Introducing Greenleaf & Blueberry Handmade Sketchbooks

The perfect sketchbook is hard to find, especially if you are a watercolor artist.  If you've read my post on choosing the perfect sketchbook, you know the struggle is real, despite all the options.

What I look for in a sketchbook:

• Archival
• Artist quality materials (I want my practice to be on the same materials as my finished work)
• 90 lb. watercolor paper (any thicker and it becomes quite bulky with fewer pages)
• Hot Press watercolor paper (sometimes cold press or rough though)
• Durable yet flexible binding (I want it to lay flat while I work, but be able to withstand travel)
• Attractive
• OPTIONS (sometimes I want portrait, sometimes landscape, sometimes pocket sized, sometimes folio, more pages or less, cold press or hot, or rough...)
• Small business made and designed
• Made in USA

I could never find a sketchbook line that checked all of my boxes.  So, for years I made my own.  Those because prototypes, each one better than the previous.

Introducing Greenleaf & Blueberry Sketchbooks

At last, we at G&B are delighted to share our own line of sketchbooks with you.  Each sketchbook is made by hand in our studios using the highest quality materials and traditional techniques.

Our sketchbooks are designed to provide you with lots of options so that you can choose, very specifically, which size, orientation, paper finish, and thickness is right for you.  They are designed to be uncompromising in quality, allowing you to sketch, experiment, and practice on the same quality of paper you do finished work on.  They are also designed to be durable, carried around wherever your journey takes you, meant to be worn and used.  We've sought to create a top quality sketchbook that is hell-for-stout instead of being too precious to besmirch.

Our Current Offering:

We currently offer Accordion and Codex Sketchbooks.  Accordion Sketchbooks have no binding, but are a single folded piece of Arches watercolor paper that allow you to work with either Landscape or Portrait orientation.  Codex Sketchbooks are bound at the spine.  Both feature durable yet flexible covers with a cloth wrapping.

For Accordions, we currently offer these options:

Size: 4x6"
Paper Finish: Hot Press, Cold Press, or Rough

For Codexs, we currently offer these options:

Size: 5x7"
Paper Finish: Hot Press, Cold Press, Rough
Orientation: Portrait, Landscape (Coming Soon!)
Thickness: Backpacker (58 page faces), Dayhiker (94 page faces)

More sizes will be available soon in both sketchbook styles. 

How we operate:

Greenleaf & Blueberry is a small handmade business located on the Western Slope of Colorado.  We offer handmade artist/professional quality watercolors and sketchbooks, along with a selection of carefully curated top quality accessories.  We use natural materials wherever we can and treat our highly trained employees with gratitude and respect.  Our products are made slowly and carefully by hand in small batches.  We prioritize quality over quantity and we always will.  

Again, we work in small batches.  One week we may do a run of Accordion Sketchbooks, the next week will be a run of Codex Portrait Sketchbooks.  Quantities are always limited because our products are handmade and our skilled staff is small.  We generally re-stock our online shop every two weeks.  The best way to learn what we will have available coming up is to subscribe to our Newsletter, published every two weeks, just ahead of our shop re-stock.

We hope you love these sketchbooks as much as we do!  Please, please send us pictures of your sketchbooks as they get broken-in, go on adventures with you (even if it's just to the backyard), and get filled with images brought to life by your brush.  It delights us to no end to see our products in use!

Happy Trails,