a new japanese sketchbook

Inspired by all the international moleskine exchanges that seem to be taking place, I recently ordered myself this exciting new sketchbook which arrived this morning. There are sixty pages of beautiful cream paper in one big, long accordion fold, so that you can make one long beautiful picture.

I usually work in an A5 ringbound book, which I use for notes, scribbles, doodles and ideas as well as sketches and drawings. However, I'm going to limit this one to drawing and painting, with each drawing leading on from the next: a completely new approach for me, and, hopefully, a productive discipline. My aim is to add to it at least every couple of days and to treat it as completely separate to my other work, to allow it to evolve by itself, and, well, just to see what happens. I don't plan to exchange it with anybody other than my various selves.

And now to something much more sparkly:

Some new voiles, waiting to be made into autumn leaf embroidered bags. In between shopping, washing and rushing about this morning I did some exciting new samples with voile, bondina and hand-embroidery, and I can't wait to get busy.