Project for the Day: A Special gift for a 30th b-day party

As I mentioned in my last post, we had a surprise 30th b-day party portion of the Friend's Thanksgiving, for which I created a "30" pinata. Well, one of the benefits of having a birthday is to receive presents.

So, here's what I made for my hubby.

My husband is a writer. He is currently attempting to finish his first novel (at least the first draft), by his 30th birthday, so he will shortly be needing fresh ideas to start his next big project. Hence the creation of an idea book

So, I asked several friends and family members to contribute little ideas for jump off points for new stories and ideas. They also contributed some ideas for ways to think of ideas and games to find concepts. I began this project by working on the cover. I drew the design I wanted and printed it out reverse (as I was going to cut out the pieces and have two sheets of paper be the cover. I started with the portion that would have the design on it. It was a shiny red. This portion took a long time! Especially cutting out all the little letters!

After I had gotten over the cramps in my hands from cutting out letters, I cut the other piece of paper which is a bright gold. This one was the main portion of the cover (as well as the color behind the red cover.

 Following this portion I cut book board for the spine, and both covers and then printed out all the pages. These were printed in booklet form with 8 pages per set (so I would have something to bind). Then I used a template to punch holes in the pages so I could bind them.  I then began sewing the pages to straps and each other to attach the pages to the book. I vaguely recall the type of binding being called a kettle stitch, but it's been a few years so forgive me if I'm mistaken.

Here the pages are minus the final page. (I had a few pages in the back where I put in lines for him to write in his own ideas or for others to add some more ideas later). This is where I should have glued the pages together, (but I forgot!), so there is a slight gap between pages when the book is open. the final page of the book has a portion that attaches to the cover (in addition to the straps) so it's extra strong.

 The next step involved a lot of cutting, measuring and gluing. Using a paint brush I spread the glue on the front and back covers and attached it to the book board. This involved some folding and trimming of edges so the edges were perfect. This was also where I made a second mistake (phooey). I measured and placed my spine a bit close to the cover, so it isn't as pronounced of a closure as I would have liked. It should have been twice the distance it is. (shoot). This luckily doesn't effect the book's functionality, or really the appearance much, so I got off fairly easily.

 Next, I glued down the straps, and portion of the end page (that was covered by the interior cover paper) and the interior paper. This one was a beautiful textured green paper with a lovely grain. It's definitely one of my favorite papers. (This was when I realized I forgot to glue the bound edge of the pages and that there would be gaps in the pages...I didn't want to rip up my lovely green paper, so I decided some gaps inbetween pages wasn't awful...).

Here it is! The final book! It has two levels of cut outs (the yellow with the mitered edges is on top, then the red with all the letters and silhouette cut out, and then another Yellow sheet, so it is quite visually fun!

I'm sure he'll love it, especially all the wonderful ideas from friends!

Turned out lovely!
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