This tutorial is a pair with Simone’s tutorial for a folding sketchbook. Go read her version as well!

The 5 minutes folded paper sketchbook

For this version, it is very simple! You simply use folded papers and the cover acts a little like a “folder”, grouping your experiments.

I use this method quite often, when following a Skillshare class, or attending live sessions with other artists. I love this grouping of drawings and paintings. They stay organized and the little book is quite fast to make.

The 5 steps of this technique

• Choose your cover paper. You can choose a blank page you will fill out during the challenge or a piece of art you made in some other context.
• Choose papers you enjoy working with. Cut them to the size of your cover.
• Fold all the sheets in half.
• Measure the cover, thinking about the width of the pages it will contain.
• The top page of the cover will be a little shorter than the other pages. I love this because it gives me the opportunity to write the name of the class/challenge it is dedicated to.

The kraft paper loosely bound sketchbook

These little books are quite quick to make, and they look wonderful. I use Kraft paper to make these, especially the ones from flowers. The almost perfect squares of these make it perfect for this process.

The steps of this technique

• Make sure the edges of the paper are roughly square. Or rectangular, but 4 straight lines help. This makes it easier to do the folds.
• Fold the paper in half.
• And then in half again.
• Keep doing this until you’ve reached the desired size for the sketchbook.

• Poke two holes in the middle with a large needle.
• Pass a thread through the first hole, bring it back in by the other one, and tie a knot with the beginning of the thread. It doesn’t need to be pretty, just to hold the pages together.
• You will need to “make the pages“. With a palette knife, or letter opener, pull apart the papers where the pages should be separate.

• After you’ve done all of the pages, you will have a beautiful tiny sketchbook ready to fill with wonderful marks and experiment.

A few tips

• When you fold the paper, make sure to really press down with a bone folder or a ruler. It really helps with ripping the paper.
• Once your little sketchbook it done, leave it under a heavy book for a couple of days so that the main fold really holds its shape. You can also use a large paper clip.
• When you fold the paper, pay attention to ensure the tops are aligned. After a few folds, this is quite important!

A few words on the May Sketchbook Challenge

This challenge will be held between May 23rd and May 27th over on @ThatCreative.space instagram page, with my lovely friend and partner in art Simone.

In this challenge we will be exploring ways to transform our sketchbook into a safe space where we are allowed to play and experiment in whatever way we like. At the end of this challenge you will have a beautiful book with ideas that you can use as inspiration in your art practice.

During this challenge, we will also have an email companion with more information about the daily prompts. You can sign-up here to get all of the information on the challenge!

More about bookbinding and sketchbook making

The tutorials I shared today are quite simple and quick to make. Perfect for slapping together a quick little book to follow a class or dedicate to an art challenge.

But you can also learn to make amazing sketchbooks of your own through tutorials and a little practice. I’ve put together a list of my favorite bookbinding tutorials over on Pinterest. A few of them are youtube videos tutorials on bookmaking, which I find really useful when understanding stitching.

But this time I plunged. And made mistakes. Mistakes I might have not made even will all of the research in the world! So please, enjoy my tips!

Pendant ce projet, j’ai appris beaucoup. Je fais habituellement beaucoup de recherchers. Beaucoup! Probablement trop. Parce que j’ai trop peur de faire des erreurs et je voudrais être certaine de trouver la meilleure façon de faire quelque chose.

Mais cette fois-ci, j’ai plongé. Un peu “tout croche”. Mais j’ai plongé. Et pour une fois, je n’ai pas attendu de tout savoir.

my first time with Peerless

Back in March, I won a 50 $ gift card in a giveaway by Peerless watercolors on Instagram. After much hesitation, I decided to be reasonable and got the rainbow pack. And also Autumn Chiu’s indigo because… indigo!

When I first swatched the colors, I was amazed at the intensity of the colors. But handling those sheets of pigments is a dirty affair! To my surprise, my fingers were so dirty after swatching! And right there, I understood why they also come in a travel book.

Since that day, I has the idea of putting the Peerless sheets in a little book. It was you know, a project on the “one day list”. And then I saw the video on Nadia Rausa‘s video on Peerless’ Youtube channel: How to make a Travel palette book with Peerless sheets.

En mars dernier, j’ai gagné une carte cadeau de 50 $ chez Peerless watercolors. Après pas mal d’hésitations, j’ai fini par être raisonnable et m’acheter seulement la collection “arc-en-ciel”. Et aussi l’indigo de Autumn Chiu, parce que…. de l’indigo!

Lorsque j’ai fait les swatchs de ces couleurs, j’ai été surprise par l’intensité des couleurs. Une super surprise. Toutefois, la mauvaise surprises a été de me retrouver les doigts tellement sales! À ce moment-là, j’ai compris pourquoi on peut aussi les commander dans un “travel book”.

Depuis ce jour, j’ai eu l’idée de faire un petit livre pour mettre une partie de mes feuilles de couleurs. Et bien en voyant le tuto de Nadia Rausa‘s sur la chaîne Youtube de Peerless: How to make a Travel palette book with Peerless sheets.

a few tips on bookbinding

I jumped in with my project…. and I learned so much. And I say that because I’m good at finding silver linings. But hopefully, you can learn directly from my mistakes and hopefully, make a book that is that much better than mine!

Je me suis lancée un peu trop vite cette fois-ci, mais sincèrement, je me suis bien amusée et j’ai beaucoup appris. Et comme je suis positive, j’ai appris. Alors profitez bien de mes conseils, et évitez mes erreurs!

the coptic stitch

I used a coptic stitch in this project. This is a bookbinding stitch that is pretty simple to “master”. And trust me when I say this because I kind of hate to sew!! My goto tutorial is one by Sea Lemon. I highly recommend to make your first book while watching the tutorial. (or your first few!) It is truly a skill learned by making.

J’ai utilisé la technique “coptic binding”. Alors là, je me rends compte que je ne connais pas les termes en français!!! Cette technique est relativement simple à réaliser, et croyez moi… je déteste la couture! Mon tuto préféré est celui de Sea Lemon. Et je vous recommande fortement de regarder le tuto en faisant premier livre (ou les quelques premiers!). C’est vraiment un truc à prendre en faisant!

• Sea Lemon Coptic stitch video

make a loose coptic stitch

Every time I make a sketchbook, I try to make my stitches better: more consistent and “not too loose”. Well this is a project that does not require perfect stitching. It might actually benefit from looser ones. Once you add the sheets of watercolors, the book becomes quite thick. Looser stitches will be better.

Chaque fois que je fais un livre ou un sketchbook, j’essaie d’améliorer les points, et de reserrer les points de la reliure. Et bien dans ce projet, ce n’est pas nécessaire. En fait, c’est encore mieux si les points sont un peu “loose”. Avec l’épaisseur ajoutée par les feuilles de couleur, le cahier devient assez vite épais. Alors, cela est un super chouette projet pour essayer la reliure Coptic pour la première fois.

the glue…

The glue. Oh my this is my biggest mistake. I used plain white school glue. The thing I had not thought about : the paints reactivate with water, right? And the glue is liquid…. duh! So next time? Let’s aim for double sided tape or a glue stick…. both would be much better choices!

La colle! Oh my…. ma plus grosse erreur! J’ai utilisé de la colle blanche régulière. Sans penser que les feuilles de pigment sont réactivées avec de l’eau, non? Et cette colle est liquide….. vous voyez ou je vais? Alors voilà. Je vous suggère donc de la colle en bâton ou alors du tape doube-face!

you want to try Peerless watercolor sheets? (coupon!)

So you want to try Peerless watercolor sheets? If you follow my link here, you should get a 30% off coupon (if you use it, I get a coupon on my next order too!).

For a first try, I recommend the small bonus pack, unlabeled for quite an affordable price, or mystery grab bags. Very affordable ways to try the sheets! However, the colors won’t be labeled. I’m considering getting one of those for myself, though I might wait for my subscription box and see after that if they are still there!

Vous voulez essayer les couleurs de Peerless? Avec ce lien, vous aurez un coupon de 30% sur votre première commande (et moi aussi sur ma prochaine!).

Et pour un premier essai, je vous recommande le “small bonus pack”, sans identification ou les mystery grab bags. Deux façons super abordables d’essayer les couleurs de Peerless. Par contre, les couleurs ne seront pas identifiées. Mais je suis quand même en train de considérer m’en acheter aussi! J’attendrai peut-être de recevoir ma boîte du mois de juillet par contre!