Thursday, August 18, 2011

I Confess.....

......to yet another addiction (I am so weak!)  I am a journal making/bookbinding junkie!  Who'd a thunk it?  Oh, I've always admired hand sewn books and even made a very simple one or two, but then.....then.....my unintentionally (I'm sure) enabling friend Sox decided to go and post photos of her handmade journals.  First were the lace ones.  Oh my!  Then, what dragged me in was the fabulous asian inspired exposed spine book.  That was it.  I had to make one.  I did, a little sample which I blogged about the other day.  I've also prepped my covers for an asian round robin that's coming up, and just have to wait for the paper I ordered to make my signatures arrives.

However, addicts aren't known for patience.  I WANTED TO MAKE ANOTHER ONE NOW!!!!!  Then I remembered I have a whole bunch of beautiful two-sided 8x8" journal pages and one sided 8x10" background technique pages from a portfolio group I'm in.  All done by some of my favorite artsy peeps.  Why not use those?  For the larger pages, I just folded them at the 8" point (remember, they measured 8" on the other side already), which created a little bit of a page which would be perfect to "tip in" the two sided pages.  Yes, a little of one side would be hidden, but I so much wanted to use all these pages, and no, no, no, not another coil or binder ring solution.  I WANTED ANOTHER EXPOSED SPINE JOURNAL!!!

And here it is.....I even cut up the portfolio that my pages traveled around in, and it became my outside covers.

the spine

front cover (from my portfolio)


back cover (also scavanged from my portfolio)


What follows are the pages.  Any blanks or messed up ones will be covered with either paper or pages I haven't received yet, or I'll just do a background directly on them.  I DID NOT overthink the order of the pages; I just put two together to form a signature, stacked them and started sewing.  And yet, as I turn the pages, they all flow one to the next. 

























There was one background page I couldn't use in a signature because it had been done on heavy cardboard.  No problem......it became my inside back cover:



Many thanks to Sox who inspired me to begin with, and Inge, who mentioned casually that she was planning to use the backgrounds she'd received in a journal.  And of course, to everyone in my journal/portfolio/mail love groups.  I think what I love most about this book is that it contains a little bit of each of you.


19 comments:

Alicia B said...

WOW Elaine, I can surely see why you are addicted to these- you are a natural!! This is going to be a true piece of art once completed and I can't wait to see it! *Hugs*

Socrates said...

What a fantastic book. I love what you've done with it. Glad that I can be of inspiration, but you have outdone me. :-))

Elena said...

Oh DAMN Eileen!!! Now I have to go make one!!! LOL!!! FANTABULOUS!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh Eileen that is so awesome!!!! I really love that!!

Lillian said...

gorgeous Eileen
What a wonderful use of all our pages
Beautiful job
x
Lilli
http://www.canadianscraptramp.blogspot.com/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mixedmediaart/

Dorothy said...

OMG!! Truly gorgeous!!!

Anonymous said...

oh wow I love love it... It look amazing.

Marilyn Harris Mills aka Maer said...

very impressive Eileen....your colour selection is wowsers :)

Anonymous said...

I am just too clumsy to be a crafter, all thumbs! Still, I really appreciate what those who aren't can do ! Fabulous Book!
Wonderful work!
Lee

Vic said...

You are rocking these! The pages are wonderful. And your spine looks perfect.

Helen said...

Stunning work, you have such talent.

Jona Panesa said...

oh my, this is really lovely!

Patzee said...

Your book is fabulous. From the technique and execution all the way to the contents, it's amazing. Every page really does tell a story and you've brought all those stories together very, very well!

Sue Young said...

Oh how I wish I lived near u so u could show me how to do this. Gorgeous!!!

Lori said...

Wow! Fantastic! Just love all those pages, and they were so expertly bound! I can tell you really love your books....

donnalouiserodgers said...

there is no better feeling than the one you get after completing pretty book binding, check out: making hand made books, 100+ binding, structures & forms, Alisa Golden, isbn 987-1-60059-587-5

I feel the need to feed your addiction!

Dx

Art By Wanda said...

Fabulous, Eileen!!! It is fun to make books!!! I haven't made one in a long time... oh for more time to create -sigh-.

inge said...

Hello Eileen,

You may be damn proud of yourself !
Your journalbook is gorgeous !

I love how the spine looks on the back. This is a bookbindingtechnique I have NOT done yet.
I don't think it's a difficult one, but I really, really LOVE the sewed spine : the sewing through the decorated signatures and how it runs over the pieces of the cover.

Yes, the pages are all a part of us, but the combination in your book is so nice to flip through.

Clever of you to create signatures of the pages by gluing two parts together. Must keep this in mind !

You can cherish your journal now already, but it even gets better when you will journal in it !

greetings from belgium
Inge

Elaine Akers said...

Lovely book and the colorful pages are just gorgeous. Great job. Bookmaking is addicting.