Ruth Bleakley's StudioHandmade Books, Journals and Stationery2020-10-21T20:45:28Zhttps://www.ruthbleakley.com/blog/feed/atom/WordPressRuthhttp://www.RuthBleakley.com<![CDATA[Rainbow Journals with Suminagashi Marbled Paper]]>https://www.ruthbleakley.com/blog/?p=38222020-10-21T20:45:28Z2020-10-21T20:38:52Z
I want to show off some lovely pastel rainbow journals I made using Boko Undo Suminagashi inks (affiliate link) – and before you leave a comment, YES they are very light in color once they dry! If you are looking for bold, vibrant colorful marbled paper, you need to try a different style of marbling called Turkish Marbling (follow that link for a great instructable).
The thing I like about the Japanese style of marbling, called Suminagashi, is that you can do it in a tray full of water, and you don’t have to make a special gooey marbling “size” and it’s not as fussy, with the paints floating and sinking at various rates, etc. Yes, I know it’s complicated! If you want to learn more about marbling, I highly recommend taking a virtual class from Natalie Stopka…or see if you can find someone locally in person, because it’s kind of messy to set up.
I did treat my paper (Mohawk Superfine) with alum to help the colors stick – but I don’t think that’s required. I also used a very big 18″x20″ marbling tray, so the outer rings of the marbling were condensed and therefore darker in color than the inner rings…anyway, enough about marbling, here are the newest additions to my Handmade Journal Shop:
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]]>0Ruthhttp://www.RuthBleakley.com<![CDATA[Saved by the Bell Journal]]>https://www.ruthbleakley.com/blog/?p=37342020-07-22T18:27:30Z2020-07-22T18:27:28Z
Summertime memory: coming back from the beach during the heat of the day to eat ice cream sandwiches and watch “Saved By the Bell” reruns at my grandparent’s house. And now I live in the same house! But…no TV…and also I’m lactose intolerant now, so no ice cream. But hey, one out of three ain’t bad. haha. If you aren’t familiar with the show, it’s about a wholesome high school in California. The opening intro theme was full of memphis design inspired postmodern graphics, and when I made the marbled paper on the cover of this book, it reminded me of it!
In October of 2019 I took a wonderful marbling workshop from Natalie Stopka, an accomplished marbler, pigment maker and (in a past life) book artist based in New York. I’ve always wanted to meet her and I had a great experience. I highly recommend taking a class with her, she has some online workshops scheduled. (As of this blog post, she also has a class scheduled for October 2020 again at Aya Fiber Studio) Even though I’ve done marbling before, I still learned plenty of tips and tricks.
Our marbling class took place at Aya Fiber Studio, an open studio right next to a charming seaside marina in Stuart, Florida. I’d already been there before to take an indigo dyeing class the previous year, and it’s a wonderful space with plenty of room and doors that open on both sides to let the sea breeze in.
The only issue is that marbling…and breezes…are not always friends! I remember when I went to Japan to be on that reality show about arts and crafts, the studio was absolutely stifling, with no open windows, no fans and NO air conditioning. That’s because the motion of the air on the surface of the water will disrupt the pattern…but when done intentionally, the results can be really interesting!
We had several days of great marbling in Natalie’s class but by the end of the third day, it was getting pretty hot and we had to turn on the fans. I noticed that my marbling ink was actually drying on the surface of the size! I thought the fractured look of the paint as it dried was so interesting, I intentionally left it on the marbling bath for more than an hour during lunch, to create some amazing crackled paper, which you can see here:
Sewing the book together
Those of you who like to plan things out will be frustrated to hear that I didn’t plan out the stitch pattern of this book before I started sewing. After combining several of the “fractured” papers for the covers, and another lovely aqua marbled paper for the inside endpapers I chose pale lavender thread to sew the book.
I had sort of a vague idea of combining french link and coptic, but I simply decided to “let the spirit lead me” while I was sewing. Honestly, it wasn’t until I was nearly done that I was pleased with the result. About halfway through I thought, “what is even going on here?!”, and considered pulling out all the stitches, but the more signatures you add, the better the pattern emerges, so I’m glad I kept going. The spacing between the straight ladder stitches was unintentional, I simply skipped a signature, but decided to keep the pattern going and I like the spacing.
While I didn’t marble the paper on this book cover myself, I won’t forget where I bought it from. It was a hot afternoon in September and we were driving past West Palm Beach for a follow up appointment for my husband’s Lasik eye surgery. We planned to stop at The Paper Source shop in downtown West Palm Beach on the way home, having never been to the town before.
We assumed West Palm Beach would be the same sort of tourist town that our seaside town further north is, but nope. Our first giveaway was the Gucci store in downtown “main street” (that somehow looked like a bunch of old Spanish villas) – I mean, I guess I should know better since the infamous Mar A Largo presidential getaway is in the same “town”, that West Palm is super fancy. After navigating construction, fake cobblestones and a high rise parking garage I arrived at the paper store.
By this time my poor husband’s anesthetic eye drops were wearing off, and he had to wear sunglasses inside to protect his tender eyeballs from the bright indoor lights. “Take your time” he said, while hiding in the darkest corner of the shop, “I’m fine…”
I did my quickest in-and-out of the paper shop, but I didn’t leave before picking up some gorgeous marbled paper that I used to make these books.
Oh what’s that, you’d like to hear more about the books instead of a biographical account of my first trip to West Palm Beach? Well I bought three different colors of paper, green, aqua, and a dark cadet blue. I love the finely detailed black and gold ink, and I think the thin veins of red are an interesting surprise.
When cutting out the paper for the front and back covers, I wanted the marbled design to continue seamlessly from one cover to the next. It was fun to decide which side should be the front and which the back, sometimes it was a tough choice!
Sewing the book together
I didn’t want to create a geometric effect with the stitching that would take attention away from the swirling marbled patterns, so I chose to use a natural white linen thread to blend with the paper. I can’t remember if I had already intended to weave the spine, or if I thought it looked like it could use something extra.
My favorite style of bookbinding is called “singled needle coptic stitch” and I taught it to myself from Keith Smith’s Books Without Paste or Glue. (back in the day before You Tube). I love how it allows the book to lie flat.
For the weaving, I chose a simple over and under pattern through the ladder stitch in the middle of the spine. This was the most time consuming part of making the books, but very calming and meditative, something I sorely needed during COVID-19 quarantine time when everything was (is??) going crazy.
This post may contain affiliate links, to help me support my site.
]]>0Ruthhttp://www.RuthBleakley.com<![CDATA[Mysteries of the Cosmos Journals]]>https://www.ruthbleakley.com/blog/?p=36402019-12-04T17:03:04Z2019-12-04T17:01:07Z
Inspiration strikes…
The thing I love most about these journals is how well the two black and purple papers go together, even though I aquired them years apart. This is certainly a case of me being inspired by my materials. When I get stuck, or run out of bookbinding ideas, a quick trip to (one of) my paper drawers to flip through my collection of paper is often all that’s needed for inspiration to strike!
With our powers combined
The purple paper with the fan-shaped pattern came from Tokyo – this handmade Japanese Chiyogami paper features a traditional pattern caleld Seigaiha, which is the name of an ancient court dance of the same name, where dancers wear costumes with that same pattern. It represents ocean waves, appropriate since Japan is an island country. I thought the dark “cloud” shapes with the small gold squares and dots reminded me of images of galaxies or clouds of stars.
The black paper with the stars, moons, clouds and other celestial images was made in Nepal. This style of paper called Lokta paper is made in largely women-run cottage industries using the infinitely renewable and sustainable Lokta bush, which only needs to be trimmed for papermaking, not cut down. The black paper was hand-stamped with the celestial designs in gold and copper ink.
Together, these papers make an out-of-this world combination on these two book covers!
Choosing thread and sewing
When it came time to sew the books together, purple was a natural choice, although I went back and forth between light purple and dark purple…and even black. Dark purple won because of the high contrast with the spine of the book. Black was a little too severe, and I wanted to pick out the purple tones of the Japanese paper. I used 4 ply waxed Irish linen thread here – it’s essential for creating a secure Coptic stitch binding. I used my favorite single-needle binding technique I learned in Keith Smith’s Non Adhesive Binding Vol 1 to sew the books together. I love the peaceful meditative feeling that comes from hand sewing a book. One of the benefits of this style of exposed spine binding is that the book lays completely flat when it’s open, for easy journaling or sketching.
They could be yours!
I just added these to my handmade journal shop – you can see if they’re still available! I only have one sheet of the purple paper though, so once I run out, I won’t be able to make any more like these.
The one with mainly purple scallop pattern paper on the cover (pictured on the right below is here: Magical Galaxies Journal
Bonus Pinterest-worthy collages:
This post contains affiliate links, to help me support my site.
]]>0Ruthhttp://www.RuthBleakley.com<![CDATA[Marbled Circle Artist Book]]>https://www.ruthbleakley.com/blog/?p=36442019-11-13T21:38:46Z2019-11-08T22:28:02Z
I’m so excited to unveil a new style of handmade artist book. It features a luxurious Japanese silk book cloth cover, with precision circle inlay that features stunning, one-of-a-kind marbled paper. I like the idea of a book containing a hidden surprise, so I used the same beautiful paper for the inside endpapers as well. This book is for sale in my handmade journal shop.
Choosing the thread
When it came time to choose thread color, I had many options. Usually I start by looking at the colors in the paper I’m working with, and pull a few that match. With purple, I could have had a more “blended” look, with the sewing blending into the color of the silk fabric. White would have brought more attention to the paper circle inlay (this gorgeous paper was hand-marbled by Leslie Grossman). Blue was a close call, but in the end I went with pale green, since the overall feel of the paper was more green than blue, and green is one of the secondary colors, along with purple and orange. Secondary colors are the colors in between the three primary colors, red, yellow and blue, and so they all coordinate in the same way that red, blue and yellow do.
Sewing the book together
The type of bookbinding that inspired me for this book is called “Coptic stitch”, a braided binding dating back to the early Christians in Egypt, around 200AD. I typically sew a style called “single needle” instead of “double needle” or “paired needle”, that I prefer because it allows me to sew the book in the air. I learned it from Keith Smith’s Books Without Paste or Glue. I wanted the binding to contrast with the cover design, so I did a ladder-style transition between stitches in the middle two stations (which are also the height of the circle).
I love how the whole book came out, the secret colorful inner pages, and the high end silk book cloth paired with the hand-marbled paper inlay. I’m excited to create more in this style, too! Marbled paper is so pretty, and I love being able to pull out one special part of it to highlight.
This is a very special journal I made all in one go. By that I mean, I was “in the crunch” for at least 8 hours putting the finishing touches on it, adding gold leaf, cutting out birds with an exacto knife, hand-painting in tiny bird beaks. Also somehow I managed to make it without taking any photos of the process at all. Maybe that was intentional? Although I love taking process photos, sometimes I think, “I just wanna make this journal and not document it at all”, (and then 2 years later I try to write a blog post and have no content, haha). I do know I started with a marbled journal, added gold leaf, and then hand-cut the cranes similar to the way I did for the Secret Belgian Binding class I did with Holly Fouts. I sealed everything with a satin acrylic varnish and the book is best viewed sitting open, because the cranes and the gold flow from cover to cover. Beautiful! Too beautiful to write in! haha, I know how you feel. I’m going to keep this one in my personal collection, it’s not for sale.
Even though I took absolutely no photos of the process of making this beautiful journal I did, however, take THIS photo on the same day at lunchtime. It shows how these tiny pasta tubes fused themselves together in the pan into a honeycomb shape, all by themselves. SO WEIRD. (on a side note, isn’t Italian bronze cut pasta the best?!):
Thanks for reading my post! If you love looking at handmade journals, visit my Instagram, and check out my Pinterest board Handmade Books + Journals (which as of this writing has 10,789 followers! I love Pinterest, so please feel free to pin any of my photos!). Sign up for my newsletter if you want to be the first to hear about new journals I’ve made:
This post contains affiliate links, which means a small percentage of your sale goes back to me (there is no increased cost for you), and helps me support my site.Â
]]>0Ruthhttp://www.RuthBleakley.com<![CDATA[What’s a Temari Ball? It’s featured on this journal!]]>https://www.ruthbleakley.com/blog/?p=35822019-05-19T01:45:06Z2019-05-19T01:41:52Z
These handmade Temari Ball journals are kind of meta-handmade, because not only is the Chiyogami cover paper handmade in Japan, the colorful toy balls on the cover are also a depiction of a beautiful Japanese handicraft called Temari (手ã¾ã‚Š) Balls. Temari translates as “hand ball” and supposedly were sometimes used in games, but the idea of tossing them around seems outrageous. These stunning works of art are hand-wound with colorful thread in intricate patterns around a yarn (or nowadays styrofoam) core.
Do you see them now? I bet you thought they were beach balls, right? Now you know they’re insanely intricate hand-wound string balls:
I sew my journals using waxed Irish linen thread, which is essential if you want a coptic binding that isn’t all wiggly. There will still be a little bit of wiggle in a coptic binding, but way less than if you use unwaxed thread, or thread that you waxed yourself. You can find spools of 4 ply waxed Irish Linen thread on Amazon. Pricey but worth it. You can also find smaller quantities on Etsy.
I totally want to learn this!! Looks like the artist above, Jen Weber, teaches Temari 101 classes at Red Stone Glen Fiber Arts Center in Pennsylvania. Who wants to sign up with me?? haha. I sincerely believe in my heart that there’s no such thing as too many hobbies! (good thing my husband agrees, one of our friends commented in awe, “your house has more specialized tools per square foot than anywhere I’ve ever seen”)
Here’s a great you tube video I found on how to make a “simple” temari ball. Wow. I can’t even.:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O-5uCCxfTI
Oh also, of course there is a very adorable type of handmade sushi in Japan called Temari sushi that you can bring to your outdoor cherry blossom viewing picnic. Here’s a tutorial onhow to DIY your own temari sushi (I love the Internet):
Thanks for reading my post! If you love looking at handmade journals, visit my Instagram, and check out my Pinterest board Handmade Books + Journals (which as of this writing has 10,659 followers! I love Pinterest, so please feel free to pin any of my photos!). Sign up for my newsletter if you want to be the first to hear about new journals I’ve made:
This post contains affiliate links, which means a small percentage of your sale goes back to me (there is no increased cost for you), and helps me support my site. And buy temari ball kits.
]]>0Ruthhttp://www.RuthBleakley.com<![CDATA[Blue Cranes and Peach Clouds Twin Journals]]>https://www.ruthbleakley.com/blog/?p=35752019-09-10T19:04:28Z2019-05-07T01:38:26Z
This gorgeous crane paper is one of my new favorites! A big flock of white cranes flies across clear aquamarine sky, with golden swirling clouds. The aqua color perfectly compliments the other paper I used here, a vintage chiyogami pattern of golden clouds on a peach sunset sky. If you look closely you can also see a floral pattern underneath the clouds. I’m not sure if it is intentional or not (maybe this was a test sheet that they printed more than one design on?), but it adds a beautiful effect.
You can see if I have either of these available in my online shop here:
I sew all of my coptic stitch journals with waxed irish linen thread – it’s essential for a tight binding, and is very durable. It’s not cheap, just to warn you, but you can find it on Amazon by the spool: Waxed Irish Linen Thread 4 Ply
Thanks for reading my post! If you love looking at handmade journals, visit my Instagram, and check out my Pinterest board Handmade Books + Journals (which as of this writing has 10,643 followers! I love Pinterest, so please feel free to pin any of my photos!). Sign up for my newsletter if you want to be the first to hear about new journals I’ve made:
]]>0Ruthhttp://www.RuthBleakley.com<![CDATA[Waves and Blue Cherry Blossom Twin Journals]]>https://www.ruthbleakley.com/blog/?p=35422019-03-15T00:05:48Z2019-03-05T03:29:16Z
Don’t you love how the cherry blossoms coordinate on the two pieces of paper I used on the covers of this “twin journal” ? If you use chiyogami or yuzen paper as often as I do, you start to see trends and themes emerge. (All of a sudden I just pictured someone talking about the “trends and themes” of balloon and cake imagery on American wrapping paper, hahaha!) Those beautiful jagged-edged blossoms with five petals are cherry blossoms, or “Sakura” in Japan.
Cherry blossoms are an important symbol of Japan, and Hanami is the traditional Japanese custom of flower viewing, dating back hundreds of years. Folks set out a picnic under the blossoms, picnics that can get quite crowded in the city! Detailed flower forecasts on the news tell people when the cherry blossoms are blooming best. Here in the USA we have something similar up North in autumn when the leaves change color – we call it “Leaf-peeping”.
Look at this beautiful image from 1894 by Japanese woodblock artist Toyohara Chikanobu of ladies going to a cherry blossom viewing:
The teasing proverb dumplings rather than flowers (花より団å hana yori dango) hints at the real priorities for most cherry blossom viewers, meaning that people are more interested in the food and drinks accompanying a hanami party than actually viewing the flowers themselves.
I imagine during the March-May cherry blossom season you can often see flowers floating on the water. The white dots of the dark blue paper reference an extremely detailed and painstaking stencil making technique called Kiribori Katagami, where tiny holes are cut with a chisel and hammer, (not poked through with an awl). If you want to know a bit more about Japanese stencil cutting, there’s a great Google Arts and Culture slideshow about Ise Katagami.
These papers are made with a modern photoemulsion screenprint technique, but the original patterns were most likely based on hand-carved persimmon paper stencils. You can watch a video on how the stencils were originally carved here.
I love how the sakura blossoms in both of these different types of paper were almost the exact same size. Also the blue ink used in the blue and white paper is the same as the dark blue ink on the waves paper. This is a pretty amazing coincidence about the colors matching since I bought the papers years apart. Maybe they came from the same workshop? Without further ado, here are some beautiful photos of the blue waves and cherry blossom journals I made – you can see if I have any left in my online shop here:
Thanks for reading my post! If you love looking at handmade journals, visit my Instagram, and check out my Pinterest board Handmade Books + Journals (which as of this writing has 10,532 followers! I love Pinterest, so please feel free to pin any of my photos!). Sign up for my newsletter if you want to be the first to hear about new journals I’ve made:
]]>2Ruthhttp://www.RuthBleakley.com<![CDATA[Lay Flat Journals in Bright Bold Colors]]>https://www.ruthbleakley.com/blog/?p=35182019-02-14T03:41:41Z2019-02-14T03:17:23Z
Feast your eyes on the rich, saturated colors of these beautiful lay-flat coptic stitch journals that I finished last week. In addition to Japanese Chiyogami paper, I also made a couple journals using some of my favorite new papers featuring hand marbled and hand stamped designs. While their patterns are totally opposite, something about the colors makes them a beautiful pair. One journal features mustard yellow handmade paper from Nepal, hand-printed with pink and gray flowers that remind me of Queen Anne’s Lace. The other journal features swirling handmade marbleized covers with paper made in Thailand. Each journal contains 160 pages and lays flat when open for easy writing or sketching.
The great thing about these blank journals is that they don’t have any lines, that way no matter how large or tiny you like to write, you can be accommodated – no more cramming two tiny rows of text in one line. Also, if you’re a visual person like me, you can add sketches to your journal entries with ease! You can skip writing altogether and do landscape style sketches all the way across the page spread. The versatility of blank pages wonderful. I use 100% recycled inner pages, too, and they’re thicker than standard paper so that your writing or drawings don’t show through.
If you’re interested in buying a journal from me, for yourself or as a gift, check out my handmade journal etsy shop, but be aware that my journals are often one of a kind or limited edition, so when they sell out, they’re gone forever! If you see one you like, be sure to get it, all journals you see in my shop are finished and ready to ship, and I even offer free gift boxes, so what are you waiting for?
Thanks for reading my post! If you love looking at handmade journals, check out my Pinterest board Handmade Books + Journals (which as of this writing has 10,511 followers! I love Pinterest, so please feel free to pin any of my photos!) and don’t forget to sign up for my newsletter:
