fountain pen

by Tony Thomas I have been using my new custom "document holder" notebook for almost two weeks and can say that I am still very pleased with it.  As I wrote earlier, I constructed it from a 8.5 x 11 piece of tooling leather that I dyed and punched. I really love the flexibility the notebook provides. I can use all kinds of paper in it (much of it custom cut or folded to fit). As I use fountain pens, pencils and gel pens, I can use better and cheaper paper as I desire. Right now, I have Rhodia graph and lined paper, HP 32# laser, Georgia Pacific 24# laser and cheap  Indonesian  lined paper loaded. I can sort the sheets I have completed to fit my daily requirements. When I am done with a sheet of paper, I can file it or toss it. It is absolutely perfect for my workflow! For more information on the original notebook: http://thefrugalfountainpen.blogspot.com/2016/05/my-new-notebook.html

by Tony Thomas After my success making a traveler's notebook out of heavy felt, I decided to make a few more out of leather using the popular Ray Blake method . For the first one, I used some vegetable-tanned tooling leather (highly recommended) from my local  Tandy Leather .  The piece was only a bit larger than the 6" x 9" I needed to make the notebook.  It was a fairly thin piece at around 4 oz. (approx 4/64").   I also bought a small punch to create the holes.  After cutting the leather, punching the holes, trimming the corners, threading the elastic cords, and applying a bit of oil, here is what I came up with in about 20 minutes: After living with the notebook for a week or so, I decided to make a second notebook out of heavier tooling leather I found on eBay ( DC Leather ).  It was a about 8.5 oz. (almost 9/64").   I also bought some dye ( Angelus ) for both notebooks to give them a more finished look.  The heavier leather was a bit more ch...