I love binding, as you can probably tell, but somehow binding these sketchbooks are especially calming. I’d sit there, crease and fold the pages, and the best part is when I begin sewing them. It’s a strange, cathartic feeling. It’s when my heart beat slows down, and the pace of life around me seems to slow down as well. And the beautiful white paper, onto white Japanese covers, and finally the snapping of that gorgeous RED Japanese elastic band that I had so carefully selected- it all seems so clean and simple, it’s a feeling that’s difficult to describe, a sense of satisfaction.

There were many factors that went into deciding the final outcome and design of these sketchbooks, and it all goes back to perhaps 5 years ago. Here’s a little insight into the history of me running simplr.my. I’ve personally import these gorgeous Japanese cover fabrics for the albums, boxes and other heirlooms that I make. I particularly fell in love with this almost pure white canvas material, and ordered a roll of them. My plan was to create a full range of albums & boxes, dubbed them the Artisan Pure range, but never gotten around to getting this done. So, there sat this roll of pure white canvas material for over 5 years, untouched, till one day I started my hunt for a sketchbook and saw that another company had used white fabrics for their sketchbooks. I thought they looked gorgeous, and I’ve even had several feedback about how some folks might be concerned about staining the whites of the covers, but I always thought that the ‘dirtier’ or the more stained the cover is, it adds to the uniqueness of your sketchbook, something that no one else can emulate or replicate, the ‘patina’ if you will that develops only by you, in the journey of you creating art in that sketchbook of yours.