________^  I’m glad that he’ll have a use for it!