(This “SoBo Made” profile first appeared in the April 2023 issue of the South Baltimore Peninsula Post newspaper.)
Drama Mama Bookshop at School 33 Art Center (1427 Light St.) is a vibrant studio/workshop that could easily be your go-to place for handmade journals and planners. It’s cozy, colorful, and smells of books.
Alisa Brock, owner of the studio and an author, channels her creativity into each of the journals she makes. I sat down with Alisa recently to find out more about her story and her passion for bookbinding. – Enakshi Roy
Creativity born from resilience
Alisa moved to Baltimore in 2005. Originally from New Orleans, she had to evacuate after Hurricane Katrina and moved briefly to Texas. When she lost her house and could not go back to New Orleans, she followed a mentor here in Baltimore and joined the theater department at Coppin State University. “That’s where the drama in the Drama Mama comes from,” says Alisa.
Following college, Alisa experimented with theater. But, after the sudden death of a close friend, Alisa veered in a different direction: making her own journals. “I had all these feelings, and I was sitting and crying. That’s when it hit me, this urge to make something of that pain,” she explains.
Alisa had paper, glue, and yarn, so she sat on the floor and started making journals. Soon she had a pile of about 20. Alisa liked the look of those handmade journals and thought maybe she could start selling them.
Dovecote Cafe in Reservoir Hill was one of the first places that carried them. She was working out of her house and going to various street fairs and pop-ups. Her sales started to pick up. Alisa moved into School 33 in 2021. The studio provides her with more space to produce her journals and doubles as her store.
Alisa feels that confidence and a willingness to innovate are key ingredients for success, especially for Black women entrepreneurs. “Having enough confidence in a product that you want to put out there in the world is very important. That took time for me,” she says. “And always innovate. You grow along with your product. Be accepting that your product is going to evolve over time, and that you don’t have to be perfect right now.”
Journal making step-by-step
Alisa starts each journal with the cover design. Her inspiration could be a quote or an image that she first sketches and then renders digitally. And from that digital design, Alisa does the laser cutting.
Once the laser-cut cover looks right, she moves on to binding. One machine cuts the blank paper, while another one counts the paper to ensure a consistent number of sheets in every journal. Sometimes the journal’s blank pages are separated by little slips of colored or textured paper.
The back cover is typically made with a thicker wood to provide firm support when writing. These back covers are cut to the desired size and then hand-stamped with the brand name. Then to set off the cover design, a color for the background is chosen.
The final step is punching holes through the paper and covers for the binding, which is made of coiled wire. Once the design is cut out, the journal can be bound within minutes. “If you can braid hair, you can bind a book,” says Alisa with confidence.
Unique materials, custom designs
Alisa experiments with different materials – bamboo, mahogany, even clipboards – to find out what is durable and what customers like. She enjoys the experimentation and education that help her improve her craft.
“Bookmaking has been around for millennia, and I’ve learned some of the oldest stitches. But I still go and study. I went to Canada for a bookbinding class where I learned more about what I’m interested in so that I can produce something better.”
It is the many options available for customization that separates Drama Mama from other journal makers. Customers can build their own journal by choosing a cover, background color, and inserts that Alisa binds together.
Alisa also makes it easy for customers to build their own journal with her assistance. She offers a 30-minute, one-on-one session where she takes customers through the whole binding process using designs they choose. The fee for the session ($20) is applied to the cost of the journal produced.
Connecting through journaling
Journals, of course, are made to be filled with personal, handwritten words and images.
Alisa’s own journaling was inspired by her mother who documented over 40 years of her life onto paper. “She taught me to do the same. One of the few things I brought with me after Katrina was a notebook,” she recalls. And she still has it and reads it.
Some of her customers come back to the shop and show Alisa what they have written. She said this has been the best part of her journal making. “I have a couple who just got married and they write notes to each other every morning. It’s so cute.”
One woman who bought a journal came in on Christmas to tell Alisa that she had planned to use it as a cookbook, but she kept writing little notes in it and so it became her kitchen journal with more than just recipes.
Journaling as a regular practice does not come easily to everyone. Alisa advises beginners to “start with a sentence. If a sentence feels like too much, start with a word. Don’t feel pressured by trying to fill up pages. Your goal is to just write it. What you write doesn’t have to be perfect. Your handwriting doesn’t have to be great. Put the date on top and just start off with one sentence.” Putting your own energy into the journals can serve as a further impetus to write, she adds.
Visit the Drama Mama website to schedule a visit, book a journal-making session, or order one of Alisa’s many journals.
South Baltimore Peninsula Post 
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