Custom Order for Esther with Tomoe River

Esther asked me to make two journals for her. They were both a present from her boyfriend for her birthday.

The first one was a springback journal, a sturdy and durable binding. It was approximately 21 x 15 cm (A5 or half letter size) and it had 400 pages (800 counting both sides) of that white Tomoe River paper that all of us love.

I used a gorgeous purple leather. I really love the shades that the color acquires once I work on it. It goes from deep, royal purple to a subtle, pale violet. It has some sort of soul and character. That's one of the things that I love from working with leather.

She chose paste paper that I handmade for her endpapers.

The headbands were also sewn by me. I tried to make the best combination possible to match the rest of the journal, so all makes a whole.

She wanted to have her name "Esther Steel" blind tooled on the cover of the book. As you can see, the stamp goes deep, and adds textures to the cover.

Finally, she asked me to make a box for it. I used purple cloth for the outsides and white velvet for the inside. In this way, the journal will feel more like a present, but also will be protected so it can last a lifetime. 

For the second journal, she chose a Ethiopian style. It also was approximately 21 x 15 cm and had 400 pages (800 counting both sides) of cream Tomoe River paper. 

She wanted a combination of brown leather with Bomoart paper, and hold together by a brown elastic band. The Bomoart paper that she chose is one of my favorites. It has some vintage, nostalgic feel to it. I think it goes wonderful with the brown orangish leather.

Here you can see the nerves on the spine of the journal. It feels great to stroke the leather and feel the bumps.

Since the cover was already quite full, I advised her to go for a simple endpaper. This is a Canson cardboard. 

She also wanted a box to keep her journal safe. This one was made with beige cloth, brown velvet for the inside and some of the same Bomoart paper for the top. Again, the combination gives a sense of unity to the box and the journal.

Well, that was a long post, but I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any comments or questions, I will be happy to answer them. Thank you for reading.

Have a nice week!!

Anna