Stack of Suminiagashi Marbled Journals handmade by bookbinder Ruth Bleakley 4

Rainbow Journals with Suminagashi Marbled Paper

I want to show off some lovely pastel rainbow journals I made using Boko Undo Suminagashi inks (affiliate link) – and before you leave a comment, YES they are very light in color once they dry! If you are looking for bold, vibrant colorful marbled paper, you need to try a different style of marbling […]

Saved by the Bell Journal

Summertime memory: coming back from the beach during the heat of the day to eat ice cream sandwiches and watch “Saved By the Bell” reruns at my grandparent’s house. And now I live in the same house! But…no TV…and also I’m lactose intolerant now, so no ice cream. But hey, one out of three ain’t […]

Marbled Woven Spine Journals

Paper from West Palm Beach While I didn’t marble the paper on this book cover myself, I won’t forget where I bought it from. It was a hot afternoon in September and we were driving past West Palm Beach for a follow up appointment for my husband’s Lasik eye surgery. We planned to stop at […]

Mysteries of the Cosmos Journals

Inspiration strikes… The thing I love most about these journals is how well the two black and purple papers go together, even though I aquired them years apart. This is certainly a case of me being inspired by my materials. When I get stuck, or run out of bookbinding ideas, a quick trip to (one […]

Purple Marble Circle Journal - handmade journal shop - Ruth Bleakley - 2

Marbled Circle Artist Book

I’m so excited to unveil a new style of handmade artist book. It features a luxurious Japanese silk book cloth cover, with precision circle inlay that features stunning, one-of-a-kind marbled paper. I like the idea of a book containing a hidden surprise, so I used the same beautiful paper for the inside endpapers as well. […]

Golden Cranes Journal handmade by book artist Ruth Bleakley - 5

Golden Cranes Journal

This is a very special journal I made all in one go. By that I mean, I was “in the crunch” for at least 8 hours putting the finishing touches on it, adding gold leaf, cutting out birds with an exacto knife, hand-painting in tiny bird beaks. Also somehow I managed to make it without […]

Temari Ball Journal handmade by Ruth Bleakley Coptic Journals 10

What’s a Temari Ball? It’s featured on this journal!

These handmade Temari Ball journals are kind of meta-handmade, because not only is the Chiyogami cover paper handmade in Japan, the colorful toy balls on the cover are also a depiction of a beautiful Japanese handicraft called Temari (手まり) Balls. Temari translates as “hand ball” and supposedly were sometimes used in games, but the idea […]

Blue Cranes and Peach Cloud Twin Journals by Ruth Bleakley that lay flat when open - 8

Blue Cranes and Peach Clouds Twin Journals

This gorgeous crane paper is one of my new favorites! A big flock of white cranes flies across clear aquamarine sky, with golden swirling clouds. The aqua color perfectly compliments the other paper I used here, a vintage chiyogami pattern of golden clouds on a peach sunset sky. If you look closely you can also […]

Blue flowers Twin Journals handmade by Ruth Bleakley Coptic Stitch with Japanese Yuzen Paper - 10

Waves and Blue Cherry Blossom Twin Journals

Don’t you love how the cherry blossoms coordinate on the two pieces of paper I used on the covers of this “twin journal” ? If you use chiyogami or yuzen paper as often as I do, you start to see trends and themes emerge. (All of a sudden I just pictured someone talking about the […]

Unlined Blank Sketch Journal handmade by Ruth Bleakley from Indian floral paper - colorful gifts for artists

Lay Flat Journals in Bright Bold Colors

Feast your eyes on the rich, saturated colors of these beautiful lay-flat coptic stitch journals that I finished last week. In addition to Japanese Chiyogami paper, I also made a couple journals using some of my favorite new papers featuring hand marbled and hand stamped designs. While their patterns are totally opposite, something about the […]

Beautiful Bookbinding Business Cards!

Yay! I am so excited about my beautiful new bookbinding business cards! (try saying that five times fast). I LOVE double sided business cards, because you can put an eye-catching graphic on one side and all of your details on the other side. Business cards are the first impression people have of your business, so […]

Bathymetric Chart Journal: An underwater topography map!

So earlier I posted a sneak peek of an up close look at the chain stitching on a coptic stitch journal I’ve been working on. Actually, I’ve been working on a bunch! A lovely student of one of my bookbinding classes gave me all of these absolutely gorgeous bathymetric charts that her workplace was going to recycle. […]

Bathymetric Chart Journal Sneak Preview

more pictures soon, but I had to share this lovely up-close stitching photo with you – I love it! This type of braided-look binding is called Coptic stitch. It’s done with waxed Irish Linen Thread.

Easy Tiny Envelope Tutorial

Hello bibliophiles! just like I promised a few days ago here’s the easy envelope tutorial I just wrote up/photographed for the lovely blog Poppytalk. Head on over or click on the picture above to see the whole tutorial and happy crafting!

Little Envelopes

Look what I was up to this weekend! Tutorial coming soon!  (might be a good reason to subscribe to my blog, hmmm?)

Fancy Gift Wrap!

I’ve been hooked on Pinterest and one of my boards is called “Amazing Packaging” where I keep track of all kinds of neat gift wrap and packaging ideas I see. One thing I love about Pinterest is that it’s always inspiring you to new ideas. For instance, I’d never thought of wrapping up a present […]

Easy DIY Mini Accordion Book Photo Tutorial

My advanced bookbinding class last spring took on the big project of coptic stitch books and so to reward them for all their hard work and patience as I worked out the kinks of teaching a group of people a very tricky stitch, I made everyone in the class these fun little accordion books! Here’s […]

Coptic Guest Books & Miter Triangles, oh my!

*Phew* it’s been a busy summer for me. The cute stationery shop I worked at closed this spring, prompting me to really make a go of it selling my art. I started a stationery line of my own called Concertina Press, and I’ve gotten my books and cards into a few shops on the Cape […]

Well awl be! A turk’s head knot!

A couple weeks ago I was bitten by the friendship bracelet bug (maybe it’s because it is summer time, and I remember making friendship bracelets at summer camp) – anyway, I was knotting away on a chevron bracelet when my husband came by and said “ooh, friendship bracelets – I used to be pretty good […]