... homemade journal ...

[KCat]

Wow! I'm just...dumbfounded. wow!

[TMLee]

Wow! I'm just...dumbfounded. wow!

 

Thanks KCat

[DavidHandmade]

Wow! I'm just...dumbfounded. wow!

 

Agreed!

 

Esp. the two latest Journals: #119 and #124 - Mr. Lee has a great eye for color contrast with book covers and stitching combinations.

 

The Raw Umber with the Deep Orange stitch cords (#124) is a beautiful combination!

 

Very nice work!

[TMLee]

Wow! I'm just...dumbfounded. wow!

 

Agreed!

 

Esp. the two latest Journals: #119 and #124 - Mr. Lee has a great eye for color contrast with book covers and stitching combinations.

 

The Raw Umber with the Deep Orange stitch cords (#124) is a beautiful combination!

 

Very nice work!

 

 

Thanks 'DavidHandmade'

[olifant]

This thread is very inspiring I encourage everyone to try and make their own journal, it's heaps of fun.

 

Here's my effort:

 

http://a.imageshack.us/img832/7367/p9063465.jpg

http://a.imageshack.us/img412/1827/p9063467.jpg

 

But your journals seem to be of so much higher quality My flylefs always get a little wrinkled by the moisture from the glue. Even though I put a plastic sheet between the cover and flyleaf for the drying time. I just seem to lack some know-how :hmm1: I still have to find a decent way of incorporating rubber bands and pagemarkers too.

[TMLee]

Hi olifant,

Great effort :clap1:

They look good to me

 

I am not sure why your flyleaves still get wrinkled even though you have placed a plastic sheet for protection.

The plastic sheet ought to work. Maybe use a thicker plastic sheet like those in common clear plastic folders ? :hmm1:

I am sure you'll figure out soon enough why , and find a solution as you continue making more.

There is no better substitute than experience.

 

I stitch only after the covers are fully dried , at least one day overnight , the fastest.

Whilst drying, anything that is wet with glue is kept from contact with anything that is dry.

[sdcurnow]

Olifant,

 

Make sure that the gain of the flyleaf paper is running vertically. If the grain is running the wrong way, i have had the same problem.

 

Steve C

[ag273n]

great!.. i love making stuff like these too! ,

i guess you're really good TMLee, i never made mine like those...

i'll make one again, as soon as i'm done staining the pages with coffee..

[TMLee]

great!.. i love making stuff like these too! ,

i guess you're really good TMLee, i never made mine like those...

i'll make one again, as soon as i'm done staining the pages with coffee..

 

Thanks 'ag273n',

I try my best,

as do all others here I am sure ...

[TMLee]

This is Journal #61C "Dragonflies" made on order ...

 

Tried something different here ...

I used the GEMATEX bookcloth for the accents on the spine and corners .

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3241.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3243.jpg

 

 

I chose a colour of bookcloth that would appear muted in the background.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3244.jpg

 

Along with this idea , I also decided to make the flyleaves muted as well.

Decided on a Dark Green Olive flyleaves.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3278.jpg

 

This then meant that the stitchcords and ribbon will be the accent colour.

I chose the blood red stitches and ribbon ... that would also match the tinge of red on the fabric print on the covers ..

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3288.jpg

 

The completed journal A6 size ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3285.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3284.jpg

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3286.jpg

 

Fullspread

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3291.jpg

 

 

The dark olive green flyleaves contrasting with the red stitchcords...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3289.jpg

 

 

The inktestpage and Colophon

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3295.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2061%20Dragonflies/Journal%2061C%20Dragonflies/DSCF3293.jpg

[TMLee]

Tried something different here ...

I think I mentioned before , toying with the idea of incorporating a photograph on the journal covers ...

 

I wanted to feature a snapshot on the cover. But it had to be recessed into the cover.

 

I decided to use bookcloth since it offered a nice enough wrapover.

 

First , i had to use 2 greyboards to create the recessed effect.

The thick greyboard with a thin one to carry the photo.

This is a landscape version.

The window on the thin greyboard was already cut out.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3361.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3362.jpg

 

 

Cropping the photo

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3364.jpg

 

 

The backside of the bookcloth wrapover was cut-out to form the foldover parts of the bookcloth

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3366.jpg

 

The bookcloth was then glued in position on the thin greyboard

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3367.jpg

 

Done

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3368.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3369.jpg

 

 

 

The photo was glued into place

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3370.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3371.jpg

 

 

The thick cover was then glued exactly onto the thin greyboard

and the edges folded over and glued then clamped flat

Voila ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3375.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3376_1.jpg

 

 

Closeups

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3379_1.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3378_1.jpg

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/Journal%20126%20Snaps%20-%20Laundry%20Day/DSCF3377_1.jpg

 

 

This design opens up many possibilities...

Whatever pic you like or

whatever size ..

or whatever shape of a pic and window ...

even a specific theme ....

No matter how,

it can be highly personalised ..

[TMLee]

Another attempt at something different...

 

Now that I have nice bookcloth, I decided to try out some debossing - the opposite of embossing.

 

Drew a monogram on a thin greyboard

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118A%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20SY%20Deboss/DSCF3417.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118A%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20SY%20Deboss/DSCF3418.jpg

 

The monogram was drawn in such a manner that it could be cut out.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118A%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20SY%20Deboss/DSCF3422.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118A%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20SY%20Deboss/DSCF3423.jpg

 

Then glued onto the usual greyboard cover

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118A%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20SY%20Deboss/DSCF3425.jpg

 

 

Then the bookcloth was glued on

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118A%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20SY%20Deboss/DSCF3430.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118A%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20SY%20Deboss/DSCF3426.jpg

 

Had to use the bonefolder to slowly press down the recesses to make the edges crisp

 

The cover completed

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118A%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20SY%20Deboss/DSCF3433.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118A%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20SY%20Deboss/DSCF3436.jpg

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118A%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20SY%20Deboss/DSCF3435.jpg

[DavidHandmade]

Hey - the "de-bossing" is a cool idea!

 

And the result looks great, Dude!

[TMLee]

Hey - the "de-bossing" is a cool idea!

 

And the result looks great, Dude!

 

Thanks David ...

[AlecG]

Really stunning effect!!

What cool.

[TMLee]

Really stunning effect!!

What cool.

 

 

Thanks alecgold

[TMLee]

In continuing the newfound technique of debossing, I decided to try embossing instead ...

 

Using a good quality magazine cover paper, i ripped it out and photocopied an oversized alphabet "a" onto it.

Then cut it out carefully ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3440.jpg

 

Then came the challenge of where to place the alphabet on an A6 cover ...

Tried a few variations ..

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3442.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3443.jpg

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3444.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3441_1.jpg

 

I felt the "a" looked a bit bare and forlorn, so I decided to add the 2 dots overhead ....

What do u call this ?

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3447.jpg

 

I then decided to move on and proceeded to glue it on the cover

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3450.jpg

 

Then I glued on the bookcloth

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3451.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3452.jpg

 

I still haven't mastered the technique of how to press down the edges of the alphabet in such a way that doesn't mar the bookcloth , even if its ever so slight.

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3453.jpg

 

The cover completed ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3455.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3461.jpg

 

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3459.jpg

 

and of course it must be Helvetica typeface !!!!!!!

What else !!!! :roflmho:

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20118%20GEMATEX%20-%20Ochre/Journal%20118B%20GEMATEX%20Ochre%20-%20a%20Emboss/DSCF3462.jpg

Edited September 23, 2010 by TMLee

[txinsk]

The dots over a vowel are called an umlaut. Nice work again. What is the thickness for the embossing material? It is just heavy paper or thin book board?

 

Rick

[TMLee]

The dots over a vowel are called an umlaut. Nice work again. What is the thickness for the embossing material? It is just heavy paper or thin book board?

 

Rick

 

Thanks Rick,

Ah ... Yes an "umlaut"...

 

It's thickness is just a tad thinner than a postcard.

Specifically, I reckon it's about 140 to 150gsm.

Not unlike the paper thickness used on a desktop flip calender.

 

For the de-boss version above, I used greyboard that was about 0.5mm thick.

In future I will experiment with different thicknesses.

 

Have fun ...

Edited September 23, 2010 by TMLee

[TMLee]

This is Journal #92D "Basic Black - Henna" from the Basic Black series ...

 

Front ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2092%20Basic%20Black/Journal%2092D%20Basic%20Black%20Henna/DSCF3486.jpg

 

Full spread

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2092%20Basic%20Black/Journal%2092D%20Basic%20Black%20Henna/DSCF3492.jpg

 

 

Black stitchcords

and black ribbon pagemarker

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2092%20Basic%20Black/Journal%2092D%20Basic%20Black%20Henna/DSCF3490.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2092%20Basic%20Black/Journal%2092D%20Basic%20Black%20Henna/DSCF3493.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2092%20Basic%20Black/Journal%2092D%20Basic%20Black%20Henna/DSCF3491.jpg

 

and black flyleaves with namecard slot ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2092%20Basic%20Black/Journal%2092D%20Basic%20Black%20Henna/DSCF3495.jpg

 

Inktestpage and colophon

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2092%20Basic%20Black/Journal%2092D%20Basic%20Black%20Henna/DSCF3497.jpg http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Journal%2092%20Basic%20Black/Journal%2092D%20Basic%20Black%20Henna/DSCF3499.jpg

 

Paper is Mellotex , Soft Cream, smooth 135gsm.

 

This is a well crafted one. Every aspect seems to be just nice ....

 

offered for sale here

Edited October 3, 2010 by TMLee