Handmade Notebook from Scratch with English Rose Garden Collection

Hi Meg's Garden Lovers! 

I'm Mabel and I'm back this time round with a handmade notebook that I made from scratch.

The notebook is measuring 4.5 x 6 inches tall with a book spine of 1.5 inches thick. I simply cut 2 pieces of 4.5 x 6 inches chipboards and a 1.5 x 6 inches chipboard for the book spine. 

I choose Meg's Garden's A Bouquet of Roses (P6429) patterned paper from the English Rose Garden Collection as the book cover. All I did was to glue down the chipboards, leaving a small gap in between each chipboard such that I have the space allowance to fold it later. If my description is too vague for you, you can check out a video tutorial HERE! I finished my book cover by using Roses and Lace (P6428) from the same collection in the inner side. 

This is a notebook that I wished to carry it around with me, hence I did not want the front of the cover to be bulky and delicate. I chose to embellish my book cover simply with a round doily as well as some laces.

Moving onto the inserts of the notebook, I had stack of white printing papers measuring 8.25 x 5.75 inches. You need not follow my measurements! I would suggest you choosing the measurements of your inserts and preparing them as your first step. Book cover can be prepared after the inserts are done. 

I grab 5 sheets of papers and fold them into half, forming a signature (a group of pages). I made 6 signatures, washi-taping the folds and started binding.

I'm doing French link bookbinding with hemp cord. As the strings are thicker, it's harder to bind. I would suggest beginners to start with waxed threads. The process might be slightly complicated, hence you can check out the link HERE for more information.

After my inserts are done, I simply glued down the last page to attach the pages to the book cover. I started embellishing the first page by fussy cutting from the French Garden Collection. 

List of Supplies Used

Meg's Garden

English Rose Collection A Bouquet of Roses (P6429)

English Rose Collection Roses and Lace (P6428)

The French Garden Papercrafter Mini Pack (20122)

Paper Lace Doilies Circle 15

Puffy Paper Flowers (puffies)

Small Roses Ivory 1cm (ivory 1)

That's all for this blogpost. 

Thanks for reading! :)