Binding Tutorials

So you think you want to start your way into this fantastic hobby of bookbinding? HEre area few tutorials, and beware binding can be addictive… like crack…

Coptic Style Tutorials: CHeck out this Youtube video:

There is no sound so don’t worry!One of the things that makes that video so great is that he’s showing a single needle tutorial with the covers attachedi n the correct way. See how his cover and spine edge of the signatures are even- the covers don’t overhang the spine? Yup, that’s how they should be. It shows a few good things- tensions are correct and the cover is attached properly.

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This little gem of a tutorial is written from the stand point of a teacher as a classroom aid. (I remember those days, wish I’d had time to teach my students how to make a coptic book.) This is also for a single needle coptic book. (Image above is from the website.)

Tools

This tutorial is also for a single needle chain stitch. This tutorial features some great clear images of the sewing process. However, I disagree with the author in the section written on threads. The weight of the thread comes into play not because of "knotting between signatures" but because the thread lies in the fold of each signature. The thicker the thread the larger the stack of thread and paper along your spine, which causes the distinctive "coptic" spine flair that makes coptic bound journals so great for collage work. If you have knotting between your signatures you have other issues…. That being said this tutorial is one of the better out there. (Image above is property of the article author.)

Millepeede

This is not a true caterpillar stitch but it’s like a mini version. It’s from Evil Rooster, a website I love for it’s name not to mention that the site owner makes some great books. One of the many things that I really lie that is done on evil rooster is the use of stitching cards to learn new techniques. I have half stitched books, Evil rooster has card. I like the cards because you wouldn’t be tempted to sell s technique card like you might be tempted to sell a really col experimental technique journal…. Not that I’ve done that or anything….(Image belongs to Evil Rooster)

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The binding above is what Cailun calls a tacket binding. Keith Smith refers to it as a coiled line in 1,2 &3 Signature Bindings. Never mind what it’s called take a look at CaiLun’s photos and make one. Hot stuff!

Inspire Me Thursday

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I just found this site via SuziBluTube’s blog it’s called Inspire Me Thursday. It has prompts and ideas to inspire you in your art and journaling. They say this:

Welcome to Inspire Me Thursday…   A weekly dose of inspiration for
mixed media artists and creative types to nurture their muses and CREATE!

I think that perfectly fits the bill. It’s a simply laid out site site that focuses on the inspiration. The center column has quotes for inspiration, the right most a dialog about the prompt for that week, and below that is an area for people to leave comments- with links to your blog with images of how the site inspired you. At the very bottom are random bits of inspiration- a font site and flickr.

I really like the concept of this site- give a little inspiration then readers add to it and create the content- something like a wiki but with added inspiration.

Head on over and check it out!

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Arielle Art

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I really enjoy the images and art in the following blog. Arielle’s art blog highlights pages from her art journal. Interestingly she uses a lot of different media in the journal. I particularly like the pages that use an interesting background with a few simple visual elements on top, like the 2 examples below.

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As always, all art property of the artist.

Big Leather Journals

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This week I finished 5 more journals. 4 are going up to my etsy account and one is going to eBay. All are smythe sewn- the style of moleskines. So I start with the book block, stitch it, then glue it and clamp it. Then that book block is glued into a cover.

For these I decided to make covers with flaps and straps instead of elastics. I thought it would be a nice deviation from what I’ve been doing. I’m particularly fond of the distressed brown leather. I like to call the color Choco-Latte, because it’s the color of coffee or milk chocolate.

The 4 below are the books on etsy. They are on there for $24.99 plus shipping via priority mail.

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Ester Wilson’s Sketchbooks

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Lines and color, color and lines; if that’s something you like check out Ester Wilson’s blog. I’m in love with her sketchbooks. You can read her blog and then head over to her website and check out her sketchbooks on a page where you can flip through the books pages. Incredible. These 2 images are only examples of the artists work, she’s got a lot more at her blog where you can see her use of color and line.

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All images propertly of the artist, Ester Wilson.

Make Your Awl the Charles Atlas of Awls

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In a discussion on the HedgehogsForever list the topic of awls came up. I’ve got several, all work different purposes for me, but the basic is to put holes in stuff. One I use for cardstock pages, another for softer paper, and another still for the custom journals. I made my first awl, bought another and made another; then had my brother design and make a hand turned awl for me.

I love the one my brother made for me, hate the one I bought and use the 2 I made regularly.

Some awl tips-

  • Keep them clean. It might seem kind of anal retentive but a more useful suggestion I can’t make. I use my awls for lots of stuff- piercing paper, picking up junk off my table, and lifting bits of glue covered paper. Wipe clean with a damp cloth and any cleaner you like. Allow to air dry before storing. Wet and damp metal will rust.
  • Keep them sharp. There is nothing worse than a dull awl. Seriously, have you ever tried to pierce through paper with an awl that is dull? UGH! I bought a super fine grit diamond stone at HD to sharpen my awls. I grind all my awls to an easily sharpened 45 degree angle, just like a chisel or a knife but you can also sharpen the awl in a rotating motion and keep a more typical needle point. That’s a lot harder than a 45 degree angle. Remember a dull tool is a dangerous tool. (That’s what my Dad always told us… And it’s a mantra I’ve found true- I’ve got scars to prove it.)
  • Polish them. Okay so I thought keeping them clean was going to top the list of anal retentivity. This does. Why polish? It allows the metal to glide through the paper with ease. It reduces the drag from the paper against the metal making it easier to push through a large and thicker stack. To polish you can do as I do and buy a polishing kit for a dremel or by hand. I’ll start with the dremel. Use the fabric wheel and add a little of the red fine compound. Turn the dremel onto a medium speed. Put the length of the awl needle against the spinning wheel with the point in the direction of the spin- DO NOT go in the opposite direction. I tell you this because I like my eyes and I’m sure you like yours too. Turn the awl in your hand. You’ll see a little gray begin to appear in the red compound. This step only takes a few seconds. Switch over to a felt tip. I prefer the small wheels but a bullet tip will work too. Here you can switch over to a white or super fine compound OR you can just put a little bees wax onto the tip. I run this until I see no more gray coming off into the felt. It takes only a few seconds. After doing this the needle will shine like a mirror.

You can polish buy hand with a commercial polishing compound and felt. Or you can polish with a little beeswax and baking soda. You need a little grit to get the polish going. Rub some bees wax onto a piece of felt or soft cloth, sprinkle a small amount of baking soda onto the cloth. Hold the cloth between thumb and forefinger and fold it over the business end of the awl and rub. It takes a little long and it will shine like a slightly older mirror, but it gets the job done.

I’ve found the combination of these 3 things make my awls cut through stacks of paper like butter. In short you can go through pushing through 20 sheets of paper to 40.

Ghostly Pencil Sketches and Bright Colors

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Here’s another blog that subscribes to my favorite sketchbook style- pencil, ink then color. I particularly love the image below of the yoga poses with the ghostly pencil sketches in the background. I love the lively lines of the pencils sketches and yet how simple they are. Following that is a sketch of a coffee maker… It’s a great layout of a page, well designed and a small blurb for journaling. I like it a lot!

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Coffee


All images property of the artist, Shirley L.

Expanding Pocket Hedgehog

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Based on a recent discussion thread on the HedgehogsForever group I decided to try my hand at making a hedgehog with expanding pockets inside instead of pages. It went reasonably well.

The  experiment with the expanding pocket notebook was to see how hard and how long it would take me to make one. The results are cool but they take forever and are complex to make as well. There are a lot of steps one could foul up. And of course the one I made is good, but I fouled up in 2 spots- first I trimmed the cover too small and secondly I made the pockets a smidge too small for what I wanted to do with it- keep my jotters in it in my bag. I forgot to add ¼ inch to the dimensions to make it work correctly.

I used stiff cowhide for the cover, backed it with my favorite paper of all time- a green Japanese paper with a screen print of clouds. I love it. I used cardstock for the pockets, folded and scored them to open out to a pocket ½ in wide. It worked well. From the outside the pockets look just like a regular hedgehog. I made the pocket 3 inches deep instead of 3.5 to keep the size of the pocket true to a hedgehog.

IF I were able to fit my jotters in it comfortably I would certainly use this experiment, but as it won’t fit them I’ll keep it kicking around for awhile. I’ll figure something out for it.

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