It’s always fun when someone hires you to make a book and they trust you enough to just let you run with it. The book below is a perfect example.

Theresa has had me make several books for her over the past few years. Mostly she has ordered gifts for others, but this time, she wanted a prayer journal for herself. And she said I could design it any way I wanted!

I experimented with exposed board for this book. I cut ruby-red bookbinding cloth in a wave shape to cover the spine and connect the covers, and the white part of the cover is raw Davy board, which I shaded with a white Prismacolor pencil.

I then added snowflake brads to the spine for symbolism and to give the book a little embellishment.

Inside the book, I designed the paste pages. I printed the lyrics to the worship song “Nothing But The Blood” and accented that particular line.

I knew Theresa was planning to use this book as a prayer journal, and I wanted to keep this reminder at the forefront of her mind every time she opened her book.

Theresa: Thank you again for being such a loyal customer. I always enjoy designing books for you. I hope the pages of this book are now filled with answered prayers and reminders of God’s provision in your life!

Be blessed!!

I mentioned in this post that I love making books for other artists. Some times, other artists are even willing to trade their art for mine. Win-win!

Abi and I were meeting up to do a photoshoot for BodSchool, my personal training business. She takes incredible photos and I wanted to bring a thank you gift that I could give her until I was able to make her official sketchbook.

In college, I purchased a book that teaches how to bind books without any glue. As you can imagine, that makes the process much quicker, as you don’t have to wait for anything to dry!

I had some burlap scraps another friend had given me and decided that would be the perfect material to try something new.

I chose to make a “quarto” sized book (a fourth of a page) from 8.5 x 11 paper. The final size was roughly 4.25″ wide x 5.5″ tall…a great little book for stuffing in a purse or camera bag!

I burned the edges of the burlap to give it a more finished look (and also in hopes it would keep it from fraying so badly). Have you ever smelled burnt burlap?! Eww.

Since Abi loves green, I chose olive-colored paper for the pages. It also looks really great with the earthy burlap, don’t you think?

The stitching I chose was Long Stitch/Link Stitch. The sections are sewn together so the stitches are exposed on the spine like this:

I really like how you could see the stitches if you knew to look for them, but that the twine also blended in nicely with the burlap.

This was a really fast book the make. The thing that took the longest was learning the new stitch, but even that went quickly once I got the hang of it.

Abi, thank you again for being willing to trade art! I love making unique things for unique girls like you!

Cooking is an art. Loving your kids and keeping them fed, bathed, and entertained is an art. Crunching numbers in a budget is an art. Maintaining a healthy marriage is an art. Masterfully hammering boards together and building something that didn’t used to exist is an art.

Since art is everywhere, sometimes even the people who DO call themselves Artists don’t realize how many artistic passions they’ve left undiscovered.

One of my favorite artists, Miss Abi, is an A-MAZING photographer. And fashionista. And writer. And, and, and…as it turns out, a sketcher!! Who knew?!

Abi and I love to trade art with each other. She took some terrific photos for my new business, and I paid her back by making her an 8.5 x 11 sketchbook.

Her favorite color green in a fun pattern, plus her name and some BLING!

A pen loop (because what good is your sketchbook if you forget a pen?!) was built in as well.

Abi, thank you for being my go-to girl for all things photography (and fashion advice, which I am certain I desperately need more of!).

I love your zest for life and hope this book will be just one of the many places you chronicle all your dreams and adventures this year and beyond! Love you!

I know a gal named Donna who is one of the sweetest, giving people you could ever hope to know. She’s always putting others before herself, so I was ecstatic when she asked me if I would make a custom journal for HER. Just for her.

Her thoughts.

Her prayers.

Her struggles.

Her dreams.

Her gratitude.

Her frustrations.

Oh, the many things we can write in a journal that is for our eyes only!

Donna wanted a journal that was artsy and fun and had a biblical Scripture inside the front cover to set the tone for her journaling. Donna chose Psalm 51:10.

I just love this wild (but not too crazy) patterned paper, don’t you?!

Donna is a mom to four very energetic and imaginative kiddos and I wanted to make sure they knew this journal belongs to Mama and no one else! I added marquee letters to the front to personalize the cover.

As any parent knows, it’s good to occasionally have some ‘me-time’, whether you use it for journaling, exercise, gardening, reading, or just drinking a glass of wine alone! I am sure Donna has already begun filling up the pages of this book with the contents of her heart, soul, and mind.

Donna, when this book is full and you’re ready for another, let me know. From one mom to another, I want to help make sure you have the space you need to ‘roam free’…at least on paper!

I still need to glue in the book block, so this isn’t technically finished, but I wanted to show the progress so far…

I ripped the flowers off their stems, pulled the petals apart, then stuck a sequin and a mini brad in the center of each one. The mini brad was then stabbed through the pleather cover fabric and fastened.

I’m excited to continue working on this…once it’s done it will be available for purchase under the “For Sale” tab in the top right corner.

Here’s the final product…a personalized photo album that I made for my SIL Ali and her soon-to-arrive (in January) 3rd little girl, Ensley Grace.

I’ve been waiting for the perfect reason to use this fabric!

I love adding names to the front of albums. There will be no mistaking to whom this book belongs!

Satin ribbon tie closures:

The back cover. The paste pages and the photo pages both coordinate with the cover fabric.

Since it’s a gift, I can only show little peeks today. I’ll show the total, finished project after I’ve given it to its new owner.

Here’s a photo montage of each title and its inside facing pages. My main goal was to match colors and, if possible, theme.

This last one is probably my favorite…not only a cool book title:

But the perfect excuse to use this ethereal scrapbook paper.

Thanks again, Kendra, for asking me to make these for you!

The covers were made from .5″ foam core board wrapped in textured scrapbooking paper (to imitate a leather suitcase). I made a nylon strap to represent the straps folks put around their luggage to keep it from bursting open–”gangly winch-’em-uppers” as my dad calls them Travel stickers were placed on the covers to give it the old-timey travel trunk look.

One of the requirements of every assignment was that we include a colophon which listed the date and the materials used in the project. What better place to include the info than on the luggage tag?

The strap is even fully functional!

With the Venetian Blind binding, two cords run through the covers and every page…much like, well, Venetian blinds. I clamped eyelets around each hole in my pages so the canvas wouldn’t ravel. The cords were made of seine twine (tough stuff often used in sailing.)

Each page was cut from canvas and hand-stitched around the edges to prevent fraying. Photos I had taken while traveling were then printed onto ink-jet fabric transfers and ironed on to the fabric pages.

The Brooklyn Bridge and the St. Louis Arch were there…

Adjoining pages were held together using small silver rings.

From European sights to New York City architecture…

to the courthouse in my hometown (Minden, NE) and the Roman Colosseum…

to the Statue of Liberty to Monas in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Tower of Pisa and an Balinese infinity pool were all represented as well.

Though not a technique that is perfect for just any use, the Venetian Blind binding was a great way to show off some of my travel photography.

To start, I found several inexpensive albums that held at least two hundred 4×6 photos. Needless to say, I snatched them up!

After disassembling them and peeling off their original covers, I covered each album based on Sarah’s preferences. She had come to my studio the week prior, and can I just say that it made this project go SO smoothly. She knew exactly which materials I would be using for the covers and had a lot of input regarding the final product. I love knowing my clients will be totally satisfied!

For the Clarks, I covered their album in my Red Velvet paper and used black facing pages.

Half-inch white satin ribbon closure ties were added.

Metal letters were affixed to the front cover using ruby gemstone brads.

I kept the original spine from the album (complete with bow), as it gave the album an elegant touch.

For Kerr family #1, I was told to stick to very natural textures and colors. I used a natural brown distressed paper for the cover.

I used white marquee letters to spell out “Kerr” on the front cover.

Half-inch brown satin ribbons served as tie closures.

This geometric leaf pattern was used as the inside paste pages.

This book style was different from Album 1, in that the paste pages were attached directly to the first page of photos.

With clear sleeves and space to write in memories or captions, I was thrilled with how this album turned out.

Next, was Kristen’s book. Sarah’s sister Kristen loves childlike, playful patterns, so this brightly colored polka dot paper was perfect for her!

Inside paste papers were a shockingly neon green!

I removed the bow from the original spine…

and instead added a “K” brad.

On the cover, I used neon green marquee letters to spell out Kristen’s name.

Sarah brought me a swatch of fabric to use for her mom’s book. It was this amazing textured paisley. Since the fabric was a bit stretchy, I wasn’t sure how well it would work as a cover. I’m happy to report that it turned out great!

I added 5/8″ black satin ribbons as tie closures

and used black Canson paper for the paste pages.

Black letter brads spelled out the family name.

Book #5 was for Sarah’s sister-in-law. Sarah chose an olive green fabric with chocolate brown polka dots for the cover.

To balance the black photo pages, I used black paper for the inside pastes.

Half-inch brown satin ribbons functioned as tie closures.

A label holder held in place by peridot gemstone brads showcased the family name.

I kept the original spine, complete with bow, as it gave a nice flourish to an otherwise simple design.

Book #6 was for Sarah’s other Sher sister. Sarah chose this purple and turquoise flocked paper from my supply inventory. ((Digging through piles of supplies with a client is the most fun part about a studio visit!!))

To balance the black photo pages, I used black Canson paper as the paste pages.

I removed the bow from the original spine and replaced it with a black satin ribbon with amethyst brads and slide-on letters.

Silver letters beautifully spell out the family name.

Sarah, thank you for asking me to make these albums for your family! I hope they enjoy filling them with photos for years to come!