Book binding: Handbound *Little Books* - reclaimed pages pre-loaded with inspiration

Hi hi.

Let me show you my 'Little Books' [Books. I said, *books*! What did you think I said?].

Here's a selection of them currently awaiting a new owner in my Etsy shop:

*Little Books* are a range of, well, little books!

I made them to fit into your pocket - unless of course your coat or jeans only has those tiny pockets  you can only fit a mint or a £1 coin inside. In which case ... these books are bigger than those pockets! But otherwise they're small enough to take with you wherever you go. [Various sizes from 10 - 14cm high].

Between the reclaimed covers of each Little Book I've bound a wide variety of carefully curated pages cut and torn [it's a laid-back imperfect kind-of journal] from my vast and varied papery treasure trove. 

The approx. 10 - 15 folded sheets / 20 - 30 sides include a mix of things such as:

• text from old books 
• images from old books
• map papers
• scrapbook/craft papers 
• graph paper
• ephemera

And each on is unique combination which pre-loads the your pages with inspiration; because who wants a lot of scarily blank, shiny and new, pages staring back at them?

When you open it up you get to quickly tap into the fun part ... the creative part ... the part of seeing where the inspiration leads you and deciding what to add to each page! This could be anything from:

• collage
• photographs
• poems
• art journaling 
• 'journal' journaling
• lists
• sketches 

... or whatever grabs you when you're settling down to get your craft on! 

Then, once you're done for the day you can pop your vintage-embracing Little Book back into your pocket/bag until next time.

So what of these 'reclaimed' covers? Here are a few examples made from map covers and the covers of a book of sheet music:

Each cover wraps around the contents with the stitches passing through the 'spine' which is hidden behind a strip of contrasting fabric. Which is where my contribution ends ... its new owner can go on to do add all the personality a Little Book can hold!! 

If you're one of those who've already bought a Little Book drop by here or my Facebook page any time to show me how you've filled your pages!

And if you're looking for a portable journal to take with you on a summer break ... I hope you'll cast your eye over a Little Book or two first. 

Thanks for stopping by today! 

Julie