Sometimes its good...

... to climb out of your comfort zone and try something new.. something a bit different...

.. which is why I bought this little 15x15cm sketchbook:

This sketch book is almost half the size of my preferred choice- 25x25cm... but the biggest (and slightly intimidating) difference is that it is not spiral bound!  Lovely sewn signatures... it is clean, pristine and chunkier than I imagined it to be when I ordered it online... - about an inch thick...
I looked at it for about 2 weeks before I picked it up and said sternly to myself - 'its just a book... something to play in... man up and do something to it'

so I did....

firstly I cut these up - postcard size pages that have been on my desk waiting for 'the perfect project'... (putting them to good use and tidying my desk -bazinga!)

Little lift up pages/spaces for hidden journaling/notes etc.... I stuck them in with Washi Tape so that they could be moved if need be....

 

and then I started painting pages, just randomly painting them - not thinking too much - just putting colour onto the pages - blank enough so that I could work on top of it at a later date...

.. on this background I´ve used an idea that Junelle Jacobsen showed for creating a background - entrance tickets (though she left hers sticking up a little at the edges - I preferred mine fully stuck down.. smoother) - and I have whole roll of  engrance tickets that need using up so I covered the entire double spread with them... (i could´ve covered every page in this book and I would still have tickets left! lol)..
The letters are stamped with a set of letters that I keep in their box and just ink them up - I like the way they stamp up as a block (and the whole set was only £1!!)

.. and once I started altering and working in the book I couldn't stop.... and I'm still playing in it - I'll show you some more pages in a few days...

I'm so happy I moved away from my normal sketchbook size and into something new - I use this book in a completely different way - its almost like a journal... a play book - my 25x25cm sketchbook will always be my 'working' book...

and thats a good thing...