... Homemade Journal ... 2016

[TMLee]

This is JOURNAL 208C - YUSEN - Sakura

 

For this journal , I tried out stitching with FABRIANO ECOQUA BIOPRIMA paper , 85g, 3.5mm dot-grid.

 

You can find my review of this paper here ...

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/328185-fabriano-ecoqua-glued-a5-dot-grid/?do=findComment&comment=3930153

 

 

 

I used a darker blue thread/ribbon for this variant

 

 

 

Matching cobalt blue bookcloth ...

with card underlay for the emboss/deboss

 

Full spread

 

with the matching flyleaves in view

 

Matching anti drop-out flap , pocket, namecard slot

but NO elastic band closure

(some people prefer no elastic bands, to keep everything slim and compact)

 

 

The inktestpage w/watercolour ...

 

Colophon

 

Writing paper is

FABRIANO ECOQUA BIOPRIMA paper, 85g, dot-grid

7 Signatures, 6 Folios each

Total 168 writing pages

 

The blues seem to go well together in this journal...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TMLee]

This one's completed on order ...

 

JOURNAL 248 - "Wildflowers"

A5 size

 

86th TR Journal

28th A5 TR journal

 

I decided on a yellow/mango colour combo , seeing that there exists on the printed graphics that hue...

(pictured alongside my trusty SAILOR 1911 Large - Summer Yellow , always filled with IROSHIZUKU Tsukushi Horsetail Brown, never fails to write each time it touches paper - I dunno why )

 

 

Nice...

The brief called for something around the theme of 'joy' ...

 

As mentioned in the earlier posts ..

I experimented with a spine accent but this time made of paper ...

Delighted that it worked...

(the paper has to be thickish though ... to withstand working with glue without undue warpage from wetness)

 

The usual emboss/deboss achieved thru the use of suitable card as underlay

Here you see the threads seated in the deboss , being sheltered a bit from abrasions ...

 

Yellow threads , ribbon etc

The light purple hue also matches that of some flowers on the print

 

 

 

Nice matching mango book bands ..

 

Full spread

 

with the flyleaves in view

 

 

Matching flyleaves

(slightly lighter shade of the same hue ...)

 

Standard rear built-in pocket with namecard slot ...

 

Colophon

 

Writing paper is :

TOMOE RIVER paper , 52g, Cream, supersmooth

7 Signatures, 10 Folios each

Total 280 writing pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TMLee]

This is one of my favourites ...

 

Just looks stunning ...

 

233D YUSEN Black Lacquer - Maple Leaves

 

A6 size

 

Front

 

With the band deployed ...

I chose a red and black scheme

keeping down to 2 colours only

 

 

Red threads for stitches ...

 

 

 

Full spread

 

With the matching black flyleaves in view

 

 

The spine accent is a paper that is coated and is somewhat like that on M*skine covers.

I like this part of the journal much.

Its shows the maple leaves continuing underneath

Also the maple leaves when you look at a glancing angle, appear to be leaves floating on water.

The maple leaves are embossed on the surface.

Finished off with a coating of lacquer.

 

 

 

Inktestpage

an assortment of inks here..

no feathering, no bleedthru

 

 

Colophon

 

Writing paper is

NATURALIS 120g Absolute White , Smooth

7 Signatures, 5 Folios each

Total 140 writing pages

 

I like this

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TMLee]

Plain bookcloth covers are simple and elegant.

 

Definitively classic in style.

 

This one's in Lime Green colourway.

 

Journal 147S Jet Black Bookcloth

 

A6 size

 

 

 

 

 

Matching light green stitches

 

 

 

Lime green flyleaves

 

 

Inktestpage

 

Colophon

 

Writing paper is

a combo of

MELLOTEX 100g Natural White , smooth (6 Signatures)

and

MELLOTEX 100g Brilliant White , smooth (1 Signature)

Total 7 Signatures , 5 Folios each

140 writing pages total

 

 

[TMLee]

This is the orange version of the 'classic' black bookcloth ...

 

JOURNAL 147R JET BLACK BOOKCLOTH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inktestpage

 

Colophon

 

Writing paper is

a combo of

MELLOTEX 100g Natural White , smooth (6 Signatures)

and

MELLOTEX 100g Brilliant White , smooth (1 Signature)

Total 7 Signatures , 5 Folios each

140 writing pages total

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TMLee]

This is JOURNAL 234 YUSEN Black Lacquer - Sakura

 

A6 size

 

 

I decided on a grey colourway, to keep the red and black impactful

A light grey book band

 

 

Grey stitches

 

 

Full spread

 

 

light grey flyleaves

 

The flyleaves are textured

 

Inktestpage

 

 

Colophon

 

Writing paper is

NATURALIS 120g Absolute White , smooth

7 Signatures, 5 Folios each

Total 140 writing pages

 

 

 

 

[TMLee]

Finally completed the goatskin journal ...

 

This is JOURNAL 249 Goatskin Light Tan - Crinkled

 

A6 size

 

84th TR Journal

 

Front

 

Back

 

I chose darker brown book bands

 

 

I went for a light blue accent to perk things up a bit

 

 

 

Full spread

 

With the flyleaves in view

 

 

Blue flyleaves

 

Inktestpage

 

Colophon

 

Writing paper is

TOMOE RIVER paper , 52g , Cream , supersmooth

7 Signatures, 10 Folios each

Total 280 writing pages

 

 

The crinkled leather looks interesting

 

 

 

 

[TMLee]

Finally completed this after like forever hesitating on what to do next ..

 

JOURNAL 169 Goatskin - British Tan

 

A6 size

 

 

I decided on mango yellow threads to perk up the overall aesthetics

 

 

I did a random stitch pattern

no exact measurements. Just by eye.

I was exploring how the stitches on the covers can vary in aesthetics.

 

 

 

Mango flyleaves

 

 

 

Full spread

 

 

I chose a darker brown book band

 

 

Front

 

Back

 

Inktestpage

 

 

 

Colophon

 

My 85th TR journal

 

Writing paper is

TOMOE RIVER paper, 52g, Cream, supersmooth

7 Signatures, 10 Folios each

Total 280 writing pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mhguda]

The floating maple leaf cover is stunning. If you still have it for sale, I'll take it.

I also like the last one, with the random stitches. Alas, the cover material and colors are not for me...

Can't have everything every time, happily.

Hopefully we'll have better luck with shipping next time.

[TMLee]

The floating maple leaf cover is stunning. If you still have it for sale, I'll take it.

I also like the last one, with the random stitches. Alas, the cover material and colors are not for me...

Can't have everything every time, happily.

Hopefully we'll have better luck with shipping next time.

 

Thanks mhguda,

will contact you off channel

[TMLee]

Acquired another piece of goatskin.

This time its Wine Red.

 

 

I wondered if emboss / deboss could be effectively executed with leather

and so I 'quickly' skived down the leather

and wrapped the coverboards ...

 

To my delight, it was a success ...

 

A6 size

 

 

used the sharp edge of the bone folder on the edges of the emboss to make it more prominent...

 

 

This time , I tried turning in the 90deg corners using the teflon bone folder

 

Teflon works wonders !!!

 

works perfect

 

I am satisfied .

 

Edited December 24, 2017 by TMLee

[TMLee]

I also then worked on the old British Tan Goatskin since the Wine Red was successful ...

 

 

 

This lighter tone of tan leather allowed the edges and outlines of the deboss to be better delineated ...

 

 

 

 

[TMLee]

This is also another set of covers on my (cluttered) workbench ...

 

stumbled upon this set of fabric prints...

 

The slate blue version looked most appealing out of the three ...

so I decided to try it out first ...

I was happy that I was able to cut the fabric.

I was expecting the cloth to get snagged and frayed from the cutting but it didnt.

What was needed though was a supersharp blade and that was how I got very clean cuts.

and careful glueing of the fabric . ( I made sure the cloth to be cut off are not glued at all )

 

Installing back the emboss pieces ..

 

 

Laying over the spine accent - Midnight Blue Bookcloth.

I chose this to match the dark blue on the fabric.

Looks good

 

 

I noticed something unique about this print ...

The white petals are actually painted a thick opaque white.

It was a surprise discovery for me becos you usually see whites are just fabric that is not painted , ie bare cloth.

The disadvantage of this is that you can sometimes see thru this bare white portion, revealing what is underneath.

Here it is not. Its painted white ...

 

This is a better view to see that the whites are very opaque white

(the slate blue fabric here in this pic is most accurately rendered)

 

Done

 

 

 

I am thinking of mango yellow threads to perk things up a bit.

 

Alternatively, it can be blue threads and blue flyleaves and blue bands.

Somewhat a monochrome scheme.

 

Both options work well .

 

Avaliable for sale.

 

PM me if interested.

 

Feel free to ask anything ...

 

 

 

 

 

[escribo]

Hey, TMLee, I haven't been around FPN much the last few years, but it's great to see your work again.

 

You were largely responsible for my getting into bookbinding back in '08 I think it was. Though your level of excellence was/is something to strive for, my bookbinding sort of tapered off to nothing before I could get anywhere near that level. Still, people liked my journals, and I was pretty happy with them too.

 

Now and again I think about starting up again, with the goal this time of actually selling my books. Unlike my previous bookbinding "career," wherein all my books were given to friends and family to the point I just finally lost interest in incurring that expense any more, lol.

 

Anyway, great work, sir, and thanks for the inspiration; whether or not I get back into binding again, it's fun to browse your creations.

[TMLee]

hi escribo,

good to hear from you again

 

thank you for your kind words.

didnt expect to inspire you (or others) 😳

 

I was relatively quiet for a while.

life got in the way

 

then the PhotoBucket issue really set things back for me a great deal .

my entire journey in journal making kind of locked up away from public view which i do know quite a few of you folks enjoy following.

 

havent figure out how to rectify this problem though.

 

rather than wait for enlightenment , just resumed journal crafting .

 

I find that my best works are when I am unhurried and just daydreaming up ideas .

 

it pays to just take time on things - especially in the creative process - for whatever is being designed.

 

hope you find time to do what you most like

Edited December 25, 2017 by TMLee

[TMLee]

Working on a large (A5 size) version of the goatskin light tan leather - crinkled

 

 

 

Cutting down to size and skiving the edges down

 

 

 

 

Turning in the corners takes a lot more care and effort, so in order to avoid distractions when working on them,

what I usually do is to glue down the straight edges first, making sure they adhere uniformly against the edges so that the end result is a straight edge achieved.

When the straight edges are glued firmly in place, I can then concentrate on turning each corner one at a time.

 

 

The rounded edge ...

 

 

The 90deg corner

 

This is the 90deg corners turned in with a teflon bone folder , no clamping yet ...

 

 

Here is the rounded corner

 

After all this, its clamped down overnight ...

 

 

 

 

Quite happy with the results so far ...

I like the way the creases continue from one cover to the other

Looks impressive

 

 

I think its going to look good...

Edited January 1, 2018 by TMLee

[TMLee]

This is also another set of covers on my (cluttered) workbench ...

 

stumbled upon this set of fabric prints...

 

The slate blue version looked most appealing out of the three ...

so I decided to try it out first ...

I was happy that I was able to cut the fabric.

I was expecting the cloth to get snagged and frayed from the cutting but it didnt.

What was needed though was a supersharp blade and that was how I got very clean cuts.

and careful glueing of the fabric . ( I made sure the cloth to be cut off are not glued at all )

 

Installing back the emboss pieces ..

 

 

Laying over the spine accent - Midnight Blue Bookcloth.

I chose this to match the dark blue on the fabric.

Looks good

 

 

I noticed something unique about this print ...

The white petals are actually painted a thick opaque white.

It was a surprise discovery for me becos you usually see whites are just fabric that is not painted , ie bare cloth.

The disadvantage of this is that you can sometimes see thru this bare white portion, revealing what is underneath.

Here it is not. Its painted white ...

 

This is a better view to see that the whites are very opaque white

(the slate blue fabric here in this pic is most accurately rendered)

 

Done

 

 

 

 

This is also another set of covers on my (cluttered) workbench ...

 

stumbled upon this set of fabric prints...

 

The slate blue version looked most appealing out of the three ...

so I decided to try it out first ...

I was happy that I was able to cut the fabric.

I was expecting the cloth to get snagged and frayed from the cutting but it didnt.

What was needed though was a supersharp blade and that was how I got very clean cuts.

and careful glueing of the fabric . ( I made sure the cloth to be cut off are not glued at all )

 

Installing back the emboss pieces ..

 

 

Laying over the spine accent - Midnight Blue Bookcloth.

I chose this to match the dark blue on the fabric.

Looks good

 

 

I noticed something unique about this print ...

The white petals are actually painted a thick opaque white.

It was a surprise discovery for me becos you usually see whites are just fabric that is not painted , ie bare cloth.

The disadvantage of this is that you can sometimes see thru this bare white portion, revealing what is underneath.

Here it is not. Its painted white ...

 

This is a better view to see that the whites are very opaque white

(the slate blue fabric here in this pic is most accurately rendered)

 

Done

 

 

 

 

Trying out matching bookcloth accents .

Flyleaves and threads can now be contrasting or also keeping with the same hues ...

Edited January 4, 2018 by TMLee

[TMLee]

This is Journal 147T Jet Black Bookcloth

 

A6 size

 

stitched with FABRIANO ECOQUA BIOPRIMA 85g , 3.5mm dot-grid

 

 

 

I chose a deep red scheme where bands, threads and flyleaves were matching hues ...

 

 

 

The paper being heavier and dimensionally more rigid, makes the Signatures more well-formed.

So better formed signatures contributes to better formed stitches as well , as you can see here.

In comparison, TOMOE RIVER paper is challenging in this respect.

 

 

 

Matching deep red flyleaves ...

 

 

Plain bookcloth covers are always classic ...

they never go out of style ...

 

 

 

Inktestpage ...

(a slight departure from my usual ...)

I have left the other pencils unpainted, allowing the owner to try painting into them ...

So in keeping with the red theme, only the red pencil is watercoloured in.

 

 

The paper holds up pretty well ..

(the dot-grid is rendered in cool grey :thumbup: and not black dots which are highly distracting)

 

 

 

 

 

The Colophon page

 

Writing paper is :

FABRIANO ECOQUA BIOPRIMA 85g , 3.5mm dot-grid (reviewed here)

( not bad paper actually )

7 Signatures, 6 Folios each

Total 168 writing pages

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TMLee]

I love Japanese prints ....

 

This one's from my haul from a Tokyo trip sometime back ...

 

I was looking high & low for a theme around the infamous Fugu fish or Japanese pufferfish or blowfish.

I couldn't find

 

I also was looking for a porcelain chopstick rest made in the form of a pufferfish.

Couldn't find.

It was so cute , at least the one I saw and used in a restaurant here.

 

maybe I didn't look hard enough ...

 

so amongst the many covers on my workbench waiting to be stitched into journals ...

This fabric is actually a Tenugui

I used part of it to wrap the covers.

 

I decided to also make a emboss/deboss even though the covers are entirely wrapped ,

I felt it could add some interest to the distinctively Japanese theme.

 

 

Blue threads

Blue bands

 

Blue flyleaves

 

Each of these characters are names of certain kinds of fishes.

You see the recurrent 'fish' character on the left half of each character.

Interspersed among them are some recognizable pics , like the pufferfish , flounder , etc

 

 

Pretty kool

 

This one's gonna be gifted to a fishing enthusiast friend of mine

 

Let me know if you are also interested in acquiring one too

 

 

 

[TMLee]

I name this

 

JOURNAL 251 "Fugu"

 

A6 size

 

 

matching blue bookbands ...

 

 

matching blue threads

 

 

Emboss/deboss along the spine edge

 

Blue flyleaves too

 

Full spread

 

 

The inktestpage

 

 

The Colophon

 

Writing paper is

FABRIANO ECOQUA BIOPRIMA , 85g, 3.5mm dot-grid

7 Signatures, 6 Folios each

Total 168 writing pages

 

 

 

I love Japanese prints ...

Edited January 12, 2018 by TMLee