Friday, May 10, 2013

Project Life {Book Making}

With the finishing of the month of March,
in my Project Life journal,
I also finished the book.
So before starting April,
I needed to create a new journal.

{music & coffee- always important book making tools to have on hand}
 
I posted this picture on Instagram
the other day when I was gathering up my materials
and then decided I'd go ahead and write a blog post on my process
to share here.
 
If you've been following my Project Life, then you know I decided when going into this project that the standard album and page protectors would not work for me.
What I decided to use in their stead were old ledgers and day books.
{Seems to be a lot of deciding going on here.}
 
To start, I remove the original signature of paper
then cut the spine in half.
After covering the raw edges with tape,
I sew together three signatures of watercolor paper.
 
{When I decided to go down this album route I figured I would use a total of four books; three months per book.}
 
I glue the watercolor binding tapes down on the inside of the covers and then glue the first and last pages down on top of those.
 
 
My original plan was to use a different fabric for the decorative outer binding tapes,
but then I decided to use the same on all of the books. 
If I continue Project Life next year I'll use a different fabric, then I will be able to tell, at a glance, which year is which.
 
 
What I did decide to make different on each book
are the buttons and closure ribbons.
Blue for winter, pink for spring, green for summer and orange for fall.
Because I'm theme-y like that
and because they're the colors used in the Olive Edition core kit cards.
 
 
Now to get cracking on April.
I suppose being one month behind is better than two.
 
 

5 comments:

Cappuccinoandartjournal.blogspot.com said...

LOVE these! Thanks for showing how you did it. But I never find old ledgers here in SF - where do you find them? I want to make one too.....really, really nice. Thanks.

Monica said...

Your books are really amazing! Love, love them, Alisa.
I also never found old ledgers, but maybe now I'll be alble to find them here in England. I love using the handwritten papers in my art, and the cover would be great for these types of journals.
xoxo

Beth Leintz said...

LOVE your journals, and I realized I have all the stuff to make a similiar one EXCEPT- what kind of tape did you use to hold your signatures together? Thanks for the inspiration!

Dorthe said...

Love your spines, they looks so wonderful side by side!
and the idea of having books covering ones life through the year is great, and wonderful,too!
Hugs,Dorthe

Robin Thomas said...

Chills girl. As usual.