Boom 308 - "Danger in the Desert" - Recycled Children's Book Journal/Notebook - Soft Double Spiral Binding

Here's Another Vintage Kid's Book transformed into a blank book/journal. I enjoy making these recycled book journals. At least I know I am giving new life to a previously loved but worn book.

I love the cover on this one. It's a young adult book called "Danger in the Desert," with a great vintage graphic of two boys fighting the snake so big it looks more like an Anaconda you'd find in the Amazon rain forest than any critter I've ever seen here in our Arizona desert. But since there's a prickly pear in the foreground and a giant saguaro cactus in the background, I have to assume that Arizona is where it's meant to be.

The usual drill here: I cut the covers from the spine and glued down end papers of dark card stock. I bound the cut edges of the covers with washi tape. I folded up the sigs, plain white text paper, and poked the holes for the sewing stations.

The binding is like a Japanese stab binding but without a hinged or folded cover. It's basically a double spiral binding, but with ribbon instead of wire. You sew down the spine in a spiral from top to bottom with the ribbon, then sew back up again, creating a cross-stitch pattern. The trick is to not get the stitches too tight (or the book won't open flat) or too loose (or the book will be floppy).

This one worked out well.

Book 294 - Keychain Notebook from Recycled Steel Color Samples

Here's a tiny keychain notebook/jotter. We've had these enameled steel color ships lying around for ages. We used to sell laser-cut southwest style ornaments made from this, and the company sent us a set of color samples to help with ordering. We haven't carried them for a few years, but still had the samples. I discovered them in a drawer the other day.

So, of course, I had to use them to make a book.

Since they were hanging on a keyring, they already had the single hole drilled at the top. All I really had to do was cut pages to shape, punch some holes in them, and make a ring from heavy nickel wire. The pages are a really  nice Strathmore text paper with a very faint stripe in it, called "Lines." I love this paper but unfortunately, they don't seem to make it anymore.

Anyway, this is just a silly little thing, but mine own. And today's book is done.

Book 181 - "Conspiracy" - A Hemp Cord Spiral Bound Notebook

I'm late posting this spiral-bound notebook done with hemp cord stitching. I'm finding that keeping the blog up to date--what with taking photos, resizing them, uploading, and writing the post is harder than actually making the books!  This offbeat little notebook has been sitting around for two days now, occasionally calling out "Post Me, Please!"

So I finally answered the call. While wondering what book to make the other day, as my eye wandered around the room, I saw the box for the board game I used to make the book trio a few days ago. The game title "Conspiracy" was emblazoned across the front of the box in big yellow and red letters and just called out "pick me! pick me!" (Hmmm, Am I getting completely batty here? Why are all these things yelling at me?)

I cut the top off the box cover and cut the giant word in half. I backed the pieces with black textured card stock. Then I printed out words for all the "conspiracy theories" I could think of--the more far out the better--and added them to the covers and the insides of the covers. I sure hope this comes across as really tongue-in-cheek as I mean it. Because I do think all this stuff is just plain silly.

The finished book measures 8 1/2" long x 3 1/4" wide with approx. 100 pages of white text paper. The spiral binding is done with loosely wrapped black waxed hemp cord. On the whole, a pretty silly little book, but making it was fun.