Are you a journaler? Maybe you keep a blog & consider yourself a journal writer? Or maybe you like to have a real journal in front of you so you can put your pen to paper with your thoughts. Or maybe you have a creative business & need to carry around a notebook so that you can jot down your ideas as you think of them. I do this all the time. Does anyone else come up with the best ideas at the weirdest moments? I have found it's so important to have a small notebook with me so that I don't forget these ideas when they come to me.
As you may have seen, I've made a few handbound books lately as gifts to my mom & to my husband. It had been a while since I had made any hand bound books before then. I used to make journals quite often. What started my love of them? Haha, actually, I used to make books when I was just a kid. It started as just a few pieces of paper stapled together. I would write stories in them & draw pictures & say I wanted to write books. Maybe everyone did this? We had a whole stack of these "books" on our bookshelf when I was growing up. It was one of my favorite things to play as a child, make books & write stories in them.
My love of book making progressed to where it is now. I love the feel of the paper & sewing them together. It's a lot like embroidery actually. Stitching the pages onto one another with my needle & thread to make a pretty design in the binding. I love choosing the size of each journal & what pretty paper I should use for the cover. I love tearing each page by hand. You see, making books is so fun!
I decided to add some handbound books to my
Etsy shop. (Insert squealing & jumping around in excitement!) Right now, there are only a few, and they are all done in the same coptic stitch, but I am also hoping to add some other kinds of stitched books to the collection as time goes on. These books actually take a pretty large amount of time to complete. Depending on the size & number of pages, each one can take multiple hours from start to finish. I tear each page by hand from large sheets, which takes a good amount of the time. But it's fun & relaxing & I love making them.
I also purchase all of my supplies for the books locally. Very locally. I literally walk to the shop where I get my supplies, which is great! No shipping involved means I don't have to pay for shipping, and it saves energy too! I love shopping local & it's great that I have these supplies in my area ready for me to use & so easily accessible. Obviously, I'll ship my products anywhere, but I'm proud that I'm able to support my local community by purchasing my supplies locally.
The pictures I'm using in this post are all of books that I have available NOW in my shop. Keep an eye on it, because many new designs will be upcoming in the near future! I just wanted to get the ones I have ready up in the shop for all to see! I'm soooo excited about this addition. I love these books & I have a great time making them. Each one contains my heart :) I hope you all like them!
By the way, if you have any special requests for a handbound book or journal please let me know! I have access to a crazy amount of paper designs, so any colors you are looking for I can send you various options to choose from so that you have have the perfectly designed book, journal, photo album, guest book, baby book, or whatever you're looking for. I can do tiny books or really large ones too, if you need a specific size, let me know!
