My first Kettle Stitch hand-bound book!

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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 ;).

A gift for an old friend

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My Mom requested me to make a special birthday card for her friend who will be celebrating her birthday today. But I decided not to make her a card, I made her a Japanese hand-bound book instead! hehe! Since I'm really into it right now, so I thought it would be nice to make one for her since I know how much she appreciates craft work so much.

I used another one of the Japanese pattern paper that I got from Wholeport.  I love the colours and the design of the paper a lot. I didn't want to keep the cover empty, so I decorated it with a simple quilling flower design on it with a die-cut pattern design on the background. I like the colour of the flower because it's a combination of two different colours, which is red and maroon.

I used to love making beaded bookmarks a lot.....I got so many beads in my collection, so I'm glad I can use them when making this hand-bound book. It's nice to get to do it again even though it's just a simple one for this book compared to the more complicated ones I've done before.

I'm so glad my my Mom's friend loves the book so much. She already has plans on what to use it for. And I'm so happy to know that it's for something good. Alhamdulillah. I managed to make one more person very happy today. ;)

Gifts for winners of year end blog giveaway

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I've been wanting to make these hand-bound books for the giveaway for the longest time and today I managed to do just that! Yes! I made very simple Japanese hand-bound books since I didn't really have the time to make them (but I still wanted to make them hehehe), so in the end this is what I came up with. It's one of those times when I want to give something but timing was a problem. 

I used Japanese pattern paper that I got from Wholeport. They are so nice....I just love the motifs and the gold lines on it. It makes the books look so fancy even without a lot of decorations on them. Another purpose of keeping them blank is so that the receiver can decorate the book any way they like! ;)

I love using beads and sequins as decorations on the cards. It just makes them look fancier. I have a lot of them at home coz I used to love using them to decorate my beaded bookmarks. This would be my 2nd and 3rd time making the books using 1/8 inch ribbons. They are great!! :) I hope the winners will be very happy with their gifts ;).

Japanese motifs tri shutter card

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Someone requested me to make a card design months ago that is similar to my old card design which you can view HERE. It was an anniversary card that I made some time back but was very limited in stock because of it's pattern paper that I used for that design. I didn't have a lot of stock of that particular pattern paper therefore I was not able to remake it for customers who were interested in ordering it. But since so many liked it so much I decided to make a new design that is similar to it. But in this design, it will be a birthday card and not an anniversary card. But I can just simply change the wordings to fit the occasion because I feel that the design is suitable for both occasions :).

I had with me some pattern papers that I received from Wholeport which I thought would be suitable for this design. And sure enough, they fit really well together.....they compliment each other. Both pattern papers has Japanese motifs on them which I adore a lot.

I used the same type of flowers that I used for the earlier design. It's actually a die-cut flower which I embossed to get the 3D effect. I still maintained the foam hearts design except that the foam hearts which I used here are glittered ones. They are hand cut foam hearts by the way. I cut them myself using just plain scissors.

I gotta say I love the pop up heart that I made for this trishutter card. All because I used a die-cut heart patterns which I recently bought. I pasted 2 more die-cut heart pattern on the left and right side of the pop up heart for the sender to write special wishes on.

I'm so glad my customer loved it so much.....especially since she had to wait so long to get it.....thank you so much for your kind patience my dear ;).

You can view the trishutter card more closely at the video below: