I begin each journal by hand-selecting full hides of leather from different suppliers across the country. When a hide arrives in my studio, I unroll it completely and spend time with it—studying its markings, its scars, its unique character. I listen. Every hide carries a history, and each one gently suggests how it wants to be cut.

With simple, time-worn tools—a long ruler, an L-square, and more utility knife blades than I can count—I measure and cut slowly and deliberately, drawing out the most expressive sections of the leather. From that moment on, no two journals follow the same path. Different cuts become different heights, widths, and thicknesses of journals—each piece already beginning to reveal its own identity.

From there, I move to my paper table. I choose either hot-press watercolor paper or handmade cotton-rag paper to pair with each cut of hide, allowing the leather to guide the choice. Every sheet is torn by hand, sized specifically for each journal, then stacked, folded, and assembled into signatures. I punch the leather and paper so their spines align, and stitch them together by hand with 7-ply waxed linen thread—pulling cover and pages into an excellent, permanent partnership.

Only then do I decide how each journal wishes to be finished. Perhaps it needs an antique key, one of my original metal etchings, or a simple latch to guard its stories. Maybe something new and inventive... Or perhaps it needs nothing at all—its beauty already spoken through the texture and character of the leather itself.

Each journal is designed and made individually, with intention and care, ensuring that every piece is truly one of a kind—much like the humans and stories they are made to hold.

These journals aren’t produced—they’re discovered. Each one reveals itself slowly through the process, shaped by materials, intuition, and time. What you hold is not just a blank journal, but a quiet symphony, waiting for its conductor to bring the composition to life.