I finally have time to make this long-overdue post. I finished these mini scrapbooks as gifts for the members of our wedding party several months ago, but waited to post them, lest one of my friends checked this blog and stumbled upon the surprise. Now that the wedding (and honeymoon, and a vacation with my new husband's family) is all in the past, I finally have an opportunity to update again. :)
The idea was this - as a thank you for participating in our wedding, I painted, designed, and assembled small Japanese-stab-bound books for them, highlighting memories we've shared in the past. Out of our five bridesmaids and three groomsmen, there were only two who I hadn't known for at least fourteen years - one of my maids of honor, who I've only known for six, and my new sister-in-law, who I first met four years ago. Over the years, I'd amassed hundreds of photographs, and it was enjoyable to go through them all and pick my favorite 24 images for each person (though I admit, I had to turn to my mother-in-law for some photographs of my sister-in-law and my husband growing up together to fill out her book).
Below, you can see the eight final products (though one of the books wasn't bound yet at the time of the photograph). There were three basic steps to creating these books (though each step had several sub-steps as well) - creating the pages, covering book board to create the front and back covers, and binding the pages and covers together. At the end, I also painted each person's name on the front cover of the book as a final touch. Each book had 12 watercolor pages, 4 thinner cover sheets (to protect the watercolor pages from rubbing against the front and back covers), and a front and back cover (book board wrapped in decorative paper), and each one measured approximately 4.5" x 7" in size.
Since I enjoy watercoloring, I hand-painted each page of each book, but the scrapbooks could have just as easily been made from any kind of paper. In fact, as a zeroth anniversary present to my husband, I also made him a collection of mini scrapbooks documenting our relationship, and these I just made using regular scrapbook paper. Since watercolor paper is so thick, I limited each wedding party book to 6 pages - each page was folded in half (with French folds), so that the total thickness was 12 pages. For my husband's books, where the scrapbook pages were much thinner, I went up to 25 pages (a 50-page thickness when folded). Whatever thickness you choose, make sure that you're able to pierce all of the pages with an awl. The thicker the book, the harder it can be to bind it together at the end.
Materials you'll need:
- Center pages (they can be blank if you intend to use your book as a journal or sketchbook, or already designed and filled with words, pictures, drawings, photographs, etc.)
- Book board
- Decorative paper to wrap your book board (unless you're cool with your hardcover book looking like it's made out of cardboard)
- Lining pages (they make your book look fancier and somewhat protect the first and last center pages from rubbing against the book board cover, but they're optional if you don't want to spring for them
- Needles and thread
- A paper awl
- An exacto knife, cutting board, and a metal ruler with a protective lip
- Book glue and a paintbrush you don't care about
1. Paint pages.
Since I didn't want the pages to get wrinkled when soaked with watercolor, I stretched sections of paper on a sheet of gator board. There is a brief description of watercolor stretching in the section of
this entry where I discuss how I made the card box for my wedding. I stretched the small "cards" sign for that box in the same way that I stretched these pages. While the watercolor paper was completely soaked, I covered it with vibrant, saturated swirls and designs. I knew that most of the paper would get covered up with photographs and words anyway, so my purpose was just to give it a pop of color in the background. I kept each wedding party member's favorite colors in mind when painting.
2. Cut pages to appropriate size.
Since I planned to use French folds, I cut each watercolor into strips that were twice as wide as what I wanted the final page to be. French folds involve folding a page in half and then tucking the loose ends into the binding rather than the folded end so that the backs/insides of the pages can't be seen. It was an obvious choice for me since I was stretching the watercolor paper while I painted to keep it flat, and it's impossible to paint on both sides of the watercolor paper in this way without possibly wrecking one side. It was also ideal for the scrapbook I made for my husband, as the scrapbook paper I was using was decorated only on one side, with the back of the paper being a plain, boring white. You can see a good example of French folds in the bottom right of the photographs of the finished products at the beginning of this entry.
I find that Japanese-stab-bound books are easier to open and leaf through if the pages are wider than they are tall, but they don't have to be. I was also restricted in size because I was using scrap pieces of watercolor paper that were left over after I painted
the placemats for my wedding reception centerpieces. But Japanese-stab-bound books can be any size - they don't have to be as small as I made them.
3. Fold pages to get an idea of the final page size.
After they were cut to the appropriate double-page-width size, I folded them in half. Then I decided where I wanted the crease. Generally, the binding goes halfway between the left edge of the book and the crease, and if you put the binding too close to the edge it won't hold the book together as well. I made the crease about an inch and a half from the edge.
To fold the paper, I used the wrong side of my exacto knife blade and ran it along a metal ruler with a protective lip where I wanted the crease in order to "score" the paper. It didn't cut all the way through, but gouged enough into the paper to make it easier to get a crisp fold. A paper scorer would have also worked.
4. Add page content.
As I decorated the pages I made sure that no words or photographs were too close to the crease I put 1.5 inches in on either side. If I had put any content past that line, it would not have been visible underneath the binding. Similarly, I made sure not to put anything over the center crease, since that would be folded in the book, causing any images to be half on one page and half on the next. Each page had a bit less than 4.5" x 5.5" inches of workable space to decorate.
I just printed the images off of the computer on my printer so that I could control exactly how small to print them. I needed to make the photos pretty small so that I could fit two pictures (and handwritten captions) on each page. I attached them to the watercolored backgrounds with photo corners and book glue, and wrote the captions with Sharpies.
I wanted to add all the content to the pages before I bound the pages into a book because Japanese-stab-bound books can be difficult to open, and certainly the pages never lay flat again (especially the page on the left side of each spread).
5. Cut book board to appropriate sizes.
Now is definitely the time to give a big shout-out to the wonderful paper and book binding supply store in Ann Arbor, MI:
Hollander's. They have everything you need to make a Japanese-stab-bound book, and even give lessons (though I learned in one of my graphic design classes at Eastern Michigan University). I have never purchased book board, book glue, or decorative paper to wrap my book board in from anyone else. They also have needles, book binding string, and awls - basically everything you'll need for the next several steps.
First, cut out two rectangles of the appropriate size for the front and back covers. It's a good idea to make it a little wider than the pages on the top, bottom, and right sides so that if it's a little off, the center pages won't stick outside of the hardcover and get bent. Next, cut out a tiny strip of the book board where you made your crease on the pages - usually you just do this on the front cover, but you can do it on the back cover too, if you want your book to be more flexible and less stiff.
Then, measure halfway into the smaller of the two main parts of the front cover and decide how many holes you want. I used four holes, but you can really use whatever number you want. Measure an equal distance from the top and bottom for the first and last holes (I did 3/4") and then measure the space left between those two holes and divide it by one more than the number of holes you have left to place. For example, my front cover was 4.5 inches tall, and after I went in 3/4" from the top and 3/4" from the bottom, that left 3" in the center. Since I wanted four holes and had already marked where two of the holes would be, I needed to figure out where to put the last two. I divided 3" by 3 (2 holes left to place + 1), and knew that I needed to place 1" in between the remaining holes. So, if I turned the cover on it's side, it would look like this: 3/4" of space, first hole, 1" of space, second hole, 1" of space, third hole, 1" of space, last hole, 3/4" of space.
Once I knew where I wanted the holes, then came the task of creating them with a paper awl. It's a tedious process, turning and pushing the awl until it finally pierces through the book board, but on the plus side, it really builds up your hand muscles (especially if you're making eight books...) ;)
Once you have the holes in your front cover, you have a template to make the holes in your back cover. Just line up the small part of the front cover (the part you just drilled holes in) along the edge of the back cover, mark where the holes need to line up, and push the awl through to create the holes.
6. Cut cover paper.
Each cover needs a front and back wrapper, meaning you'll need to cut four rectangles out of the decorative paper you found for the covers. Two of these rectangles will be slightly smaller than the total area of the cover, and two will be bigger than the cover. For the bigger pieces, it's nice to have an extra 1" on each side to work with.
7. Cover book board.
To wrap the book board in the decorative paper, first start with the larger piece. Place it face down on the table. Smear the front of the book board in a thin layer of book glue (using that paintbrush you don't care about, since it'll be pretty useless for anything but gluing after this) and carefully center the book board on the decorative paper. If it's the back cover, just place it in the center of the decorative paper, and if it's the front cover, make sure that you leave the appropriate size gap in between the smaller piece and larger piece when placing - use the thin strip you cut out as a guideline. Flip over and smooth out any visible wrinkles from the center outwards.
Next, take the smaller size paper and center it on the other side of the book board, leaving a small cardboard border along each side. Again, spread glue on the book board rather than on the paper - it's more likely you'll get wrinkles if you put the glue on the paper. When covering the front cover, press the paper into the gap between the book board so it'll be easier to bend once the glue is dried.
Cut the corners off of the larger piece of paper, paint a little glue where the paper flaps will go, and fold each flap up the side of the book board, covering the remaining bits of cardboard that were showing.
8. Smooth out wrinkles and fix binding holes.
Again, smooth out all of the wrinkles from the center outwards. Find where the holes you made are in the book board and press the decorative paper cover into the holes a bit so you can find them later. Lay completely flat to dry. If you use too much glue the book board may warp or curl up a little, but if you press it under something heavy and flat (textbooks, dictionaries, anvils, etc.) it usually straightens itself back out.
Once it's dry, punch the awl through the decorative paper where the holes in the book board are underneath. Now you're done with the covers!
9. Clip final pages together.
Once your pages are all full of content, line them up at the edge and clip them with binder clips so that they stay in place. If you haven't already and want to, cut a lining for the front and back of the book and put them on either side before you clip it in its package.
10. Use awl to punch through the pages according to the template.
Line up the pages with the front and back covers so you know where to make the holes. Mark with a pencil and punch the awl through all of the pages. If your book is very thick, it might be easier to do this in sections, but then you have to be careful when lining up the holes later. This is the most physical part of the book binding, especially if you have several or very thick pages (or both!) - you'll definitely have strong hand muscles after grinding that awl through all those layers of paper!
11. Begin binding the covers and pages together with string.
Get way more string than you think you need - I grabbed seven feet of it for each book. Thread your needle (make sure it's a small enough needle to get through the holes you've punched with your awl!), double up the string so it's only half as long, and tie a large triple knot at the end. Then, thread your binding!
12. Make sure to pull the string taut through every hole until binding is complete.
Japanese stab binding is really hard to describe in words without it getting really confusing. There are some great resources out on the web with more pictures or videos. Just search google for "Japanese stab binding" and you're sure to find a bunch of them. There's also no one way to do it, especially since your method will depend on how many holes you chose to create and how many loops of string you want to reinforce the binding.
If you went with four holes, as I did, and wish to have two layers of string in between each hole (as I did), here is a (probably unhelpfully confusing) description you can (attempt to) follow:
Start with any hole you want, but go through from the back toward the front first (otherwise your knot will end up on your front cover instead of the back cover). I usually start with the top hole on the back. Thread it through to the front, and then loop the string around the top twice, going through the same hole in the same direction again. Then, loop the string around the side twice, again going through the same hole.
Once the first hole is well bound, go in the second hole from the front, loop back to the first hole, going through it in the same direction (back to front) again, and then go in the second hole from the front side again. Go in the third hole from the back, loop back to the second hole from the front, and go through the third hole from the back again. Go in the last hole from the front, again going back to the third from the back and then back through the last hole from the front.
Reinforce the last hole as you did the first, looping it twice around the end and twice around the side. Go back down the width of the cover alternating holes to make sure every hole has two loops of thread connecting it. On your way, make the loops from each hole to the edge of the book.
When all of the holes have been tied tightly, bring the thread back to the back cover (if it's not there already), and bring it up to where your initial knot was. Make another knot to seal it, and then dab a little bit of book glue (or a lot, if you're like me), on both knots.
And voila! You've completed your book!
Every member of our wedding party just *loved* the books - it really was the perfect gift. We also attached an Amazon gift card and a special thank you note at the front of each gift, thanking them for participating in our wedding, and expressing hope that we'll share a lot more memories to come! :)
Shameless plug time: Love my mini scrapbooks? I can make one for you, too! Email me at andrea@invitesbyandrea.com for more information. 
