Journal In Red Leather With Case

[GatzBcn]

In this post I want to show you a journal I made this year.
First, some images of the journal in its making off. In this one, you can see the journal with its covers and its spine, waiting for the fake nerves to be put on.

In this one, the nerves are on, and the leather is ready to be glued on the journal.

 

Here, the box is being covered by the red cloth. Actually, I used two different systems. Here I am showing one, even though I prefer the second one I used, and is the one I am currently using in similar boxes.

 

 

And the two boxes, showing the different systems used.

 

 

These are all the photos I have of the work in progress. Now, the next photos show the characteristics of the journal and the box:

 

 

Here is the box as it looks shut. Below, a close up of the handmade headbands I made for the box, to make it look as it was a book:

 

 

The box open, showing the journal it keeps. If it looks weird it's because the spine is rounded.

 

 

Below, the spine of the journal and its nerves:

 

 

And a close-up of the blind tooling I made in the center of the cover.

 

 

And the journal opens. You can see the marbled paper that I made some time ago on the endpapers:

 

 

A close-up on the handmade headbands of the journal:

 

 

And, finally, a close-up on the marbled paper:

 

 

Wow, so many pictures! But I hope you get a good idea on how the journal looks like. I wanted it to be a simple yet detailed in the making process work, and I am pretty happy with the results. Plus, I love those endpaper hehe.

I hope you enjoyed and have a great day!!

 

[inkypete]

Magnificent work - congratulations.

[Calamus plasticus]

Wow, great work! The false headbands on the box are pretty cool. What paper did you use? Is it FP friendly?

[Octo]

Truly beautiful. You are a craftsman of the best level.

[Effin1]

Far too good for my scrawl and ink blots. I would just look at it in amazement if I had managed to create such a lovely thing. Very well done I am in awe.

[LeonW]

Beautiful. That is a craft project done right. I am guessing your next would be gilded?

[Art]

That's a beautiful journal and box. You really do wonderful work.

[Auspice]

As someone who dabbled in super-basic bookbinding... wow! This is gorgeous!

[GatzBcn]

As someone who dabbled in super-basic bookbinding... wow! This is gorgeous!

 

 

That's a beautiful journal and box. You really do wonderful work.

 

 

Far too good for my scrawl and ink blots. I would just look at it in amazement if I had managed to create such a lovely thing. Very well done I am in awe.

 

 

Truly beautiful. You are a craftsman of the best level.

 

 

Magnificent work - congratulations.

 

 

Thank you so much everyone for the nice words. I really put much effort in that journal and I am quite happy with how it turned out. I just really want to be a bookbinder that knows many styles, many materials, many ways to work, not just one that once learnt and stayed with that learning.

 

So, again, thank you. I am glad you liked my journal and enjoyed my post .

[GatzBcn]

Wow, great work! The false headbands on the box are pretty cool. What paper did you use? Is it FP friendly?

 

No, the paper is called offset volume and it is not FP friendly. Honestly, not that I care, because even if it was, this journal is staying blank. I like to keep my first journals of each "type" of bookbinding as virgins, so they can play a role as a model for the future journals to come.

Anyway, I am actually doing a series of "Paper Checking" posts that can be found in the Paper and Pen Paraphernalia Reviews section in order to find a paper that is FP friendly and that will be the paper that I use in my future journals.

[purplepen]

Beautiful work - thanks for sharing !

[GatzBcn]

Beautiful. That is a craft project done right. I am guessing your next would be gilded?

 

Oh, I wish. I've been practising gilding and I just can't seem to be able to make it properly. I am talking by hand, of course. It's fun, because everyone tells me that blind tooling is far more difficult that gilding - well, not for me.

However, I just got a hot stamping machine. I still need a few things to make it work, but I am soooo looking forward it. I will be able to gild not just leather, but also cloth and paper (cloth can't be properly gilded by hand). Oh, the things I will do, I just can't stop dreaming about them.

[indigoskye]

You do beautiful work. Where did you get the thistle stamp? I've been looking for one like that for awhile.

[GatzBcn]

Beautiful work - thanks for sharing !

 

 

You do beautiful work. Where did you get the thistle stamp? I've been looking for one like that for awhile.

 

Thank you for your kind words!!! I got the stamp online from a Spanish craftman. This is his website: www.aldograbados.com. He is from Madrid, and he has many different stamps!!

[Jackson]

Yes, that thistle stamp is a very nice touch--favored also by the Encyclopaedia Brittanica, the University of Pennsylvania medical school and countless other fine institutions. Oh, and the Scottish nation. So this exquisite journal is in good company...!

[KAC]

That's very fine craftsmanship, indeed! Any thoughts of commercializing this?

[GatzBcn]

Yes, that thistle stamp is a very nice touch--favored also by the Encyclopaedia Brittanica, the University of Pennsylvania medical school and countless other fine institutions. Oh, and the Scottish nation. So this exquisite journal is in good company...!

 

Oh, thank you, I didn't know that. I bought it because when my boyfriend and I checked the catalogue he fell in love with this one. I liked it too, so I bought it for him.

[GatzBcn]

That's very fine craftsmanship, indeed! Any thoughts of commercializing this?

 

Thank you for your kind words. Actually, I am a bookbinder. This journal is not for sale because it is the first of this kind I made and I like to keep my "firsts" as a model for future references. However, the future ones I make will be for sale.

[TMLee]

Hi GatzBcn,

 

I have a quik question...

 

Can you show me how to do a hinge lid?

 

I have 2 bookboards , say 3mm thick each.

 

How far apart do i space them out before I glue the cover material over it?

 

Its a simple box with a hinge lid.

 

Thanks

[GatzBcn]

Hi GatzBcn,

 

I have a quik question...

 

Can you show me how to do a hinge lid?

 

I have 2 bookboards , say 3mm thick each.

 

How far apart do i space them out before I glue the cover material over it?

 

Its a simple box with a hinge lid.

 

Thanks

 

If you want it to open 90º, you leave the same thickness of the cardboard plus 1mm (for the thickness of the cloth), in this case 4 mm. If you want it to fully open 180º or more, leave two thickness plus 1mm; 7 mm.

However it is a good idea to grab two left overs of cardboard and cloth and make a tiny test, since it depends a lot on the thickness of the cloth. If it is very thick, it might fill too much space; if it is too thin, it might look too separate.

 

Good luck!