A friend asked me to make a journal as a gift for her husband's upcoming 70th birthday. We discussed a few ideas. The paper had to be cut to size. Almost every journal I have made for myself or as a gift was something I just created on the fly. A commission was a whole new experience. I have never glued separate sheets of paper to create a book block. I used the double fan perfect spine technique. I made two. One was for practice; the other was the "real" thing!
I'm not sure why I felt the need to build my own book press, but I did it anyway. Trip to the hardware store for carriage bolts, washers, and drillbit; another stop at a craft store for 2 12x12 boards. Drilling the holes was a challenge since I recently had carpal tunnel surgery and was not to lift anything weighty with my right hand. I taped the boards together so the holes would match - trouble with that was the drillbit kept getting stuck in the wood - royal frustration! (I can just picture my brothers laughing their heads off.)
My friend's husband has a small guitar that he likes - obviously, he loves music...a couple song titles brought tears to my friend's eyes so, of course, these elements had to be included in the overall design of the book cover. I also added his initials to the design. I worked it out in Photoshop.
This is the finished book - she's happy. I'm happy. Now let's just hope he's happy!
