Stitched Notebook

Hello friends! Today I have a notebook/journal tutorial to share, for a notebook with a stitched binding. If you don't want to make a notebook, the cover can easily be turned into a card instead.

Please note: this post has affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.

I love to make my own notebooks and sketchbooks. They are also great gifts. This notebook is 5x6 in, a folded Tim Holtz Backdrops paper. The Backdrops papers are so gorgeous and make for great notebook or journal covers. I stamped a dragonfly image on the cover and colored it with pencils. The dragonfly was also stamped on Clearly For Art Modeling Film. Later, I might have removed the modeling film dragon fly, but only because it was a little too dimensional for my liking. 

Fold a piece of Backdrops Vol 4 paper in half and stamp the dragonfly image from Stamper's Anonymous Classics #1 on the cover.

Color the dragonfly with colored pencils. I used Prismacolors. Use a white pencil to blend the colors.

Add details to the dragonfly with a black pen and a white gel pen. Don't worry about getting it perfect, since that is not the point.

Stamp circles from Simon Says Stamp Mix and Match Circles and various sentiments on the background.

I wanted the title to have the exact same colors as the dragonfly and used the pencils to color another piece of Backdrops paper. I created an ombre effect.

Use Tim Holtz Alphanumeric Emporium dies to die cut the letter.

Stamp the dragonfly with Stazon Jet Black on Wendy Vecchi Clearly For Art Modeling Film. 

Cut the dragonfly out and color the body with alcohol ink.

Gently heat with a heat tool and shape the wings. Be careful not to burn yourself. The film keeps its shape perfectly.

Add Distress Stickles Moon Dust to the back of the wings and let dry.

Cut inserts from your paper of choice. In this case, I used fairly light-weight notebook paper, which can take fountain pens without problems. Make a template first by piercing holes through a folded piece of paper. As you can see the inserts are larger than the cover.

After you pierced through all the layers, it looks like this.

I stitched the book using three strands of DMC embroidery thread using a saddle stitch. Tie it on the inside.

I trimmed the inserts and a tiny bit of the covers to get a notebook where the pages went right up to the edges of the cover. Normally, I make the pages slightly smaller than the cover, but since I used thinner paper than what I usually use, it was possible to trim through them all at once. 

Using colored pencils to color the paper before die cutting creates a nice effect and the paper is satin smooth.

Stamp some of the circles off the edge for a finished look.

The Moon Dust Stickles gives a great shimmer to the wings of the dragonfly. 

The Clearly For Art Modeling Film is one of my favorite surfaces and you dan do many techniques with it. 

Even though I loved the dimensional dragonfly, I decided to remove it. Since the cover and the inside pages are pretty thin, it bothered me when I was writing in the book. I might put it back again, or I will use it on another project instead.

The white and black pen details add movement and life to the wings.

Here's another look at the stitch. If you want to, use a contrasting or bright colored thread instead.

Since the Backdrops papers are double-sided, the inside covers are patterned too.

Here's another look at the notebook without the Modeling Film dragonfly.

Thank you so much for stopping by here today! 

Anna-Karin

Supplies:

* Please note: the links are affiliate links, for which I receive a small percentage of sales generated by the link, at no extra cost to you.