This was, of course, after I made an impromptu trip to Hobby Lobby last night at 7:15 p.m. It is the plight of every crafter: realizing late on Saturday that you absolutely must have this yarn/wire/bead/fabric/paper/stamp/paint/glue/etc. and Hobby Lobby closes in X number of minutes. I think the closest I cut it was leaving my apartment at 7:45 p.m. to reach the one in BG before it closed. So I picked up some fabric choices, inside paper, and a can of spray adhesive. Yes, I do have another can trapped at school. But rationalizations won out: I will find a way to use up spray adhesive. Thanks, Aunt Michele, for introducing me to it. So I bought another one.
A side note about spray adhesives: for the love of all things lovely, use a cardboard box lined with new newspaper every time. Just do it. I would say to do it outside in a well-ventilated area, but I chose the fumes over doing it in the heat. Priorities here.
Now, I was able to try my turn at making another journal. I tweaked the instructions slightly to make this book. I made a bigger page size (8" x 11") so I would not waste as much paper. On the 6x9 book, I had to cut 2" and 2.5" strips off a piece of paper, so now I have a stack of white strips I am figuring out something to do with. I do not want to simply recycle all that paper. Craft idea to be determined.
I decided to try four pages to make a signature this time. The first one I used three pages because I did not like the unevenness created by folding 4+ pages at a time. By creasing and recreasing with my nails, I like to think I did a good job creating an even edge for the side of the journal. I also needed to create an inch of journal, since that was the size foam board I had cut for the spine. I used 20 signatures to create a journal with 160 pages. (Well, actually, I added one piece of paper to a random signature to make it 160 actual pages. When counting the total pages, it includes the two sides glued to the inside cover. I don't consider those usable pages. So I added an extra so I could say the journal had 160 pages.)
I also chose to double the thread over to create a stronger binding when sewing. This was a tip from the original website, which I found after following the link on the pin. The pin itself led me to some Asian website with no help but the picture.
Here are the pages drying, sandwiched between all my library books. Do you know what happens when you go too long without visiting a library? Book binge.
I also changed the size of the cover for this journal. The space between the spine and the cover coupled with the extra width on the cover made for too wide of a lip over the side of the pages. So I decided to used a cover that was the same width and slightly larger height.
The journal cover shell with inside color choices. John got to pick this one and chose the green.
While I waited for the glue on the binding to dry, I worked on the cover. (Let's just call it over-excitement about this fun print.) I found this great chevron print at Hobby Lobby and thought it would look excellent with a bold inside cover color, so I picked up these textured pages to try. Green was tonight's winner.
Using the spray glue to adhere the inside cover. Now you know my little secret: the foam board sticker is on my book.
I wasn't really planning on finishing the book tonight. I just wanted to get the pages sewn together, but my enthusiasm took over and, voila, I have a finished book.
So pretty! Sale worthy journal
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