2019 Grey Commonplace Journal

I have written in journals for a long time. Remember when journals were called diaries? I progressed from diaries to line notebooks. I filled pages upon pages with my thoughts and recounting the day’s events. Now that I’m into book binding, I decided to make a journal for writing. I was inspired by Nik the Booksmith's Commonplace Journal. It will be a place where I can jot down quotes, ideas and such. I’m hoping that this type of journaling will help me to stop over thinking things. Obsessing if you will. Jot down my thoughts then move on.

The substrate of this journal is a 5 ½” x 8 ½” discarded, damaged book. I love the worn look of the original grey book cover so I decided not cover it up. The book’s spine was very weak so, I used a favorite commercial fabrics to cover the spine on the outside as well as material on the inside for reinforcement. I added black ribbon to cover the edge of the commercial fabric and as a closure.

 

The pages of the original book were replaced with 80lbs drawing paper. Along with writing in this journal, I want to leave my options open if I decide to draw as well. There are 8 signatures, 5 folios in each signature and 160 total pages (front and back). I secured the signatures using @nikthebooksmith’s Hallow Back Binding technique. I will use probably this Commonplace Journal as well as the old notebook for awhile. I have not decided how much I will share on social media.
 

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