Most people have their favorite watercolor paper but it is hard to find the various brands in all travelers notebook sizes. It is even harder if you have one of the smaller pocket size and or micro size travelers notebooks. I have been using my Hobonichi for an art journal and while that works well the size is a bit bulky (Cousin Size) to carry in my purse. So I decided to make my own art journal out of my favorite Canson Motval 140 Watercolor Paper and add to my Onica Hamby Travelers Notebook. It is great paper to watercolor on. The watercolor paper is not too thick and it is perfect for folding into a more portable size. It also dries fairly quick which I find helpful when i finish working on a page. Additionally, I can easily find the paper online and at my local art store.
Instead of making a cover for my watercolor insert, I decided to purchase some great premade folders from Analog Stationers. They have a great selection of folders that offer different style pockets which I found quite useful for holding watercolor paper scraps, stickers and my favorite ruler.
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| Onica Hamby (Analog Stationers) Pocket Folders |
Supplies Needed:
Canson 140 lb Watercolor Paper (or the paper of your choice) (9"x12")
Analog Stationers Travelers Notebook Pocket Folder (I bought the personal size pocket folder for my Travelers Notebook).
Paper Cutter
Plastic Bone Folder tool
Ruler
Pencil (optional)
Step 1:
Measure your Travelers Notebook to figure out what size to cut the paper down to.
Step 2:
Lay open your pocket folder and measure it. Take a 1/4" off the top and side measurement to be sure that your folded watercolor paper will fit into the pocket folder. If you are not using a pocket folder, you can also make your insert cover by just cutting a piece of card stock to use as a cover. I just like the pocket folders because they offer the convenience of pockets to hold various supplies like stickers, ephemera and other things I like to use in my journaling.
Step 3:
Using the paper cutter, cut the paper to size. The size of the these particular papers allowed me to cut a page for my personal and a page for my passport sized Travelers Notebook. Tip: Save the scraps, they are great to use to test out your watercolors and for other projects.
Step 4:
Fold each sheet in half. Then use the plastic bone folder to score on the crease line. This helps the paper to stay folded and makes the paper fit inside the pocket folder better.
Step 5:
To finish, just insert the folded pages into the pocket folder and then insert them into the Travelers Notebook.
I don't sew or staple the paper because I want to be able to pull out the pages whenever I want. It also makes it easy to add or remove pages to the pocket folder.
I was easily able to fit these pages into my personal sized travelers notebook. Below is a video on how I set up my art journal to make it easy for me to carry with me and use. I would love for your to share links to your set up videos below.
Note: This post is unsponsored. I purchased all items myself.
