First Attempt At Making A Journal, Using A Cereal Box And Coptic Binding

[gamingoodz]

After seeing some of the cool journals that people made in the classifieds section that they were selling I really wanted one.. But I don't have much cash and I'm not really the type of person to pay for something without trying to do it myself first. I knew that mine wouldn't be nearly as nice as the ones on here but I would be happy if it was at least "ok" for my first try.

 

I went out and got some supplies and started binge watching YouTube tutorials lol.

 

I decided to use a cereal box for my cover as I didn't have any chipboard and didn't want to spend any more money than I already had. So the cover was made from a cereal box and the pages are HP Premium Laser jet 32lb paper that I made a template for on the computer and printed out onto each page to put lines and the data on it.

 

If I was to do this again (which I will someday) I would pay more attention to the grain of the paper as my cover warped some. I would also try to be neater and I'm sure with practice they would turn out better the more I made.

 

I've never made anything like this before, I'm pretty much the opposite of someone that would make a journal. But I've started looking at life differently since battling my demons years back and I've expanded my hobbies and interests quite a bit. (Which is also how I got into fountain pens) This is also the first time I've ever kept or used a journal so it's been interesting and I like having somewhere to keep a record of my day.

 

[stonezebra]

I'm no expert but I think that's very nicely done, your stitching is remarkably even for a first-time project. Well-done. I love the cover.

[GatzBcn]

Well, I think it looks really well, specially since this is your opera prima!! Good job!!! :)

[jabberwock11]

Excellent job. I would never have guessed that this was your first try at making something like this, it looks great.

[TMLee]

Well done !

It looks great

 

With regards to warping, you may want to try glueing two pieces together to form one cover.

Each one glued in cross grain pattern would be even better, I think.

 

Glue as dry as possible.

Too much and too wet glue worsens warpage.

 

Enjoy the crafting

 

 

 

[drv1913]

Nice job! It certainly looks better than my first attempt at bookmaking.

[mwpannell]

Yes, well done. Very nice.

[Rose Nibs]

The cereal boxes over here are covered in colourful pictures of corn flakes, not robed aliens from a distant galaxy in black and white. Modern marketing, I guess. Seriously, nice work.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Very cool! I think the stitching would be 'my' most difficult part to do at all.

[gamingoodz]

Thank you all for the kind words. It was pretty interesting making it, the PVA glue dries quicker than I would have expected I would say that was what gave me the most trouble. The most time consuming part though was either folding each piece of paper in half or the stitching part.

 

The cereal boxes over here are covered in colourful pictures of corn flakes, not robed aliens from a distant galaxy in black and white. Modern marketing, I guess. Seriously, nice work.

 

Hehe the box I used was a regular cereal box I but since they are pretty thin I covered the cereal box cardboard in some cardstock paper that I printed that design onto. It made it look nice of course but also made it a lot stiffer than just the plain cereal box board.

Edited February 3, 2016 by gamingoodz

[Drawing61]

Very nice and inspirational. I am trying my hand at saddle stitch book binding and am getting better. My best efforts I will use as journals. Thanks again for sharing your experiences.

[MrThoth]

Nice work! I want to attempt something similar one of these days.

[thomasrhee]

Well done!

[Newjelan]

Nice job. I love the cover design.

[Miz Black Crow]

That's quite lovely! Congratulations on your beautiful baby notebook! May I ask to what purpose you intend to put this lovely work of art?

[amberleadavis]

Great job!

[oshizemi]

Very nice! You're inspiring me to get back at journal and card making. Definitely a soothing hobby.

[gamingoodz]

First, Thank you all for the awesome kind words. I've never really been an "artsy" or "crafty" person. I've always been more at home covered in motor oil or setting up new computer networks. Since getting into fountain pens though I've learned to appreciate the slower more laid back activities and this is something I wanted to try out.

 

That's quite lovely! Congratulations on your beautiful baby notebook! May I ask to what purpose you intend to put this lovely work of art?

 

I use it as a daily journal. When I made it that's the plan I had originally for it so I designed some pages on the computer and printed them out onto HP premium laser jet paper. The paper is very thick but its nice because it feels more substantial and I don't have to worry about bleed through. I tried to put enough pages in it for over a half a year, so each page is one "day" with each physical page being 2 days since its front and back. I've never kept a journal until I made this but always thought it would be interesting to do so. So I set out on this project from the start to make a journal because I seen some nice ones in the forums here and was inspired. I'm a very forgetful person and I'm also older now at 30 years old and I am back in school for a degree in Computer network administration and as I get older I think about my life more and a journal seemed like something that would be nice to get my thoughts out and what I did that day.

[PaganArcher]

Looks great for a first try. As someone that has made my own leather journals, this makes me think I need to add coptic binding to my list of skills.

[Gaangel]

Beautiful work. I love the cover designs. Keep practicing.

 

Esther