Converting a watercolor block into a smaller sketchbook

Back in the day I bought a rather large watercolor block. The paper (even though high weight) was not of the best quality, so I didn’t use it as much. So I decided to convert this block in a small watercolor notebook for fast sketches.

Here is the block:

I cut the pages down to 4 smaller pages each with 12 x 17 cm. With a corner punch I rounded off two corners. For this sketchbook I prepared 20 pages, 1 cover and 1 back.

From a piece of scrap paper I made a guide for punching holes in the spine edge of the pages, setting the holes 1 cm apart.

Stacking 4 pages each time, I punched the holes.

For the spine I made a wire spiral, wrapping the wire around a thick pencil with 1 cm distance between the single windings.

Then, after staking my pages, I “screwed in” the spiral into the holes, cut of the wire and bent the ends to form small loops. The result is a small transportable sketchbook.