... homemade journal ...

August 24, 2013

Hi T M Lee
I have read your thread for some time I never thought I would have anything to contribute but here goes.
How about using a different coloured thread for one of the bindings starting at the top for the first one then moving down the spine as you go.
When they are together on a shelf it will be easy to see which is one two three etc.
Love the embossing by the way
Regards
Michael

Thanks Michael,

That is also an idea worth exploring. :-)

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

August 24, 2013

I went ahead to try out the label idea ...

Formed the covers ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/036.jpg

The recess for the label

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/035.jpg

Tried an orange scheme first

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/045.jpg

cut the flap label

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/048.jpg

glued into position

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/053.jpg

on the inside

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/055.jpg

wondering how it would look like ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/058.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/063.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/064.jpg

Edited August 24, 2013 by TMLee

August 24, 2013

No.

The books are nice enough not to use an additional cover.

And I do not like it with the label.

So please keep it optional.

August 26, 2013

No.
The books are nice enough not to use an additional cover.
And I do not like it with the label.
So please keep it optional.

Hmmm ...

Perhaps ...

Thanks for yr comment

August 26, 2013

I've been watching your journal making progress for awhile and am very impressed with your creativity. I personally love the label tab and would use it to identify what the journal is used for...this way, my spouse would not pick up and look at the "wrong" journal. For example, I don't care if anyone looks in my pen and ink journal or travel journal but would not be very happy to share my "personal thoughts" journal for example.

I also think the green and orange combination "pops". If I were in a store looking for a journal, I would pick this one up for sure! Hot colors!

Keep posting, I love to look!

August 26, 2013

I love the label tab too! Also charmed by the hinges on the "Jungle Gym" journal -- I like how the lion and parrot peek out from their hiding places...

August 27, 2013

I've been watching your journal making progress for awhile and am very impressed with your creativity. I personally love the label tab and would use it to identify what the journal is used for...this way, my spouse would not pick up and look at the "wrong" journal. For example, I don't care if anyone looks in my pen and ink journal or travel journal but would not be very happy to share my "personal thoughts" journal for example.

I also think the green and orange combination "pops". If I were in a store looking for a journal, I would pick this one up for sure! Hot colors!

Keep posting, I love to look!

I love the label tab too! Also charmed by the hinges on the "Jungle Gym" journal -- I like how the lion and parrot peek out from their hiding places...

Thank you for your kind words

August 27, 2013

I stitched the bookblock , but I stopped short of applying glue on the spine ...

I am a little undecided ....

I am not entirely convinced of the aesthetics ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/001.jpg

I wanted the tab to stand out, so I downplayed the stitches, thinking of using the same colour threads as the covers to camouflage them .... ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/008.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/009.jpg

The inside front flyleaf ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/004.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/007.jpg

I will probably strip the stitches and re-stitch ..

I am mulling over three options :

A) use a rice white stitch thruout - to contrast with the green cover ;

B ) arising from a suggestion posted here earlier ,

use a rice white PLUS orange thread combo .

station number #2 and #3 (just next to the tab) to be in orange'

the rest in rice white - to match the off-white paper.

C) All orange stitch threads !

But I must say, its an interesting .... nice ... size to hold in one's hands ...

I am pleasantly surprised....

Edited August 27, 2013 by TMLee

August 27, 2013

I actually like the downplayed stitches. They contrast sufficiently with the cover to see them, but not so much that they shout out Look at me! And I still would want the label optional. I'm wondering what you will do with the label-sized opening in the flyleaf though... that does open possibilities. Hm... Now, if you were to offer a label in a slightly lighter tint of the cover color, that I could actually see. About the color of the stitching thread, actually.

August 27, 2013

I can't send enough thanks to TMLee and others on this thread for inspiring budding journal makers like myself. My journals tend towards the "functional" rather than the works of art/craftsmanship that we typically see on this thread. However, if my efforts can inspire someone else to "give it a go" -- then all is not lost.

I needed a new journal, hardback, Tomoe River paper around 100 sheets. I used 48 sheets of Tomoe River Novi paper (what I have, uncut). I folded each sheet individually (per suggestions on this forum) before combining them into signatures. As something new, I used a small rounded corner punch on the two "outside" corners after folding, as I think this gives a more "finished" look, requires little skill and is quick to do. I then combined 8 folded sheets into a signature (for a total of 6 signatures).

For the covers, I had some scrap matte board from a framing store that is textured. However, it is a little thin, so I glued some "double thick cover" (165lb.) Neenah Classic Crest Natural White to it to stiffen it AND be the finished inside of the cover (hopefully saving me the need to make fly sheets).

For the pocket in the back, I used one piece 8.5 x 11 inch 110lb. card stock (Classic Crest Natural White) uncut and folded it three times. From another piece I made the side baffles and glued them together for the rear pocket. Since I wasn't using fly sheets, I added a small reinforcement piece at the front and back, glued between the cover and the first/last sheet of the signature block. We will see if that was a good idea or not (although previous experience has indicated to me that some type of reinforcement between the cover and the signatures is a good idea).

After appropriate hole punching (on a phone book using a scrap paper template) I Coptic stitched the signatures and covers (using my own inefficient, made up method of extending the stitching onto the covers). After that, glued the front and back reinforcement "hinges" to the first and last page (they had already been glued to the front and back cover before stitching). Finally, tied a ribbon on and glued the spine for additional reinforcement.

My final results are below. Beautiful? No. Functional? Yes. Will it give me joy to write in it? Yes. Total time spent? Somewhere between 4 and 6 hours. Some of that time was remembering how to do some steps since I last made a journal 6 months ago. If I made another one again soon, I think I could be at around 4 hours for it.

Thanks for indulging me and hopefully if you're hesitant at making your own journal, you'll give it a go!

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/2013-08-27%20Black%20Journal/IMG_2521_zps4337cfab.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/2013-08-27%20Black%20Journal/IMG_2524_zps535dbbc9.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/2013-08-27%20Black%20Journal/IMG_2540_zps97b14c96.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/2013-08-27%20Black%20Journal/IMG_2539_zps091a8376.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/2013-08-27%20Black%20Journal/IMG_2526_zps33f48b4d.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/2013-08-27%20Black%20Journal/IMG_2529_zps12d7cb9e.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/2013-08-27%20Black%20Journal/IMG_2532_zps4f509b44.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/2013-08-27%20Black%20Journal/IMG_2528_zps0bb38f00.jpg

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w397/penhand/2013-08-27%20Black%20Journal/IMG_2542_zpse72dea73.jpg

Edited August 27, 2013 by penhand

August 28, 2013

Thank you for sharing that. I too have tried my inexpert hand at making a journal using that wonderful Tomoe River paper. And like yours mine is less than perfect - in fact, yours looks much better than mine in all respects but one - mine is here and I made it, I can hold it in my hands and put pen to it.

August 28, 2013

I needed a new journal, hardback, Tomoe River paper around 100 sheets. I used 48 sheets of Tomoe River Novi paper (what I have, uncut). I folded each sheet individually (per suggestions on this forum) before combining them into signatures. As something new, I used a small rounded corner punch on the two "outside" corners after folding, as I think this gives a more "finished" look, requires little skill and is quick to do. I then combined 8 folded sheets into a signature (for a total of 6 signatures).

A point of clarification though,

I learnt from other bookbinders that

actually, the correct method is to fold an entire signature at one go, not each folio ( like I usually do) .

My new journals have since been done this way.

You can see this effect on the spine,

each spine of each signature is now rounded and no longer sharp and crisp.

So what I do now is to take the required number of sheets to form one signature,

Then , still,holding the whole stack of paper, punch the four rounded corners ,

Then fold the entire signature.

It's great to see you (and others here) binding your own books.

Thanks for sharing your efforts

And yes, the satisfaction of making your own is indeed very rewarding.

Keep it up, you will only improve over time :-)

BTW, what size is it?

A5 ?

Edited August 28, 2013 by TMLee

August 28, 2013

The interesting size .....

compared side by side with the other standard ISO A sizes ...

with the A6 size (small) journal on the right ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/005-1.jpg

With the A5 size (large) on extreme left ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/006-1.jpg

Its a kind of mid-size ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/007-1.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/008-1.jpg

Its a comfortable size to carry around in the hand ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/001-1.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/2010%20JOURNALS/GEMATEX%20SERIES/Journal%20117%20GEMATEX%20-%20Olive%20Green/Journal%20117B%20Olive%20Green%205x7%20Orange%20Tag/003-1.jpg

My only grouse is the wastage of paper ,

from an A4 size sheet, the papers are trimmed away 2inches along the short dimension,

and

1 inch along the long dimension of the paper.

Edited August 28, 2013 by TMLee

August 28, 2013

A point of clarification though,
I learnt from other bookbinders that
actually, the correct method is to fold an entire signature at one go, not each folio ( like I usually do) .
My new journals have since been done this way.
You can see this effect on the spine,
each spine of each signature is now rounded and no longer sharp and crisp.

So what I do now is to take the required number of sheets to form one signature,
Then , still,holding the whole stack of paper, punch the four rounded corners ,
Then fold the entire signature.

BTW, what size is it?
A5 ?

Thanks for the update on folding, I will definitely try your method next time.

I used "Novi A4" paper (which is 10 mm longer and wider than normal A4) so the finished journal is just slightly larger than A5.

August 29, 2013

As always, extraordinarily beautiful work!

August 30, 2013

Very nice! Well built.

August 31, 2013

As always, extraordinarily beautiful work!

Very nice! Well built.

Thank you

August 31, 2013

I saw this beautiful poster and bought it ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/Posters/004.jpg

now I am wondering HOW to use this poster for a journal cover ?

Edited August 31, 2013 by TMLee

September 1, 2013

I saw this beautiful poster and bought it ...

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u236/TMLee/Stationery%20Paraphernalia/Posters/004.jpg

now I am wondering HOW to use this poster for a journal cover ?

YES!