In the window of bookmaker Angela Liguori’s studio, in the Boston area, stacks of colorful ribbons tantalize passersby like bins of gelato in her native Rome, where Liguori’s mother, a seamstress, weaned her on the beautiful, the tactile, and the tailored.  At the workbench where Liguori sews pure, rich materials into books that her customers often use for keepsake journals, she has a photo of her mother. “Fabric isn’t the same as paper, but they’re connected,” says the bookmaker, who learned her art in Bologna before becoming an artist-in-residence at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. “I learned to appreciate them both by touch. When you hold a book, you can feel the craftsmanship in your hands.”

Want to create your own journal? Get Liguori’s hand-sewn journal how-to.