Custom Journal for THE John Morgan

I wanted to write a blog post for my latest journal, since I didn't do a video flip-thru of it before I sent it to its recipient, John Morgan. I wrote a more extensive post in honour of John Morgan on my Labyrinth Gal blog. This post is more about the journal. I'll show some photos, and then I will have links to supplies, tools, and information on how to make the journal.

Here's the journal:

It's a Booksmith journal, of course! It has a 3 1/2 inch curved spine.

 John is the author of GrasshopperNotes.com, 

hence The Grasshopper in all its festive glory.

I made the frame using a creative commons 

image I got in MS Publisher. 

I used gold paint to accent, and a gold-ribbon tie closure:

The inside opens to reveal that it is also a Traveler's Notebook:

Green elastics.  I included 3 inserts, but there

is LOTS of room and elastics to add more.

I glued an envelope down on the inside front 

cover with a note inside. Ferny wax seal on the 

envelope in keeping with the green theme. 

The letter inside says:

"Listener Food" is defined on a page down 

below. A "Remote" is a radio term for being

out of the studio on location. Often remote. Ha!

A pocket made with a green file folder for cards, ephemera &c.:

Vintagey label from Nik The Booksmith.

Here's the first insert:

I designed the inserts in MS Publisher and included a lot of family photos, which I won't share here. I also included some of his birthday-related blogposts. Here are a few pages:

Photo of him and his dad, secured with Tim Holtz paper clip.

John & his mother in a photo booth:

Looks like a Tim Holtz photo strip. That's another 

one of his tiny paper clips holding it to the page.

Photo of Steve Martin that John took at one of his shows:

So I signed it a la Steve Martin.

Last page:

Magnolia May was really John's idea! So I 

had to have "her" sign his book.

The idea for this is that friends and family can sign The Birthday Book, taken out of the Traveler's Notebook, so I included a pen loop and  (NON-fountain) pen:

Pilot G-2 rollerball pen.

Back cover of the Birthday insert:

John is wearing one of his granddaughter's 

hats, taken at her birthday party.

Second insert: I have notebooks & journals filled with notes I took over the years for John Morgan Seminars. I've often read them to him, but he's never seen them. So I included a few pages in an insert for him:

I copied the entries onto parchment paper:

The third insert is Radio-themed from his days in radio:

Inside has a pocket made with a photo of him when he was a DJ at KCMO (Kansas City). He rode a bull for some radio stunt:

Inside the pocket is one of his blog posts, Friendship,

 printed onto parchment.

Here are a few pages with quotes and stories:

John had Gary Owens (from Laugh-In) record some 

"drop-ins" for his show.

Center of insert:

Newspaper article from DJ days at KCMO.

Back of insert:

He was "Chuck Taylor" in Wilkes-Barre for 2 years and 

told a lot of corny jokes. E.g. "Today's secret word is 

PEANUT BUTTER. Spread it around." Hahahaha

Back cover of Radio insert:

I included one of his Grasshopper Notes journals:

If you want to make a journal like this:

1. Take the Adventures in Booksmithing course by Nik The Booksmith.

2. Take the Hollow Back Book Binding course.

3. Then make a Traveler's Notebook spine with elastics.

Sound like a lot of work?  Exactly. However, if you want to make high quality, fool-proof journals and books, it's still the best course to take. She has taken the guesswork out of making a Booksmith tome, and you won't have to try to deconstruct or reinvent how to do it. Clear instructions, all the best materials, supplies and tools to use.  She does a lot of free tutorials on her YouTube channel, too. OK, that's my testimonial.  ;-)  

For Booksmith-specific materials & supplies, you'll need to take the course. E.g. cover material, spine construction, etc. etc. For the rest, here are (non-affiliate) links to supplies and materials:

Parchment paper

HP laser 32 lb. paper  Decent for photos and great for rollerball or fountain pens!

Dip pen nib

Dip pen ink

Elastic (1 mm):  The elastic in this journal is from Tuesday Morning from years ago. Your local craft store should have basic white and/or black. White is good because they you can dye it whatever colour you need. I just lucked out with the already-green for this journal!

Beacon 3-in-1 Adhesive

Double-sided tape (used in making the back Ephemera pocket)

Fern wax seal  I can't find the exact one I have, but this one is close.

Coloured hot glue sticks (The ones I used are currently unavailable)

Tim Holtz mini paper clips

If I've left anything out that you want to know about, leave a comment below & I'll answer.

Lastly, 2 videos on how to make non-wax "wax" seals. The first with hot glue:

Here's a video tutorial from Nik with a different method:

OK, I think that's all!  

P.S. Here's a link to John Morgan's YouTube channel. 

2022 Planner, Journals, & Notebooks Line-up

  My first video in a very long time!  With a brief update at the end of the video: 

Booksmith Memorial Journal for Uncle Stephen

Booksmith Guest Book

This is a Booksmith guestbook that I made for the funeral of a friend who passed away suddenly on Monday.

It is also a Traveler's Notebook (as per usual)!

Music scrapbook paper and the pockets are from a butterfly scrapbook pad that Gladys gave me.

His name was Les and he was the husband of Gladys, one of the knitters in the Knitting Guild. He was a dear, sweet and kind man. He was hilariously funny and always had a smile. "How are you, darlin'?"  he used to say with a hug. Many of our conversations were after church in the parking lot or at a function. 

I had run into him and Gladys at the Dollar Tree. "We're just in here for a couple things," said Gladys. Les was trailing behind her with his arms full and was balancing some tissue boxes on top as she added something else. I said, "Ooooh, I like that pattern on the tissue box."  The next conversation I had with Gladys was, "Listen, Les has been saving you those tissue boxes.  I got a whole bag full of them!"  So I incorporated one into the first insert:

There are 4 inserts with room to add more. This is the center of a Cursillo gathering that Les & Gladys went to last month:

I cut out this photo printed on cardstock of Les & Gladys with Sandi,
Tammy, Betsy, & Linda all friends from St. Luke's who served on that weekend.

This is the photo behind that:

View of the river from Chanco on the James.

Back of second insert on left, cover of third insert:

Here are some photos from that insert:

With church friend Larry, who died a couple years ago.

Back of TN:

 I pulled photos and graphics from Les's Facebook page, the Cursillo site, and the church Facebook page. I did 4 inserts with different themes: the first with the photo of Les was spiritual and encouraging things that Les had posted, the second was all about Cursillo, the third one was his love of animals, and the fourth was humour-based cartoons and graphics.  Here are a few of my favourites and they give you an insight into his personality:

And finally:

I am so grateful to Nik the Booksmith to have been able to make something special for Gladys. THANK YOU!!!  Click here to learn how to make your own Booksmith journals.   For a free course on how to create Traveler's Notebooks, click HERE.