Handmade Wasp Journal

An oldie but a goodie – I can’t believe I made this almost exactly 2 years ago. For a while I was on a hardcover case-bound book bender, before I switched to coptic stitch books. Part of the reason I like coptic stitch better than the traditional “hardcover” book you see here is that you can make all of the covers ahead of time, and the balance of papers on the front and back of the covers keeps them from warping. Not so on a case bound book, where you need to adhere or “case in” the text block (shown here in different shades of Canson Mi-Tietnes paper) as soon as possible after covering the cover and spine, or you risk the board warping as it dries.

This little square book was purchased by a friends at a Christmas show, and it has navy blue Italian rayon book cloth, an elastic strap to keep it shut, and an inset old fashioned illustration of a wasp (or bee? probably a wasp)

Inspired? Hand Bookbinding: A Manual of Instruction is a good guide to bookbinding if you want to give it a try.