New journal design

Carnival design wraps around the front and back covers – very limited copies available.

Visit the website for more details.

New acid free journal

What’s more comforting than friendships…

More information on this new product is on the website. A very limited number of copies available.

Autumn Sale

We love Autumn. :D
Autumn promotion starts today with a 10% savings on selected sheep designs, until 19 March 2013.

DIY Book Cover with Stencil

Just completed this…

It’s quite easy. Read on.

The design was drawn on the computer and printed on overhead transparencies (see next photo)

Cutting the stencil. This is a laborious process so do take your time. I cut this in a few sittings, getting up in between to do something else. That works for me because when I get tired, I make mistakes.

Stencilling onto the book cover. I used white acrylics paint. Again, slow is good, and keep lifting the stencil to see if you have got enough paint on the design. I used the (almost) dry brush method (as the name suggests, no water and very little paint each time I dabbed my brush onto the surface), but a foam roller will also work well.

I made another 2 bits of stencil for the cup cakes above. All done!

DIY Concertina Book–Part 2

In Part 1, I made the internal pages of the book. In this section, I will show you some work-in-progress pictures of the cover, and of course the final product.

By the way, I have left the completed pages under a pile of heavy books (you can use phone books) to flatten, while I went shopping.

I went to Melbourne Etching Supplies, and they have a number nice bookbinding cloth to choose from. I settled for a green/purplish one which cost below $20 per meter, including GST (a meter of material is enough for many books, since it is very wide – about 4 feet).

Leaving the cover material aside, back home, I used a matt board (acid free) and cut out the front and back covers – slightly bigger than the paper (about 0.5 cm on all sides). I measured the thickness of the internal pages and then cut the spine. (If you find that the size of the boards are too dissimilar of crooked, you can use a sandpaper to make corrections.)

Next place the boards on the cloth and cut out a piece, leaving about 2.5 cm around the outside (see photo on the left). Then draw the cover on the inside leaving about 0.1 cm space on the left and right of the spine (this will allow the book cover to fold nicely), as a guide for the next stage (gluing the boards to the cloth)

The lined boards should look something like the above photo. Glue the boards to the cover material. Ensure the glue covers the entire contact surfaces, not just the edges of the boards. (During this stage, have lots of clean white papers handy and clean along the way if any glue goes astray!)

Turn to the other side. Smooth down to sure that there is no air bubble trapped. At this stage, I placed a few big books to weigh down the cover for a few hours till the glue dries. This will prevent the boards from curling.

Then cut all 4 corners diagonally, leaving about 0.2 cm space from the corner of the board. Fold the 4 edges and glue.

The inside of your book cover should look something like in the above photo. Next we will tidy up the inside of the cover, as well as stick the pages to the book.

I paste over the inside of the back cover, then score the fold lines of the spine, to help the cover fold neatly.

Then stick page one to the inside front cover and we are done. Here I have placed a stamp on the spine.

The finished book – imperfect but I love that about DIY projects.

Would you have a go?

DIY book cover design

Here’s another DIY book design.

The steps involved are quite similar to what I did with the text design on cover, except that instead of planning the composition on the computer, I made an initial sketch of the design on a piece of paper. Then I drew the design lightly onto the cover with a soft pencil, then went over with a pigment pen. I have used acrylics and collage for this piece too.

Hope you will have a go at designing your own book covers. You can customise the cover by including your name. It will make a great sketchbook.

Happy creating.

An unlikely tool for sketch journaling

“What?” I can almost hear some of you exclaim but please read on. I came across this wonderful tool from my friend and drawing buddy Angela, and I decided to try it for myself. This is a cheap way of expanding your travel watercolour set.

Firstly, I made sure that the emptied medicine/pill wrapper was small enough to fit into my watercolour box.

I added watercolour and gouache into my the cavities of the pill wrapper and I now have 4 additional colours to carry around. The extra “load” is negligible.

Angela uses double sided tape to secure the pill wrapper to her box, but I decided that I will not so that I can still have as much space on the lid to mix my colours. I just have to place the pill wrapper onto the table  – no hassle at all.

Hope you like this. Have you got tips of your own to share? Love to hear them.

Paper for a variety of medium

I am coming to the end of my second DottedSquare.com journal now, and I am happy to say that the paper used is suitable for a variety of medium. At the initial design stage, various types of papers were tested with watercolour, ink, felt and marker pens etc.

Papers tested at design stage

What is your favourite medium used in your journals and sketchbooks? If you ask me, the answer would vary depending on what I am using at the time since I don’t often stick to one for long.

Here are some mediums that I have used on my DottedSquare.com sketchbooks.

Watercolour and ink with stamps. The paper does not buckle much with light watercolour application. The paper stock is thick enough that both sides of the paper can be used.

In this piece, I used felt pens (Faber Castell artist pens).

Pigment ink and felt pens

And more watercolour.

Right now, I am using watercolour pencils and colour pencils.

What is your experience with DottedSquare.com’s books?

Special deal on this journal

The current deal on DottedSquare.com is a special offer on this journal. And it comes with a free notecard.

The offer only stays around for a few days, so don’t wait too long.

Keeping a travel journal

Some people collect souvenirs on their travels. Others take pictures to record their memories. I keep travel journals.

Why keep a travel journal

I enjoy the process to recording my travels, as well as the results.

The process of travel journaling need not take much effort, nor time. Your drawings can be as detailed and  elaborate as you wish, or they can be simple sketches. While travelling, you may not have the time to spare, hence . It should be a pleasurable activity. Draw whatever pleases you and take notes – write your thoughts and observations. Stick items in your sketchbook if you wish.

At the end of your trip, you will have ended up with a record and precious memories of places that you have been, scenes and things that you came across (that you found interesting) and recorded, and notes that you took. It will be a precious souvenir that you will treasure your whole life. I started my first travel journal 13 years ago. To date, I have a reasonable pile, and each and everyone is precious. I enjoy looking through each one now and again, and going down memory lane.

Materials

The materials you require are minimal, but these depends on your personal style but since you are on travelling, you might want to keep them quite basic and portable.

The must haves are a sketchbook, and a pen or pencil. Easy right?

Other things that you might like to bring along may be some colours. I like watercolours, coloured pens and colour pencils. Watercolour comes in small travel boxes, or you could use watercolour pencils. Carry a water brush and you will be able to paint on the go. Coloured pens and colour pencils are highly portable, and require no additional tools to use.

How to keep a travel journal

How long

Unless you are travelling specially to draw, fit your travel journaling to your travel plans (not the other way round). Draw if you want to take a break from walking and sightseeing. It need not take too long – 5 minutes if that’s how long you are resting for. Or 15 minutes if you are having a cup of coffee. Longer if you have time. There are no rules.

What to draw

My travel journal is a jumble of all sorts of things. I enjoy sitting down for a good cup of coffee, and looking at the world go by; taking in the sights and culture of the new place from a cafe window. If you go through my travel journal, you will find many sketches of coffee, food and people. You will also find notes that I take. They could be just a record of a place, or my thoughts at the moment e.g. having discovered a particularly delicious donut in an unlikely place.

My travel journal will also have plein air drawings of streets and buildings. Sometimes I even record things in my hotel room, and in Japan, I could not resist drawing a fancy toilet.

How often

I draw in my travel journal everyday when I am travelling. That’s just me. Draw every day, every other day, or play catch-up every 3 days. It’s entire up to you. Keeping a travel journal should never be a chore.

Happy travel journaling.

I started my first travel journal 13 years ago. To date, I have a reasonable pile, and each and everyone is precious. I enjoy looking through them now and again, and going down memory lane.