brown stripe

a few weekends ago, i picked up a couple of promotional notepads from a conference i attended.



i cut off the header, then folded the squared paper to form a textblock.

i used some scrapbooking paper to make a cover (inside and outside). the book's dimensions are about 3"x5".



i borrowed the book non-adhesive binding volume 1 from the library. i tried out the long stitch through slotted cover, using some blue sewing thread.



spine detail:


again, i had a bit of a problem with the glue seeping through the cover.

exercise books

when i was in elementary school, the school provided us with exercise books. over the years, we accumulated a number of these partially filled notebooks. it seemed like a waste to throw away, so we've kept them in storage for all these years.

finally, i've found something to do with them. i un-stapled all the books, and re-bound the pages into signatures. i took the covers of one of the notebooks, and covered it with scrapbooking paper.

the cover i took was blue. i covered it with thin beige scrapbooking paper. i used white glue, which seeped through, resulting in those weird blue spots on the cover. after the binding was done, i made the mistake of pressing the book in between two heavy phone books, before the glue completely dried. when i took off the phone books, it left those white marks on the cover. so basically, i completely messed up the cover of this notebook. but it's not too big of a deal, since i intended to use this as my own private journal, eventually.

front cover, with blue and white spots:


inside:


spine detail:

petal notebook

while procrastinating from studying for final exams, i made another book.

it is quarter-page in size, with 128 blank pages. the covers were made with cardboard and scrapbooking papers. the textblock was made with blank computer paper. i found some fuschia thread in the sewing box, and coptic-stitched the spine.

i already have too many blank notebooks. i think i'll give this one away as part of a gift.



after i finish my pack of scrapbooking paper, i should learn to make my own paper. it would be interesting.

yellow recipe book

mom wanted a notebook to collect her recipes. so i decided to make her one. another attempt at coptic binding.

the covers were made with cardboard i found in the recycling bin, covered with scrapbooking paper i got at the dollar store. i put too much glue; it seeped through and stained the back cover... inside are 128 blank pages, a quarter of letter-sized paper. the stitching turned out better this time.

recycled notebooks

rather than study for my spacecraft dynamics final exam, i made some open-spine notebooks. all materials came from the recycling bin.

for this first book, the covers are postcard flyers, promoting some entertainment event. the inside pages are detailed drawings of my mech eng project, all printed on one side. i folded these papers in four, such that the printed side remains inside. the spine is poorly stitched, loose at some ends. i need more practice.



for the second book, the covers were cut out of a frozen pizza box. the inside papers are scraps from some photocopies i made. the spine was stitched more tightly, with a better finish.



i made these while listening to the new damien rice cd i got.

update: january 2008. during the winter break, i re-stitched these notebooks. posted here are the new pictures.

reconstructed: biology books

a while ago, there was a box of free books sitting in the hallway at school, so i took a couple.

one of them was a 1960's book, a little larger than 5.5" x 8.5". i ripped out the textblock and replaced it with blank white pages. i used some of the original pages as endpapers. the spine and corners showed some wear, so i repaired them with duct tape. unfortunately, i ran out of tape, which is why i left the back cover corners intact.

front:


inside pages:


this first reconstructed book has the problem of not opening completely flat. i only realized it after gluing everything together, so it'll have to stay that way.

with the other book, i made sure the endpapers were well creased near the spine. the problem was corrected. this second book is smaller in size, so i had to trim the pages. it came with a dustjacket, so the cover remained in rather good condition. again, i used a couple of the original pages as endpapers.

front:


inside pages:


spine:


i really enjoyed this project. i will definitely make some more blank journal out of old books. the key would be to find some with interesting/amazing covers.

softcover journals

my second attempt at coptic stitch. initially, i had planned to used this as a school notebook. but i think i'll be using it as a personal journal instead.

the cover and spine are made with thick paper. it's very plain.


i also made one with a snowflake, as a christmas gift for a friend.

construction paper journal

this is my first attempt at making a journal.

here are the front and back cover, made from some construction paper i had lying around.


i didn't know better: i used elmer's white glue, and the paper got all wrinkled. also, i should have trimmed the black construction paper i used for the spine; i didn't and it's too thick and it shows through the cover... oh well, at least, i learned something.

for the inside pages, i used ordinary computer paper, on which i printed some lines.


i followed this tutorial to attach the cover:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=10347.0
and this tutorial to stich the signatures:
http://www.daydreamingonpaper.com/0204.html

anyway, this was fun! for my next project, i am planning to make a notebook for school or something.