Zutter Bind-It-All Travel Art Journal

Make a Professional Quality Journal

Books you bind with the Zutter Bind-It-All have the look and feel of the highest quality journals or notebooks available - with the added advantage that the cover designs are totally yours. These journals make impressive gifts and keepsakes.

But sometimes, you should make something just for yourself. Therefore - this art travel journal is for the artist in you!

This 5 x 7 ½-inch journal is perfect for jotting notes and project ideas or making small sketches when you're on the road. The covers are durable clipboard wood decorated with digital designs; though you could certainly decorate them any way you like.

Other Cover Decoration Ideas

Cover with fabric, scrapbook papers or hand made papers.

Add embellishments like little bows or 3D elements - you could even attach a pen or pencil with a decorative cord or chain so you're always ready to sketch on the go.

The journal is bound with the compact and versatile Zutter Bind-It-All version 2.0.

My scrapbook layouts for the cover designs use Scrap Girls digital design products as well as a paper design from House of 3.

You'll find the digital products I used listed after the tutorial.

Travel Journal Materials

• Two Zutter 5 x 7 ½-inch clipboard wood covers
• Thirty to forty 4 13/16 x 7 ?-inch interior pages - I cut mine from an artist sketch pad, but you can buy pre-cut Zutter papers to save time
• Two digital layouts for the outside covers and two for inside printed on 120 g/m2 paper - this paper is heavier than standard computer paper (75 g/m2) but not as stiff as card stock (225 g/m2)
• Pioneer Glue Runner
• Glue stick
• Scissors
• Coarse flexible nail file
• ColorBox Pigment Ink Pad - copper
• Liquitex Super Heavy Gel
• Krylon Clear Matte Acrylic Spray
• Zutter black 1-inch diameter OWire
• Jewelry wire cutter
• Zutter Bind-It-All
• Optional: paper cutter if you cut the interior pages yourself

Assembling the Travel Journal

Design and print your covers onto pure white 120 g/m2 paper.

Tip: Design your cover layout on a 5 1/8 x 7 5/8-inch Photoshop document but constrain the design to the center 5 x 7 ½ inches with a matching color filling the entire background layer below. The excess background will be trimmed away later.

This makes it easier to align the paper over the clipboard covers (and not have any white paper show).

Cut cover designs to 5 1/8 x 7 5/8 inch.

Use the glue runner to run a line of adhesive around the edge of a clipboard wood cover making sure to get all the way to the edge. Use the glue stick to zig zag glue across the interior part of the clipboard wood. Position one of your cover designs and smooth down.

Repeat with the other three cover designs taking care that they are oriented correctly - front outside and inside designs as they should be read or viewed on one clipboard cover and back designs on the other piece of wood.

Trim away excess paper with scissors. Use nail file to rough the paper edges and round the covers' corners slightly.

Ink the cover edges with copper ink.

In a well ventilated area, spray all sides of the covers with two coats of matte acrylic spray, letting each coat dry in between. This waterproofs the printed design and prevents the colors from running.

Use your finger to run some heavy acrylic gel around the edges to prevent the paper from lifting at the edges. Let dry.

Follow the Bind-It-All instructions to perforate the wood covers and interior pages.

Tip Don't forget to move the perforation setting from C (for cover) to D (for interior pages) so that the slightly narrower interior pages will be perfectly centered in the book when spiral-bound.

Tip Assemble the book as you want it bound: front cover, interior pages and back cover. Then, as if it were already bound, take hold of the back cover and swing it around to lie on top of the front cover.

This assures that the covers and pages will turn freely and the wire "works" will be hidden inside the back cover.

If that explanation is not clear to you, examine the little instruction booklet that came with your Bind-It-All. Flip open the back cover and you'll see (to use an electrical analogy) where the male and female parts of the OWire have been squeezed together.

This places the wire "works" in the least conspicuous place - inside the back cover.

This is a nice design feature which office centers don't typically provide when you take books to be bound by them.

Cut an eight loop length of OWire and slide the prongs through the perforations of the assembled covers and then pages. Follow the Zutter instructions to adjust the Closing Wall for 1-inch OWire.

Place the assembled book between the two Closing Walls and press down on the Bind-It-All levered handle to close the OWire and complete your journal.

Since eight wire loops will not fit all at once, begin on one end closing six loops. Then reposition the book to close the last two loops. This assures all the loops will be equally rounded.

Now you're ready to grab your Travel Art Journal and sketch away while you're on the go!

Digital Designs Used in This Project

From Scrap Girls:

• background paper from Syndee Nuckles' Well Traveled Collection and "Art" word tag from her French Market Collection
• "Travel" and "Journal" labels from Erica Hite's Destinations Collection and
• brass screw from her Love Always Collection
• compass embellishment from Jacelen Deinema's Wild Nature Collection
• post card and stamp from Valerie Randall's SG Events 08 Collection
• stacked papers and photo frames from Shalae Tippetts' Cruising Collection
• wrinkled tape from Angie Briggs' Scenic Route Collection

House of 3: brown textured paper for inside covers.

Also from Scrap Girls: I used Christy Vanderwall's Photoshop Actions to track and record all the digital supplies I selected so that I can easily credit these talented designers. What a timesaver Christy's automated scripts are!

Visit our Digital Scrapbooking Index Page for more tips and techniques.