Let the good times roll!

Before blogs exist, I was an avid journal writer. I wrote in details of what's going on in my life and kept that habit for a very long time. I kept my journals from years back, and once in a while, reading the pages reminded me of who I used to be and who I've become (so far).

...Until I got tired of reading about the past, and decided it was about time to let go some of the memories. I'm not very fond of my handwriting, but since I've put in so much energy into writing essay-length entries, I thought it was worth being appreciated.

Hey, you need to let go of the old memories to make way for the ones, right?

So this idea popped up.

The cover pages of the book was from an old diary. They weren't THAT old, but I aged the pages by dumping them into coffee-filled water - it didn't work well apart from giving that faint coffee smell, so I cheated and used distress inks instead. Ha!

This was also a part of an ongoing bookbinding challenge by Little Syam (my bookbinding guru), where we had to use recycle materials in our book design.

I still have a lot of pages (tons of them) left from my old journals, and I'd probably blend everything together and do some scented-recycle papers for keep. I just can't find time for that... yet. +__+

Meanwhile, enjoy the book! (but mind the handwriting!)

Trial and Error

They're 3.5" books, for stitching practices.

I have to admit, my stitches aren't neat as other bookbinders, and my works always borderline the sloppy/ messy kind. So I guess why not go all out and make some sloppy and messy (and funky) kind of books that I like?

Hence, the wacky stitches. Still have a lot to improve on, but I'm loving these. :)

The feelings

I've made 'em lots, and I chose this one to be my favourite of them all, simple because:

i) I love the colours

ii) Raindrops abound!

First look at the cover and it basically sums it up as a very emotional book. :P

Delicious books

I wish I'm still in in school, when autographs were very popular, so I could use one of these for others to write. I wish I still have to attend lectures, and would proudly use one of these for note-takings. I wish I've started working full time, so I could show these off to my colleagues (or perhaps, students? heh!). Why is that the idea of finally giving it a try at bookbinding only occured when I have neither of those? Maybe I could use them as my idea book, for sketches and designs I plan to do for my crafts. They've been everywhere these days - I wrote on scrap papers, books, small notes etc.. need to start combining them all and put them in one. proper. book.

I have to admit, I'm always crazy about books, and always envy those delicious-looking books in multiple colours on the shelves at bookstores. But I've always stop short of buying them, putting a thought at the back of my head - I'll learn bookbinding, and I'll bind books with beautiful covers like these! (and ended up buying those boring looking writing pads in bulk haha). Well, the truth is, I said that ever since high school, but never actually had the guts or the ways of fulfilling that very wish.

Not until last week. When I googled around for something totally un-craft related but ended up on craft websites anyway (why is that always happened to me?! :P) hehe. At first I thought I'll give Japanese bookbinding a try, because it seems simple enough. And so I did. And finally, when tutorials of coptic binding were shovered upon my Window screen (they kept on appearing, regardless how many times I tried to ignore), I decided to give it a try. It sure looks complicated at first, but after hours of trying (almost 4 hours!), I finally made my very first coptic-stitched book. Yeay!

Then I got addicted and started to make more books, and instead of spending hours per book, I spend less than 2 hours to make one. I can even speed up on the stitching part yeay! Unlike Japanese bookbinding where you have to make creases in order to write in the book, coptic binding allows the book to open flat. It shows off the fine spines of the books, which I totally love, and  it gives you plenty of ideas on how to improve your binding skills. You can show off your stitching skills too, though it's not really that nice in my case :P

And the way you stationed the holes for the stitching also play the role of varying the stitching design. And different threads used for stitching will also give different effects to the whole look too. I'm currently using white nylon fishing thread, but can't wait to try other colours as well :)

And as you can see, I tried making the signatures (the folded sheets grouped together) in different colours as well, and the result was amazing!

I already have few ideas and techniques on how to improve - and I simply can't wait to get started.  :P

Japanese book binding

I watched some tutorials online and thought I found the simplest way to bind a book. I'm in love with Japanese book binding and hence, the try:

These were made using scrapbits from previous projects, and I happened to have few meters of paper strings left, so I thought of giving it a go. The stitching part was the hardest, since I was too lazy to dig up my sewing box (gathering dust under the bed ha!), so I stitched the pages without using any needle. Oh yes I did. *bangs head on the wall*. On some 1/8" round holes. Stupid decision, I know, but still do-able. :P

It was a mess cutting and slicing the papers, so they ended up with some uneven pages.

I like the hard cover of my first book though, and the wrapper was actually one of my favs.

The second try was much better, but I wasn't really fond with my colour choice for the hard cover. I messed up again when I tried mod-podging the cover (need to get used to this mod-podging business!), so it came out with all the bubbles, scattered and uneven, and it didn't look very nice. :( I tried covering it up with the E alpha, but it only solved half the problem.

Remind me to find more coloured strings for the bindings, and I'll give it a try again, with much better colour coordinations. And with much better design. And sizes. Or perhaps I should use ribbons too.

The front cover looked so bare so I used the alphas that I made before to decorate on them. At least now they looked decent enough heh!

1, 2, 3 Love.

This card reminds me of this song:

Plain White T's -1,2, 3, 4.



Love comes in many shapes and sizes.


This card took me nearly three hours just to do the hand stitching job. It should be easier if I use the sewing machine, but the thrill of hand stitching beats the machine, I guess. The first thing crossed my mind was the complicated technicality of arranging how the stitches should be, and which way should it go.

Just like love, I thought. Complex and complicated.

But once I finished the card, I realised that it's not really as complex and complicated as it has always been seen.

This card has showed me that no matter how complicated and complex our life is, love is the one that keep us going. No matter how twisted, and entangled the paths may be.

The stitches represents the roads that I take every single day of my lives, and whoa, they sure did look like some complicated roads haha. Regardless, I'm glad that even after some lost ways and dead ends, these loves are always there to support me, and give me strengths.

Alhamdulillah.