Feeling under the weather?

Then this is just what the doctor ordered…

Click here to visit the Etsy listing.

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Cohiba

I’ve finally made another foray into my stash of cigar boxes, and the result is a rather swishy looking notebook housed in a box.

I made a similar book about a year ago (click here to see that blog post) which was definitely a luxury notebook as it was bigger and involved quite a lot of leather.  I loved making that one and it sold immediately but I dithered about making another as I always feel bad when I have to charge lots for a book, even if the work and materials warrant it.

So I made this one simpler.  It’s smaller, as dictated by the size of the box, and I’ve used plain board covered in parcel paper to reinforce the wooden sheets used for the covers.  This version also has cartridge paper for the pages but it’s a lighter weight (140gsm).  Lightweight luxury in a box

This book is available to purchase in my Etsy shop, click here to view.

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The Road to Life…

… and The Express Ready Reckoner are the two newest additions to my Etsy shop.

 

I picked up these lovely books at the beginning of May, and they’ve now been transformed into notebooks (or sketchbooks, if you prefer, as the pages of these are 140gsm cartridge paper).  Click here to view the revamped vintage book section of my Etsy shop.

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Gulliver’s Travels

This time last year I was 7000 miles away, celebrating my 30th birthday in Jakarta whilst surrounded by relatives.  Today I’m at home, and all by myself – and I have to say it’s utter bliss.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my family… but I’m very much a loner and this is much better for my sanity!

I have been thinking of that holiday though so I’ve spent the morning repurposing a vintage copy of Gulliver’s Travels so that it can be used as a travel journal or scrapbook.

I was able to retain the original end papers which I’m really pleased about as they do look lovely.  The book now contains 104 pages (208 sides) of 140gsm recycled cartridge paper.  It can be found in my Etsy shop, and I hope that it will go to a good home.

I think that’s plenty enough work for one day (especially as I’m supposed to be having a day off!), so I think I’ll down tools and head to the cinema!

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I’ve been a busy girl

You would be forgiven, having read my blog last week, for thinking that I spent most of my time sewing frivolous things for teddy bears and making faux plants instead of doing any real work.  Thankfully that wasn’t the case, I did quite a bit of bookbinding, I just didn’t talk about it!  A grand total of 26 books and one special gift set were finished and added to my Etsy shop last week, which is pretty good (and all thanks to me being organised earlier this month and prepping a load of covers).  Here’s a selection of my favourites, but do pop along to my shop to view them all.

 

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Tardis

I’ve been wanting to blog about this for ages, but my hands have been tied as I had to wait until after the recipients had opened their Christmas presents.

I don’t watch Dr. Who, so this was one of those commissions where someone handed me a photograph (well, a screenshot) and said “make that” … so I did.

The larger one is a present for my brother-in-sin, and the smaller version is for his son (who is also crazy about Dr. Who).

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Weeds

Last week I was asked to do an emergency commission, which I posted a sneak peek of.  Now that the book has been received by the lady it was destined for I can post the full photos.

I absolutely love the paper I used on the covers (so much so that I made a smaller, less fancy version which you can buy here), and I teamed it with a sumptuously soft leather in olive green, and used Tim Holtz’s Kraft Glassine to line the covers.  Once I’d finished making this book I really wanted to keep it, it’s very me!

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A sneak peek…

…at some of the new books I’ll be taking to The New Vintage tomorrow.

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The School for Scandal

I do like revamping vintage books and turning them into new notebooks.  Usually I choose books that have beautiful covers, but occasionally I choose a book for the title rather than what it looks like.

The School for Scandal is a perfect example of this.  The cover is, let’s face it, very dull: dull plain blue, nothing special.  But the title?  Ahh the title is superb.  When I first saw it I just knew that one day it would make a perfect journal for someone.

The original end papers were boring: just plain cream (actually I suppose they were once white, but had yellowed with age).  I thought a special book like this deserved something prettier, so the new end papers are a gorgeous hand-marbled paper in blue and gold.

So we’ve ended up with a book that looks very unassuming on the outside, but very special inside.  The pages are smooth cartridge paper so this would be suitable for use as a sketchbook as well as a journal.

Click here to view the listing on Etsy.

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Take a broken laptop…

… and see what else it can become.  I’ve been holding onto the remains of my partner’s dead laptop for a while now and, if I’m honest, had forgotten all about it.

On Monday evening I unearthed the box full of bits, and on Tuesday morning I made a start on finally sorting through it.  I discarded quite a lot of it, but kept some chips and other bits and pieces for use at a later date.  I then decided to make a notebook with the keyboard first as that was the biggest piece left.

It’s a really heavyweight book (coming in at a whopping 740g): the keyboard itself adds a little weight, but the bulk of it comes from the cartridge paper pages and the leather (the covers feature cherry leather on the outside, and are lined with black leather on the inside).  I think it’s gorgeous and would make a unique and very luxurious desktop journal.  This book is now available to purchase, click here to view the item listing.

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