J. Lewis – The Paper Journal

Rebinding a Composition Notebook with Coptic Stitch

J. Lewis — Sun, 03 Jan 2021 19:45:04 +0000

I have had this beat up old composition notebook collecting dust for years. The cover design was meh. I didn’t want to waste the book though so I decided to try something new and rebind it with a Coptic stitch. The benefit of the Coptic stitch is that the book will lay completely flat when opened. I also love the look of the open spine. The first step is to deconstruct the notebook.

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Collaging Your Journal Cover

J. Lewis — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 15:23:17 +0000

In my last post I wrote about using collage in your journals. For this post, I thought I would walk you through my process of actually using the collage method on a journal cover. This is a journal I did last year and one of my favorites visually. I started with a word. Saudade. I forget how exactly I came across this word. I suppose I was feeling a bit nostalgic and melancholic at the…

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Collaging in Journals

J. Lewis — Sat, 19 Dec 2020 03:10:12 +0000

Collage is one of my favorite ways to decorate my journal covers and pages. Magazines usually have the best images to use. You can even get your collage materials from old books, mail, trash found on the street, food wrappers, you name it. I get the majority of my images from magazines in the free bin from the library. My absolute favorite source is National Geographic. During the pandemic…

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Corona Borealis: A Journal Build

J. Lewis — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 22:43:54 +0000

This is the 24th journal in my current series of composition notebook sized journals. I chose Corona Borealis as the title/cover as a reference to the current pandemic and my favorite coffeeshop which I really miss being able to sit down in for my journal practice. Plus, I love anything astronomy related. The design and my notes. I’m using the constellation Corona Borealis for the…

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The Making of a Commonplace Book

J. Lewis — Fri, 18 Dec 2020 20:07:01 +0000

My Dad recently sent me a couple of old toiletry bags to repurpose. This particular bag was crumbling in parts and had holes and disintegrating stitching. Even so, it had tons of material for me to use. I will use this reclaimed leather for the covers of this commonplace book. I removed all the stitching and hardware. There’s enough leather here for 3 small books. This first book will…

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How to Make an Ephemera Pocket for Your Journal

J. Lewis — Tue, 26 Mar 2019 00:37:28 +0000

Unless your journal is something like a Moleskine then it most likely doesn’t have a pocket to hold ephemera. Ephemera pockets are a must for my own journaling practice so I add them to all my journals. My favorite way to do it is to use a manila envelope. Here’s how I do it: Step One: Find your envelope. Step two: Trim the flap and fold it in half. Step Three: Cut to the fold and trim.

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Adventures in Lewis Land: a travel log by Bill Lewis

J. Lewis — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 18:12:03 +0000

In late February of 1990, at the age of 66, my Grandfather Bill Lewis hit the road on his bicycle for his second ride across the American landscape. Five months into the journey I was fortunate enough to join him in Bar Harbor, Maine to complete the final leg. What follows is his log of that portion of the trip, Maine to Maryland. I’ve included my recollections of the tour and notes that I made…

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Travel Journaling: Be at Tourist in Your Own Hometown

J. Lewis — Tue, 12 Feb 2019 06:13:26 +0000

So, you’ve got the travel bug. You fantasize about filling your journal up with travelogues but you can’t afford to go trekking around the world. What can you do? Become a tourist in your own hometown. I’m a huge fan of this. It’s the perfect way to satisfy your wanderlust if you can’t do any extensive travelling. It’s a free or relatively cheap option to world travelling. You may say to yourself…

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Write, Rinse, Repeat: Repetitive Journal Entries

J. Lewis — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 22:30:48 +0000

One of the biggest problems in journaling are repetitive entries. You know these types of entries where each seems to be a carbon copy of the one before it. I’ve been journaling for over 30 years now and found it is almost impossible to not write repetitive entries. Our brains are wired that way and can easily get hung up on a thought. I think it is important to not beat yourself up over it.

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Journal Aesthetics: Themes

J. Lewis — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 22:24:09 +0000

I think most of us have this desire to have journals that look “cool.” When you see journals like Jose Naranja’s journals you can’t help but want something like that for yourself. My current series of journals was inspired by the journals of fashion photographer Peter Beard. I came across one small photograph in a magazine of one of his journals. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever…

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