Another great Sketchbook Sneak Peek from Design Sponge, this time with Lisa Congdon, whose Collection a Day blog was one of my faves.
Why do you use a sketch book?
My sketchbook is almost exclusively for my personal doodling, idea generation, and, of course, stress relief! I feel like it’s important to have a space to go to get my ideas out, like when I have a flash of inspiration I record it in my sketchbook. I used to not keep a sketchbook, but I have found that it is really useful and after awhile it can become addicting. I also use my sketchbook to work through any angst I’m having. I tend to make really detailed drawings in my sketchbook as a way of meditating.
I had a fun find over the weekend. I was in a small art supply store that happened to have a nice selection of notebooks, including some gorgeous sketchbooks from Bison Bookbinding, which I’d never heard of. I think this store must have decided to focus on these more unique items instead of more generic brands like Moleskine, as the larger selection of Moleskines they once carried had dwindled down to a few random ones on an out of the way shelf. But I was thrilled that among those stragglers were 3 old Modo & Modo pocket sized squared notebooks. I almost jumped for joy when I picked them up and saw the nice tight corners with no cover overhang, and that je ne sais quoi that differentiates them from what Moleskine is churning out now. And they weren’t even over-priced– $12 each, less than they list for now. They weren’t marked, so I was expecting the store to be one of those places that jacks up the price– I’ve seen some places asking $15 for the standard pocket size notebooks.
I was very pleased with my find. It’s happened in a couple other places, often dusty and cluttered office supply stores where artsy fancy notebooks aren’t their bread & butter. Every time I find some “original” Moleskines, I think it will be the last time, but I keep having these nice surprises. I’m sure there are still more gems out there to reward patient searchers!
“This notebook was owned by the 19th Century poet, preacher, and naturalist, George Crabbe. The binding was damaged, and split along the joint, and some of the sections were loose. However, of most concern were the loose plant and insect specimens that were pressed between the pages.”
I’ve gotten questions from readers before about alternatives to some of the pricy leather notebook covers out there. I haven’t spotted that many cheap ones for sale, until recently discovering Davis Leatherworks, which seems to have some nice-looking and inexpensive covers. But if you enjoy creativity and you’re willing to put in a little effort, you can make your own for a reasonable price. Julie at The Gadgeteer has a great tutorial with detailed information on how to do it: Make it yourself – Midori Traveler’s style leather Moleskine Cahier or Field Notes notebook cover
You’ll start with this:
And end up with this:
The design can be adapted to any size notebook. Some of the low cost depends on making more than one notebook cover, but think how excited all your notebook-loving friends will be when you give them your extra handmade notebooks as holiday gifts!
This week’s addict likes notebooks so much, she started her own blog to celebrate them! It’s called For the Love of Notebooks. She writes:
What is really the appeal with a notebook? For me, I think it’s about a deep desire to fill those pages with words and (preferably) grand thoughts and ideas. And of course… The sound. That sound thin paper makes when you have written on them, especially with a ballpoint pen, and flip through them. It is the sound of accomplishment I guess, that you have managed to fill those pages with something. I prefer thin paper because of that beautiful sound. I don’t mind show-through at all.
There’s just so many possibilities when you pick up a new notebook. What will happen in this journal? What will I write about here? Currently I have a journal and seven other notebooks that I use for different purposes. It’s also satisfying to see a stack of filled notebooks, not just because of the accomplishment you have done, but also the memories and feelings attached to each of the books.
Here’s a few from her collection:
You can see lots more in her posts My Journals and Currently Using, among others. Thanks for sharing your addiction, Julia!
The beautiful notebooks above only hint at the amazing work inside them… but they also come with a sad story. Dan Eldon was a young photojournalist who was killed by an angry mob in Somalia in 1993, along with 3 of his colleagues.
“Dan left behind seventeen bound leather journals filled with drawings, writings and photographs which constructed vivid collages of the world he saw. These journals chronicle a child’s journey into manhood, visual editorials on society, and homages to strangers and loved ones. Dan’s images represent his enduring belief that every individual has a creative spark within that can transform their environment for the better. “
You can also see more at Dan Eldon » Select Journal Pages. The website is a beautiful tribute to an amazingly talented and brave young man who died far too young.
One of my old posts that gets the most responses is 10 Uses for Spare Notebooks. I’m not sure why, but I guess a lot of people struggle to come up with ideas for what to write in notebooks, to the point that they actually search online for solutions to this problem and end up at my website. But there are a lot of other people out there who have no problem coming up with new and interesting things to write about in notebooks, sometimes devoting a single notebook to a very specific subject or project. Here’s one such use– Austin Kleon’s birthing class notebook:
“I was cleaning my office and found the notebook I kept when my wife and I went to birthing classes. It’s one of those notebooks that puts me right back in the room where I filled it. (BTW: You forget 99.9% of this stuff when you’re in the room.)”
Read more at Birthing class notebook. I actually think this is a great idea for a notebook, as any documentation of a child’s birth and development is fun for the child to see later, and this looks like a great combination of scrapbook and sketch-noting.
How about you? What’s the oddest or most specific single subject you’ve ever devoted a notebook to?
I stumbled across this wonderful collection while searching for info about Edward Weston’s daybooks. I never did find a photo of those, but I’m so glad I found the Knitorialist! She says:
I started [keeping diaries] at 40. Whatever diaries I kept before that time were regularly disposed of, thinking they contained secret thoughts I didn’t want anyone else to know. I realize now there were no real secrets in those books, just private thoughts that in retrospect weren’t of interest to anyone but me. My books are divided into three categories: early spiral bound notebooks with masked versions of the truth, current journals with stark truths, and so-called “workbooks” which contain fodder and junk and can occasionally be mined for a nugget or two. Whatever. There are a lot of notebooks.
I love notebook collections with lots of variety, but pictures like these appeal to me even more. Years and years of consistency, all lined up. And from what’s she’s written above, there must be quite a few more where these came from!
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