Thought I would share this. I stumbled across this site this morning, www.etsy.com tagged as "Your place to buy and sell all things handmade," where I came across an artist offering "MyHandboundBooks." No idea of the actual paper quality, as in most cases she only describes them as "recycled paper" with no mention of the actual manufacturer that I can find. But the books themselves look quite lovely. I really don't see how she manages to sell them for what she does.

Thanks for sharing, the outside is amazing, as well as the variety. If anybody buys one, could you guys feed us back on the paper quality?. Geez, another thing in the "I want it badly" list............

The method she uses for binding the books is the easiest one I've seen (if you can sew that is ), as the paper is sewn directly to the outer cover. I just did a letter in which I cut and bound the pages into a small book for sending ( see what bonuses you get if you snail with me ). I have seen scraps of leather for around $7 and a ream of paper isn't more than $20. So depending on the outer embelishments I could see $35 for a single one.

It is my goal when I have some time to do a larger book this way- just have not had the time

I am in no way disparaging the journals just looking at it from another angle.

Kurt

True. I was actually thinking of the time when one pretty much had to buy a side of leather. These days it is possible to find smaller craft pieces rather than being committed to a whole side. Also, I had forgotten that some years ago I did some craftwork using leather recycled from inexpensive coats bought from the thrift store which I believe I still have some of that left over in storage around here somewhere. That would be lighter stuff, probably 2-3 oz if that, but it would have its uses on smaller journals and the like I would imagine.

Time on the other hand is a very precious commodity .

"recycled paper" soaks in ink and bleeds and feathers the worst I've ever seen with fountain pens.

Are these not auction prices? Oh I see that they are not