"My Heroine Will Be Myself" Journal
This journal was commissioned by a customer who liked both my Cowboy Book & Box Set and this image of a Victorian lady with a sword that I have used on other journals. She wanted some combination of the two so we came up with a sort of "Western Victorian" journal. This journal was made with British Tan Sokoto goatskin leather which blind stamps beautifully (blind stamping is adding words and/or decorations to a leather cover without using gold or some other color of foil; it is just stamped into the leather with heat & pressure). The image of the Victorian woman with her sword was printed out on heavy archival paper in a sepia color, the edges were torn to give it a rougher look, and the paper was sprayed with a fixative that helps it resist fading. The image was then permanently mounted into a rectangular recess on the cover. The corners on the front and back cover were stamped with corner decorations and the recipient's name was stamped in the center of the back cover. A custom clamshell box was also made for this book (not pictured) very much in the style of the box from my Cowboy Book & Box set. The cover of the box was made of the same leather as the cover of the book, the edges were done with eggshell linen, and it had an antique brass window lift opener just as is seen in the Cowboy box. It made a very nice set.
A book like this would cost around $180. The box (not pictured) was an additional $160 bringing the cost of the set to $340.