Resilience

• 7.5" tall by 7.5" wide
• 144 pages, counting both sides
• Bound with hot press watercolor paper

Using 18-gauge brass wire and some brown-black metal patina, I created these antique-looking "staples", if you will, to use them for stitching the seam on the front cover of this thick, sturdy, square journal.

The piece of leather that is on the left side of the seam was distressed as part of another journal in this series, "Francesca".  Since I needed to create a seam to give function to its latch, I had to cut off a piece of my distressed leather...but instead of tossing it, I saved it for future use!

Little did I know that I was going to use it for the very next piece I picked up to finish, but it made sense to do so!  So, there you go!

To stitch with these handmade "staples", I use an awl to ream a hole in the leather.  Using flat-nose pliers, I bend the staple to make a hook on one end, and then I feed it through the two holes I am to staple together. Again with the pliers, I bend the other end over on the backside of the leather to complete the staple.  To further secure it, I hammer it down with my planishing hammer over my steel anvil in hopes to help the ends of the staples stick into the flesh side of the leather.

That doesn't always work, though, and so be careful when running your fingers along the inside of the staples!

And by the way, I titled this piece "Resilience" because when I do this technique, it reminds me of the first time I did it...when I was healing from some hardships and it felt like I was doing surgery to stitch my heart back up again.