Customer Reviews

Live & Learn: Real Life Journals: Designing & Using Handmade Books (AARP)

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If you haven't yet made the leap into making your own books and journals to write, sketch or doodle in then this
book will serve as an invaluable guide to getting started. There is so much information packed into this latest
book by Gwen Diehn that no matter what your experience level with journaling or book making you're sure to
find something to inspire you.

This is not just a how to make a journal book. Using the central premise of designing your book from the inside out the author guides the reader through a series of questions about what the intended use of the book is going to be before it's created. Questions such as what size book, will you use paints, pens or pencils on the pages, do you want it to lay flat, have removable or replaceable pages and others are used to help guide the reader through what Gwen calls the "design inventory". This inventory is then translated into an appropriate book design for the binding and cover using the "choose your own bookbinding adventure booklet" found in a pocket on the inside front cover of the book. Once that decision is made you'll turn to chapter 4 of the book where you'll find illustrated directions on a variety of book binding styles such as pamphlets, spiral, piano hinge, longstitch, concertina, coptic and others. Chapter 5 of the book covers a range of book cover instructions such as flexible, hardcover, glued in cover, laced in covers and others.

For those not familiar with the basic tools and skills needed for book binding the pull out bookbinding essentials foldout that comes in an envelope in the back cover of the book will be a handy tool to keep on their work table. This pull out guide covers the basics of cutting and folding paper, types of folds, covering boards, how to cut book board and sewing tips. Chapter 3 of the book goes into greater details on bookbinding tools, making headbands, page building techniques, pockets and cover options.

The last chapter of this book includes profiles of some famous journal keepers such as da Vinci, Bluemer along side some contemporary artists of today. This chapter is rich with some beautiful images of journal pages insight
into some of the history of journal keeping.

This is a beautifully done book and is sure to become an invaluable reference for anyone wanting to create their
own journals and books be it a simple flexible notebook to tuck in a back pack or travel bag to a hard cover book
filled with watercolor paper for drawing on or a scrapbook to commemorate a special occasion or milestone.

I have other books by this author and when I found she was coming out with another book on Journaling, I was eager to get it. I was not dissapointed at all with the instructions where you can "interact" with creating your journal specific to your needs and wants. I journal quite a bit and have ventured out to make my own with a variety of pages to use with different mediums such as watercolor. I am however not a book maker and was not really interested in learning at this time complicated ways to make a art journal. What I do like about this book is that you can start out with very simple book making techniques making the journal the way you want. I like that. Looking at the other bookmaking techniques and the very clear instructions given that I will be trying out some of the other ways to make journals such as using a existing book cover with maybe a coptic stitch. It is like having a bunch of bookmaking classes wrapped up in this one book. I did enjoy the stories of folks in the book that shared there stories of what they journal and what kind of journal works for them. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in journaling and bookmaking!!!

If you're a journal-keeper--and especially if you're artistically inclined--you'll want to take a look at Gwen Diehn's latest book, Real Life Journals: Designing & Using Handmade Books.

A unique marriage of the art of handcrafted books and the art of journaling, Real Life Journals offers a step-by-step program that will give you what Diehn calls a "design inventory" for the journal you want. It will help you decide what kind of journal fits your style, create a design and choose the materials for your book, and craft the journal.

To illustrate the process, Diehn invited nine people to choose the kind of journal they wanted and work with her design inventory. Using their responses, she created a journal for each of them (one was a father-daughter pair, another a grandmother wanting to journal for her family). She documented all nine journals--and the journaling experience each embraced, each one different and each unique to the journal-keeper's intentions and dreams. You'll be inspired by these experiences to make your own inventory, design your own book, and begin your own journal.

Throughout, Real Life Journals is richly illustrated, with careful descriptions of each part of the process, from bookbinding techniques, materials, and tools, to ideas for creating covers. I'm no bookmaker, but reading the instructions and studying the illustrations, I'm confident that I could attempt even the more complicated of the bindery processes Diehn describes. The text and illustrations are supplemented by a mini-book tucked inside the front cover that helps you "choose your own bookbinding adventure" and a foldout chart illustrating binding essentials inside the back cover.

Diehn's gentle encouragement through the book will make you want to create a journal for yourself--and use it. I've been journaling on my computer for decades and enjoy the fluency and ease of recording my thoughts as fast as my fingers can fly. But Diehn's work is an inspiration, because it acknowledges that our lives are kaleidoscopic, made up of many vibrant images and colorful ideas--something that's a little hard to capture in black and white and 12 point Times New Roman. Real Life Journals recognizes that form and function come together in the truest kind of art, and that the book we create to write in will help to shape the visions we record.

by Susan Wittig Albert
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

This is a fantastic book and I highly recommend it! I have been a bookmaker for 6 years; Gwen's instructions are clear and the booklet that helps you decide which journal is best for you is invaluable!

"How to" books are not usually in the "couldn't put it down category" but this one was. I have purchased 2 of Gwen Diehn's other books and loved them just as much as this one. I really like the technique Diehn used taking individual people through the process of designing journals for their own journal projects, using the process in her book to decide which type of journal, binding and cover would work best for them. It really brought this process alive for me. The evaluation of how well their journal worked for them and looking at what they would do different next time was so helpful. Diehn brought up lots of options and possible solutions that I wouldn't have thought given my level of experience with journal making. I loved the journal photos and found the instructions to be very clear. You do not have to go out and buy a lot of specialized supplies for these journals and I appreciate that. This is an excellent book. I read it cover to cover in two days and am so excited to start work on a new journal tomorrow.

Live & Learn: 180 pages of photos, watercolors, line drawings, interviews with journalers as they design what they believe they need in a journal and follow-up after using the custom handmade book for 3months. A gardener, a photographer, a traveler, a father and daughter who want to journal a life passage together, a grandmother and 5 grandsons, in all 9 journalers design books which are followed from conception through execution.

3 months later journalers' comment on the utility (folds all the way back, lies open flat, stands alone as a table decoration, double-sided so both of us could work on it, piece of artwork in itself, filled up within a month, envelopes too stuffed, too many pages, watercolor paper was too textured) of the original design and their plans for their next hand bound project (add a piggyback pamphlet in an attached envelope to carry in a pocket then transfer notes to the larger journal, too small, too large, waterproof the cover, stronger binding for envelope bottoms).

The author extracts the stories, focus, passions of the storytellers by listening to their requests, creating the size (hold in palm, paperback, 8x11), color (white black grays, natural tans yellows browns, bold electric colors, soft tints) paper (handmade, graph, watercolor, calligraphy, vellum, transparent acetate), cover (paper, cloth, leather) and additions (piggyback booklet, envelopes, stubs to add elements after binding, fold outs, windows, doors, drawers, boxes)and binding (sewn, spiral bound, accordian fold, piano hinge) consistent with the journalers' preferences and prejudices.

Next, details (how-tos) of bookbinding follow the book histories, inviting the reader to create a book mirroring their own uniqueness, working style and interests. Gwen Diehn provides technical advice and instruction in a warm narrative style.

Envelopes bound to the front and back covers contain pamphlets: on the front a series of questions in a decision tree to help you to decide what it is you want to do with your book, how you want to bind it, on which page in the larger book to find those directions; on the back cover a pamphlet of essential bookbinding skills. These necessities are condensed into tag along booklets encased in the envelopes as tactile examples of "yes you can do this" adding unusual components like envelopes and the folded map style for one of the pamphlets. Thus the bound book itself shows that anything is possible: if you want to include something unusual because it fits the way you will use your journal, you may. And she provides the instructions for how to bind that into your book (transparencies, veils, nets, windows, tabs).

Everyone has a story to tell; sadly some stories dissolve after they are jotted on scraps of paper napkin, partially told in letters or revealed during Thanksgiving confusion. Family history disappears. Gwen Diehn's welcoming attitude gentles the idea that perhaps you too can make a book and write, draw, photograph, cut, paste, tape, paint, express what is meaningful to you, document your life, share your hard earned wisdom with another generation.

The last section from page 150 illustrates actual journals: memory palaces used by Greek oraters to help them recall their arguements and sequence, Commonplace books are extracted quotes from books like Tolstoy's Calendar of Wisdom, accumulated Miscellany books depended on the social construction of knowledge to rework images words ideas into one's own volume (Thomas Trevelyon www.folger.edu). Recent sketchbooks are included: artist, naturalist, scientist, community garden, mariner books, calendars, 10 year journal, collected images, calligrapher's learning journal, purse journals. The reason for making the journals, how they are used, how many years the journals have been in use are fascinating to read.

Our stories help us to know ourselves. For inspiration read Black Sheep and Kissing Cousins: How Our Family Stories Shape Us, A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Selected from the World's Sacred Texts by Leo Tolstoy the only book he read during the last 5 years of his life (see the movie The Last Station with Helen Mirren), and Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do?.

Real Life Journals is about bookbinding with a purpose, your purpose, whether cookbook, daily thoughts, connection with siblings, children, grandchildren, perfecting your fly fishing or recording the minutiae of daily life. The form of the book, it's dimensions, number of pages, kind of pages (map, fold out, door, window, accordian, flap up down out), weight, paper, color, all are chosen by you, hand bound by you, the content is you. To read your book is to know a part of you deeply. A part you care about enough to define, documenting your piece of the 7 billion piece human puzzle.

For bookmaking inspiration and instruction: Masters: Book Arts: Major Works by Leading Artists, 500 Handmade Books: Inspiring Interpretations of a Timeless Form (500 Series), Cover To Cover: Creative Techniques For Making Beautiful Books, Journals & Albums, Making & Keeping Creative Journals details on knotting for bookbinding, Inner Journeying Through Art-journaling: Learning to See And Record Your Life As a Work of Art, The Decorated Journal: Creating Beautifully Expressive Journal Pages, The Decorated Page: Journals, Scrapbooks & Albums Made Simply Beautiful, Ethical Wills: Putting Your Values on Paper, 2nd Edition what do you truly value? what was a turning point in your life? what are your stories? Writing as soothing meditation.

Meditation: Dhamma Brothers
Also see the opposite of meditation: National Geographic: Stress - Portrait of a Killer how stress shrinks the brain in the areas of memory and learning.

Movie prompts as you review your life: For the Boys WWII Korea Vietnam War, Departures music as healing, City Island Italian family, 1000 Journals documentary of others' journals, Groundhog Day (Special 15th Anniversary Edition) Bill Murray.

Music to journal by: your favorite.

Like your best fan and cheerleader Real Life Journals encourages you to take the risk of binding your own book, and documenting your own history.

You may meet yourself during your bookbinding adventure. This could be fun.

Pictures won't show in this review, but you can read it in full at [...]

My love affair with books, both the written word and the bound tome, is one that never seems to fade. In university, I was drawn to Medieval Studies and Religious Studies in part by the relationship of the written word to processes of thought; I was fascinated by the value attached to the meaning, structure, illumination and binding of texts, both secular and sacred. My first class in Medieval Studies was a fourth-year reading course in medieval palaeography (that's "old hand-writing" in normal human speak) followed swiftly by several courses in the medieval book, bookbinding and the monastic book production tradition. The more I learned, the more I grew to respect and see the beauty in hand-crafted volumes.

In my own life, my books have kept me company through thick and thin. Some books have only a page or two filled, with others are crammed with minuscule paragraphs and clippings and sketches and heaven knows what else. I have occasionally cobbled together a blank volume for use as a scrapbook, but have not really delved into the binding and construction of paper books for my own use. I've made a couple of fabric books (this is one of them) but haven't taken the time to really explore the process of making my own book suited to my journalling needs.

Enter Gwen Diehn. Gwen is a journal artist, a master of the book arts and a generally cool person who writes well, organizes processes beautifully and generally creates books that are worth buying and keeping. I do not lend my Gwen Diehn books out, since they are too useful to lose (and they're good enough that borrowers might "forget" to return them!).

I was sent a copy of Real Life Journals: Designing & Using Handmade Books to review and, after flipping through it, I realized that reviewing this book without actually using it would be like reviewing a new camera without taking a picture. So I read through the volume from cover to cover (twice), soaked up the ideas and inspiration therein and settled in to work.

The book is hard-covered, nicely organized, well-illustrated and has a decent index (extra points for this!). It is clearly laid out, with all major elements being itemized in a table of contents, and is chock-a-block full of great information on design process, techniques and materials. In short, it is a tremendous resource.

It does require that you bring a certain set of skills and tools with you; in addition to a desire to create a book, you will need an ability to read diligently and thoroughly, a willingness to be precise and careful in your measurements, and an ability to think through a process both before and during working with it. While it is a "how to" book, the process is for a customized item, therefore any choices you make have ramifications that you need to think through.

Materials-wise, you will need paper and cover materials, but deciding what sort is part of the design process, so don't rush out and buy them before you work through the steps.

You probably will also need these basic supplies:

* PVA glue - which is another name for the more expensive, acid-free, white glue
* glue brush - I have an old large watercolour brush that worked just fine.
* an awl for punching holes in the papers - but I didn't have one and used a particularly long thumb-tack
* a bone folder - I did have one of these, but a plastic ruler could do in a pinch
* a craft knife - with a really sharp blade. I cannot stress this enough
* a straight edge
* a cutting mat - I use an old quilting one
* needles for sewing - as it turned out, I didn't need one, but you might
* bookbinder's thread - you can get away with really heavy hand-quilting thread, run through with bee's wax


Format and a Confession:

This book has a somewhat unusual format, in that there are really three parts. The first and most obvious is the main text, containing the specific "how to" information for various binding and cover types. The second is the big pocket in the back cover, containing a handy fold-out sheet explaining some of the more universal and integral basic skills or techniques required. Finally, the third is a CD-sized pocket in the inside of the front cover that contains a "Choose Your Own Adventure" booklet to help you find the most useful combination of all the techniques available in the main text to suit your specific book needs.

I have a confession to make.

I almost missed that little booklet in the inside front cover.

It is exactly the size of a CD case and I, leaping to ridiculous conclusions without checking, assumed there was a CD in there (this assumption actually caused my heart to take a dive. I'm not a CD demo person). The relief I felt when I found out it was a booklet was so profound as to be funny.

So I didn't open it at first. I read right through the whole book and was mystified by allusions to the "the choice on page 8' or "she turned to page 10'. I scratched my head and flipped back to page eight or ten in the main text, saw that they had nothing to do with the pages that had referenced them and was completely flummoxed.

Finally, after having read through the main text a couple of times, enjoying the demonstrations of the uses to which people put the books that were designed and crafted for them, I booted up the computer and decided I'd have to have a look at the "CD". I opened the front pocket.... then I shut the computer back off again and started laughing. Suddenly the whole thing made sense.

If you'll take my recommendation, have a good read through the main book, with the little booklet in hand. Save working through the process yourself until after you've read the main text, though. You'll get more out of it having seen the possibilities and how the choices panned out for other folks.



The Process:

I confronted the little booklet and found that the first part was the hardest; I had to settle one what sort of book I wanted. Did I want a sketch book? Was I looking for a notebook to record my workouts and running logs in? Was I going to make a book for a particular project? Was it to contain more than one part of my life? Did I need a book within a book?

After some agonizing, I decided that for my first book project, I'd keep it simple. I'd make a book of the sort that I use every day to work through ideas, sketch out possibilities and plan and design my art work. Having established my limits, I took the following steps:

1. I decided I didn't want a book in which the cover folded back around itself. That seemed too cumbersome to paint on. I was therefore told to go to page 3.
2. I decided that I needed a book that lay flat. I sometimes sketch, sometimes paint and often refer to my sketches or paintings when working on other projects. I wanted the book to open and stay put. I was therefore told to go to page 8.
3. I decided that it might be nice to be able to add pages, remove pages or replace the pages with a different paper type. If a sketch turned out to be something that could be incorporated into a larger work, it'd be nice to be able to take it out without ruining the book. Also, I thought it might be nice to add a few watercolour pages here and there, should I need them. I was therefore told to go to page 10.

Page ten was the end of my Journey of Discovery, revealing to me that I was a prime candidate for a Flat-Style Australian Reversed Piano Hinge binding. Since I had the option of a soft, hard or self-cover, I opted for a hard cover to give me a good supporting surface on which to write and draw.


I was initially going to do a "piggyback book", or little booklet to put into the larger one, but decided against that as I built the larger book. Once I found how much choice I had about what sort of papers to build the pages from or how big individual pages could be, I found that I really didn't need the little booklet at all.

After some work and careful following of the instructions, I finished my first book.
[...]

I enjoyed the process thoroughly and encountered only one hiccough.

The binding format that I had chosen was a fairly complex one and not a format that I had encountered or even contemplated before. I read it through repeatedly, prepared the requisite number of signatures (groups of pages) and was all ready to start putting things together when I realized that the concertina, as laid out in Diehn's book, simply wasn't going to work with this sort of binding. Basically, instead of needing a certain number of valleys (which were what the sheet of basic instructions emphasized) in the concertina, I needed a certain number of peaks.

Luckily I figured this out before irrevocably cutting anything or trying to put the whole thing together and simply adjusted my page organization to accommodate one of the the extra peaks I had inadvertently made. I added a half-page of watercolour to use up the other. As it turned out, this was a good thing, since the half-page or watercolour has become my test sheet for paints and pencils!

Gwen realized this herself and has published a correction to this particular oversight on her blog.
[...]

She has also started a page on her blog called "The Corrections" for on-going revisions of spots that might need clarification or areas of the book in which folks would like more information.
[....]

As it transpired, I was able to work through the dilemma on my own and truthfully didn't find it too much of an obstacle.

I have since started two other books for different purposes using the same process and have had no issues with either. As they reach completion, I'll revise this entry to link to them.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anyone wishing to design books for their own (or others') uses, although I would suggest that those using it be diligent folks accustomed to (or at least not intimidated by) working through a design process.

This is an excellent book and one that I've recommended to our local craft council as a worthy addition to their library.

I suppose the real question, though, is how does it work?

Oddly enough, my initial problem was in actually writing in the finished book. To that end, the little flap of watercolour paper helped to bridge the void. I used it to make colour swatches of what was in my little watercolour tin and my case of watercolour pencils. Simply putting a mark in the book made it much easier to dive right in and start writing. Of course, the approach of a couple of deadlines for which I need finished designs rather kicked me into gear, too! Since then, I have been using it and enjoying it far more than any previous books.

All-in-all, though, it was a fun enterprise and one that I'll be repeating each time I need a new book henceforth.

I can't believe I didn't try this sooner.

This book has been thoroughly reviewed by nine others and probably doesn't need my five-star commendation as well, but I'm impressed enough to add it anyway.

We've all heard that "form follows function." The first thing that struck me about the book is its serious adherence to that principle. From the little interactive booklet inside the front cover and continually through the book, the emphasis is on creating a journal/book that will be useful for how one wants actually to use it. Need it to stay open flat? Need to be able to add/remove pages? Want to be able to tuck things in pockets or attach items to your pages later? The author directs the reader quickly to exactly which section of the book is needed to construct for these attributes and more.

Her illustrated journal style introduces bookbinding tools and other how-to basics with plenty of good photos and ample drawings. Actual "real life" journals are shown as examples, and instructions are even offered for developing one's page contents. A total novice can use this book confidently to design and construct a journal that will be a functional delight. Gwen Diehn has taken the mystery out of the process and provided recipes for success.

I have previously purchased numerous books on bookbinding, hoping to learn how to make what I had in mind, only to be frustrated because the books/techniques presented were totally off-the-wall or a technical manual without giving a basis for choice of style. Real Life Journals is exactly what I needed - journal options with simple, clear instructions. Just perfect!

Gwen Diehn is one of my favorite journal artists. She is the author if the "Decorated Page", among others, which is one of my all time favorite books about journaling.

Real Life Journals is mostly about the business of making and designing journals for your artwork. I have to confess that I am not that tempted to make my journals - but this is probably one of the most creative, well written and illustrated, book son the subject that you will find. That being said, aside from the construction of the journals the book includes a lot of creative, useful tid-bits about the art of journaling itself.

The inside front flap includes a mini-book-in-a-pocket-titled "Choose Your Own Bookbinding Adventure. The enclosed booklet is a very handy that leads you through the basics by asking questions and then a "if yes turn to page____, if no, turn to page___" formula that I like a lot. The back flap provides an excellent foldout chart entitled "Book Binding Essentials" - and it explains, just as it says, the basics to get you going on your journal". This is an extremely well presented, well thought out volume. I am always particularly pleased with the format and high quality of Lark Books. When they publish a book - they make everything pretty special.

The table of contents pretty well spells it out:
Design Inventory
Personal Journals
The Basics
Bookbinding Instruction (16 different methods)
Cover Instructions
Journals Past and Present

What the Tale Of Contents does not tell you about, however, is the wealth of ideas for journaling that the book includes. Watercolor, pencil, writing paired with sketches - so many great ideas on how to fill the pages of the journal that you make. I love this book - as I do all of Gwen Diehn's work. If you want to start your own journaling adventure this is the book to get. It's chock full of information and ideas that are beautifully presented. Just paging through the book can make you happy - and motivated.

For me journaling is a way to to gauge where I am by being able to see, and read about, where I've been. Journaling gives a perspective on my life that I find invaluable. I bet it would be for you to!

This book is very well done. The photos and directions are very clear and helpful. There are several types of bindings taught but the best aspect is the method to determine the type and size journal that would be best for the purpose you want it used.