Sniff, Cough, Snuffle.... and what I did on Monday!

Well, I've just had two "down days", with a rotten cold.  I spent yesterday in bed, feeling truly rotten (who invented that cruel phrase "It's only a cold"? Colds can make you feel so awful!)

However, I made a good start on Monday, working on a commission for a friend.  She asked me to make her a diary/planner, similar to one I made last year. 

A Star-Spangled Planner!

The inside of the planner (sorry about the blurry photo!).  The diary is in the centre, with the large silver star on the cover.  The notebook is on the right and the pockets for notes and photo to the left. 

I used a long-stitch binding for this diary, with some silver thread included, for a bit of sparkle. 

The lady that commissioned this was really pleased with it - so was I!  Now all I have to do is make one for another person, that is "similar but different"! 

My friend would like her folder to be covered in black (we agreed on a rather nice black silk) and the diary and notebook inside to be pink (I have some pink leather, from a re-purposed bag!).  It's to have a tall, slim diary, a tall slim notebook and space for keeping bits of paper, business cards and a photo, also a pen-holder. 

I have managed to finish the layout for the diary pages - tricky stuff, since it has to be bound in sections and the pages must all be correct, front and back, when they are stacked inside each other; that must happen for each section.  I made a paper mock-up, with the correct number of sheets per section, in which I sketched out the layout, then went through and numbered each page.  When I took it apart, I could see exactly where each page would go so that everything flowed correctly once it was assembled. 

Then I had to set up the pages as Tables and put in all the headings - Months - and days of the week, with their correct dates.  Luckily I had done this last year, for the diaries I made, so I was able to re-work those files; I had to make the tables thinner, since last year's diaries were A6-sized pages, and then alter each date to next year's calendar and make sure the Bank Holidays and other important dates were on the correct days. 

Still, once it was done, it looked good.  It took a bit of messing about to make it all print up nicely, but it's come out well enough. 

Here are the pages of one section, being folded.  Perhaps this makes it easier to see what I mean about numbering the pages, as you see that P116 is next to P137 (P117 faces P136; it is on the back of P118, which faces P135.... ).  Not so straightforward as it might first seem!

Here are all the folded sections, in my mini-press, being flattened nicely, before the front edges were cut level. Each page sticks out a little more, as you go towards the middle of the section, because of the thickness of the paper, so they all have to be trimmed level before - or after - binding.  I don't have a "nipper" to trim the whole book block, so I prefer to trim the sections by hand, with a very sharp knife! 

If you want to see what I mean about the pages sticking out, try folding 3 or 4 sheets in half, then tucking them inside each other, like a book - look along the front edge and you'll see how they are "stepped".

Parts of the dismantled handbag, with the pink leather and some lining sections, which I will use to create pocket linings in the planner folder.

I was pleased with my progress on Monday - so I've been quite frustrated to get nothing at all done in the last two days; I was rather counting on a couple of afternoons of hard work, to get the diary bound and covered.  Blah!

The good news is that the cold is going away now.  I need to keep out of chilly draughts and damp mists for a while and remember my asthma inhalers, but I think (shhhh, not too loud!) I'm on the mend ...