I’ve just bought a pack of these for the designers at work.  Such a good idea and yet so simple.  The idea for The Storyboard Book came about a few years ago when the creators were doing some storyboard sketches for a television commercial.  The director wanted to explain an idea and grabbed a piece of paper to sketch out the scene. But of course he had to sketch out the frames first.

The Storyboard Book is lightweight, portable, and durable and perfect for storyboarding, sketching, list making, visualisation, plans, doodles, and just about anything else. The idea is simple - a frame for the action and space for the notes.

Buy yours at www.thestoryboardbook.com. They cost just $12 (approx £7.45) for a pack of three.

Competition: win a Miniature Leather Journal by Susan Green Books

The theme of this competition is twofold. Combining Susan Green’s love of nature and her small but perfectly formed miniature journals, she is inviting you to write her a poem. A Haiku in fact. The theme must be ’smallness’ and in true Haiku tradition must also evoke the natural world.

The winner will be presented with one of Susan’s beautiful miniature leather journals.

For more information visit www.susangreenbooks.com.

The closing date is 28th November.

Psst. If you need a reminder about how to write a Haiku, visit the British Haiku Society website.

School’s out, it’s raining and the kids are in. In the house, that it. The weather has its own ideas but we are indeed in the middle of our summer holidays. Now how to keep the kids occupied?

‘Making Stuff for Kids’ is a craft book for 4 to 11 year olds and of course their parents and carers, if they want to join in. It includes old favourites like potato printing and puppets but there’s some contemporary stuff too, with projects that introduce children to ecology and wacky and wonderful jewellery, cross-stitch, clothes and much, much more.

50% off for Indie Quarter Readers

‘Making Stuff for Kids’ follows hot on the heels of the hugely popular ‘Making Stuff: An Alternative Craft Book’. The kind people at Black Dog Publishing are offering Indie Quarter readers a 50% discount on both these titles. To order yours email jess [at] blackdogonline.com with your order and delivery address and quote ‘Indie Quarter Offer’ as the subject of your email. The offer is valid until 31st August 09.

To view the full Black Dog catalogue go to www.blackdogonline.com.