Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Handmade notebook


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So I made my first notebook ever. For my friend Ana (and she taught me how to actually do it). I hope she will write and draw tons of stuff on it and that by Christmas, the whole notebook will be completed. For what is a notebook without the notes and doodles inside it, to call your own?
And a little update: you can find many more handmade notebooks on our Etsy shop L'ateliera!


To make this present, I used colored paper (mint for the notebook body and turquoise for the inside covers - Ana's favorite colors) and an old skirt with a lovely dotted - psychedelic pattern. A touch of happy yellow never hurt anybody, but don't stare too long at the fine lines or you will get a mighty headache!



Quick tutorial:
1. You will need: a piece of fabric in a playful pattern, hard cardboard, colored lightweight paper, liner, cutter, scissors, glue, waxy string, a needle and an awl for piercing everything.
2. Cut the strips of paper twice as big as the final size you want for your finished notebook. Fold every paper in half along the sewing line (where the stitches will be) and make 7 sheet sets.
3. Pierce every set  of paper, using a guiding template (to make sure the wholes are even on each set of paper).
4. Cut the covers and carefully glue the fabric on the outside. Tuck the corners in.
5. Glue the inside cover over the fabric corners and pierce the covers, using the same template.
6. Sew every set of paper - this is impossible to explain properly, but there are plenty of web tutorials out there. To be honest, it was Ana who taught me how to make the stitches... because handmade notebooks are her hobby!


Hip Hip Hooray! I've just been featured at Clean & Scentsible, Social Salutations, JAQS Studio, Simple Home LifeHomeworkAlderberry HillIt's So Very CheriCherished Bliss, Get Outta My Head Please Cabin Fevered GemMy Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia and Petite Hermine and also got pinned on Romance On A Dime. Thank you so much for the feature, it gives me the power for more projects :)
Photobucket            
homework       Craft & Tell  you are talking too much 
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia   RomanceOnADime.com  

81 comments:

  1. i love these colors!! they remind me of the ocean :) i'd love it if you linked this up to my party!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Andie, my friend Ana loved the fabric so much, that she didn't even want to let me cut it in pieces! She and I will go to the seaside in August :)

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  2. Absolute notebook love. Actually it is far too pretty to be called a notebook!

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  3. Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Tara! The handmade process is wonderful!

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  4. What a lovely gift idea, love the colours too!

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  5. What a great gift idea! This notebook would be an appropriate gift for many occasions: teachers, end of year to students, as a diary, a sketchpad, etc. I love the versatility! Thanks for sharing at Show & Tell.

    Sharon @ mrs. hines class

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Sharon! I would also like to use a handmade notebook as a special photo album :)

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  6. Thank you, Mama Zen, long time no see! I'm rushing over to your damn poetry blog...

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  7. Prezenty i to wykonane własnoręcznie, są szczególnie miłe. Pozdrawiam.
    Gifts and a hand-made​​, are particularly nice. Yours.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the visit and for the kind words, Giga! Hand-made presents are the most important ones. Dziękuję bardzo za wizytę i za miłe słowa, Giga! Ręcznie robione prezenty są najważniejsze.

      Delete
  8. Love this! I’ve pinned it to my Paper Crafts board and would love for you to share on our Creative Corner Blog Hop. It starts on Monday’s and is open all week -
    http://hollysstampingaddiction.blogspot.com/2012/05/creative-corner-blog-hop_28.html

    Holly
    http://hollysstampingaddiction.blogspot.com/

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the pin and for the invite, Holly! Please feel free to come by any time :)

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  9. I've always wondered how you do this! I'm pinning this most definitely. I found you on 5 Days 5 Ways

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the visit, Janny! It was my first notebook ever, and before I made it, I had no idea about book-binding, either. But it's easy to do and I loved doing it :)

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  10. What a beautiful notebook, the stitches on the spine are lovely

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Wendy, the stitch pattern is my favorite, too. I was afraid I would mess it up terribly and I am immensely proud of the way it turned out :)

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  11. Beautiful work! I've been wanting to make my own journal and this is certainly inspiring me.
    Discovered you via the My Repurposed Life link party :)

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  12. So fabulous! I can't wait to try! :)
    Found you via The DIY Dreamer!

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  13. Love this! I'm addicted to binding books and journals. The cover fabric is lovely too. I'm curious tho, what is the stitch you used to bind it? I don't think I've used that one before!

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    Replies
    1. It was my first book-binding project, Chelsea, and I was terribly afraid not to mess-up the stitches - but it was easy to do and it turned out great (not too large, not too tight). But the stitch model came from my friend Ana, she just figured it out by herself.

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  14. Looks fantastic! I love the fabric you covered it with. I've had book binding on my to do list for a while (I had a little practice a while ago).

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the visit - book-binding needs patience and discipline, but it is an easy craft to do!

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  15. Beautiful!! I love all of the colors and nothing beats a homemade journal. Thanks so much for sharing over at Clean and Scentsible. I'll be featuring this tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
    Jenn :)

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  16. I love this!! The colors are beautiful, and it's so much nicer to have a home-made notebook than one just bought in a store!! :)

    Thanks for linking to "20 Below Thursday"! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Christina, nothing says I love you like a personal, hand-made gift!

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  17. Hiay , stopping by from petite hermine and loving your handmade notebook and tutorial x tfs I make handmade photo albums maybe you will pop by my blog for a peep ?
    happy cragting
    xmaggiex

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  18. Wow, it looks great! Definately pinning this to try sometime :)

    Liefs, Audrey
    hetkabinet.blogspot.com

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  19. First of all I must say that your photos are GREAT!!!

    The notebook is AMAZING!!!! Way to go! LOVE the colors!!

    Thanks so much for sharing at The DIY Dreamer.. From Dream To Reality!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Christine, the colors make me happy too :)

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  20. Beautiful notebook! I love the colours!


    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for visiting, Jill, your comments mean the world to me :)

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  21. Lovely! The colours you chose look great. I'd love for you to link up at Etcetorize this week ( Etcetorize )~

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  22. What a gorgeous book! love the colors you chose!
    Kim
    Thanks for linking with us at tip toe thru tuesday!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for making time to visit, Kimberly - it is always great to hear from you :)

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  23. Really nice notebook, to be your first one it came out really wonderful, congratulations and good tutorial.

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  24. Absolutely gorgeous! So much detail! Thanks for linking up again with Uncommon! Featuring this on our FB page today! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the feature, it makes my wanna sing with joy :)

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  25. you are so talented! this is beautiful. the stitching is amazing. i have collected some handmade notebooks through the years.

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  26. I love it! The colors are so pretty too. Thanks for sharing at my Pinteresting Party this week.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the visit - you are kind as always to pop by :)

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  27. My daughter gave me one of these once and I just loved it. It's great seeing how it's done. Thank you.
    Liz

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  28. Love it! Isn't it exciting to actually make one yourself? I love teaching young girls to make their own notebooks at our American Girl Book Clubs at the library. They are always so excited to learn how to do it. :o)

    Your color choices are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing!
    K

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  29. Such a pretty idea. I Love the color too. Thank you for sharing with the newbie party. Glad you linked up!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for making time to visit, Debbie!

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  30. Very pretty!

    Yellow Ride, would love for you to come and see it, I had fun!

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  31. Thanks so much for sharing this. These notebooks are SOOO cute!! I'm so glad you linked up at Romance on a dime!! I'm pinning this.

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  32. LOVE this journal! Beautiful colors! I am a fellow newbie over at the "newbie party!" And, I am your newest follower!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for the visit, Melissa, feel free to drop by anytime!

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  33. Love this!

    You were featured!

    http://www.thesasselife.com/2012/06/printrunner-giveaway-crafty-sasse.html

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  34. Gorgeous!

    Late visiting for MYM, hope you can still visit my yellow post, thanks!

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  35. Meeha Meeha--great handmade notebook! I love the fabric you used.

    gail

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    Replies
    1. I'm so happy that you like the little notebook, Gail! Thank you so much for visiting, as always!

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  36. I've always wanted to make a book. Thanks for linking at Wow Us Wednesday!

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  37. Book-binding is an easy, wonderful craft :)

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  38. Absolutely gorgeous! I featured you today in my Friday I'm In Love favorites!!

    http://socialsalutations.blogspot.com/2012/06/friday-im-in-love-wow.html

    XOXO
    Jenn @ Social Salutations

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  39. Thanks so much for linking up to Make the Scene Monday, you are being featured later today!

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    Replies
    1. Yaaaay, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

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  40. Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Ashley, you really made my Sunday!

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  41. Love it .. Thank you for linking up at Get Outta My Head Please
    You are one of the features at this weeks party <3

    Hugs
    Brooke

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    Replies
    1. Wow, thank you from the bottom of my heart, Brooke!

      Delete
  42. Hop on over to http://cabinfeveredgem.blogspot.ca/ tomorrow morning and see your project featured! I would love a cute notebook like this to keep me organized! Great idea. Thanks for sharing at Cabin Fevered Gem this week. Cheers,

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  43. This is lovely! And your tutorial is amazing.. I think I am going to have to try this to make for my little lovey! Thanks so much for sharing with the Pink Hippo~
    xoxo
    Amie @ Pinkapotamus

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Amie! Book-binding is wonderful to do, as long as you do every step veeery slowly and keep symmetry at all times :)

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  44. Stunning notebook and what a wonderful present, I'll be featuring it tonight.
    XO
    Kristin

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  45. Meeha,
    You know I love your projects and I wanted you to know that I launched a second blog called DETAILS. I featured your beautiful notebook today. DETAILS is all about projects with details that make them extraordinary! Please stop by and visit the sister site to homework, DETAILS.
    xxoo
    Carolyn
    homework | DETAILS
    http://carolynsdetails.blogspot.com/

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    Replies
    1. Oh wow, thanks a million, Carolyn! I'm heading over to your new blog right now!

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  46. ouw, u r a true blogger.
    how creative, love ur blogs.
    thanks for the idea, wish u luck, :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the beautiful words, Febrina! You are always welcome here on my little blog!

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  47. Nice Blog, Thank you so much for sharing such an amazing blog. You can also check our blog :
    Printed notebooks

    ReplyDelete
  48. Wanna a free note-taking app to take notes and checklists?
    Wanna a sticky notes app with colorful notepad backgrounds?
    Looking for a simple notepad that can keep notes easily and take notes with photos and audio?
    Then, this free note taking app and notebook is exactly what you need.
    note with reminder

    ReplyDelete
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