Yowza! Life has been B U S Y over in the land of Miner Book Co. Ever since a video I posted to TikTok about a book review journal went viral, it seems the pace hasn’t slowed. I’ve been feverishly making new products for my shop, along with answering customer inquiries, moving my shop to my website, and, ya know, trying to live life. I’m incredibly thankful for all the recent attention, as it’s afforded me some amazing opportunities to connect with like-minded people—people who love books, paper, and handmade goods as much as I do.

One such person is Lauraleigh, who contacted me about creating a custom book after seeing my viral video. Keeping reading for insight into the process, along with photos of the final book at the end!

Papermaking

One of my signature elements in the journals I make is the handmade paper I use on the covers. I make this paper myself, which allows an infinite amount of possibilities to create something unique and special. This is one of the things I love so much about papermaking—there is always something new to try.

Lauraleigh gave me some basic guidelines to follow for the paper we would use on the cover of her journal. She likes space, sunsets, and her favorite color is gray. I’ve long been wanting to try different techniques for creating interesting papers, and this was the perfect project to start experimenting.

I ended up settling on creating a sunset-y paper, something very colorful but with hints of gray throughout.

To achieve this look, I started with a gray paper base. I then layered three colors of pulp on top of the gray sheet while it was still in the mould & deckle. The last step was to settle the pulp so it was not only more even but also blended together better. When making paper like this, each sheet comes out very different, due to the way the pulps are layered and how they settle on the mould after blending.

Bookbinding

Once the papers dried, it was time to make the book. I picked the two best sheets from the batch I made to create the covers. The sheets ended up being more colorful than gray, so I decided to accent the inside covers with solid gray handmade paper. The spine also includes a gray thread, which ties this color scheme together nicely.

The final touch was printing the interior pages with thin lines—a new type of interior I’m now offering.

Overall, this project turned out very cool—and colorful! I will never make another book like this again, simply because the covers can never be created exactly the same again. Bespoke, at its finest!

Interested in your own custom journal? Contact me with your ideas here.