Rainbow Journals with Suminagashi Marbled Paper
Ruth Bleakley's Studio | Handmade Books and Journals
by Ruth
1y ago
I want to show off some lovely pastel rainbow journals I made using Boko Undo Suminagashi inks (affiliate link) – and before you leave a comment, YES they are very light in color once they dry! If you are looking for bold, vibrant colorful marbled paper, you need to try a different style of marbling called Turkish Marbling (follow that link for a great instructable). The thing I like about the Japanese style of marbling, called Suminagashi, is that you can do it in a tray full of water, and you don’t have to make a special gooey marbling “size” and it’s not as fussy, with the paints floating ..read more
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Rainbow Journals with Suminagashi Marbled Paper
Ruth Bleakley's Studio | Handmade Books and Journals
by Ruth
3y ago
I want to show off some lovely pastel rainbow journals I made using Boko Undo Suminagashi inks (affiliate link) – and before you leave a comment, YES they are very light in color once they dry! If you are looking for bold, vibrant colorful marbled paper, you need to try a different style of marbling called Turkish Marbling (follow that link for a great instructable). The thing I like about the Japanese style of marbling, called Suminagashi, is that you can do it in a tray full of water, and you don’t have to make a special gooey marbling “size” and it’s not as fussy, with the paints floating ..read more
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Saved by the Bell Journal
Ruth Bleakley's Studio | Handmade Books and Journals
by Ruth
3y ago
Summertime memory: coming back from the beach during the heat of the day to eat ice cream sandwiches and watch “Saved By the Bell” reruns at my grandparent’s house. And now I live in the same house! But…no TV…and also I’m lactose intolerant now, so no ice cream. But hey, one out of three ain’t bad. haha. If you aren’t familiar with the show, it’s about a wholesome high school in California. The opening intro theme was full of memphis design inspired postmodern graphics, and when I made the marbled paper on the cover of this book, it reminded me of it! This book is for sale in my handmade jour ..read more
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Marbled Woven Spine Journals
Ruth Bleakley's Studio | Handmade Books and Journals
by Ruth
3y ago
Paper from West Palm Beach While I didn’t marble the paper on this book cover myself, I won’t forget where I bought it from. It was a hot afternoon in September and we were driving past West Palm Beach for a follow up appointment for my husband’s Lasik eye surgery. We planned to stop at The Paper Source shop in downtown West Palm Beach on the way home, having never been to the town before. We assumed West Palm Beach would be the same sort of tourist town that our seaside town further north is, but nope. Our first giveaway was the Gucci store in downtown “main street” (that somehow looked lik ..read more
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Mysteries of the Cosmos Journals
Ruth Bleakley's Studio | Handmade Books and Journals
by Ruth
3y ago
Inspiration strikes… The thing I love most about these journals is how well the two black and purple papers go together, even though I aquired them years apart. This is certainly a case of me being inspired by my materials. When I get stuck, or run out of bookbinding ideas, a quick trip to (one of) my paper drawers to flip through my collection of paper is often all that’s needed for inspiration to strike! With our powers combined The purple paper with the fan-shaped pattern came from Tokyo – this handmade Japanese Chiyogami paper features a traditional pattern caleld Seigaiha, which is the na ..read more
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Marbled Circle Artist Book
Ruth Bleakley's Studio | Handmade Books and Journals
by Ruth
3y ago
I’m so excited to unveil a new style of handmade artist book. It features a luxurious Japanese silk book cloth cover, with precision circle inlay that features stunning, one-of-a-kind marbled paper. I like the idea of a book containing a hidden surprise, so I used the same beautiful paper for the inside endpapers as well. This book is for sale in my handmade journal shop. Choosing the thread When it came time to choose thread color, I had many options. Usually I start by looking at the colors in the paper I’m working with, and pull a few that match. With purple, I could have had a more “blend ..read more
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Golden Cranes Journal
Ruth Bleakley's Studio | Handmade Books and Journals
by Ruth
3y ago
This is a very special journal I made all in one go. By that I mean, I was “in the crunch” for at least 8 hours putting the finishing touches on it, adding gold leaf, cutting out birds with an exacto knife, hand-painting in tiny bird beaks. Also somehow I managed to make it without taking any photos of the process at all. Maybe that was intentional? Although I love taking process photos, sometimes I think, “I just wanna make this journal and not document it at all”, (and then 2 years later I try to write a blog post and have no content, haha). I do know I started with a marbled journal, added ..read more
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What’s a Temari Ball? It’s featured on this journal!
Ruth Bleakley's Studio | Handmade Books and Journals
by Ruth
3y ago
These handmade Temari Ball journals are kind of meta-handmade, because not only is the Chiyogami cover paper handmade in Japan, the colorful toy balls on the cover are also a depiction of a beautiful Japanese handicraft called Temari (手まり) Balls. Temari translates as “hand ball” and supposedly were sometimes used in games, but the idea of tossing them around seems outrageous. These stunning works of art are hand-wound with colorful thread in intricate patterns around a yarn (or nowadays styrofoam) core. Temari Balls made by Judy Tepley Do you see them now? I bet you thought they were beach b ..read more
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Blue Cranes and Peach Clouds Twin Journals
Ruth Bleakley's Studio | Handmade Books and Journals
by Ruth
3y ago
This gorgeous crane paper is one of my new favorites! A big flock of white cranes flies across clear aquamarine sky, with golden swirling clouds. The aqua color perfectly compliments the other paper I used here, a vintage chiyogami pattern of golden clouds on a peach sunset sky. If you look closely you can also see a floral pattern underneath the clouds. I’m not sure if it is intentional or not (maybe this was a test sheet that they printed more than one design on?), but it adds a beautiful effect. You can see if I have either of these available in my online shop here: Blue Cranes and Golden ..read more
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Waves and Blue Cherry Blossom Twin Journals
Ruth Bleakley's Studio | Handmade Books and Journals
by Ruth
3y ago
Don’t you love how the cherry blossoms coordinate on the two pieces of paper I used on the covers of this “twin journal” ? If you use chiyogami or yuzen paper as often as I do, you start to see trends and themes emerge. (All of a sudden I just pictured someone talking about the “trends and themes” of balloon and cake imagery on American wrapping paper, hahaha!) Those beautiful jagged-edged blossoms with five petals are cherry blossoms, or “Sakura” in Japan. Cherry blossoms are an important symbol of Japan, and Hanami is the traditional Japanese custom of flower viewing, dating back hundreds o ..read more
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