Sometimes a drawing takes on it’s own life. I didn’t like the pen I used, way too thick and it just started going downhill from there. My supposed cute girl turned into an evil little devil with messy watercoloring, as I was annoyed and just went at it violently! It’s okay, right? I had to remind myself – doesn’t always have to be cute or good or correct…just let it be.
Happy Monday everyone! I know it’s not the first time I’ve talked about getting into focus and really concentrating on what I need to accomplish. However, this past week of working solely on important projects and getting through the deadlines really helped me to realize how all the effort pays off. Talk about realizing what’s normal for most people who get anything done in this world! You have to focus on your task, make a plan and go do it, duh! I suppose it’s easier said than done (another, duh!) but I think for artists it’s harder because we don’t feel that “forcing it” works. If you don’t have inspiration or your muse is asleep, how can you get your artwork done? Or can you?
Contrary to popular fantasy beliefs, professional artists do have deadlines and really work at it whether the muse shows up for work or not. Ask the professionals and they will surely admit to slower days and difficult times. However, they have to work through it – like anyone else who has a job. You just have to keep at it, otherwise nothing will get done in the end. It must be a natural human characteristic to procrastinate as well. I’ve realized that I have so many interests and plans for the future, but scrambling from one thing to the next really just chokes up the whole process. I’ll end up with a million in progress things and nothing finalized. Multi-tasking is NOT more productive! Although, I like to work on different things – there has to be a happy medium in my schedule. So I’m going to focus on project by project, giving myself deadlines. Even if I end up with a prototype version of something because of the deadline, I would have at least gotten that far. It’s better than saying, one day…I’ll get to it one day! When is that one day going to be? Focus…plan…succeed!
I’ve realized how much time it takes to edit a little video – it’s such a challenge and I’m reminded of college days, where a music video group assignment took weeks! What seems to be funny, endearing or cool at the moment, suddenly seems awkward or dorky upon review. Perhaps the constant review of your footage makes it even harder. You start to scrutinize all the details, even though it’s probably going to flash by anyone else who sees it. I’ve been wanting to somehow share my artwork, process and bits of my Italia life through video, but it’s taking forever to come up with anything half decent. To all of you guys out there who make videos and share them online, thank you and give yourself a pat on the back. It’s hard work!
Part of my process involves a bit of character development. See the little lady I’ve been trying to draw above? I suppose it’s a cute representation of myself, but it’s been challenging to draw the same character in different ways, but still retain the essence of whoever she is. The idea is so that you’ll realize it’s the same lady! But then again, when I watch cartoons they don’t really seem to change clothes, do they? Hmm. I’ve noticed that I lack control and consistency when drawing. It’s easy to make things look different, but what if I what to be able to duplicate something exactly? She seems a bit different each time…even if it’s a slight difference. I started thinking about development and realized maybe it’s okay that I’m not machine like, duplicating my drawings. Maybe that’s normal! I mean, even when we take pictures of ourselves we often look different or at some weird angle it might even seem like an imposter! The development part of the term character development, means ever changing and growth. So it’s okay to be a bit different, a bit inconsistent – and by that I mean my own life and my alter ego character drawings. Life is good…don’t sweat the small stuff and just go do something fun, right?! Yeah, that’s the way I’m going to think about it. Happy Friday!
Happy Wednesday everyone! I just got a sewing machine recently and totally excited to learn how to use it and apply sewing into what I do. On my first attempt, I tried to sew paper! It certainly got a bit tricky and you have to test how many papers you really can go through – safely! My first attempts to sew the binding of a journal resulted in a really ugly looking result.
Although I’m not totally against being free and messy, I know that the paper was just too thick. I decided to make a smaller journal with less pages and thinner paper. So let’s go through this little tutorial of creating a journal using a sewing machine to bind your pages. I apologize in advance for the wonky photo coloring – I didn’t have proper lighting! So first thing I did was test my sewing machine to find out how many papers I could comfortably sew. I cut my papers to size and simply sewed the folded papers into the center of the liner paper, just a bit larger in size. This is probably the easiest binding one can ever do! I did remember to sew in reverse on the top and bottom to make sure the thread doesn’t unravel. I also purposely left long endings so I could glue them into the lining. When sewing paper, you just have to do a lot of tests and get your stitch length longer, so you don’t just end up cutting your paper.
To add a bit of design, I decided to sew along all four corners of my liner paper as well. Of course, you have to do this before you sew your signature of paper in. Pretty simple, straight sewing that I can sort of do. Even though it’s a bit wobbly-lined, I’m okay with it .
Next step is to glue the piece to your cover material. I am using leather here, just gluing the ends of the sewing and the whole liner paper with PVA glue.
After it dries, I just cut it out by hand, leaving a flap on the right to wrap around for closure.
For my wraparound closure, I braided some ribbon and twine together, attaching a big button to the end. I really love the ribbons mixed with other string, giving a really rustic look.
I punched two holes into the flap and pulled my braided closure into it.
One side is knotted twice to keep it secure, then wrapping around twice, the button helps to hold it closed securely. Pretty nifty!
There you have it, another little journal for you thoughts, doodles and life experiences. How cool is that?!
Just a bit of watercolor in one my journals for today. I wrote in just hanging around with a bit of doodling because seriously that’s what it feels like today. I also only did one side of the spread, which is odd for me. We often have the urge to cover up both pages, an entire spread. However, sometimes I like to let the page confine me…
I started thinking about how we need to give ourselves constraints, rules and structure…otherwise how does anything get done, right?
Hi everyone! I just wanted to make a quick post about an opportunity to help out with the animal victims of the horizon gulf oil spill. If you would like to help out with a $10 donation to The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies or The International Bird Rescue Research Center, you can get a piece of art donated by an artist as well. I donated a watercolor turtle piece and also donated $10 myself to the The International Bird Rescue Research Center. It’s the least I can do and it’s great to contribute and take that little step forward to a better future together. Please check out the blog for more information on the right hand side http://ripplesketches.blogspot.com/
The initiative was started by Kelly Light and all of the donations go straight to the organizations. She is organizing everything from the goodness of her heart! I agree with what she wrote “We don’t have to feel helpless. We can help. Our small actions together will ripple outward.” Make a difference, folks!
I’ve probably mentioned The Braves Girls Club before, but I had to post about their daily truths emails and share some of the emails with all of you. They are such wonderful words of wisdom to receive on a daily basis…just take a look at what you would receive…
Isn’t it just wonderful? They have a goal of getting 100,000 brave girls on their email list and I’m proud to be one of them! You should subscribe to their daily truths emails and take in their gracious support, encouragement and inspirational words. Here’s another email I wanted to share…
I can’t tell you enough how lovely it is to receive such happy emails on a daily basis. Try it out for yourself and I’m sure you’ll agree. Just take the first step and sign up! How timely that today’s email is about being brave and taking the first step…
I wish you all a lovely Friday and enjoyable weekend…ciao ciao!
If you haven’t already checked it out, please visit my “Let’s Make A Journal” post where I go through my tutorial of how to make a journal and why I make them. Suffice to say, my creative workspace is full of papers, leather and bits and bobs from bookmaking. I would really appreciate your thoughts and feel free to ask questions about bookmaking as well. No surprise that I woke up today with the urge to make another journal. I immediately started working the grungy envelopes you saw at the end of yesterday’s post.
You might notice that this journal looks done, but it’s actually not sewn together yet! I’m still playing with the pages and how to stitch it together, but decided to prepare the rest of it. I really love the use of braided ribbons for the wraparound closure. I was tinkering a bit with snap closures, but have no idea how to use them…you know the extra buttons you get with clothing but never use? The ribbon gives it a softer look that I like though.
Anyway, the inspiration for this journal came from the idea of a mini travel notebook where you could write into, but also have a spot to collect stuff. The envelopes will allow you to keep little bits and pieces of your journey. Ticket stubs, pretty leaves, who knows! I’m making this as a gift and really excited to get it done and sent off.
Besides making journals left and right, I’ve also been doing my daily sketching and posting on Flickr. It’s really nice to have the routine, no matter how small it might be. Lots of little steps still get you moving forward, I say! Today I have a lot of digital work to be completed, so off I go into digital computer designer land. Until tomorrow my lovely readers. BTW, have I told you how much I appreciate your time in visiting and commenting on my blog? Grazie! I feel like such a lucky girl! 🙂
Since I can think of nothing else but bookbinding today, I thought it was about time I wrote a tutorial and explanation of how I make my journals and sketchbooks and even more importantly – why!? I’ve always been in awe of the fine art of bookmaking, but really I started making journals for myself to use. It was simply easier to fold up a bunch of papers I had lying around and start journaling. The ability to customize the size, the papers and add in little details made my journals even more special to me as well. However, I soon fell in love with the bookmaking process itself. I kept making journals and even though I work in more than a handful of journals at the same time, I quickly produced more than I could ever use.
Sometimes I’m inspired to create when seeing a cool book design or stitching method. Other times I come across an interesting material that I want to test out as a journal cover. However, I also just like the process and enjoy going through the motions of transforming paper and raw materials into a functional and beautiful creation. It’s a great feeling that drives me onward when it comes to bookmaking. For some reason, it’s amazingly easy for me to bind a book even when I’m tired or don’t feel like doing much. Perhaps it’s muscle memory in my hands, just creating with intuition…
I most often use leather for my journal covers and that is because I acquire remainder stock from local production companies here in Tuscany, Italy. These are sample pieces and leftovers that would have been tossed in the dump or destroyed. I’m all for saving the material from a short life and turning them into little journals for all of us to enjoy. I’ve been sending them to friends and family as well – they really make great gifts! I used to buy journals to give to people, because I’ve always loved the idea of journaling. It’s a place to dump down your thoughts and express your emotions…or even just write your grocery list into. I feel like it’s a necessity and everyone should have a little notebook and pen in their pocket, purse, car…
So let’s get right into the basics of making your very own journal! Let me show you the general process, step-by-step before we delve into more details and some fancy stuff. To begin with, you must choose some type of material for your cover and inside pages. It can be as simple as some heavy cardstock for the cover and white copy paper for the inside. Or you can try some chipboard, cardboard, fabric or leather as I often default to using. For flimsier materials such as fabric and leather, it’s good to glue in some liner paper. In fact, you might want to glue some pretty decorative paper to cover raw materials or even paint over cardboard to make it look a bit nicer.
In my example, I chose to use a piece of black leather with silver metallic lines. It’s pretty thin, so I glued black cardstock on the inside to give it some strength. I pretty much eyeball my measurements because I can’t cut straight for the life of me and detailed measurements are a bore 🙂 I just take a rough measurement of my paper size, giving a bit of room for the binding depending how many pages I want to include. You’ll notice that I cut a bit more leather to create a flap on the right…we’ll see what that is for later. This works for materials that can easily wrap around the book.
You will notice that I folded my inside papers and grouped them together. Each group of papers is called a signature. It’s basically papers folded in half that you will be attaching to your cover in some way. I use a plastic bone folder to help me crease all the papers nicely. It’s a great tool once you get into bookmaking, otherwise your fingers will be sore…trust me on that.
Once you have your cover and papers ready, it is pivotal to prepunch all your holes before stitching. It just makes the process of sewing a lot easier and does force you to do a little planning in terms of spacing and how you will be sewing it all together. The binding method I chose to do is super simple and all you need are two holes in each signature. You’ll see that I punched 2 corresponding holes for each signature in the cover as well. Now it’s time to sew!
I use embroidery thread and a big needle to sew my books together. You can buy waxed thread to prevent knotting up and pretty much use anything that you can string through easily. I’ve used various kinds of string and ribbon as well…it’s a bit up to your taste. I say use whatever you have available.
First step is to stick the needle through the bottom hole from the inside of your signature. Stick it through all the papers and the cover to the outside.
Then you pull the thread under and over the outside edge of your journal to tie a knot with the tail end of your starting point. It’s like you just looped the bottom part of your journal up. Remember when tying your knots to make them as tight as you possibly can without ripping through your papers. Leave a little tail here, so that you will be able to tie another knot at a later step.
With your knot secure, you bring the thread up to the top hole and stick it through your papers and cover to the outside.
Then you bring it up and over the top of your journal, going back into the same top hole again.
You’ll end up on the outside of your journal, creating that loop around the top of your journal to secure the signature nicely to your cover. Make sure that your thread is tight and nothing is loosely hanging around.
From here you bring your thread down and stick it into the bottom hole. You are going into the journal and ending up in your start position, inside the signature.
Here you are in the original bottom hole, where you started to begin with!
That’s it! You are done after making sure the thread is tight and tying a knot with the starting tail of thread you’ve left there. Then you can snip the threads to an even measure and tah-dah! One signature of paper securely sewn to your cover.
You will notice that with this simple stitch, you see the thread all along the spine of your journal on the outside and inside.
You basically repeat the steps above for sewing in all your signatures of paper…one by one. This stitching method is easy because you can tackle one signature at a time, making sure the thread is tight and secure. Note that you need about double the height of your journal in thread for each signature.
After sewing all your signatures into the cover, you are done. You’ve hand-bound a journal all by yourself! Of course, if you used a soft material like leather in my example here… you can allow for a wrap around flap. I usually do this because it’s a nice way to close up your journals, especially if you throw them in your purse. A closed journal means less smashed up papers on the inside. Creating a closure is also really simple. My go-to-method is to punch two holes in the flap.
Then I used a long strip of the same leather material, braided ribbon or rope to string through the two holes as you see in the photo.
Tie a knot or two on one end so that it holds in place, then wrap the material around a few times, slipping the end securely in place. That’s it for the wraparound closure. Simple, but effective.
I’ve created countless journals following this basic bookbinding process. In fact, I often prepare multiple covers and signatures, so that I can sew a whole bunch of books together at once.
From the basic process, you can vary up certain elements to create a variety of journal styles. I mostly use leather covers, but I’ve also used grungy cardboard and paper covered chipboard as well. You can also experiment with different papers inside and changing up the number of signatures as well as the number of pages per signature. It really depends on the thickness of the paper you use…the idea is make sure each signature is strong enough to withhold whatever stitching you will be doing. You don’t want your thread to rip through your paper – for example, if you want to use only one sheet of paper per signature. In that case it might actually be better to using a sewing machine or make sure you use extremely thick paper that can withstand the stitching without tearing. Once you try making a book or two, you’ll find there are so many possibilities. Experiment with the cover material, liner papers, signature papers and stitching methods.
My grungy envelopes above are ready for another experiment in bookbinding. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a few pockets in your travel journal to collect ephemera? You’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see what I’m up to. I hope you’ve learned a bit from my simple tutorial in bookbinding and really wish you would give it a try sometime.
This week has flown by and suddenly it’s Friday and I haven’t accomplished as much artwork as I would have liked to. Oh well, TGIF nevertheless! This brings me to something I’ve been contemplating all this week – learning to just let it go. I’m talking about a real honest evaluation of the projects you are involved with. We all know there are only 24 hours in a day and there will always be something on the list of to do’s. We can’t do it all, but we often attempt to do so anyway.
I say, don’t be afraid or feel bad to simply abandon a project. It’s over…and it’s perfectly okay. Life goes on! I’m no longer going to beat myself up for not finishing a few in progress paintings. I can just paint over them and start fresh.
Maybe a new routine isn’t working out so well for you. I say, be fearless and try something else. I’m no longer doing daily birds, but opened it up to just simple daily sketches.
Maybe you have a super special project and you refuse to let it be finished because of a few details? I say, push your perfectonism aside and call it done! Learn to let go and just relax. Our lives should be fun and happy…so create that environment for yourself. Oh and don’t forget to have a beer. I’ve had my liter already and feeling pretty good…
So what are you going to let go of today?
Hello!
I'm Linda, the girl behind this printables blog. I post free printables and share my creative projects along the way.
Contact me: tortagialla@gmail.com
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