Something New!!

Hello everyone!! Hope all is well were ever you may be. Have been busy trying my hand at something new and I think I have it to where I would like it to be. So......a few weeks ago while I was at work I  was talking to a customer who was buying a bunch of scrapbook paper. When I asked if she scrapbooked she said no she was going to make journals with her daughter and her friends. Well!!! This of course grabbed my attention, so I asked her how she made her journals. She proceeded to tell me of a wonderful site called Homemade Gifts Made Easy where she learned how to make and bind these cute journals. Needless to say the first thing I did when I got home was hit the computer and find the site. It is really cool!!!! It  is a site made by Stephanie Locsei and her husband Tobias showing how to make tons of  great gifts. I found the page to make your own book using a "Japanese book binding technique" and set about making my own book. The first one I did totally by their directions but it didn't give as much writing room as I would like--so of course, I have to tweek it a bit and I finally got it to a good size and usable amount of writing space.

The top picture shows the Japanese binding--it uses just regular 1/4 inch ribbon and is very sturdy. The middle picture shows the front of the two I have finished--they are simple but would make a great gift for anyone just to throw in their purse and jot down notes. The bottom picture is of the inside showing the writing space. The journal itself is about 5 1/2 x 4 1/4, and has 50 sheets of paper in it. I am in the process of now figuring out inserts to be able to make this into a small address book. They are really cute and fun to make and if I can do what I am hoping  I wouldn't have to buy the pre-made ones, or offer both to give my customers a choice. Let me know what you think, or throw some more ideas my way--love to create!!!
Thanks for checkin' in!!
Denise :)