This little Handbook journal is one of my favorite sketchbooks.

In this video flip-through, I invite you to take a peek at some of my most recent pages.

Some of the bonuses of this journal:

The size of this journal makes it super portable, the elastic strap assures all the pages remain intact and compressed so there aren’t any dog-eared mishaps, and the 5.5″ page size keeps compositions to a manageable size that can be completed in shorter periods of time.

A potential issue to note:

I mostly used pencil and marker in this journal, so I occasionally experienced a bit of bleed-through. In those cases, I just doubled up the pages between compositions and gave myself a clean surface for the next composition.

An interesting observation:

I started this book in 2016 and finished it in 2022. The stretch makes for an interesting transition in the middle of the book. There is quite a difference in my style, and it’s easy to see how I was really just trying to find my own voice in those early years.

For my most recent pages, here are some product links for materials I used:

• Handbook Travelogue*
• The markers I used aren’t anything fancy – just these from Amazon.*
• Koh-I-Noor graphite holder and fillers*
• Mechanical pencil*
• Posca acrylic paint pen*
• Beam Paints metallic Dreamers Gold watercolor

Each month in the INSPIRED community we work with a new journal prompt.

Some of the pages from this journal were fodder for a prompt and many emerged from experimentation with one of the monthly themes. In this particular journal, I spent several pages playing with the idea of color blocking, which was our prompt for December, 2022.

I’d love to hear what you’re doing in your journals lately and what materials have ignited an exciting creative spark in you!

*Amazon links are affiliate links and when you shop through them I do earn a tiny commission. Thank you for helping me keep the studio AC running! 😉