JUNK JOURNAL – MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE PART 21
Additional embellishments before binding
I knew there would be further embellishments to add after binding the pages, and thought these would probably just be tabs and danglies. However, when I flipped through both signatures again, I felt the need to add some page borders, partly to reinforce some of the more delicate ones, and just to make it more… more!
I wouldn’t be able to use the sewing machine once the pages were bound, so decided to forge ahead with this while I still could. I rummaged through my decorative strips box and selected quite a few different ones to add. The ones I drew and painted on coloured card scraps several years ago really came into their own, and the supply is now getting a bit depleted, so I shall have to think about making some more.
I’ve photographed the relevant pages, mostly with their counterpart pages, showing how the added elements co-ordinate across the whole page spread. All these additions have come from my existing stash – paper strips and fancy textile trims. The sewing machine has come up trumps again, too.
The first signature
This is the first page. I photographed the signature closed, so that you can see various elements poking out beyond the page edge, as it will be in the bound book.
I chose this colour because it picks out the turquoise and green fragments in the shaker insertion in the pocket.
I chose a red border for the teabag stain page for the same colour co-ordination reason, which will be revealed as one continues to turn the pages.
The green border on the right continues to show as it sticks out further than the previous pages. Here it is at last, fully revealed, co-ordinated with the touches of green in the previous page, and the bits of red in it, with the red background page. I was pleased that its thickness didn’t impede the action of the magnet holding the teabag tag.
I added a simple border to the noisiest page of the book, mostly to stabilise the edge of the page and give this single sheet of packaging paper a bit more body. It consists of two layers – the wider one is a scrap left over when I made a special box for Mum’s 90th birthday – that was 14 years ago, which is rather a long time to be hoarding anything in the studio! The top layer was a strip cut from the top of a 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock. I have a lot of these in various colours, mostly left over from when I used the sheets for the pages of my DrawAwesome album. Each one has a hole in the centre. In this case, I am planning to pierce a hole through the page, add a fancy reinforcement (just got a new set of dies of these) and add a dangly to hang from the side of the book. You can’t waste little features like this, can you.
The second signature
I put this photo in because it shows another element which sticks out beyond the edges of the pages.
This signature contains the smaller three pages made from fancy experimental papers, the first being the translucent faux rice paper one. I stuck down a piece from a set I made ages ago, of randomly stamped scrap strips. We all generate too many strips when we trim down papers, and this particular set has proved very useful in a number of projects. I also stuck down a piece of red and gold ribbon next to it.
When I turned the page, I noticed that this showed through, but not in a pleasant way, so I covered it with another identical piece. I had already stitched down the strip of brown and gold ribbon. This is gorgeous, but the photo simply doesn’t show its detail or shininess at all well. It has a harlequin pattern.
The fringe sticking out beyond the pages is stitched onto the gold foil page. I’ve been concerned about the flimsiness of this page throughout and this is another element which gives it more body. The fringe is bright gold! Again, the photo completely ruins the effect of this, as it does of the bright gold foil page. Such finishes are so difficult to photograph. I am hoping they will show up better when I make the flip-through video of the completed project.
Here are the two signatures ready for binding.
Once the book is bound, there will be further decorative elements to add which won’t require the services of the sewing machine – mostly tabs and danglies. For now, the page edges are a lot more interesting!
