Book 242 - A Hard-Cover Journal w/ Hidden Long Stitch Binding-Red Fish

I wanted to try this hidden long stitch book structure as soon as I saw it for several reasons.

1) It's fairly easy to make--easy structurally.
2) Since the front and back boards are covered separately, you can use up smaller scraps of decorative paper.
3) The long stitch binding is hidden by the bookcloth covering the spine. That makes for a very neat, clean package.
4) It's sturdy, neat, and looks really good.

Basically, you just cover your front and back boards with the cover paper and paste the leather/bookcloth spine piece in place between the covers. In this case, I chose an Asian-feel paper of black and metallic gold fish on bright red paper. I used a piece of black silk bookcloth with both a sheen to it and a slight slub.

Cut a second strip of the bookcloth and sew the signatures of the book to it. I used a simple butterfly stitch. Then lay the book block in place inside the cover, glue down the "hinge" made by the inside bookcloth, then paste the end papers in place, covering over the "hinge"

Put it under weight for a while and you have a very nice, sturdy little pocket or purse book.

Book 142 - Bookmark Fan Book, Handmade Book with Little Indian Girl

Really taking it easy here tonight with this little bookmark fan book. This was another idea that came up by wandering through our store. We sell a lot of these little laminated bookmarks with historical photos--mostly Native American. I've always loved this one. The little Indian girl has so much personality!

For the text pages, I chose a peach-colored paper that blends nicely with the sepia of the photograph. I cut it to the same size as the bookmark. For the back, I cut a piece of mat board to size and glued a piece of cardstock on the back. The stock is a two-layer scrap-booking paper that you can tear/fold/sand to reveal some of the under color. I sanded this piece for interest and to make it look "distressed" and add to the historical flavor.

After neatly stacking the front and back covers over the block of text pages, I clamped the whole thing together and drilled the top whole with a 1/4" bit. Then I connected everything with a 1/4"  nylon binding post from Home Depot.

This little book fans out beautifully At 2" x 6", it would make a great notebook to keep in a pocket for quick notes and to-do lists.