my new fave...

i just finished this book yesterday and i think it is my new favorite.

it's funny because the last big book i made (the lace one from a few posts back) was my new favorite.  

and these two books are just so different.  is that weird, do you think?  

i guess we all have different sides.  i know i do.  i love, love, love the feminine, frilly lacy stuff i collect and create with.  but sometimes i crave simplicity.  and functional.  and rugged.      

this one is thick and big and heavy.  well, so was the lace one,

so there's a similarity.  this leather came from a shoe factory.  it's rough and rugged.  like your favorite work boots.  i like that scuffs and scratches can be buffed out with a cloth (as i discovered while making it).

i made sure the paper was rough and rugged too.  i used a heavy watercolor paper and i mixed in some handmade paper.  a thick grey cotton paper.  i actually like to journal in a book like this, cause i like to beat on my paper. 

 oh, and my favorite part is the bookmark.  i wove that into the back.  i've been wanting to try that for awhile and i finally did.

i just listed it in my shop, along with some other books (with lace).  i know i'm going to be sad to let this one go.  but i do have another piece of that leather...