a while ago i came across louise carmen on instagram, a lady based in paris that makes these gorgeous notebooks. she calls them "roadbooks", but ive seen them as "fieldbooks" too. either way, theyre these leather(?) cases, in which multiple notebook "inserts" are strapped into. you can take these inserts out and replace them when theyre full, change their order in your book, etc. you can choose from different types of paper, so you could have a lined notebook, a bullet journal and a sketchbook all in one!

louise carmen stands out because of her gorgeous color choices of leather, her gris-gris (little vintage charms), and her ability to create an uniquely personal experience with her customers. seeing her videos where she creates notebooks together with her customers made me feel something. as any other handmade luxuey product, its quite expensive, and i dont blame her! her pricing is absolutely reasonable for the time and energy she puts into each roadbook. but whenever i see something i cant afford, i immediately think “i bet i could make that”.

this mindset is something i could attribute to two different causes.

the first one; my dad.
as i was growing up, my dad was always DIY-ing things. i remember one summer he didnt join my mom and i on vacation, then when we got back he had built an entire garage by himself! he’s built a car and some motorcycles too… and plenty of other, sillier, things: lampshades, seats, decor… the way he’s learned to do things is mostly trial and error, and since the internet has become such a readily available thing he does google things, but that would be only the past 10 years. thats not many compared to the 40 years he didnt have that resource!

i used to help him out a lot, and it taught me that nothing is really ever “too hard”. if you just think “yeah, i could do that” and then just give it an honest shot, you’ll probably get far. the internet can always help, theres always a forum for something.

the second one; “im gay so i convince myself i can do anything”.
this one’s just a joke really, but i remember seeing this post on something, somewhere, god knows, that said something among the lines of: gay people can do anything. i did feel a moment of “aha! these people are like me!” when i first saw that joke, although i really dont know how my queerness would make me a homo universalis. ha ha.

all in all, i truly believe you can do anything with enough drive and some internet access.

and so i do! ive “upcycled” my fair share of clothing items, and i still do so whenever i notice an item no longer brings me joy. i also always DIY celebratory cards, for a more personal touch. i once made a clay candle holder for a friends birthday; it was a mushroom with a little frog sleeping under it. then, for my two year anniversary with my partner, i made them a jewellery case that resembles a batmobile (specifically from the Batman Animated series).

i do all that quite sporadically, and so i think itd be good for me to do it regularly. i always see things, such as the crafts of louise carmen, and think “i should make that”. so, ive made a little 2024 resolution for myself: id like to do a few projects this year and document these as blogposts. kind of like julie in julie & julia. i don’t know how many id do or how frequently, but i dont want to make this too intimidating for myself, so ill keep it very open. i have a few projects in mind, ranging from making a fieldbook from scratch, to making paper lanterns, to fixing some jewellery… the ideas come and go quite fast, so i have to see which ones stick around. ill write these down in my journal.

the format would be quite simple; ill write down my experiences and methods, possibly accompanied by images. in the meantime, im supposed to make a portfolio for my art and i hope to link my blog to that portfolio once its up (and once ive actually posted some projects on the blog). i believe any handmate creation can be seen as art, so it would make sense to add these to a portfolio.

but enough rambling, i should go and actually do this…