Blue Rorshach Trio

So I’ve been on a bookbinding binge, but this one’s mostly been focused on that simplest of bindings, the 3-hole pamphlet.

These little pamphlets were quite an inspiration for me.

Kaleidescopes, Rorshachs, and Dolls Series

I write…a lot. Not professionally, just as a hobby. Stories, working very slowly on a series of fantasy novels, fanfiction, hobby-type stuff. I’ve found that I get some of my best writing done when I’m sitting in the dr. office waiting for an appointment or eating alone at a restaurant. I usually carry around those super-cheap 8×10 spiral notebooks (not really designed for left-handed people unless you use them backwards). You know, the kind you get for 5- or 10-cents every year during back-to-school time. Problem is, the spiral notebooks are too big, too much paper for one story, and they start wearing out before you fill them up (especially if you’re carrying them around with you to appointments and restaurants). I find myself writing parts of a story or finishing a story in a quarter of the notebook and then starting another story but I have to find the second story I started so I try dog-earing the first page of that story. But while I’m writing that one, I start a third story in the notebook and since I have to find that one, too, I dog-ear that page and then get confused about what’s what and still find myself flipping through 20 pages just to find the particular story or chapter I want to work on. Not very organized, I know.

So, the other day, I grabbed my current notebook on my way out the door to a dr. appointment, noticing that the cover was starting to tear off near the top. As I drove to the dr. office, I started thinking about all these little annoyances I’ve just outlined. And then, I had an epiphany. A rather silly one that went like this, “Oh, hey! I’m a bookbinder! I can make an inexpensive writer’s notebook for myself in just about any way I want.” Yep, mind-boggling, I know.

An interesting beastie design altered from my dragon drawing.

When I got home, I started by drawing a flame design on my graphic tablet. Figured I could print up the line drawing several times, color in various ways and have a series of flame notebooks (ok, so I’m on a Pyro binge right now, what can I say). Then I started playing around with some of the photos on my computer (pics of art dolls and a dragon drawing I’d done) and found the “Kaleidescope” button in my Paint Shop Pro–wheeee! I had fun finding all the rorshach designs in the altered images, saved a bunch of designs for future use and printed out eight different covers on some cardstock I had lying around. Printed out the flame drawing, as well.

The first pamphlet was kind of a trial one–I folded each page, stacking them, and then folded the cover and placed it around them. And realized that the foreedge would have to be trimmed somehow. Unfortunately, I don’t own a guillotine or trimmer that will cut through 40 pages at one time (I used 20 sheets of 8.5″ x 11″ paper folded in half). My various attempts at cutting the pages all together were just plain baaaad. So I took everything apart and trimmed every two sheets in 1/16″ increments, cutting progressively smaller as I went. Put it all back together and it worked rather well with the pages nesting neatly together instead of sticking out at the front edge of the book.

The rest went together smoothly. I had a paper-cutting party getting all the text blocks ready and then folded and stacked them all into their separate books. Once I had everything together, I did an assembly line process, punching the holes in all the books and then going back and sewing them with thread in colors to match each cover design. Simple construction but I think they came out looking pretty fabulous.

The flames drawing done in marker.

The flame design was a bit more work since I had to color it first. I opted for markers for the first round, then decided the background (and inside cover) needed to be black, so I spent quite a bit of time coloring the background and inside, as well. It was worth it but immediately became MY book, since I put so much time into it. I did take a picture of the finished flames when I was done so I’ll probably use the photo for more notebook covers. I also wanted to try out making lined pages and came up with something that works by printing the lines on the paper before cutting and sewing it.

Overall, it was a worthwhile epiphany since I’ve come up with a series of stylish notebooks for both personal use and as a new line in my Etsy shop. They aren’t anywhere near the 10-cent price range but they’re more functional and they look waaay cooler.