Cover Your Books in Style
Published On: 11-14-2011 09:43am
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Journaling, sketching or writing down ideas are ways to help get your thoughts together, increase creativity, or improve time management skills. Some artists never leave home without their sketchbooks, and others carry their journal to record inspirations during the day. I haven't always used a special book of my own to keep my ideas in (I have used everything from Happy Meal boxes, napkins and whatever random paper I ran across). Now I have some of the prettiest places to keep my ramblings, design sketches, lists and more.
The biggest uninterrupted stretches of time that I had were while sitting in fast food restaurants actually sitting to eat a meal. I made myself eat while sitting to take a rest in the middle of errand days. Many times while taking some "me" time, various ideas for things I needed to do, or designs for new items or works of art would pop into my head and need to be written down. Did I have a notebook in my purse??? No..... that's why many ideas have been written down on napkins or "Happy Meal" boxes. It became embarrassing to myself when reading discussions of other artists about what type of sketchbook they used and how they filled these precious books with beautiful pages of sketches and more. The closest I came to sketchbooks were the back to school spiral notebooks that were always on sale before school started each summer. I always got extras so I had my own, but they were not very great looking..... Then a new idea sprouted.... why couldn't I design pretty, durable covers for those notebooks? The birth of my Notebook and Journal Covers.
I decided to highlight some of the sunprints that I have been doing on fabric. I had collected quite a supply of these fabrics that I paint and print during the warm summer months. It is a very addictive technique, so I kept painting and printing. A sunprint highlighted by other painted or commercial fabrics graces most of my covers. I also use the covers as places to use various samples made while trying new ideas or teaching classes. This makes each cover a one-of-a-kind original.
Since I was designing these myself, I could add all the little things that I would need in a cover. I made separate pockets to hold the notebook covers, and added additional pockets inside the front and back covers as well as a pocket to hold a pen or pencil. The flap with ribbon and button closure allows me to collect extra bits and papers in the pockets and still be able to close it to keep things contained. I have been making and selling this style of covers for a while, and now have published the pattern myself for those people who like to do there own thing. Writing a pattern takes more time than I imagined, but it has been received well. I wrote my pattern so that the covers can be sized for any book, and then decided to expand my inventory with more sizes and styles of covers to sell in my studio. (The pattern for my first style of notebook covers is available here in my Artfire studio.)
The first photo in my post and this one above, show some of the sizes and styles of notebook covers that I came up from my latest brainstorms. The smallest ones hold a mini composition book, the medium sized one in this photo with the Maple leaves on it is a Mini Photo Album, or Brag Book that will hold 36 4"x6" photos. The largest book in this photo is a Covered Standard Composition Notebook, which seems to be what more and more schools are using these days. The Mini Composition Books or Journals are great to tuck into a purse, and now I have pretty little notebooks to keep my lists and ideas in. I have been combining my sunprinted fabrics along with fabric I dyed or painted. When you use up the paper in the notebooks, you can put the cover on a new book.
This photo shows the small notebook that I designed in which I make the memo books or sketch books to fit the covers. I didn't find this size anywhere, so decided to make my own. I make the little books with or without lined paper. The plain paper books are perfect for sketching ideas anywhere. They are pretty without the covers, but the covers add protection for the book as well as adding to the look. Now I have many notebooks and sketchbooks, as well as mini photo albums with pretty covers that anyone would love to receive as a gift. Since creating my first book covers, I have now begun to use various photos taken in my gardens printed onto fabric, and photos that I have transferred to fabric with various techniques that result in worn or antiques looks in the images.
These are some of the Unique Gift Items in my Andrus Gardens Shop, and for even more selections from other artists, Unique Gifts you can find on Artfire.
As I play with my fabrics more, I will be adding more and more of my covered notebooks and brag books to my Artfire Gift Items Studio.
The biggest uninterrupted stretches of time that I had were while sitting in fast food restaurants actually sitting to eat a meal. I made myself eat while sitting to take a rest in the middle of errand days. Many times while taking some "me" time, various ideas for things I needed to do, or designs for new items or works of art would pop into my head and need to be written down. Did I have a notebook in my purse??? No..... that's why many ideas have been written down on napkins or "Happy Meal" boxes. It became embarrassing to myself when reading discussions of other artists about what type of sketchbook they used and how they filled these precious books with beautiful pages of sketches and more. The closest I came to sketchbooks were the back to school spiral notebooks that were always on sale before school started each summer. I always got extras so I had my own, but they were not very great looking..... Then a new idea sprouted.... why couldn't I design pretty, durable covers for those notebooks? The birth of my Notebook and Journal Covers.
Since I was designing these myself, I could add all the little things that I would need in a cover. I made separate pockets to hold the notebook covers, and added additional pockets inside the front and back covers as well as a pocket to hold a pen or pencil. The flap with ribbon and button closure allows me to collect extra bits and papers in the pockets and still be able to close it to keep things contained. I have been making and selling this style of covers for a while, and now have published the pattern myself for those people who like to do there own thing. Writing a pattern takes more time than I imagined, but it has been received well. I wrote my pattern so that the covers can be sized for any book, and then decided to expand my inventory with more sizes and styles of covers to sell in my studio. (The pattern for my first style of notebook covers is available here in my Artfire studio.)
The first photo in my post and this one above, show some of the sizes and styles of notebook covers that I came up from my latest brainstorms. The smallest ones hold a mini composition book, the medium sized one in this photo with the Maple leaves on it is a Mini Photo Album, or Brag Book that will hold 36 4"x6" photos. The largest book in this photo is a Covered Standard Composition Notebook, which seems to be what more and more schools are using these days. The Mini Composition Books or Journals are great to tuck into a purse, and now I have pretty little notebooks to keep my lists and ideas in. I have been combining my sunprinted fabrics along with fabric I dyed or painted. When you use up the paper in the notebooks, you can put the cover on a new book.
This photo shows the small notebook that I designed in which I make the memo books or sketch books to fit the covers. I didn't find this size anywhere, so decided to make my own. I make the little books with or without lined paper. The plain paper books are perfect for sketching ideas anywhere. They are pretty without the covers, but the covers add protection for the book as well as adding to the look. Now I have many notebooks and sketchbooks, as well as mini photo albums with pretty covers that anyone would love to receive as a gift. Since creating my first book covers, I have now begun to use various photos taken in my gardens printed onto fabric, and photos that I have transferred to fabric with various techniques that result in worn or antiques looks in the images.
These are some of the Unique Gift Items in my Andrus Gardens Shop, and for even more selections from other artists, Unique Gifts you can find on Artfire.
As I play with my fabrics more, I will be adding more and more of my covered notebooks and brag books to my Artfire Gift Items Studio.
