Binding my own Art Journal

I bought an old book from Oxfam a while a go with the intention of altaring it in some way and using the inside text pages on art journal pages.

I had intended to take the covers off the book seperately and re bind using webbing to hold it together as I had seen in the Wildfire book by L.K.Ludwig, but the only webbing I had was to big. I went on Youtube to try and find another way of doing it and found this video.

I thought this was a much easier way of doing it as it left the covers attached to the spine.

I made four signatures, each with 6 pieces of paper. I used a mixture of papers-cartridge, watercolour and coloured. (I didn't remember to start taking photos until I had bound the book, but the video shows you how to do it!) I then bound the book using the instructions in the video.

This is the spine showing the binding

This is the inside front cover

Some of the pages showing the stitching. I didn't have any waxed linen thread so I doubled up some hand quilting thread and ran it through some beeswax (left over from my quiltmaking days!).

I wanted to decorate the front cover, but not all of it, so I used masking tape to mark a square off in the centre. I then gessoed it.

I used my heat gun to dry the gesso and then covered the square with a thick layer of texture paste. I then stamped a dragonfly image into the wet paste. I used the heat gun again to dry it...which took a while!

I removed the masking tape when dry and painted the image. I used Dylusions paint and twinkling H2o's.

I found a Zutter perfect closure which I have been saving for ages(I've had it at least 4 years!). I painted the leather strap to match the book and stamped tiny dragonflys on it before attaching it to the book.

I attached the tiny key that came with it to a piece of sparkly thread and added a little gold heart and this just hangs off the strap.

And this is the inside front cover and the first page.

I am really pleased with how this book has turned out and will definately be making some more!

This is my WK 42 LO for The Wight Craft Circle Scrap with us challenge-a review of 2010. It is a straight copy of Paiges LO (which she scraplifted from someone else!) I have no mo-jo for scrapping at the moment so Paige was nice enough to let me just copy her!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Sami x