This and That Thursday

I am happy and proud to tell you that I did actually make a coptic bound journal yesterday using the covers from an old book that I showed you in the last post. It took several hours and there was a point at which I almost had a total meltdown. The coptic stitch is such a pleasure to sew, all except the covers. The covers are for me extremely difficult, mostly the final cover. The hubster returned just as I was beginning the back cover - his timing couldn't have been worse. I made a mistake on the first hole in the cover and so had to unthread the needle in order to pull the thread out.

Just then the phone rang - it was Tina, my friend from Marshall. She was on her way to USArtQuest and then to JoAnn's and Michael's and wanted to know if I wanted to meet her in town. Talk about saved by the bell!!!

I met Tina in town and rode with her to USArtQuest where we had a wonderful time. Sue Pickering Rothamel, owner and world renowned crafty person and author, was there having just returned from London. She is such a fun and talented person. She had new ideas to show us and was her usual warm and welcoming hostess, even though she was suffering from jet lag. I bought a selection of wonderful papers and a product called Cut-N-Dry, which is a stamp pad foam. Once I get a chance to play with it, I will tell you more about it.


Here is a picture of the papers I purchased. I intend to use them as endpapers in some of my repurposed books.

I spent a big chunk of my Calculus tutoring money, but that is what it is for after all.

We then drove over to JoAnn's where I picked up some webbing and some drawstring so that I can try some other bookbinding techniques. By the time we came out of JoAnn's it was getting dark and I had told the hubster I would be home for dinner, so Tina took me back to my car and I came home.

I wanted to clear off the table where all my bookbinding materials were, but I only had the last cover to connect so I told the hubster it should only take about five minutes and I got started. First I couldn't get the &@#* needle threaded and then when I thought all was well I looked inside the last signature only to find that when I sewed back into the inside, I hadn't gotten to the center of the signature, I was one page off. I had to unthread the needle to get the thread out and then it took even longer than the last time to get the &@#*@# needle threaded. After finally getting it threaded again I began again only to find a large knot inside the book because although I thought the needle was threaded one string hadn't gone through the hole and was smushing up against the needle. This meant that I had to unthread the needle in order to clean up this mess - ACK! Do you see and feel the frustration??? At any rate I finally got the final cover attached, but thought it was too tight. I carefully held it together and put it under a couple of heavy books overnight and voila! Here is what I have to show you:

I think I like it. It was definitely worth the hassle and I'm pretty sure that with practice I will get better at it. There are a couple of things I will do differently next time. For this book I chose a brushed heavy cardstock that I purchased at Hollo's paper store in Ohio (I'd love to find a store like that closer to home). While it makes a lovely journal, it was a bit heavier than I am used to using for any kind of handmade journal. I am also planning to purchase a needle with a little bigger eye so that I don't pull my hair out trying to thread it.

Meanwhile, I am going to try another method of bookbinding today and hope to have something to share with you tomorrow.

I have an appointment with the ophthalmologist eye doctor this morning and hope to find time later to walk the treadmill and make another book. 

I hope to see you tomorrow...

xoxo