This album was created for a father whose daughter's middle name was "Poppy".  The poppy was carved from three separate pieces of binder's board, each one covered with hand-pared goatskin leather.  The carved striations in the petals were accented with black wax and the entire blossom was waxed to intensify the color of the leather.  The finished poppy was then attached to the cover in a slightly recessed area.

poppy blossom on the water album

- page size 10" square

- 50 pages (100 page sides to mount photos on)

- page are acid-free off-white Arches cover 

- natural deckled edge of the paper left on the outer edge of each page

- printed title page

- mottled tan parchment-look endpapers

- cover is "antique" pattern blue cowhide leather over carved binder's board and tag board

- poppy blossom on cover carved from a separate piece of binder's board and covered with hand pared black and red goatskin leather

- approximately $420

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This customer liked both my leaf-on-the-water cover designs as well as dragonflies, so both were incorporated into one cover.  Usually, the center of a water ripple design is on the front covers...here it is on the back with the dragonfly on the front.  The dragonfly has a carved, offset recessed area "under" him acting as a shadow on the surface of the water.

redbud leaf and dragonfly journal

- page size 7" wide by 8 and 1/2" tall

- 222 pages (444 page sides to write on)

- pages are acid-free off-white lined paper with light gray lines and college-ruled spacing

- soft teal blue endpapers

- cover is "antique" finish cow hide over carved binder's board

- raised cords on spine

- spine cords outlined in gold foil

- cover decorations added using custom metal dies, hot foil stamping, and gold stamping foil

- lettering on spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and gold stamping foil

- approximately $280

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This cover was made to bind a book with printed pages.  My customer supplied the printed pages containing poetry he wrote for someone special and I sewed them together and created the heart-on-the-water design on the front cover.  The heart is carved from a separate piece of board and covered with hand pared burgundy goatskin leather; waxed to intensify the color.

heart on the water poetry book

- page size roughly 6" wide by 9" tall

- pages were printed by my customer and oversewn by me on an oversewing machine

- blue swirl french marbled endpapers

- dark blue satin ribbon page marker

- cover is "antique" finish blue cow hide over carved binder's board

- heart on cover carved from a separate piece of binder's board and covered with hand pared burgundy goatskin leather

- lettering on spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and gold stamping foil

- approximately $190

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This anniversary journal was created for an international couple (Japanese and American) to write in every year on their anniversary.  The cherry blossom, referencing the groom's Japanese heritage, was carved from a separate piece of binder's board and accented with burgundy wax and sliver pigment.  Elegant silver lettering was added to the spine.

cherry blossom on the water anniversary journal

- page size 9" square

- 100 pages (200 page sides to write on)

- page are archival white paper 

- printed title page

- dark blue satin ribbon page marker

- cover is "antique" finish cow hide over carved binder's board

- cherry blossom on cover carved from a separate piece of binder's board, covered with hand-pared light burgundy goatskin leather, and accented with burgundy ink and silver pigment

- lettering on spine added using moveable metal type, hot foil stamping, and silver stamping foil

- approximately $295

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My first order shipped to Tazmania!

This massive journal came with a very specific request.  My customer wanted a lily leaf on the water on the front cover and sent me a photo of the leaf he wanted.  I carved the leaf from a separate piece of binder's board and covered it with hand-pared green goatskin leather.  The finished leaf was set into a slightly recessed area on the cover in the center of the water ripples.  I will not make a book this thick anymore, but WILL go up to 400 pages in a book (800 page sides to write on).

lily leaf on the water journal

- page size 8 and 1/2" wide by 11" tall

- no listing of the number of pages because this book is larger than my current maxium number of pages that I will do; the maximum number of pages I can have in a journal-style book is 400 (800 page sides to write on)

- pages are archival off-white paper

- cover is "antique" pattern blue cowhide over carved binder's board

- lily leaf on cover carved from a separate piece of binder's board and covered with hand-pared green goatskin leather

- approximately $675

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