Finished art journal & book binding DIY!

Guess what guys? I finally bound my art journal!

During 2012 I journaled on random bits of paper, telling myself I would figure out a way to bind them at the end of the year. It took a while, but I finally finished, and I'm so proud of the way it turned out! 

Here's how I did it:

I found an old book that I didn't want anymore, and that was big enough. Using an x-acto knife, I cut out the pages with two slices, the pages all came out in one piece.  

Then I went through my stack of journal pages, and punched holes in them. I had made a sort of template (below), and by placing that over each page and tracing the holes, I made sure that all the holes would line up.

This is the punch I used, the holes it makes are quite a bit smaller than a normal hole punch.

As I punched the papers, I put one strip of string through each hole. Each string was about 8 inches long, and the string I used was cotton braiding cord. Doing this as I punched really helped the process, and made it easier to decide how I wanted to arrange the individual papers. 

I tied the knots (above) with a lot of wiggle-room so the pages could turn easily. Then I had my handy-dandy brother drill holes in the book's spine, which I had measured to match the holes in the papers. Then I put the stack of papers into the book and poked the strings through the holes: 

Then I tied more knots. 

Which I glued. 

(Why yes, I was just making this up as I went along. How could you tell??)

This is what the inside of the book binding looked like at this point, loose and all over the place. Blah.

Soooo ... I cut strips of reinforced tape (which has kind of a cardboard texture) and slid it through the strings, so when it got taped down to the inside of the spine it covered the holes and held the strings tight against the spine. Then I repeated that with green paper-backed fabric, using fabric glue, to cover the tape. 

I also covered the outside knots with reinforced tape ...

This is what the inside of the binding looked like at this point. As you can see, it's still a bit loose, so the pages can turn, but the strings are securely attached to the spine of the book! Woot! 

I also covered the outside brown tape with the green fabric.

And then I decorated the cover! I went through my word board  on pinterest and chose a ton of my favorite quotes, which I wrote all fancy. :) I like the overall look, and the individual quotes make me happy too. 

"One day I was looking out the window. The afternoon passed, and suddenly a year went by."

2012 was such a massive year for me. So much growth. So much change. So so so much laughter, so much dancing, so many tears. I read my journal basically cover to cover after I finished binding it, and I was floored by all the things that had happened which I had already forgotten about. It made me thankful, and I was able to see how so many of the hard things worked out for good. That's why journaling is so special ... it helps you to remember and understand.

This specific style of journaling gives a ton of freedom too. I loved being able to bind random things straight into the book. Here is just a small sample of the things I put in mine:

1. A hand written note from my mom and sis.

2. Small memories accompanied by doodles. :)

3. A note-card with a tiny watercolor and memory of my first time eating raw sushi. :)

4. Photos! Printed-off photos are becoming a bit of a novelty in this world, and they're so special.
These are from the 1940s ball I went to in September.

These pics are from the disposable underwater camera I bought in July. I had a ton of fun cutting up the "dud" photos into hexagons and making a cool pattern with all the different watery colors. 

5. Typewritered stuff! I typed on full pages, and small note-cards, and on random stuff too! This is the original version of my "There was that one time" post. :)

6. Stuff printed off the computer. Not terribly exciting perhaps, but I write a lot and I love having hard copies of my writing.

7. A play-by-play account of a special day, accompanied by lots of sketches. 

8. A watercolor about something sweet a little girl said at ballet.

9. Sketches from our trip to the Netherlands.

10. And an envelope full of ticket stubs from trains, trams, buses, museums, tours, etc. from the trip.

Besides these things I also put in graduation invitations, photos from friends, programs and tickets from shows I saw/was in, drawings that little kids made for me, etc. etc. The possibilities are basically endless!

All in all, I am so proud of this journal, and so happy to be able to remember a year of my life this way.

So are you going to give art journaling and book binding a shot now? :)

(P.S. check out another art journal/book binding adventure here!)

Frozen bubbles

Why is my mom so delighted in this picture?
Because she's blowing bubbles.
...
And they're freezing.

Minnesota.
The mystical land where windchills reach -35 degrees and bubbles frost over like magic.

The swirling living rainbows freeze with a puff of steam into frosty globes, and if the cold gets to be too much for their fragile solid soapy skins, they shatter, and glittering bubble shards rain down. 

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.

-Roald Dahl

Polaroid stories

For my birthday this summer, Mom and Dad bought me a Polaroid camera! I love how I can use it to capture and remember stories that I normally wouldn't. Like the first time we took a picture with it, I remember how the white film slid out and scared the dog, and we all stood around looking over each other's shoulders expectantly, and then suddenly a ghost of a picture appeared and darkened and we all oohed at the magic. 

Or the story about four fail photos I took with the camera, the flops needed to learn how the camera worked:

L: Summertime. Sun shines through the leaves rustling in the warm breeze, shadows dapple through the open windows, air breathes through the curtains, the sound of a cicada buzzes. The automatic flash washes out all the cool shadows and dappled light, but the feeling of summer remains in the photo regardless.

R: Early fall, Mom is making applesauce and the house smells of warm apples and cinnamon. The flash washes out the apples in the foreground and darkens mom in the back, but in memory the scent of autumn remains. 

___

L: Hot borscht soup, steaming in the autumn light, a good book lying to the side, a feeling of contentment. The camera doesn't pick up the steam and the background is too dark. 

But the moment is still quiet. 

R: 1940's ball. The dark sky is sparkling with brilliant stars. Laughter, music, and light swirl out of the building into the darkness, bringing a feeling of home. The camera picks up next to none of that light; it is but a black rectangle of memories. 

___

Those stories were about learning. Learning how the camera doesn't do well with crazy lighting or intricate subjects, light and shadows.

But ahhh, now the plot thickens! Because now I have learned the camera. And now not only does it capture memories, but beautiful photos as well! 

___

L: The boat skips and jounces across the water, wind whipping and drying lake water in my hair, and I realize I have missed the way the sun sparkles on the ripples. I learn how to water ski today - and only face plant twice, water up my nose and down my throat, coughs and splutters. And then after all the water and splashes and laughing with friends and sun in our eyes and screaming and skiing and tubing through the "circles of death", the sun sets hazy lavender and we take pictures on the dock, tiredness creeping behind our eyes. 

And then we climb into the boat, now hitched behind the car, and ride in the boat down the road and through the park.

R: I sit with Nicole next to the campfire in the backyard on a cold October evening. We wrap up in blankets and sip hot cider and then slowly, silently, it begins to snow and flakes catch in our hair and blow quietly under the street lamps. The next day the world is cozy, and white covers the warm fall colors. 

___

I'm knitting a cowl for my sister, and something suddenly possesses me. I shove the cowl onto my dad's head, the knitting needles still hanging off the back, and then I simply need to take a picture because he looks ridiculous. :)

___

L: Gianna visits for the weekend, and we go swing dancing and learn how to Charleston, and I introduce her to Les Miserables and the movie Pride and Prejudice, and she introduces me to Princess Bride, and we go for walks and play tag with random children on the playground, and she plays "cajoled" in scrabble for 74 points and we compose witty texts together and watch the Three Little Pigs - Shakespeare version and quote it hilariously over the rest of the weekend, and I open my birthday present 3 months late and we top off the weekend with Tutti Frutti and Polaroids!

R: The long wait is over. We are going on an adventure! The Hobbit has come to theaters! A friend comes along and everyone teases me when I claim the color of the theater walls look like "salmon sorbet", and the movie is magical and Bilbo is perfection and Ori doesn't like green food and my sis and I both notice that Gandalf is wearing contacts. :)

___

L: I'm exhausted. I stay home while the family goes out. I read and pray and drink tea and snuggle with the doggy and a blanket on the floor. Finally I stand up and when I come back I find Elssa still wrapped in the blanket, looking adorable enough for a picture. :)

R: Minnesota winters so cold that the dog and I have to share the heating vent. 

___

All these stories, developed and preserved before my eyes. Instant, tangible, fun, magical, colorful, nostalgic. Yep, I'm a fan. :)

Polaroid 300 Instant Camera

Takes 300 Instant Film and Fujifilm Instax Mini Film

You might be a Minnesotan if ...

Hello again, blog world. I have missed you! School and sickness and exhaustion killed my creativity for a while, but I'm glad to say that with rest and vacation, the old me is waking up again. Look out world! 

It feels weird coming back after so long, I feel like I have to break the ice again or something. But I'm just going to skip all that and get right back to my normal blogging. :)

With the new year, I started a new art journal! I wonder what this year will bring, what sort of life will fill those tantalizing blank pages ...

This is the second page I've done so far. I do amuse me.

What's winter like where you live?

P.S. It's good to be back. :)

Doodle de doo.

I think my brain has been unhappy with me lately. The left side has gotten all the attention, what with school and all, and my poor right side was feeling left out. 

Why do I think this?

Because when I sat down with a pen and paper a few days ago, the right side of my brain rather desperately abducted the left side and took over. And almost before I knew what was happening this had jumped onto my paper:

I guess my mind was more desperate for creativity than I thought ...

There's just something refreshing about a good long doodle session...
Ahhh.