Today I start the pink journal. I expect to make great progress on it. I have the day off so I can’t ask for better timing. Today I will dot he following:

Cut the cover.

Distress the cover.

Back the cover.

Measure out and punch the spine.

Eyelets!

(Clean my table and desk.)

Hopefully I will be able to start the sewing tonight or work on it tomorrow.

I’ve officially been asked to leave the day job early on Monday (Double time!), so even if I can’t finish the sewing tonight I will be able to work on it Monday. The really great thing is that even if I’m not able to work on any one of these things today I have Tuesday off so I can get everything done and get it in the mail Tuesday or Wednesday!

I finished this journal early on Friday. I found the cute little alphabet eyelets at Michaels and they were perfect for this journal. The lettering was perfect- classic and the metal was not too shiny, which wouldn’t have gone with the theme or style.

So I finished it or so I had thought. When I emailed the buyer, I found that I had accidentally substituted an R for his real middle initial M. It was very easy to remedy and the journal still looks great. I’m really happy with the spine too. I love the 5 groups of thread across the spine. I think it looks fantastic. The light thread shows up so well too. I spent a little extra time and effort on this journal and I think it shows in the details.

It’s also the first time in a long time I used ¼ inch spacing in the sewing; usually I use a half-inch. I really think the quarter inch works really well and had the proper weight in comparison to the half-inch especially for the smaller sized journals.

You’ll also notice that the pages are lined. I think I’m officially going to offer this service, some people really want it and now that I have the lines on the computer it won’t be hard for me to make them in my standard sizes, 4.25”X5.5” and 5.5”X8.5” (making a roughly 6”X9” journal) I won’t be able to do other sizes because of the limitations of my printer. It is something for me to think about when this printer dies that I should get something that handles larger sizes of paper. This printer more than does what I need it to do now that I’ve got a computer with a little more oomph.

Anyway, I’m really really happy with how this journal came out, and I think that knowing a little bit about the man receiving it really helped the design.

I just put this journal up on eBay you can find it here:
Journal

I was checking out my eBay auctions and then searchingmy search words to see what came up and I realize I really need to pic my gallery pics much more carefully. I need to make sure that they aren’t too dark, unlike the gallery pic for the chocolate brown watercolor sketchbook

it’s here:Cocoa Sketchbook.

I’m pretty sure a dark gallery image disappears into nothingness when looking at those tiny little pics.

I’ve been working on the custom order this evening. I managed to get the pages sewn in and the thong attached now I’m just dealing with the matter of the initials. I initially toyed with the idea of “branding” them in with my soldering iron, but I did it on some samples and it just doesn’t work for me. While I’m thinking of this issue I have to remind myself that anything I attach to the front has to be as flexible as the cover. I could attach something stiff but it will mess with the fold and bend of the leather and I don’t really want that. It also has to fit with the feel of the book. Which won’t be a hard thing to do, but still, I wish I were able to use something I have on hand. Though a small “appliqué” of leather with the initials eyeleted down to the cover would work….

I’ve created the appliqué that will sit on the cover held with glue and eyelets. Tomorrow after work I’ll figure out how to get the initials on there in a way that will be super sturdy. I may head to the supply store and get supplies, I get out early so it should be good.

I’ll also upload some pics tomorrow.

I had an amazingly long day at the day job today. I won’t go into details but let’s just say that I was tired when I left work. I had a light meal and washed it all down with a coke, and sometimes I’m amazed by how much a soda is reviving. It’s that little shot of caffeine and sugar.

It also prepared me for a major set back on the custom journal I’ve been working on. I had noticed last night that the leather on the cover was acting a little odd. Today I noticed that this hide is starting to have the separation problem that the black hide was having. This is the 2^nd hide where I’ve had the issue. I’m not happy about it. I re-cut the hide from a different part of the hide and I noticed none of the issues. The other problem was that I had double reinforced the spine and hit it with too much heat and the tyvek melted. Really not good. Instead of a soft flexible but super strong spine I ended up with a hard stiff spine. Not good.

So I’ve re-cut and re-punched the new cover and I will sew it tomorrow. I also have some plans for advertising my work at the store. We have these little cards that we can post on the bulletin board and really the only time people see them is when they are waiting for the bathroom or for a class. I’m going to design a little book style advert that will hold my cards and let me post them easily at the store. It’s just an idea. I’m also thinking of spending some cash and advertising in some writing magazines. It could be worth it. Though I did notice that in some cases a tiny little classified ad could cost $150! Too rich for my blood but maybe someday. I think that branching off into handmade books of people’s first novels would be fantastic and great business.

Okay, so the day job was incredibly draining. I took a nap rather than working on anything productive.

I did however, get the stations on the spine laid out and punched, so all I have to do tomorrow is punch the stations along the signatures and sew. We’ll see how draining the job is though.

I forgot to mention that I have 3 journals up on eBay right now they are here:
ONE
TWO
THREE

The accounting things I had to do today took much less time than I had expected. I’m finished in record time. Though I suppose it doesn’t matter as much as it could because I remembered that some of the files I had lost were in fact backed up online. All I really had to do was download and re-enter the information into the spreadsheets. Not bad.

So I managed to get all that done as well as verify some finishing touches for 2 custom orders. One of the journals is a very rough journal, the sort I really love to make. The details are all left up to me and a general idea of what the client wants as well as a little personal information about the person it’s being gifted to. I find that sometimes that’s the best thing I need when making a journal, just a little background. I don’t need a lot of information just a touch.

I’ve printed up the lined pages for both the journals. It’s strange for me to be including lines; most of my clients have been artists or art journalers, not poets or writers. It’s been a pretty easy thing to do. In the past I used PageMaker or lotus, but I’ve found that word does it just fine. The other thing that is working better is the printer, I think that my old computers just didn’t have enough oomph to drive this printer, because now it’s printing out 20 and 50 sheets at a time with no problems, unlike in the past when I would have to print out 5 sheets at a go because it would stop working and the computer would think for a half hour, it just works so much better.

Tomorrow I’ll be able to finish most of one of the custom journals, I’m not sure I’m going o go with a more historically accurate sewing or one that I like the best. We’ll see.

I have figured out how to make lines on a page. I’ve done it before but it wasn’t this easy. I had PageMaker ready to use and looked at it and realized I really didn’t want to use it for any amount of time tonight, so I pulled out my trusty Word and figured out how to do it the quick and dirty way. I must say that while lines aren’t my thing, they came out pretty damn well. I’m pretty happy with them. The proportions per page are good and they have just enough weight and distance that they look easy for writing.

I’m trying to decide if I want to take it to a Copy center to have it printed or if I want to print it here. I think that I don’t want to pay the extra cash for printing, so I’ll print it here. I have plenty of toner in the laser printer and plenty of paper. I’m rather looking forward to making this journal.

I went with a different vendor for the leather and I’m thinking she’s going to take along time on the shipping. I’m not happy about it as I paid top price for the leather and an exorbitant amount for shipping putting this hide in the top amount I’ve ever spent on a hide. Not to worry thought I’m sure that I’ll be able to sell journals in this color. Pink is after all quite popular. It would also make perfect pregnancy journals.

I need to follow up with a coworker with the journal she wanted me to make for her brother. I’m not sure what she had in mind but we’ll figure it out.

Tomorrow will be accounting day for me. I need to go through all my things, take an inventory of it all and figure out how much I’ve spent on hides, paper, and thread. I know that I’ve got a lot of stock right now- my paper rack keeps growing. I have it all strung up around the room like laundry. It’s pretty cool, or so I think.