Helsinki ended up being just the thing I needed - a special artists' book treat followed by solitude and new neighbourhoods to explore on my long walks. A change in scenery often helps us rearrange the self. And as a result I'm also in dire need of a new journal! The floral journal I made for myself has now been in use just over a month and there are under ten pages left for me to fill with my tiny-ant-handwriting (reserved for journals and anxiety-ridden teenage-letters). I think I'm going to stick with the same size and binding for the next journals, since one of the reasons this has filled up so quickly is the lack of excuses for carrying it with me everywhere I go. And given that I apparently go through a journal a month, I might as well make a few in one go. Easter plans: sorted.
For the rest of you, I already have some new books in stock. These are just a tiny bit skewed - on purpose, of course. These notebooks have 100 dotted grid pages each and a diagonal pattern long stitch binding. Even the slightest change in the expected can be a powerful design element.
The endpapers in this trio vary from gold print to solid to printed handmade paper. My personal favourite is the combination of teal bookcloth and teal-striped golden brown handmade paper.
I should already be focusing on some fine binding projects, but no such luck. Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator. Perhaps that's not entirely true, as my reason for putting off the fine bindings is the flurry of interest in other matters. It's not like I'm not creating new work, it's just stuff that is less dependent on deadlines. Soon I'll cut into that luscious pink leather. Soon, I promise.