I finished the little journal! It’s a disaster! But it’s my disaster. My beautiful little disaster. See, because I can’t help but love 99% of everything I make – disaster or not. Which is why I’ve always lived by this creed of Winston Churchill:
Success is going from one failure to the next without loss of enthusiasm!
So you’ll be wanting to see the errors of my ways. Here. I will show them to you.
Not so apparent in this shot of the book open. Perhaps a closer look is necessary.
No closer. Wait. A comparison shot is best. I left out a very important step while making Little. A step I thought I could eliminate. See my writing journal below Little? Notice how all of the signatures are so marvelously lined up. (I bought that journal on Etsy).
This exposed tape binding needs a coptic/chain/kettle stitch about 1/4 of an inch from the top and bottom to hold the signatures together. The stitch I eliminated. Without it the signatures are wonky wiggly. Screwy. BUT…they were perfectly lined up and looked good until… I glued the first page of the signatures to the covers and each first signature page to each other because I didn’t want the gaps between each signature. Insert big hearty laugh here.
Little is no longer wiggly. He is a very sturdy fellow. Tightly wrapped, unlike his creator. He smells of glue. I LOVE that smell. And he opens perfectly flat.
Next time I make this type of book I will throw a bit less caution to the wind. I will remove my blindfold before beginning. I will be less hostile towards following directions. I know what I did wrong and I know how to fix it. In the meanwhile I am dying to dive headfirst into Day 1 of filling the new visual journal! First though let me wipe the cream from my muzzle and finish off these strawberries.
Your experiences with the exposed tapes is very timely for me, as I am just about to start my first exposed tape book. So glad to see this! Love your blog.
Mary Ann, Even with kettle stitches, over-tape books tend to be wonky. I was showing one I made to a professional book-maker and she wondered why I had not included the covers in the kettle-stitching. I finally figured that you would start and finish just as though you were making a coptic-stitched book, haven’t tried it yet but it sounds as though it should work to stabilize everything. I love the covers that you used. Have a fun Sunday!
Please- the journal looks great, and you know as well I do, directions are for suckers!!!
You are so hilarious! I am so wanting to try one of those journals! This one looks great! Maybe for my next adventure. Very inspired … as usual!
I made a couple of books by sewing over the exposed tapes, as you did. I found they don’t give the book enough support, although they look good (I used gold and silver ribbon for mine). I think this style may work better for small books where there’s not much weight for the tapes to support. And of course, kettling is really helpful. But living and learning is the most helpful thing of all 😉
Well, I think it’s great. So there.
Yes, I say yes to every word of this post. You tickle me pink.
What are you talking about?! My two journals look just like this! Is this wrong?!
Happy Spooky day. Just finished a big project and feel better.
Love that Churchill quote. thx.
Wow, I like the colors in your journal. So earthy and warm. I’m craving brown lately. Also, mad love for the security envelope laser cuts, too cool by half. I’ll just bet when you look back on this journal you will see a beauty not readily evident at the moment.
Which glue? curious about the smell.
Thanks for reminding me of that quote. Humility is what it’s about; sharing your missteps teaches more than seeing the flawless finishers. Forging ahead with enthusiasm is why you are so well loved by all of your monkeys, little and big.
WOW!! What a cool distressed looking journal, and who cares about the wonkiness of it. Those straps are the best!!! Thanx for sharing, Sharon
Ok–gorgeous! I love the quality of your journal(s). Do you know the term wabi sabi? Nothing on earth better.
Ah, but the most important comment in your post is “I can’t help but love 99% of everything I make – disaster or not.” If more of us did that, we’d be a lot happier!
Cheers,
Clara
I am just betting if you just posted the pictures of the journal… we would NEVER have even noticed your “error” I think it is JUST beautiful! I love it! It does not look like an error to me.