Well not in the books that I read about keeping sketchbooks anyway.
I just bought myself a sketchbook. Up to now for my C&G course I have just been using a spiral bound pad of paper for my course work. The new sketchbook said it was a sketchbook and told me the weight of the paper. I chose an A3 size because I quite like to work big. This weekend I was putting on a colour wash using acrylic paint when the pages started going all crumply 
Seems like you are supposed to know that sketchbooks are only for use with dry medium like pencils and biros and charcoal sticks and such like. Well I didn’t. Since I had been looking at illustrations of sketchbooks, which had been used for watercolour sketching, the thought never crossed my mind that I needed special paper for wet stuff. I then got out the catalogue and looked at the information there. Almost all the sketchbooks say only suitable for dry medium. Pity that information wasn’t on display in the shop or on the sketchbooks themselves.
I’ve abandoned my new sketchbook and am back to using my block, which says specifically that it is for acrylic paint and watercolours. It doesn’t have a pretty cover, but it does the job. Since one of the books I’ve been reading also said the content was more important that spending hours prettying things up, I’ve taken the advice to heart. Maybe I won’t get the award for the best sketchbook, but at least mine won’t be a disaster area.
These are the two books I’ve been reading:
Creating Sketchbooks for Embroiderers and Textile Artists by Kay Greenlees. This was a recommendation from Helen and I can definitely pass it on.
And this one I found on Amazon while looking at the other:
Artists’ Journal and Sketchbooks by Lynne Perrella
Kay Greenlees’ book is full of sensible information for those like me who have no idea what to put in a sketchbook. (Although she didn’t mention needing to watch what paper is used in your sketchbook.) Lynne Perrella’s book is more a treatment of the books as a piece of art in their own right but has some interesting examples that can get some ideas flowing.
I like Pink Pig books. You can get them on line direct from the supplier ( postage is high but works out a good rate if you buy a few) or from ario.co.uk. They are not actually watercolour paper but they are a strong enought cartridge paper that they will take some watercolour. they do sort of curve a bit if you do an all over wash but I don’t mind that and I love the covers! You could try binding your block paper sinto a nice book yourself.
Hi! I too am doing C&G level 3 cert. The amount of supplies you need to buy during the first stages is breathtaking! I started with, what I thought, was everything I could ever need, but have added such things as acrylic and oil paints, silk paints, fabirc paints, all manner of papers for collage work, soluble (is the spelled right??) fabric, machine embroidery threads etc and no doubt plenty more!
Pink Pig books are lovely. I have 2 of their sqaure ones, although I confess to not having used them yet. I’ve got quite an amount of coloured drawing/pastel papers as well as watercolour stuff etc, so I haven’t really needed to start my ‘fancy’ sketchbooks yet.=)
How are you coping with the course in general and how far on are you with it? I’m at a college doing it in person, (for a wonder!!) and am horribly behind thanks to this persistent ‘flu menace, but I’m not giving up. I’m not dead yet!!