Brown with pink polka dots cotton and pink/brown gingham, with dark brown zipper.

Brown with pink polka dots cotton and pink/brown gingham, with dark brown zipper.
"Peculiar Treasures (paperback)," by Robin Jones Gunn: $3.99, "The Sweet By and By (nice hardback)," by Sara Evans and Rachel Hauck: $3.99, and "Sew U: Home Stretch (hardback, spiralbound), by Wendy Mullin: $4.99
I'm currently reading "The Mysterious Benedict Society," by Trenton Lee Stewart, which I bought at the same time as "100 Cupboards." I love this one so far! It reminds me of Roald Dahl or Lemony Snicket. It's surprisingly funny, with fascinating characters. I'm not quite halfway through, so I'll post more about it when I've finished.
I also just finished reading "Daring Chloe," by Laura Jensen Walker. I had already read the second book in the series ("Turning the Paige," both purchased at Ollie's) a while back and really liked it. This series combines two of my favorite things, and favorite things to read about: books and traveling. The books aren't anything miraculous or life changing, but they're cute stories. They make me want to go to Europe even more...in this first book, the group goes to Paris; in the second one, a trip is made to Ireland. I love the fact that they revolve around a women's book club and include a lot of bookwormish characters and reading suggestions. I want to be in a book club. I am a major bookworm. Classmates always ask me how I have time to read in college, because I always carry a book with me in my bag. How could I not have time to read?
I love the way my bookcase looks, crammed full of books I love. I love sifting through books at a store and toting around a stack of them on my hip. I love the smell of a new paperback (or even textbook, for that matter). I love carrying around one with me so I can pull it out when I have a few minutes to wait. I love talking about books. I love writing about books. :) I love meeting new characters and getting new ideas.
I started out with sewing. Then I got involved in scrapbooking/paper crafts, then embroidery, and now...bookbinding.
This all came about when I realized that soon I would need a new journal. So I started looking around on Etsy, where there are some gorgeous handbound journals. But they're all very tiny and expensive...a smaller book for a higher price than I want to pay. So I said, "I can make that myself." I started looking around for instructions and pictures and tutorials. Once I find the perfect piece of leather, I'm going to make myself a new journal (my old one's not filled quite yet), something like this (only a little more rugged and natural looking-see that beautiful exposed stitching on the spine?). Seriously, how amazing is it that you can sew a book together without using any glue?
This is my new planner for school. I was going to buy one at Target, but it was $10. I made this one for less than $5, probably. The covers are cardboard recycled from the box that my sewing machine came in. They're covered in scrapbook paper, which was on sale for 25 cents a sheet. I had to buy the paper, which is cream cardstock, and the waxed thread used to bind it.
It's bound using the coptic stitch. I measured, marked, and poked the holes, using an awl my dad gave me (he used to do some leather and beadwork). Then I made it completely using this video tutorial. And I checked off another goal on my bucket list. :)
This is the first page. I used scraps from the cover, an old hymnal page, my flowery stamp, purple ink, and my alphabet stamp set to do my name (last name blocked).