Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Beaded Journals -- Another Step Closer




Much of the beading is done, well, about half of my prepped covers.  I made the mistake of keeping track of the time it takes me.   Each cover is about an hour giving it my half attention. I'm sure I could finish faster if I wasn't watching a movie, reading email, or hanging out with the family at the same time, but I need something to keep my hands busy during those times and this is a lot more productive than playing collapse on my phone.  At the rate I'm going, each journal is going to take about 3 hours.  Then I figured the materials at about $15 each.  I'm glad I like to work for minimum wage!



I took advantage of the clean table this morning to work on the inside pages.  I start with 30"x22" sheets of Kilimanjaro 140lbs 100% cotton watercolor paper. I tear them into pieces 11"x7.5" and fold them in half.  Then it's four folded sheets per signature and four signatures per book.  I managed 10 books before my back and arms were aching.  The tearing gets my back and the folding gets my arm as I push down to get a crisp fold.  One day I will have a nice high work table in a beautiful studio, but for now I'm content to use the dining room table. 


Next on the agenda is sewing the signatures together and assembling the books.  I am so glad that I love the process!


1 comment:

Charlotte Scott said...

You need some wooden blocks that you can quickly slip under your table legs and then out again when you need to eat! Back pain is no fun and you might be doing long term damage.