Sallyacious

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April 14, 2007

Look at What I Did Today

I made books!

They're sewn and everything. Two are obviously covered with the front and back of a Cheerios box, while I made the covers of the other two from cardstock and watercolor paper. These are all single signature books, with five folios per signature. The paper is an assortment of handmade Indian papers that came in 22" x 30" sheets that I cut down by hand and/or tore to 8 1/2" x 11".

This whole project came about from my beginning to write in the mornings again, starting, oddly enough, on April Fool's Day. I decided to sit down and write out some thoughts and try to figure out the source of my unhappiness. So I grabbed an empty journal I'd been wanting to use and started writing. It felt so good, and I felt so much better afterwards that I made a plan to do the same thing every morning, and I haven't missed a morning since. They're not exactly morning pages because I don't do them first thing (I need to be sure I get everything else done first), and because I don't limit myself to three pages. Often I write more than three, sometimes I write less. Though not usually the latter.

My attitude has improved dramatically since I began. I don't lie in bed wishing I didn't have to get up anymore. Instead, I hop out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off (after adjusting my back), and hurry through my morning routine to be sure I have time to write. It's wonderful.

Part of the reason I am enjoying it this time around is that I love the physical feeling of putting marks on paper. Specifically, on the paper in this journal, with a fountain pen. It just feels good. But I'm getting through the journal quite quickly, and though I looked and looked, I haven't been able to find anything like it, either here (like there was a chance of that happening) or online.

I'd seen several sets of instructions on how to bind books, and thought it would be something interesting to attempt someday. And since I couldn't find the journal I wanted, I decided to try to make my own. Especially once I'd found instructions for making simple books. That was actually the very last bit of information I needed to feel confident that I could do this. So I ordered the minimal bookbinding supplies (bone folder, paper awl, bookbinding needles, waxed thread) and a whole bunch of different papers, so I could figure out what was closest to the stuff in my current journal.

Since the stuff arrived yesterday, I decided to go ahead and give it a shot today. And may I say that it was really, really easy. Except for the part where I needed to use my left thumb for gripping or pressing, which would pretty much be the entire process. Ow ow ow ow ow. However, I have the four completed books and five more signatures made up and set aside to use in a much bigger book. It uses exactly the same techniques, but with a larger cover. I don't have what I need for that here, and I didn't want to go out again tonight, so I'm writing a self-congratulatory blog post instead and I'll go get the cover supplies tomorrow.

Mind you, I think I'm pretty rightly proud of myself. I've learned a new skill, and become a bit more self-reliant, at least as far as not having to depend on the internet or the useless bookstores around here for my journaling needs. Plus, Dave was so taken with the notebook made from the front of the Cheerios box that he has adopted it as his own. That's pretty cool, that he thinks they're worth having.

Posted by sally at April 14, 2007 09:37 PM

Comments

Posted by: fire4hairlady at April 15, 2007 03:39 PM

Posted by: Sallyacious at April 16, 2007 09:26 PM

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