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Making hand-bound books was never something that I consider easy to do. It takes a lot of effort and patience. Those who have tried it would be able to relate to what I'm saying. The same goes to this book I made recently. I had to make the same book twice before I got it right.

It's an A5 size hand-bound book, with Kettle stitch binding. Kettle stitch binding are cool...I love how they end up looking like ribbon bows or some say butterflies. I used 165gsm acid free paper for this sketch book and there are about 50 plus pages inside the book. It comes with an attached beaded bookbook too....I love arranging the beads to the bookmark. Reminded me of the beaded bookmarks that I used to make so long ago.

Just sewing the pages together is just half the story.....decorating the cover is another. But once it's all done, there is this kind of satisfaction that's so hard to explain. Furthermore, I find myself so attached to the book, I somehow refuse to let it go. But of course eventually I have to...huhuhu.....

The person who ordered this book is the same person who ordered the green theme floral swing card. That explains why the book has a combination of green colours as well. I guess my customer just love that colour so much.

Once the pattern paper for the book cover was chosen, I had a difficult time deciding on how to decorate the book. My customer wanted me to put some quilled roses on it. But putting just 3 pieces of them like she requested on the cover would look so bare. So I put more and I was happy with the results.

This is the first time I'm using a few die-cut Flourish design on the cover in this arrangement. I only wanted to put 2 in the beginning....but ended up putting 4 of them and arranging them to look like a frame. I had fun making those die-cut quilled roses again. If you would like to learn how to make them, you can check out the video below:

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I received some gorgeous black gold pearl shell wrapping papers from WholePort some time ago and was waiting for the right project to use them until one day I got an order from a customer who wanted to order a hand-bound book with a plain black covers. 

It suddenly hit me that I had this black gold pearl shell paper in my collection and it was perfect for this project because the gold shine on the paper really suits the colour of the thread that I was going to use for the book. Yes, coincidentally my customer wanted the thread to be gold in colour.  

I simply love the paper so much....it's quite thick....looks like leather but it's not.....it's just paper....really love it!

You can check out where to buy the the black wrapping paper for the covers at the link here : Black Gold Pearl Shell wrapping paper

This book I made does not have that many pages in it.....just about 50 pages of  acid free 165gsm drawing paper that would be suitable for sketching, colouring and etc. Which is exactly what my customer wanted. She adores it and so do I ;).

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This is what I've been up to for the past few weeks....aside from preparing stocks for my quilling supplies. It's quite evident that I'm really hooked on book binding. It has completely taken over the card making activities! Yikes!!!

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I think this multicoloured paper notebook is my favourite so far coz it's so colourful! So bright and cheerful to look at too. It would be nice to make the pages colourful by choosing the colours that would match the same colours available on the book cover.

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All the books above are A5 sized books and have 200 pages each. I used 80gsm paper as they are easy to work with and suitable to use for making notebooks. I used to have problems in choosing the right type of thread for sewing the books but now I don't have that issue anymore. I love the threads I'm using now and it's very smooth and does not get entangled as much as the other types I've used before.

I also started collecting a lot of wrapping paper for the book covers. It can get a little carried away coz there's just so many nice ones to choose from. ;)

I've managed to sell some of the books and given away some as gifts too. It's been a real joy to do it. I've even tried to make smaller hand-bound books that are A6 size and that's really fun too. It's takes less time to get done and is super cute to see and hold. Will blog about that soon. ;)

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This is my first creation for this year....and I'm super excited about it firstly because this is my first order of hand-bound book and it's from a customer all the way from USA ;). Secondly it's because it's my first try at Kettle Stitch binding. I didn't know how to do it at first so I experimented and to my surprise it worked! I couldn't find a tutorial online for this, so I just observed a lot of photos of Kettle stitch hand-bound books by other book binders via online and tried to figure out how the bow pattern or some call it the butterfly pattern is formed.

Perhaps if there are book binders out there who are experts on this Kettle Stitch binding can correct me if they see there's something wrong with the way I bind the book. But so far, I don't have problems with the book at all....it seems to be able to open up pretty well and are bound together nicely too. However I do appreciate constructive comments and criticism as I'm still a beginner in book binding :).

At first my customer ordered this -> Japanese hand-bound book from me but I had to make a decision to change the method of binding the book because of the type of paper used for making the book is a bit too thick for Japanese binding. She wanted a book for sketching and drawing so I used an acid free paper that is pretty heavy, about 165gsm for the pages. There's only 50 ++ pages for this book. Another reason why I changed the binding method is because the Kettle Stitch binding is perfect for people who want to use the book for sketching and drawing....coz the book can be opened flat like the photo you see above unlike the Japanese binding which is a bit difficult to do so especially if the paper is a heavy one or thick.

I made it very simple for her since that is the way she likes it especially since the pattern paper itself is already very pretty. It's the same Japanese pattern paper that I got from WholePort. I love it a lot too. :). The bookmark for the book is crocheted and beaded to suit the book. I also love the string or thread used for sewing/binding the book with. It's so easy to use and love the shiny effect of the material.

I am pretty happy with this new love....book binding I mean hehehehe....although I'm still learning, I do appreciate the support I'm getting from my customers, readers and followers. You guys are the best! I get motivated to try something new not only because I believe I can....but also because you believe in me too! And for that I thank you from the bottom of my heart ;).

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