So, I have this thing for notebooks, journals, tablets and paper. I’m a writer so it makes sense. Even in this digital wasteland I always start a story by making plot and character notes by hand. Even when I use the Notes app on my phone to catch an idea I end up transcribing into a notebook.
Of Course, there is the need for a decent writing tool. I tend to go through phases. In my 20’s it was fancy pens, the really expensive enamel pens that felt so ornately heavy in my hand. Then, My friend Sue Ingram introduced me to gel pens. After that it was plain #2 pencils, but working as an art teacher caused me to revile the things. I have also been known to use quills and ink, which aren’t very portable or practical with so many choices out there. Recently, I discovered fountain pens. They deliver the elegance of nibbed quills without all of the dipping.
I am currently using the Pilot Plumix:
They are described as disposable, but with a refillable ink cartridge. They run about $7.00 at Texas Art Supply with refill cartridges under $3.00 for a dozen. The refills are long lasting and the ink runs with minimal pressure. Fountain pens to me have a different feel, like I am drawing—actually crafting each letter I write. This is important to me because my handwriting is atrocious. That is to say it looks as if I grew up a feral child raised in the woods who just learned how to write yesterday. A teacher in high school once spied one of my writing notebooks full of my scrawl and said it looked like a serial killer’s journal. This was before that particular trope was overused in all of the movies.
Fountain pens actually levels up my handwriting to a legible rating. I get ink on my hands and sometimes my face but I never minded getting a little dirty in the name of art! To take this nerd fest up a notch, I found myself wanting to test the fountain pen on various weights and textures of paper. I hoard all kinds of scraps and I tried the fountain pen on watercolor, bristol, Office Max cardstock, and some slick resume paper. I enjoyed the slick resume paper the best because it allowed for smoother writing with the fountain pen. I decided to find some and bind it into a notebook.
Early in the year I bound some of that stationery that looks handmade but definitely isn’t. Someone I worked with had given me a bunch of it.
The first notebook:
front: 
inside: 
back: 
I wasn’t really interested in aesthetics, as I needed something that was more functional. I partially covered the bound pages in a textured cardstock. I was pleased with the results and took to carrying it around rolled up. I used sticky flags to keep up with any indexing.
For the new notebook I went to Texas Art Supply to look for paper. I wanted the same flexibility, but something a little more durable, and easier on the eyes. I wanted the slick resume paper but I didn’t want to spend a million dollars. I love Texas Art Supply’s paper section because it never disappoints. They stock a variety of paper in different weights for invitations, scrapbooking, crafting, whatever you need. I found this wonderful pad of Strathmore writing paper for under $5.00.
Back in art school I was introduced to book binding in a studio class. I enjoyed it immensely because notebooks. I still have some of the supplies I used back then.
I started by creating signatures (small groups of folded paper that make up a hardbound book. I divvied the paper into 5 stacks of 10 sheets. I folded these stacks in half using a bone folder to get a perfect crease in the middle. I then marked 3 places on the inner spines: 1 and inch from the top, the other an inch from the bottom, the 3rd in the middle. Once that was done, I pierced those marked spots with a binding needle, making sure it went through all the sheets.
I then had to sew each signature with linen binding thread. There are many binding techniques. Some are more practical while others are more intricate. I am personally a big fan of Japanese Stab Binding which is meant to be left exposed.
I haven’t done this in awhile and needed a refresher.I decided to go with something more practical, a basic saddle stitch bind as found here with much better instructions than I could ever provide: Saddle Stitch Tutorial
Once the signatures were all sewn up, I stacked them and sewed them together, and added a small piece of masking tape on the ends and the middle. There is bookbinding tape out there. It’s nice and all, especially for repairing torn books. I used all mine doing just that for some salvaged art books.
Next, I used clips to hold the collective signatures tightly together and slathered them with adhesive along the spine. The glue I used is acid free, and dries quickly and smoothly without warping the paper. It also dries clear so it’s okay to get a little carried away. I brushed it between the signatures so it could hold them together.
