During the initial consultation the client requested a closure of some kind, and I proposed a magnetic enclosure. I found a small (1cm) disc magnet at my suppliers. You get a dozen for around $5, and I thought it was reasonable - I would be able to make 6 closures (it takes two per closure). My thought was to embed the magnets in the board and so I proceeded to dig out a magnet-size hole. As you can see it worked! What I didn’t realize was that the magnets wouldn’t be strong enough to attract each other through two thicknesses of leather and some marbled paper. Well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t panic, and I did the only thing that I could think of - I called the vendor. Now at this point you should know that when I’m upset or nervous I ramble, ramble, ramble, ramble. I amaze even myself with my ability to string sentences together without pausing for breath - eventually I become dizzy because of the lack of oxygen and my speech slows down. It was at this point that the unfortunate person on the other end of the phone told me he would get someone on the phone who could help me. *&^$%@#!!!!! I had to explain my plight all over again to someone new - and just when I was gaining this person’s sympathy (not!!). To his credit, the new customer service person didn’t let on that I would be a water cooler story later that day and tried to help (he recommended I test the too-many-layers theory). After I hung up with him, I went into the studio to solve the problem. I used 100% PVA to paste a third magnet over the top of the one embedded in the flap, and all was well.
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