I MADE IT MYSELF
The Age, A2
December 10, p 10, 2005

What: Handmade Journals
Who: Louise Jennison and Gracia Haby (hammer & daisy)

Gracia and I studied Painting at RMIT together. We've always used blank books to write or collage in. We started our business, hammer & daisy, in 2003 because we couldn't find the sorts of journals we really wanted.

We received a scholarship to study bookbinding in switzerland, where we studied various design techniques that we later applied to journal making. Each journal lays out completely flat, which means you can sketch, write or draw right into the spine.

We make three different size, square knot journals (A4, A5, A6) and each one is made entirely by hand. We hand-fold two kinds of archival quality paper, and for an A4 size, Gracia ties 164 small, square knots that form the spine of the book. Making a journal from start to finish is pretty tough on our hands. Christmas is a busy time and we've been making lots of journals over the past two months - working long hours. Luckily, we love what we do. It's a great feeling when we've finished a batch of beautifully crafted journals and say: "We made them".

Frances Atkinson