Sketchbook Tuesday - snow

Yes, it is still very cold here. And yes, we are still getting snow on top of the snow we already had. It feels as if the earth has somehow shifted so that we are nearly a polar region now, a frozen tundra, a barbed wire fence the only thing separating us from the north pole.

Saturday afternoon I sat on the couch and did this snowy sketch looking out the living room window at our neighbor's yard across the road. It was sketched with black cherry colored pencil and then washed with watercolor in a sketch journal I made using a recycled book.
I realized that I hadn't shared my latest book making project here. This is the cover. It is a book I picked up at a local thrift store. I liked the title and cover, plus it was a good size for me, about 5.5 x 8 inches. I glued a strip of marbled paper to the spine in order to cover the words there and to give it a little extra reinforcement as it was pretty worn. I also used an old piece of ribbon to make a book mark.
This is the inside front cover. Again, some marbled paper that I had left over from a project I did with Kiddo a couple of years ago. I collaged another piece of the ribbon and a quote that was in the front matter of the original book. And I wrote my name and contact information here, after I took the photo though.
I wanted to try out the idea of using my sketchbook as a planner as well so I used some graph paper I had on hand for a signature in the front and at the back. I pasted monthly small calendars on the front pages for planning notes and left the graph paper signature at the back for scribbling ideas. The rest of the book is filled with Canson Edition paper in a vanilla color. It is a multi-media paper and I am really liking it for sketch journaling paper.
This is the back inside cover, again with the marbled paper end pages and I fashioned a pocket to hold loose papers and business cards. Don't ask me how I figured out to make the pocket - I'm not even sure myself, but it works!

I am enjoying using this journal, not just for sketching but as an everything book. And after working on paper of my choosing it would be difficult to go back to a commercially made sketchbook. So if this one takes me through this winter I will need to be on the lookout for another book to recycle for a spring time journal. And I hope spring shows up very soon!