Pistil's Recycled Blank Books and Filmmaker Sam Green

I  have been busy making blank books and journals out of old library books and school books.    The first step in the process is to take apart the old book, using an exacto knife to carefully remove the text block, then comes cutting blank paper to make pages of the same size and thickness.  The fun part is choosing pages from the deconstructed book to leave interspersed among the blank pages - these are often illustrations, or pages with cool ex-library marks like a perforated name stamp.

After the paper has been cut, I glue the blank pages together (perfect binding) using a metal brush to rough up the paper fibers before applying PVA bookbinding adhesive.  I also drills holes along the edge of the binding and sews the text block for added strength, adding decorative headbands and ribbon bookmark.

Finally, I glue the newly formed blank text blocks back inside the old bindings.

One of our most loyal customers for our sketchbook-sized recycled blank books is filmmaker Sam Green.  

Here's Sam with his most recent re-bound blank book.

Sam says,

I have been buying rebound blank books from Pistil Books for years now. I am a huge fan and always tell everyone I know how great they are. I am a documentary filmmaker and I use these books to organize my life. I am decidedly analogue - I know - but it works for me. Every day, I start a new page and list the emails and calls I have to make on one side of the page and a schedule for the day on the other. I also put notes in the books. My monthly financial accounting. Photographs. I paste a calendar in the back. I have dozens and dozens of finished books, and long after the cloud is gone and all your cell phone photos have evaporated, I will still have a record of my days thru these books! They are super sturdy and wonderfully made, and totally unique. I love Amy's books and hope to be able to buy one every couple of months for the rest of my life!

A filmmaker's notebook.

Sam Green's working calendar.

Buckram Beauty

I recently added a new batch of our handmade recycled blank books made from discarded library books to our inventory.  Most of the old library books that I use have a library binding made from buckram cloth.  Buckram is a stiff cloth usually made from cotton or linen and is very durable.  Library buckram bindings are often bright colors and patterns.

Check out these beauties:

One of the great things about using a recycled book as your journal is it comes with an inspiring title - how about Within the Circle, Poems of Faith and Doubt, or Paradoxes of Order?