Creative Musings

Beware, vegans may not want to read this posting…..

Being the great collector of journals that I am, (even though I manage to not write in them that often), I somehow forgot to bring one to Italy with me! I really didn't want to use a cheap notebook since I want to keep the record of this trip for a long long time. I looked around in shops, since this is the home of beautiful handmade leather journals. Sadly I wasn’t able to find one that was up to my standards for less than about $50, so I decided to go the “make it myself” route. Since I happen to have a room-mate who is quite skilled in the art of book binding, I had Meghan make one for me. I bought a notebook of Italian paper, which Meghan then cut out, folded and sewed into “signatures”, followed by a trip to one of my favorite places on earth—Alpel – which is a shop on the outskirts of Florence that sells leather; no leather goods like purses or jackets, just leather. They don’t have business hours posted on the doors, you can't see what's inside, and there is also no indication on the outside of the building. They aren’t easy to find, you have to be buzzed into the shop, and they don’t speak any English. Being that all 3 of us love the smell of leather, it’s quite a treat.

You walk in to the room that has tall shelves library style, up high all around the room, which are FULL of rolled hides of leather in all colors, thicknesses and textures. They even have ones with the hair still on them and dyed in fun animal replica patterns. I’m not quite sure why, but I like those.

I spent probably 20-25 minutes just walking around and touching everything. Since I got to choose the leather, I had to find the perfect one! I decided on a beautiful red leather, and lucky for me it was from a giant hide, so I was able to have a portion cut for me. Usually, you have to buy the entire skin, which still doesn’t cost very much. Naturally, Meghan had to buy some too, so she came home with a pretty “pea soup” green to match some decorative paper that she bought here.

The next night Meghan and I took a last minute trip back to our favorite place to buy hand marbled paper in Florence, where we have made friends with the guy who runs it. I had to get paper to attach the pages of my book to the leather. I did indeed find a gorgeous marbled paper. By the next afternoon, which was a Saturday, Meghan had my journal finished! I am hoping that Meghan gets an internship at a bookbinder’s shop where she has access to branding equipment, so I can have my initials or something fun on the cover. Now I have a beautiful handmade journal to keep record of all my adventures.