My newest logbook

So just before leaving for Live & Breathe, my then current log book was nearly filled.  I'm pretty set in my ways, logbook-wise, so I went out on a hunt for another 5x7 hard-covered spiral bound book.  There's lots of them around, my current one was by Eco-Jot, but I had a harder time finding one this time around.

I did find one with a beige cover.  Ugh.  So I bought it.  Ick.  And while driving home a nice thought occurred to me: because of the cover colour, I could cover it with stamps! And I was heading to L&B, so what better thing to do than to have people put their stamps all over it during exchanges! Whee!!

So, here it is in its current glory:

Front and back

Inside front...

... and inside back.

As a result of L&B, I actually filled this brand-new book almost 2/3 of the way, so I'm already having to look for another book.  Have to say though that this is just about my favourite book :)

Happy trails!

A weekend full of carving and sewing

 Okay, so I might be a hermit.  A reclusive hermit.  And I may not have spoken to anyone this weekend.  Other than my assistant.  Jeez.

So no letterboxing, per se, but lots of prep for planting.  I did some fairly extensive scouting, sewed seven logbooks, and carved five stamps.  Phew.

I don't have much to share (surprises and all), but I'll leave you with some fun pictures of what I've been up to.

Toodles!

Big stack of logbooks to add to another big stack.  These are all sized for the smallest rectangular-shaped L&L.

The only thing better than a llama is...

A hipster llama!

Book binding and holiday cards...

So, I've been making my own holiday cards for a while now, and I've been keeping my favourite cards for longer still.  And the question had always remained, what to do with the cards after the holiday/event? Throw them in a drawer? A box? Recycle them?

My first book of Christmas cards.

Then while learning to bind my own books for logbooks, I came across something that stuck with me - just as you fold signatures for binding, each card is sort of like a little card-stock signature of its very own and therefore easily bound. Somewhere I saw how someone had taken their cards and bound them into books.  I can't remember for the life of me where I saw this - it might be in one of my books or I might have seen it online.  Credit is due somewhere, but it's not with me.

So this is my first attempt to bind up my cards.  I got some really beautiful ones this year and like that they are now in a book that I can shelve and perhaps bring out to look at if the mood strikes me.  It only took three episodes of Big Bang Theory to complete, so just over an hour.  If you can bind a book, you can bind yours too. 

Here's the stuff.  Beautiful carved images at the top, rest of my cards all around, and the stamps I carved to make my own cards this year on the left.

I used my own stamps on the cover - I forgot to keep any of the cards for myself this year, or rather, I ran out of cards and actually had to use purchased ones for some.

Bound and standing on their own. I ordered the cards from short to tall to make the book more easily flipped.  The cards each have a unique width so being able to see the next larger one behind it is nice.

Finished and on the coffee table.  My supervisor worked so hard that she here is enjoyed a well-deserved nap.

Happy trails!

Wet & moldy logbooks - how to dry 'em out without taking them home

Off to Saskatoon tomorrow and I'm using a new backpack I bought as my carry on - and had to pull out those little silica packs that the manufacturer threw into it to keep the bag from being wet or moldy. I've taken to collecting these in a ziplock that I keep in my letterboxing kit. I find them frequently in new bags/purses, shoes, in those cute cardboard boxes, and I think you can actually outright buy them online.

I use them when I come across those poor waterlogged boxes that we all find.  Whether they are completely filled with water or slightly damp, there's only so much you can do during the five minute stamping in to dry them out.  I keep those little silica packs handy to put into the ziplocks or into the containers to soak up the remaining moisture and hopefully preserve the logbook. The intertubes tell me that these can soak up 40% of their weight in moisture - in a slightly damp logbook, that will make a huge difference...

Wish me a fun time in Saskatoon! So long as it doesn't snow while I'm there, it will be a success!

Success! Very basic coptic stictching achieved...

Look at me! I'm awesome!

Okay, I don't sew.  So sue me. But what that means is that I have a terrible time when I'm trying to figure out the basic sewing structures for things like coptic stitching for logbooks.  Sure, I can work miracles with sticks, but have thus far kept to the basics with my book sewing.

No longer.  In putting together a logbook for the upcoming event, I actually - finally - successfully stitched myself a logbook using the coptic stitching method. Probably, one day I'll post about my fumblings in making one of these books, but for now I'm content to post a picture of the final product and let it speak for itself.  I'm inordinately proud of myself.

My first coptic stitched book - 3x4" with sparkly covers - perfect for a night time letterbox, don't you think?

I wish you all luck with your crafty ambitions!  Happy trails!

How to make a piano hinge book

My latest creation: a piano hinge logbook.

Here is a cute special book that I've made before for some of my letterboxes. It's called a "piano hinge" because of how the spine works - take a look at a piano hinge on a door sometime and you'll understand.  It's really nice to look at and feel in your hands because it moves differently than a regular book, but if you hate sewing signatures together for logbooks, this makes an interesting alternative which involves no sewing.

Anyways, here is what I needed to make it:

• Paper all the same size to be used for the signatures – I used 6.5 x 4.5” cardstock because I want really good impressions for stamping
• To decorate my cover, I have this replica map that I will be using to make the cover
• Bamboo skewers – I used 11 for this project
• Matching embroidery thread

Tools I needed:

• Scissors, 
• ruler, 
• bone folder, 
• double sided tape (I hate glue sticks – you can use that instead if you like), 
• and super glue.

The first thing I did was fold my signatures. Because I was using cardstock, I only used two sheets per signature. For 11 skewers, I need 10 signatures – however many signatures yours is, use one more skewer than there are signatures.  Use your bone folder, but don’t worry about getting the creases tight, you’ll see why later.

All folded and ready to go!

Next, making the covers: take a page of card stock and fold it over and tape it shut...

...making sure that the folded edge is folded over a skewer which is then removed.

After that, I covered mine with the reproduction vintage maps that I have, but decorate any way you like so long as you still can put a skewer down that folded edge.

Next you need the magic number for all the cuts we’re going to be making.  Measure the edge of the signatures/cover that will be the spine – then divide by 5.  The result is your magic number.

Using that magic number, measure along the hinge of your covers marking dots every measure.  You should have four dots.  Then cut in perpendicular to the spine at each dot making five tabs, essentially. 

On the front cover, cut off the first, third and fifth tab.  On the back, cut off the second and fourth.

Make sure you use pencil for these dots – they’ll show if you don’t erase them after.

Next make these dots along each of the signatures you made – you will not be cutting tabs off of these, but at each dot just cut in about one centimetre at each cut.

Next, time to weave with the skewers.  Take first the front cover and the first signature.

When you put the cover and first signature together, you'll see that the tabs align and there are doubles at the second and fourth place.

What you’re trying to do is to insert the skewer and weave alternately signature then cover tab, then signature, cover, back and forth again until you’re out the other side.  It’s a little tricky forcing the skewers through and it’s sometimes helpful to take another skewer to help open up the hinge holes a bit from the opposite end as you go.

When you’re done, two tabs will be stick out from the first signature – take the second signature and do the same thing again…

And again...

And again...

And again... I think you get the point.

 

Almost done...

Voila! The binding is all done and the book is complete.

Next, you're going to have to weave the skewers together then clip the extensions off with the scissors - don't use your good scissors.

Do the same with the other side.  I then used a touch of glue at the skewer and thread at each skewer to hold the binding together.

And it's complete!

Done and done!

 Finally, finished with a celebratory adding of chocolate to milk.

Happy book making!

Mini logbook making

So, now that my fingers are actually wanting to do work again, I've started getting some of the logbooks made that I need for Box ON!. Today, I started sewing some mini-signatures I use in making my little magnetic letterbooks. 

Generally speaking, now that I've gotten into the swing of making my own logbooks (a big change from the earlier days when the logbook was a total afterthought in the letterbox-creation process), I actually prefer to make them from scratch.

By making your own, you have the following benefits:

• Save on cost - it's way cheaper to make then to buy;
• Make them the exact size that you need them (you know, as your lock 'n lock size dictates);
• Make them exactly when you need them - no hunting around at stores or debating the usefullness of little lined notepads; and
• Make them to go with the theme of the letterbox.

All in all, I'm pretty happy to make my own nowadays.  I'm pretty fast at sewing my signatures together, and I like reusing all sorts of different papers for the signatures or covers.  And, as I mentioned before, there are some great things when making your own books in terms of hiding - like these below that I'll be using for some more of my magnetic letterbooks.



Next step - magnetic letterbook!

 Looking forward to a weekend full of letterboxing... happy trails!

A quick logbook and thoughts on lined logs

The last couple days, the stamp carving has ground to a halt.  The Box ON! carvings are on hold. I have a huge pile of finished stamps, but still a large pile of stamps to be carved.  And my fingers, well, they don't want to cooperate anymore.  My fingers are sore even at work... I dread going back to band rehearsals which often make my fingers sore as well (I'm a nerd far beyond just letterboxing - I play piccolo too you know...)

So, logbook making instead, right?  Yeah, right.  My fingers don't seem to want to do that either.  But, I have a box that must be planted this weekend and a logbook must be made. So instead of going through any lengthy process to made one from scratch, I took a bought lined notebook and recovered it. 

I was sixes about the idea until I was finished.  I essentially took a printed page from a play, used it to cover the front and back of the logbook, and then took a dying ColorBox ink pad and antiqued that baby, and voila.  I actually quite like it. 

I know, it's lined... but does that really make a difference?  I'm not sure.  I think the thought process goes that lined books aren't ideal because it interferes with the beauty/art of the stamp impressions that are put inside.  I agree, I think.  Certainly I would never use a lined personal logbook.  But it's not something that I dislike when I find letterboxes.  Actually, I'd much rather find a lined logbook than I would a little series of blank papers bound in the corner with a zipstrip. Ugh. And in fact, I have a terrible time writing evenly when there is no line.  So I'm going to be happy, buck convention with this one, and feel content in my heart with a lined logbook.  But I'll likely hypocritically go back to unlined versions for my next ones...

Happy trails!

Girls, girls, girls...

So, I've finished all my carving for Wink Wink, Nudge Nudge and spent some time this morning putting together a logbook for this short pinup word of mouth series that will be posted just before the event.

The leading ladies for the soon-to-be-planted letterbox series

 

In the past, I've not been so hot to trot about logbooks.  I love old logbooks and the joy they bring when finding an old box, but putting them together in the past has really not been my thing.  It was always that list niggling thing that needed to be done before I could get out and plant - usually meaning that it was an afterthought and there are some pretty crummy logbooks out there in some of my older boxes.



That's changed in recent boxes and I've been trying my hand at different types of book binding.  I actually went so far as to pick up a couple books on it while visiting the Toronto craft show a few months back.  I've taken my time on a couple logs now... In particular, I spent quite a bit of time on the Touch of Voodoo logbook, though no one has mentioned it... I hope it is holding up well, it has no stitching...

So, with the need for a new logbook for this new series, I set off this morning to make a cute logbook to match the series.  Here's what happened:

All done, now they just need to be planted.  Everything seems to be falling into place for Wink Wink, hope you can make it!