In the Studio

We had such a beautiful weekend but being in a bit of an allergy haze meant I didn’t really get to enjoy a bike ride or much of it (allergy medicines make me tired) but I did a bit of crafting on Saturday and I have a new journal to show you.

This is a repurposed Reader’s Digest book. I made one  last year but had to revisit it again to remember how do to the binding. This time I didn’t add a closure because one of the things I really like in my personal journals is to use a binding which will allow them to lie flat.

This cross stitch exposed binding looks like it could be difficult but once you start sewing you kind of just have to go with it and it’ll flow. I still used a bit of leather on this binding and sometimes it was hard to pull the needle through so there are some uneven areas but I was happy to try this again.

Usually when I learn a new bookbinding technique that I know I like and want to try again I have to do it a few times before it feels familiar. So my goal is to try and make this book again soon. Next time I was first thinking of going with book cloth for the spine but now I’m leaning to trying some vinyl. I’ll keep you posted.

I think I’ve mentioned before that I don’t typically use my first journals as they are my samples but as I already have one of these made, I’m definitely using this one. A lot of times it takes me a while to decide what I’ll use the journal for but not this time. This is going to become my Personal Poetry Anthology book. I had started off with a store bought journal that is similar to a moleskine but the pages are so very thin that the ink almost shows through. Even before I started that journal I was never quite set on it so I think this will make a much better choice.

Hope you all had a great weekend. I picked up a new book at the library so I’m off to start that now.