Binding loose journal pages into a book.

Regular readers of my blog will know I love making books as over the years I have shared a few book making techniques. Today I am sharing a video I made recently of the technique I did for my Life Book project in 2012. It is handy when you want to join loose  pages into a book. It is the same hidden hinge method I used in 2012 but I do it a slightly quicker way than I used to so it is a more refined technique these days.

If you want to watch it larger than it appears here go to my You Tube channel where you can view the video larger. I used the technique to finish off my Colour Me Positive 52 week project for this year. I have really enjoyed this project and will continue doing more art journaling next year but I don't know how much I will be able to fit in between the textile projects I want to do.

Here are a few photos from the video to remind you of the steps:

 1. Join your pages together in pairs then glue each pair to the next one to make your book.

 2. Glue a fabric scrap to the spine for strength. Leave to dry overnight.

 3. Make your cover with cardboard and fabric or paper. Ensure the spine is flexible.

 4. Attach the cover and when the glue is dry stitch through all layers to secure the pages inside to the cover. You can use matching thread for stitching or make a feature using glittery thread. It just needs to be a strong thread or even wool. I used 3 strands of embroidery thread.

This is a close up view of the stitching. You could attach beads to the ends of your thread if you like. Thanks for reading my blog and if you have any questions you can contact me via the contact form near the top right of this page or use the comments below.

Free lesson

If you have followed my blog for a while you know that I did the online Life Book class for the past two years and it is the main way I have learned so many different art journal techniques. I am not doing it this year because I am taking a break from classes.

Tam who runs the program has decided to share one of her lessons from this years class for free. Yes that's right, it it free. It is a great way to try the lesson and see whether it is your style of thing. I don't always do the lesson the way it is taught but I do normally use the same techniques. The lesson is only available for 1 week from 11 August 2014. I had a look and it is a very detailed lesson. There is two pages to do and all the worksheets are there to download too. Even if you can't watch the videos this week you can download them to your computer and do the lesson when you have more time or supplies.

 

http://www.willowing.org/2014/08/11/ink-spray-love-a-free-life-book-2014-lesson/ 

Click on the link to go to Tam's page where she has the lesson.  This image is her page from the main part of the lesson. I have downloaded the lesson and will be doing my own version later in the week.

Turning my Life Book pages into a book.

{2017 Edit I have now adapted this technique to make it faster and easier to put together. You can find the post and video of this technique here: https://artygirl2010.blogspot.com/2017/12/binding-loose-journal-pages-into-book.html }

I really like book making so I am sharing how I made my completed book for the Life Book class. I used my version of the hidden hinge system that is used by scrapbookers. If you want to learn a simpler way to do this there are a lot of videos on Youtube, just search for the hidden hinge and they should appear.

I have adapted the technique to make it strong enough for an art journal. You could make a blank book with new paper if you want but I used the pages I had already completed for mine. I suggest you read all the instructions first before you attempt this method of bookmaking. I have used small photos here because there are so many but if you want a closer look click on the photo to make it bigger. I have used strong glue to put my book together but you can use tape if you prefer.

I put all my pages in order and then glued the pages back to back along the outer edge and halfway along the top and bottom of the pages. (You can see how much is glued in Photo 4 below) You can skip this step and glue them together after the hinges are on. I then selected some matching cardstock for each pair of pages. I chose a colour that was close to one of the facing pages. Only a small section of the paper shows in the finished book but I prefer it not to stand out. If I was making a blank book I would just use white. You can see in the final photo how much shows when the pages are open, about 6 mm or 1/4 of an inch. I cut one strip of cardstock  for each pair of facing pages. I don't measure but it is about 5cm (2 inches) wide and is the same length as the page. These are the hinges for the pages.

For the first and last pages I keep the page whole because it will become the inside cover of the book. You can see how this will look in the second last photo below.

I used a scoring board to make two close lines down the center of the strip. The gap between the score lines can be bigger if you want to make bulky pages in your journal.  It doesn't matter if it is in the exact middle or not. I fold the hinge along the two lines.

Photo 4

 Next I glue one side of the hinge to the matching page. I glue the page up to the fold line of the hinge. You can leave a tiny gap there if you want.  I do this to each of the pairs of pages, making sure that I don't glue the edge together yet because another hinge has to go in the gap later.

This photo shows how much glue I use. I try not to put it too close to the edge because I don't want it to seep out when I put it onto the page.

This photo shows the hinge glued to one side of the pairs of hinges.  Make sure the pages are not glued together yet.

 

Now that I have glued a strip of cardstock to each of the pages I have to join  them all together to make the book.

I use clips on the far edge of the pages to hold two pairs together. I apply glue to the exposed hinge and fold it into the gap, gluing it to the page that does not already have a paper hinge on it. This joins one pair of pages to the next one. I keep going adding one pair of pages on top of the stack of glued pages and gluing the hinge in place.  

I hope this photo makes it clearer. You can see the pages that are glued together on the outside. The unglued side has the hinge. It connects the pairs of pages to the next one.  The first and last pages have the large papers attached instead of a narrow strip to become the inside book cover. When the pages are all attached with hinges I glue the hinges to the next hinge, forming a solid book.You should now be able to open the pages like a book.

I like to add fabric over the completed spine to make it stronger. I fold the ends over and sometimes stitch them to hold it in place. It doesn't matter what colour you choose as only a tiny bit will be seen. It is the same length as the pages and a little wider to go around onto the inside covers. I apply a generous amount of glue to the hinged side of the pages and glue on the fabric.

I used rubber bands to hold the pages together.  I stand the book on the fabric hinge and let it dry overnight on a teflon craft sheet. This makes a very strong spine.

I cut the book covers out of strong cardboard. I used the backs of my art paper pads. I have made the covers the same size as my pages but you can do them a little larger if you want. The spine must be the same size as the completed pages. I used some gel medium to glue the covers to some fabric but you could use paper to cover the book if you wish. You need to leave a gap between the cover and spine to allow the book to open properly. The last photo shows how this works when the book is open. The spine folds back on itself. If you want to use paper to cover your book then a strip of tape on the inside of the paper gap will add strength to this area.

While I was waiting for the cover to dry I made a library pocket to add inside my book. I made it large enough to hold the whimsical bird page. I put washi tape along the pocket edge for added strength.

I folded over and glued the fabric cover to the inside. I forgot to mention that I added an extra piece of fabric to the inside of the spine for strength. I used a silk blend so I wanted to be sure it would be strong. I glued the inside cover to the book cover, one side at a time. After I glued each side I put some books on it to make sure it was glued down well. I didn't put glue along the spine.

 The book will open flatter if you can leave a gap at the spine.

 I used an awl to poke holes along the edge of the cover and stitched through the book to the inside cover. This will also go through the fabric spine that we applied holding it all together in a very strong bond. If I am using a thinner cardboard or a smaller book I will use a sewing machine to go along that edge of the cover hinge to hold the book together. I added some bead to the thread ends.

Here you can see the stitching on the inside cover. The library pocket is glued into place. I like how the inside cover goes all the way across to the first page.

I bent the spine into a curve so the book opens flat. I also coloured the edges of the pages to match the paintings. This is not necessary but I prefer that look to the white edges of the papers.

I hope this is clear but don't hesitate to ask questions if you get stuck. I will do a simpler version in a few days and blog that as well.

Life Book pages.

I haven't shared very many of my Life Book lessons lately so I am going to fix that right now.

I used paper napkins as part of the collage papers for the background of this page. I liked the way they looked on the shoulders so I let them show through the painting. This is acrylics with a little coloured pencil.

A lesson with Effy Wild.  This page is more graphic in style than I usually do.  Tissue paper background with acrylics. I used gold pen for the border and outlines.

 The tree is printed onto watercolour paper with my Epson printer.  The ink is permanent so I could then paint right over it. The giraffe is from an online how to draw a giraffe page. I just googled it.

This is a acrylic transfer from images I printed on my computer. I layered them in Photoshop and printed them out before transferring the collage to my painting.  The rest is acrylic and pencil. I coated the finished piece with was for a different look.

 A lesson with Kelly Hoernig.  We did ink blots on deli paper then cut them out and made the page.

A lesson with Rachelle Panagarry. We used mulberry paper as the base for this page. I used brown (it was all I had) so the fibres are visible. I used Rachelle's technique for the hair. This is probably my favourite page so far.

A short lesson with Monica Zunica. We used watercolours and pens for this page. My first time shading a face with only watercolour and I am happy with the way it turned out.

 A lesson with Tam of Willowing.  I got some of my photos out of the Rainbow Honeyeaters and used them to do this page.  The drawing is done with graphite and the back ground is put in later with watercolour. It is a great effect and one I will do again.  Initially I had blue, green and yellow in the background but it looked too busy with all those branches so I went over it with the blue again to mute the colour a little.

I am happy with the work I have done for this course and would recommend it if you like mixed media.  It doesn't matter if you are a beginner because you will learn a lot from the many teachers there and it is such great value for a year long course. I am not doing it next year because I want to try so many other things. I don't want to commit to a year long course but I may return the following year.

A few more Life Book pages.

 We had a lesson with Willowing that was a whimsy girl. I used some stencils and dylusions for the background. The painting is acrylics and some pencil work.  The boat is collaged from papers I printed. I used a piece of scrapbook paper for the sail. I really like how this page turned out.

Another whimsy girl for this lesson with Danita. It is watercolour apart from a little bit of acrylics applied through a stencil. I thought the background looked too plain so I used the stencils to add interest. 

A fun quick lesson with Dina Wakely.  We collaged a few papers and painted around a silhouette then did some more stencilling on top. I was trying to stay loose for this one. I think the technique would suit a lot of other types of silhouettes.

Warning!! Very long blog post here.

I signed up for Life Book again this year because I thought it looked very different to last years class. There were a lot of teachers who I had heard of and would like to learn from.
The class started well and I was inspired a lot but slowly I have become a little disappointed with the way the lessons are going.

The first lesson was with the coordinator Tam of Willowing.org It was a fun lesson with two components.

 

 The next lesson was taught by Christy Tomlinson and was fun too. It is very mixed media and I still have some of the paper we made for it left over.

 

This lesson was taught by Dion Dior and involved white on black with silhouettes. I chose to do a hand with butterflies and I like the way it turned out. 

This lesson was to make some cards with affirmations on the back and put them in a pocket on a journal page. I did that last year and it was too bulky in my book so this time I made more cards and did one large flat page with them.The images are collaged atc images.

 This lesson is another with Tam and involved using masking fluid and watercolours. I loved the chance to experiment with sprays and watercolours.

 
This was not a lesson taught by any one but a simple prompt to put a bunny on your page. I again chose to do watercolour.

 The next lesson was taught by Jane Davenport. It was the same lesson she has taught in her online course that I did, so I found it easy. I continued to play with watercolours and pale colors that are not my usual style. I was just in the mood for that.

 This lesson taught by Danita was about painting over a printed image from a magazine. It seemed a bit basic to me, especially after we had already learnt to draw figures in Jane's lesson. I did it my own way and again went with pale colours.

The next lesson with Tam saw us making rolled paper hearts. I had fun doing this lesson but I prefer drawing or painting something less abstract. 

I didn't like the week 11 lesson at all because it talked about hate and I don't have hate in my heart. There is no room for it with all the love and happiness in there. I chose to ignore that lesson and do one from the Willowing blog about an angel. This is probably one of my favourite pieces so far. 

 The next lesson was a lot nicer and taught by Mindy Lacefield. She paints the most adorable little people and this is my take on that.

 The next lesson was a fun one by Tam. It was quirky birds and everyone seemed to love it. If you look at the Life Book 2013 group on Flickr you will see hundreds of quirky birds.

 The next lesson was a simple page with only writing on it so I have not done that one.  I moved on to this lesson based on stained glass windows with Joann Loftus. It was another fun lesson for me because it is a little different.

 

 I did two designs and couldn't decide which one to do so I did them both at the same time. I was a little disappointed when I finished the landscape because it needed more variation in colour. I realised I shouldn't have stuck with the greens for the hills and should have used some of the pinks and reds I used in the other picture. That would have added life to the image. Next time I will do that.

This weeks lesson is another one that is mainly writing on the page and very little art so I will have to go my own way again. I think that is why I am a little disappointed. Last year we did so many faces I was starting to get bored with it but at least the lessons were challenging. This year the art lessons have become more simplified and I am sometimes not inspired to do the work or I end up doing something that is not anything to do with the lesson. I will continue and see what happens. It may be only these few lessons that are like that. I have enjoyed most of the class so far and would still recommend it as great value for money.