I have been exchanging art with people on Instagram for 2 years now- it started as an exercise to relieve loneliness when we first moved up from Edinburgh. It is such fun and I have learned a lot aboutworking in different formats and ways of working – Artist trading cards, postcards, journal pages, pocket letters and then over the summer letter journals
These are 8″x4″ and are made as collaborative pieces that fit in a business envelope to keep the cost of postage down -4 sheets of paper 8″x8″( and a cover) sewn together
I like the idea of them travelling – the relative cheapness of the miles – the fact that other people work in them and the opportunities for me to doodle away.
By the end of the process I was cutting , stamping holes and ripping pages – in my books.
A selection of my covers from over the last few months 
I have been teaching occasionally at a friends art group in Edinburgh. The organiser has asked me to do a session on letter journals to encourage collaborative work within the group. The sessions are 2 mornings with potentially 40 people
Paper cut to size and ready to make up
Sewn and some covers decorated
45 flower doodles
Striped pages
35 journals down 10 to go 
I hadn’t intended to work in them but – you know me (lol!) And there was a lot of scrap paper created- converting from A4 into inches. And what else is a girl to do watching the TV in the evenings – Jon and Deb were amused any way
You can find a really nice video which shows how to make a letter journal on YouTube – this is by my Instagram friend Cfalbro – she isn’t the originator of the format – but it is easy to follow
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