Hope Journal

I participated in a journal swap for Christians on Swap-Bot a few months ago. Well, my first one never made it to the intended swapper, so I had to remake it. The end result was inspired by the Project Spectrum theme for the quarter: Earth.

Sadly, my digital camera was not working at the time, so I had to borrow a very mediocre camera. This week I stumbled across the photos, so here it is...

The cover was made using white Grandee paper, colored on all exposed surfaces with pearlescent chalks (i kan dee Shimmers from Pebbles Inc.). For the binding, I scored flaps to fold in the front and back covers, like the flaps on a hardcover's dust jacket. However, mine are adhered shut, since their only purpose was to strengthen the edges. For the spine, I cut slits at the center and one inch in from the top and bottom edges. I sewed in each signature separately using a traditional pamphlet stitch. (I think the end result had five four-folio signatures.)

The thread is Color Variations floss from DMC. I gathered all the strands together, tied them off, and braided them for a couple of inches. I tied that off, added the beads, and tied it off again.

The flowers are from Making Memories, stacked and attached with a brad. It worked out nicely: the back of the brad is hidden by the flaps!