Book 34 - "Ethan Allen" - Recycled Vintage Book as Journal - Coptic Binding

Book 34?? What's with that? Well, in the wind-up to posting the final couple of books in the year-long challenge, I thought I'd better look back over the whole past year and make sure I hadn't inadvertently skipped any days. And sure enough, way back in February, I just skipped right over a day. So, to be honest with you and myself, I needed to fill in that day.

So, Book 34. Here's another recycled vintage book made into a blank book/journal. I'm not sure of the exact date of this book since there was no copyright or publication date anywhere in the book. But from the cover illustration, I'd put it at about 1900-1910. The strange thing is that the illustration--two boys in sports outfits and gear--has nothing whatever to do with the content of the book, which is a history of Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys of Vermont in the 18th century. Go figure. Maybe it was part of a series for boys and they all had that cover. The condition is pretty good, but there is one spot on the cover that is slightly blistered (where the book cloth has come loose from the board beneath. If I had a fine needle syringe, I could probably shoot a bit of glue underneath and glue it down again.

Since the bright red accents on the cover design stand out so much, I decided to play off that and use red thread for the binding. I also alternated green and red paper tape on the spine folds of the signatures for an attractive pattern on the exposed spine.

It came out looking pretty good.

Book 359 - Recycled Children's Book Journal/Blank Book - Lemony Snicket-Coptic Binding

Have you read any of the Lemony Snicket books? They are a bit bizarre but really fun. And the covers are neat! So, of course, I had to recycled one into a journal/blank book.

This is Book the Second, The Reptile Room. This follows my usual construction procedure with these upcycled hard cover books. The covers were slit and bound, the pages folded and punched, some of the signature fold edges bound with colorful paper tape. This was bound with a single-needle coptic binding using maroon waxed cotton thread.

I included a couple of the original illustrations form the book into the pages. The book's spine became a bookmark.

I'll always be on the lookout for more Lemony Snicket books in good enough condition to recycle/upcycle into fun journals.

Book 353 - Dick Tracy - Recycled Vintage Book Journal - Coptic Binding

The other day, walking home from the post office, I popped into the antique store across the street to see if they had anything new--well, old, but new to the store. Looking through the racks of vintage books, I struck some gold.

I came home with several treasures to make into recycled book journals. And one of the best was this old Dick Tracy book. Printed in 1943, the novel was based on the square-jawed detective's exploits people already knew from the cartoon strip.

This was a cheap novel in its time and the paper shows it. It was badly discolored and quite brittle. In face, I debated whether or not to include any of the pages from the original book, because of the brittleness of the paper. But the illustrations were just too cool to leave out. I had some text paper almost the same yellow as the unintentionally yellowed original pages, so that became the text block.

The covers were pretty dried out but not badly cracked or scratched, so I went over them with a light rubbing of beeswax to lubricate and seal them then buffed them with a soft cloth till they actually looked not bad at all.

I cut the illustrations from the book as carefully as I could. After cutting off the cover boards, I bound the cut edge with washi tape well boned down. Just for fun and to brighten it up, I used a green and gold diamond pattern tape on the edges and the folds of all the signatures, to be seen at the exposed spine.

The single-needle coptic binding was stitched with black waxed linen thread. The spine of the book became a book mark.

I've been making a lot of these recycled books because I plan to sell them, online and off, after the challenge, and I need to build up some stock, as well as perfecting my technique.

I do think Dick Tracy will sell.

Book 352 - The Boys Book - Recycled Book Journal -Coptic Binding

This book is so cool looking. Even though it's not really old (as witness the scholastic website printed on the back cover) it looks old. It's a book that is supposed to show boys how to be the best at everything that boys like to do. I think it makes a great journal. The intense cobalt blue with silver printing on the cover is really eye-catching.

As per my usual style, I slit off the spine and made a bookmark from that part. I taped over the cut ends of the front and back covers, poked holes, folded up a bunch of signatures--these are a really neat astro-bright white paper with tiny confetti-colored flecks in it--and poked holes in those too. I also added blue washi tape to the spine fold of some of the signatures to create a colorful pattern on the exposed spine binding.

The single-needle coptic binding is done with white waxed linen thread.

Cool little journal!

Book 332 - "The Ghost of Windy Hill" - Recycled Hardcover Book Journal-Coptic Binding

I love the look of this recycled children's book journal. As soon as I saw the book in the thrift shop, I grabbed it. The Ghost of Windy Hill was written in 1968 by Clyde Robert Bulla.

Making it was the usual drill: Cut off the spine, fold the cut edges back and tape them, this time with green patterned washi tape to pick up the green of the type on the cover. Bone the tape down very well inside and out. Fold the signatures; in this book there are eight.

I wanted to include some of the illustrations from the original book, lovely black-and-white ink wash illustrations by Don Bolognese. I tipped one in at the front of each signature, using more of the washi tape to hold them in and wrapping the tape around the folded edge of the signature to create the color pattern on the exposed spine.

I stitched the book with a single-needle coptic binding in light green waxed cotton thread.

I took the narrow spine I'd cut off the book, folded the cut edges over and taped the back to create a book mark for the journal. Nice.

Book 324 - Recycled Vinyl Record Journal/Blank Book - Donna Summers - Coptic Binding

Finally Back! I have a pile of books to post now that I have my computer back. The whole thing had to be wiped clean and the OS re-installed, which meant restoring the entire hard drive (thank God for Carbonite online backup) AND reinstalling all the programs, some of which had to be sought and found. Still a few to find and put back on, but at least I can work now.

This book is another journal made from a vintage vinyl album. This one is "Bad Girls" by the '70s queen of disco, Donna Summers.

For the front cover, I cut the record into a rectangle with the band saw, placing the round paper label just off center. For the back cover, I cut an image of Donna Summer from the back of the album, and another piece to line it on the inside. This album had the lyrics of the songs printed on red paper inside, so I cut that to use as end papers.

The signatures are a nice 70 lb. Neenah paper, off-white with flecks like tiny pieces of lint. It has a nice feel. The 8 signatures are stitched with a single-needle coptic stitch binding with black waxed linen thread.

It's really a pretty cool book, if I say it who shouldn't.

Book 322 - "Chinese Take-Out" - Coptic Bound Book/Jotter From a Recycled Chinese Food Container

Guess what we had for dinner last night? The moo-shu pork was delicious! Luckily, there was some popcorn-type shrimp in one container that were mostly dry. When we finished, I realized that one take-out container was pretty clean. So... a book!

I cut the front and back from the container and glued them to a couple of pieces of heavy card stock to make them nice and stiff. I poked a couple of holes at the top of the front cover and put the wire handle from the container through them.

I folded white paper in half lengthwise, then cut the pages for the signatures to shape. They had to be a bit trapezoidal to fit the shape of the cover.

I stitched the sigs to the covers with a single-needle coptic stitch with red waxed linen thread. Done! Kinda yummy, I think.

Book 317 - Recycled/Upcycled Vintage Physics Textbook Journal-/Blank Book - Single-Needle Coptic Binding

Another upcycled book journal today, but this time it's a cool vintage textbook. The cover just says "Physics." Since I was terrible in Physics in high school, I nearly passed this one up (I was more of a biology kind of girl). But I love the vintage look of it.

The usual routine: I sliced off the spine and bound the cut edges with variegated green washi tape. I glued some mottled blue paper inside the covers for end papers and used a cool vintage-look graph paper for the fly leaves. I covered the folded spine edge of every other signature of white text paper with more of the green washi tape to create a pattern on the exposed spine.

The binding is done with a single-needle coptic stitch with medium brown waxed thread.

This feels comfortable in the hand. It's a nice size for an everyday journal.

Book 315 - There's a Wocket in My Pocket - Recycled/Upcycled Dr. Seuss Book as Journal/Blank Book - Single-Needle Coptic Stitch Binding

Don't you just love Dr, Seuss? I have always done so. That's why whenever I see a Dr. Seuss book with a cover in decent condition in the Goodwill bins, I grab it. This recycled Dr. Seuss book journal has a fun, bright yellow cover and the typical Dr. Seuss illustrations.

I cut the spine and took out the book block (I'll probably use some of the other delightful illustrations in another project). I bound the cut edges of the covers with some fun green-and-gold diamond checked washi tape. I used the same to bind the spine cut edges and also used it on the folds of some of the signatures to form a pattern on the visible spine.

After punching all the holes for the sewing stations, I bound the book with a single-need coptic stitch or chain stitch binding with bright yellow cotton thread.

SIDE NOTE: I've found a great and inexpensive source for usable binding thread in lots of colors. Check out the craft aisle at your local Wal-Mart and go to where they have the children's crafts. Look for the cord/thread they sell for girls to make friendship bracelets. It's 100% cotton, comes in lots of bright colors and is quite strong and not stretchy. If you run it through a lump of beeswax or a candle before stitching, it works beautifully.

I like way the washi tape and the yellow thread worked on this one to make a nice pattern on the spine.

Book 304 - Sculpted Mexican Amate Paper Guest Book/Journal with Single-Needle Coptic Stitch

This is more-or-less a repeat of a book I did when I was in Mexico, but I love this sculpted amate paper so much I decided to do another one.

Because of the cut-outs in the amate, I glued it onto a shimmery orange backing. For the back, I used a piece of Davey bookbinders board covered with dark maroon lokta paper and backed with more of the shimmery orange paper.

I used more of the orange paper, cut into strips, to cover the folded edge of the signatures where they would show at the spine. The pages are white text paper with hand-torn edges. Finally, I added sheets of brown amate paper at the front and back of the book block as fly leaves and punched the stitching stations.

The book is bound with a single-needle coptic stitch with a dark purplish-brown waxed linen thread. The book measures about 8"x 8" and would make a lovely guest book on an entry table. Also, a journal or sketch book.

I do love this book.