Travel Journal with a Twist - Tutorial

I’ve made many traditional handmade books and journals over the years but this time I decided to take this travel journal in a different direction and create something that was more of a display piece. The book is mounted on a wooden base using a wooden skewer with the pages glued in place.  The open book becomes the display area.  Beyond an art piece, I could see doing this with a photo and some ephemera from a real trip.

TUTORIAL

I started by staining the wooden base with Distressed Ink.  I covered the bottom edge with paper and then use the compass image from my The Sea Calls to Me Collage Sheet for the top of the base.

The wooden album covers measure 2 7/8 x 3 7/8” which makes them slightly larger than an ATC.  I used Distressed Ink to stain the covers and then Gilder’s Paste to add color.

I cut pieces of cardstock and decorative paper slightly smaller than the covers with each page cut (width-wise) smaller than the one before it.  I inked and distressed the edges of the paper.

I glued the cardstock pieces to the covers and to each other.  In the picture below you can see why I cut each page a little less wide than the one before it.  As you glue the folded pages to each other the bulk of the pages will cause the next page to stick out past the one before it if you don’t cut it a little shorter.

In the picture below, you can see what the book looks like from the backside.  Notice the gap between the covers.

In the gap in the back I attached a stained wooden skewer.

I then added the decorative paper and images to the book.  I glued the decorative paper to the book only at the fold.

Notice in the picture below how the pages are bowed and then glued in place.  You can see why I started by only gluing the paper to the book at the fold.  As a spine for the book and to hide the skewer I used a piece of leather paper from my stash.

To attach the book to the base I used an awl to make a hole in the center of the base to accommodate the skewer.  The hole is at a slight angle so that the book would tilt back.

Final touches include a key, tassel, a cameo glued to a paper click and the image of the woman which is standing and glued to the edge of the book.