mini booklets

the first "model" of my handmade mini booklets. it's a teeny little paperback book, measuring 4 inches by 2.5 inches. the papers inside include an assortment of drawing (all-purpose, newsprint, vellum), writing, specialty (chinese calligraphy papers, fiber papers), lined and graph papers. there's a little attached booktag, to keep your place.

the booktag is made from the business reply cards that are inside lots of magazines, or that seem to always appear in my mailbox. i've always thought those are such a waste of paper -- printed on such nice cardstock, and almost always, they just get discarded, so i'm happy i thought of a way to put them to good use. part of the driving concept behind these mini booklets is how we always have bits (or in me and my boyfriend's case, huge stacks) of nice papers that seem to grow over time, faster than we can possibly use them. this is a way of re-organizing those papers into a more accessible manner, to both ourselves, and hopefully, to others. with the papers rearranged in these little collections, they're the perfect medium for doodles, sketches, and notes.

i haven't yet decided if i should just stick to this mocha cardstock as the cover for the booklets. it's simple, and i must admit that i think the biggest appeal of those fabulous moleskines is how they're simple little black books, and so the owner personalizes them with his/her own drawings, stickers etc. so i might leave the illumie bookcovers blank. i'll have to experiment with some of my other papers and cards before i make that decision.