Elevate Difference

Small Fomat Handmade Journal

I was a bit surprised this month when a children’s story book, in particular Things I Think Of: Sullivans’ Associates Storybook 6A, formerly the property of Rockwood School District No. 27 in Portland, Oregon, showed up with my review materials. Perhaps our benevolent book fairy had lost her mind? As usual, things were just as they should be and it was my mind that had gone south for the winter… er, summer. It turns out that Portland’s Ex Libris Anonymous makes their handmade journals from recycled books and intersperses seventy-five sheets of acid-free paper with pages from the original text.

Before journaling, I could ponder the uses of a stick found on the beach in Chapter One. “Can a chick sit on a stick?” I don’t advise it. If my imagination is on the fritz, I can flip to an excerpt from chapter four and see “the biggest bird Bill can think of.” But don’t get too attached to what’s in mine because each journal is a unique product, and your book could be completely different. Ex Libris’ website boasts blank, silk screened, large-format, smaller and even (gasp) nudie journals, making for the environmentally conscious journal-er, doodler or serious artist to get a paper product fix with relatively less tree carnage.

Written by: H. V. Cramond, July 7th 2007