Finished Lenten Journal

My Lenten Journal is finally finished.  After 40+ days of drawing and posting, it felt weird to have the night off yesterday.  I took the time to add some finishing touches to the Lenten Journal's  cover.  I made this and some journals for the kiddos using the 7 Gypsies Binderie Punch and rings.  I wanted something I could add pages to as I went so I could work on whatever paper struck my fancy on a particular day. It worked well for that but if I was making a sketchbook I would definitely not use this system.  The punch was supposed to be able to drill through bookboard, it was barely able to go through my naked Davey's board.  Once I had added paper to both sides and ModgePodged it, the thing was too thick to fit into the Binderie punch.  I had to hand punch the covers for all the journals.  The Binderie punch was great at punching the interior pages without having to plan or measure where the holes would be- very fast.  Unfortunately for a sketchbook, the ring system allows the pages to move about and slide against each other too much for my taste.  If I were to make drawings in pastel or soft pencil they would end up all smudgy before I could get home and spray them with fixative.  This is why I would never make a sketchbook with the Binderie system.  Luckily, all the Lenten drawings were done at home and I could put several coats of fixative on them before adding them into the journal.  I also added ribbons to the rings when I was finished with the book. Not only did this cover up the bare, ugly, utilitarian rings- but it also stopped the pages from shifting so much.

I really enjoyed doing this series and it has definitely been a blessing to me.  I had my doubts about whether I could draw and post for daily for this long.  I surprised myself by not missing any days.  It wasn't easy and some posts were made at 3 AM but with a good dose of help from above, I made it.  YIPEEEE!!!!

Comments

[Pam Huggins]

Congratulations! What a marvelous accomplishment. I'll go back and take a look at your previous posts too. Well done.

[Sarah]

Well done for keeping this up and completing!

[AutumnLeaves]

And a beautiful and complete book now! Love that you challenged yourself like this. Wish I had that dedication and fortitude myself!! LOL

[Barbara Weeks]

Congratulations! Nicely done. Happy Easter.

[Raena]

Great job! And thanks for the info on the binderie system. I had never heard of it before, but it is always good to know the pros and cons before we buy it!

[Ramona Davidson]

What a lovely series Journal. The inside and the outside are works of art. I am really impressed by your work. Thanks for sharing your journal of illustrated Lenten scriptures.

[ffyrebird]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, to each and every person who has commented on this or any of my other Lenten posts. You have all been so very kind and encouraging. I've enjoyed reading all of your comments, they mean a great deal to me. Thank you all so very much for the support!!!!! :)

[Ann]

Beautiful cover! Congrats on finishing your project so successfully!

[freebird]

Your journal turned out wonderful. That is a real accomplishment to have worked the whole way through Lent as you did. Yay! And now you have a really nice book to hand down to your kids. I don't have that binding system. I have a wire one but the wires get in the way of working sometimes. Still they are better than having to sew in pages for some projects.