Binding my own art journal

The finished book

Oh, look how cute little book and I made it myself. I made this book so I could do art journaling. To use it in the #52CafeJournals challenge, to be more precise. The challenge is fairly new and it goes to the same category as #52CafeCards. And yes, the challenge was started by Maremi SmallArt. You can find the creations by others by using the hashtag on Facebook or on Instagram. I did plan to use my tea dyed papers but I didn't have enough papers and I didn't feel like dyeing some more. Perhaps I will sometimes later. I will definitely bind another book. It was fun to make.

Scoring the pages

I started off by cutting the Canson watercolor paper (300 g/m2) to the right size and then making the score lines to the center. The scoring is helpful when folding the paper. I used the Fiskars trimmer for both cutting and scoring. My trimmer doesn't have a scoring blade, so I used the bone folder.

One page is about 10 cm x 14 cm, so a spread would be 20 cm x 14 cm. Since the watercolor paper was so thick I used only one folded paper per signature. The terminology is new to me but what I have understood a signature is a stack of folded papers that will be sewn together with the other signatures.

Marking out the places for the holes

I gathered the pages into a neat and a tight stack and then I secured the stack with a large binder clip. I used a checkered paper to mark the spots for the needle holes. I made the marks to the top page as well and then with the help of a ruler I drew a straight line marking all the folded edges. I pierced holes with a needle to those marks.

Sewing the signatures together

After doing some research on how to bind books I decided to go for the Coptic stitch. I was doing well with the sewing and thought leaving the stitching visible. Unfortunately, the DMC crochet yarn which is almost 20 years old wasn't so strong anymore and it broke when I was pulling it too hard.

Putting on some glue

To hide the ends of yarn I decided to put a piece of fabric over the spine. I put Aleene's Quick dry Tacky glue over the hmm... what's the correct term for that... well, over the folded edges of the pages. I let the glue dry and then added some more glue.

Gluing down the fabric

The only fabric that I found suitable was a piece of an embroidery fabric. I cut it smaller and did some simple stitching to the shorter edges. I glued it down first on the spine and then to the side. The glue came through the fabric so I couldn't put it under heavy weight straight away. I had to wait a while and then placed it between two scrap papers and put the weight on top.

Cutting the covers

The hard covers are just slightly bigger than the pages. I took the background cardboard from a paper pad and cut it in two pieces. I taped the cardboard down and cut with the craft knife along the edge of the metallic ruler. I trimmed the covers to the right size.

Comparing the patterned papers against the covers

I don't have a picture of covering the covers with that gray paper. I just cut a paper in half and then glued the covers to the center of them. I pre-folded the paper, cut the corners off and then glued down the flaps. I let the covers dry under some heavy weight. Originally I planned to use that gray patterned paper for covers and put yellow papers to the inside of the covers.

Gluing down the patterned paper and the ribbon

I decided to put the yellow floral paper to the outside of the book and for the inside I chose a bit thicker double-sided paper. It actually had pretty patterns on the both sides so it took me a while to decide which side to use. If the paper would have been any thicker, I would have left it like so, without the hard covers. Or I could have adhered the cover directly to the first page and saved that patterned paper for later use.

However, I wanted to add some color inside the book covers and the striped pattern seemed to fit the best. I cut two pieces the same size as the spread (20 cm x 14 cm), made a score line and folded them in half. In this phase, I measured the wide organza ribbon. I placed the ribbon just about in the center of the back spine. I made a fold which I adhered to the fabric on the side of the book and then glued down the patterned paper leaving the ribbon fold underneath it. I did the same thing to the other side. I adhered the hard covers to the other side of the patterned paper and left the book to dry under some heavy weight.

A close-up on the spine

So, for the front and the back of the book I decided to add some color. I cut two pieces from that yellow floral paper and gave them some more color to the edges. First I used the fossilized amber Distress ink and then the Vintage photo Distress ink. The pattern got covered more than I wanted but it still looks okay.

Adding more depth to the papers

After adhering the floral papers, the book was ready. It does have some defects, like the edges of the pages aren't smooth and straight. The fabric is showing between the patterned paper and the first page. And there are gaps between the signatures and what else. Nevertheless, I actually like this book.

The finished book from the outside

The finished book from the inside

An open gap between two signatures

A close-up on the gap and the curved spine

I'm scared to start using it for art journaling but that's what it is made for and that is how I will use it. Now, that the book is ready it's time to check out the prompts for the challenge. You can check out the given prompts for the #52CafeJournals challenge from the Maremi's Creative Cafe Facebook group. You can find them when browsing the group's photo albums.