Hand made leather Journals - The work journal

By world's best boyfriend

A while ago, I told my boyfriend about journals I had seen around the internet and I said to him I'd like to have something like that in A5 size: refillable, rugged and pretty.The concept is simple: Use a piece of leather to make for a cover. Have rubber strings run down the spine to slip over notebooks and hold them in place.  Have another rubber band attacked to the cover to keep the book closed. That's nearly all. (I'm afraid I'm not explaining this well. Maybe the pictures will help.)

Boyfriend is great with leather and dug just the right hide up: Heavily oiled buffalo, neither stiff nor soft, rugged, beautiful silky6 surface. Something for a nice supple belt, for instance. Really good stuff.

shape and size of your average filofax, though by me much preferred over one.

He made me two books, one black, one chocolate brown. Rounded the corners. Made little ridges in the spine for the rubber strings to fit in. I bought two pearls to make it prettier - I am girl after all -, one mother of pearl, one agate. This black one has become my work journal, I've been carrying it around for the best part of a year now. It ages beautifully.

sturdy rubber strings holding the 3 inserts.

Boyfriend is talented as a craftsman. Needs to have everything perfect once it's finished. I'm different, more the spontaneous, impulsive sort of person, thus filling his perfect journal with battered-looking hand-made notebooks. (Take A4 paper of your choice, 20-30 sheets. Fold in half. Take another sheet of paper as a cover (optional). Take a piece of string. Punch holes through spine, lace string through them, make knot. Done - the sloppy kind of "done", that is.) Still miraculously looks good together.

This motto, attached to the inside of the front cover, is from a postcard which an early tutor of mine had pinned to his office wall. When I got an office wall of my own, I made myself a card to go there. The one that wasn't nice enough for the wall went into the notebook. Silver lining in a nutshell.

closure ribbon with mother of pearl disk + agate pearl gathering the insert strings. 

What about the chocolate brown one? Coming soon.