Do You Use a Travel Journal?

 I always have a journal when I travel. Do you? What do you use? How big? What kind of paper?

 In preparation for a trip that starts next week (more on that when it happens) I went a little crazy in the studio with small books with pages from an old college rule spiral notebook.  It begged to be cut up & re-purposed. I prefer small structures.

These two are 7" X 4"

Here was my process.

  Decide on a size, determined by papers I wanted to use for covers. Measure, cut, fold.

Brilliant little tip learned at a work shop. Dig out those old legos stuffed in a closet to make corner  &
straight edges guides to hold  papers or covers that need to stay put. What a frustration reducer!

A 2 signature five hole pamphlet stitch was my structure of choice. Create templates for the holes, punch signatures & cover, sew.  Great tutorial on the sewing in the link above. 

 

 

The fold in the spine is what allows two signatures to be sewn together in one pamphlet. A stronger structure that can accommodate lots more pages

Of course there has to be an index.

 

Which leads to the pages being numbered.

With the paper left over from cutting down the pages for the first books I went on to make smaller versions with a 3 hole stitch.  Another great tutorial here with a few different design choices to create a 2 signature 3 hole book. She describes the spine of the 2 signature approach very well. 4" X 3 3/4" is the finished size.

I should be set for jotting down those random ideas for awhile. 

My favorite Canson Mixed Media spiral bound journal will still come along on the trip for artful pursuits. I wouldn't leave home with out it. I'm on my 7th of these.

Before embellishments

Back cover