An everyday thing. Something to grab and go. A pretty little notebook to jam into your hiking bag, with an envelope inside for leaf samples, flower petals, and blank pages to draw on. One book maker said,

I’ve already utilized one book as my gardening book where I make lists of the nursery stock that I need for the many gardens I work in. I love working with paper and nice threads…there’s something very cathartic about it.

Or …

A heartier watercolor notebook for your weekly hike to the ocean. A pocket in the back cover for photographs, color samples, and exactly the size you need it to be. Another book maker said,

I will also make some “not-so-common” (they are SPECIAL!) booklets for my personal use…I make notes on my nature observations every day as part of my daily mindfulness activity at the seashore

This was the message of our Commonplace Book workshop last weekend. We folded, stitched, folded some more, made envelopes, fold out pages for bigger projects, doubled the size of our books with dual signatures, added toned papers, decorative covers, and essentially made the book making process so easy that we each left with 5 books in under 4 hours! Hurray!

Everyone, artists and writers alike, left with finished books that included drawing paper, watercolor paper, writing paper, graph paper, and various soft covers that could be wrapped with braids and closed with a button. Flexibility, imaginative solutions, personalized sizes were all part of the message – these are books are for your own needs.

Perhaps gifts, but not the intention of the workshop. This book is for YOU!!!

…. Books.