Woot, my Sketchbook is taking shape!  I cut the threads binding the original paper, ripped those flimsy pages out, and used an 11x14 pad of Strathmore 100 lb. smooth paper to create 16 new pages within my Sketchbook Project 2011 sketchbook.  It was easy peasy.  I even left every other spread with a 4-inch flap that will open up for expansion ~~ how cool, right?  Then, ... I had the "bright idea" of leaving my spreads unbound until completed, to make them easier to work with ~~ BIG MISTAKE ... but it sounded like such a great idea!

Ohhh, it was looking so good ... until I realized this first "spread" I had completed was SUPPOSED to bind as the FIRST and LAST page of the book, )-:..  What a bummer realization.  (And, even more embarrassing, I was a typesetter in the printing industry for several years, in my previous life, and should have KNOWN how signatures fit together!)  I'll either have to figure out a way to make a 'dual-bound signature" ... or either begin again!  SO, fellow Sketchbookers ... don't make this same mistake, please!

So ... here is my first page, on the back side of my first spread ... if I can figure out how to bind it in the journal:

And here is my first spread, again, if I can figure out how to bind it:

This photo is showing a bit of the "cutting edge" overlapping, with the glass and hand, but hopefully you get the idea.  I still have words to add to the "liquid" in the glass, but otherwise it was complete.

Here's a picture of this spread with the flap open:

NOTE TO SELF: remember that spreads are not exactly "spreads" til bound!

Happy Journaling, and Artfullness to each of you!