Cat Journals! The Perfect Gift for Cat-Loving Writers

Handpainted Cat Journals handbound by bookbinder Ruth Bleakley - 3

Oh my goodness. I feel as though I’ve achieved some kind of next-level journal making thanks to my Glowforge laser cutter (appropriately timed for Transfiguration Sunday). In fact, my hilarious friend Ellen summed it up nicely for me:

The Glowforge finally helped me remove all obstacles —societal acceptance, reason and moderation— between me and my dream of ALL CAT ART ALL THE TIMEGuess what, friends? it’s time for ALL CAT ART, ALL THE TIME!

Let’s begin with the amazing laser cutter, which you can read about in some of my previous posts – using the powers of the super-hot plasma, I engraved these adorable cats from a royalty-free clipart disk from 1995 onto acid-free 100% recycled book board:




THEN I went in with vibrant pink, orange, purple and blue Windsor-Newton drawing ink, one of my absolute favorite things to illustrate with and added in some gorgeous and rich color, building it in layers similar to the handpainted daisy journal I made the other week. I did the lambent eyes with (surprisingly?) some moonlight gelly roll pens for that delightfully luminous look and finally sealed everything with a light coating of spray polyurethane finish to seal in the artwork.

Handpainted Cat Journals made by bookbinder Ruth Bleakley

I hope you’ll enjoy the following photos of my cat journal making process, I know I’m absolutely in love with the rich colors and *almost* don’t want to sell them (one is going to my sister to be added to the Ruth Bleakley Archival Vault of Bookbinding) – but I made each cat journal as a series of four, knowing they would surely be popular – you can check and see if there are any left for sale in my Etsy shop:

Pink and Orange Cat Journal for Sale Here

Purple Cat Journal For Sale Here

Making a Pink Cat Journal process by Ruth BleakleyPink and Orange Cat Journal handmade by Ruth Bleakley are perfect gifts for cat lovers

Orange and Pink Cat Journal handmade by book artist Ruth Bleakley - 3

Orange and Pink Cat Journal handmade by book artist Ruth Bleakley - 6Orange and Pink Cat Journal handmade by book artist Ruth Bleakley - 7Orange and Pink Cat Journal progress photos handmade by book artist Ruth Bleakley - 1Orange and Pink Cat Journal progress photos handmade by book artist Ruth Bleakley - 3Orange and Pink Cat Journal progress photos handmade by book artist Ruth Bleakley - 7Orange and Pink Cat Journal progress photos handmade by book artist Ruth Bleakley - 8Orange and Pink Cat Journal progress photos handmade by book artist Ruth Bleakley - 4Orange and Pink Cat Journal progress photos handmade by book artist Ruth Bleakley - 5

And on to the glorious purple cat journal – I realized that I may have been subliminally influenced by my cat Pinky’s Fancy Feast cans, because the fancy feast cat looks an awful lot like this one…hmmm…

Fancy Feast

Hand painted cat journal by book artist Ruth Bleakley

Handmade gift for Cat Lovers Purple Cat Journal handbound by Ruth Bleakley

Purple Cat Journal handmade by bookbinder Ruth BleakleyPurple Cat Journal hand-painted by bookbinder Ruth Bleakley - 6

Ruth-and-PinkyI think this photo of me and my 14-year-old cat Pinky pretty much sums things up:

A big thank you to the 25 folks who signed up for my email newsletter this past weekend! I can’t tell you what a great feeling it is as an artist to know that people are interested in your work. Thank you for reading my blog! Pinterest pins are always appreciated too, I think most of my traffic comes from Pinterest! 🙂 My Handmade Books + Journals Pinterest board has over 10,000 followers!

 

(Interested in buying a Glowforge? Use this referral link and we can both get $100 off – I’ll get a coupon for their supply store and you’ll get a $100 Glowforge discount)

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About the Author

Ruth

3 Comments

Sabine from WO(rms) in Germany

OHHHHH – soooo beautiful cat books.
Many ♡ ly greetings sent by
Sabine from WO(rms) in Germany

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