>Here’s a report on the first few journals I’ve finished binding.

001: My first book was a learning experience. I used too much glue, I’m afraid, and I rushed through it with the end result that the cover corners are really half-a**ed and there are hard spots on the microfiber cover where the glue bled through. I just wanted to get the first one out of the way, and it’s the only attempt i’ve made so far at a three-piece “adhesive” cover (the hard bit) and sewn signatures (the easy bit.) I use this journal now as a sketch and idea journal, since it’s good enough for me – nobody in their right mind would have paid even the material cost for it.

002: I made 002 for Karisa as a birthiversary gift, and so at this time I can’t describe it or post pictures of it. I’ll come back and do that later.

003: 003 is my second stab-bound journal, and came out very nicely. It’s sort of a tall, thin journal with a paper-bound spine and red/black binding. This is the first one I’ve made that I plan to sell someday. Japanese stab binding is inexpensive, easy, and quick. I could make at least a book a day this way.

004: 004 is another stab-bound book; for this one I used a shifty-blue binding thread and made the spine and hinges at the top. Or it can be short and fat, if you prefer (I meant for the spine to be at the top, but who’s to tell you how you use your journal, right?)

That’s all of my journals so far, save 002. My next attempt is a more ambitious one: I will be attempting the so-called secret Belgian binding method, so-called because when it was discovered it was said to have been the trade secret of a single binder. If all goes well, I will have something to post about it.