Getting Ready for Life Book 2013 - My Paper Choice

Tamara and all the other teachers for the Life Book lessons have you do your work on a 9 x 12 piece of paper. She recommends these to be loose and not in a bound journal. Here is a link to her video on how she bound her 2012 Life Book. I prefer my pages to be loose when I work on them, I've even taken apart my spiral bound journals to work on the pages, it's just a lot easier. I've decided for my paper I am going to use Fabriano Artistico Hot Press 140 lb Watercolor Paper. I am going to get the 22 x 30 sheets. I mainly am getting these large sheets because it is a whole lot cheaper than buying the blocks or pads. I started figuring out how many 9 x 12 pieces of paper I could get out of a 22 x 30 I realized I could get 5. I also realized I could make them 10 x 12 and still get 5.

10 x 12 is probably the size Tamara ends up with after she adds on the decorated paper to the backs of her art work adding an extra inch. This extra inch is for putting the holes in so you can use rings to bind your journal. Since I am already starting out with that extra inch I have the option of not using other papers but to paint the back and that extra inch on the front.

Also by using these big sheets I will not have to add (by gluing or taping) paper extensions if I decided on a double page layout. When I am cutting down the big 22 x 30 sheets for a horizontal double page layout I would cut a 19 x 12 size and fold it in 9 inches from the right. For a vertical double page cut a 10 x 24 piece and fold in half. Open it back up and cut away the first inch on the left side of the only the top half.

Thanks for looking!