New Handbound Leather Journals

 Here are my latest Handbound Leather journals for sale. 

Leather Journals wrapped with strap with a stone attached.

1.  A rich gold brown colour leather with dark blue straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is a quite dark green colour. The stone is actually a small shell.

2.  A dark green colour leather with dark blue straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is a deep medium  brown colour. Has a semi-precious creamy coloured heart stone charm. SOLD

3.  A deep brown colour leather with dark blue straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is a rich gold brown colour. Has a semi-precious ball charm.  SOLD

4.  A dark green colour leather with brown straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is a deep medium brown colour. Has a semi-precious greeny-gray stone charm.   SOLD

5.  A rich gold brown colour leather with dark blue straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is a quite dark green colour with a rich blue stone charm.

6.  A deep medium brown colour leather with brown straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is a rich gold brown colour. Has a semi-precious turquise coloured stone charm.

Leather Journals wrapped with a strap with a charm attached

7.  A navy blue colour leather with wrapping strap in a dark brown colour. The flower charm is a tarnished silver finish.

8.  A navy blue colour leather with wrapping strap in a dark brown colour. The key charm is a brass finish.  SOLD

9.  A rich gold brown colour leather with brown straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is a quite dark green colour. The bird charm is a tarnished silver finish.

10.  A deep medium brown colour leather with dark green straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is the same deep medium brown as the cover with a brass key charm.

11.  A dark green colour leather with deep red straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is a rich gold brown colour. Has a silver peace sign charm with a tarnish finish.  SOLD

12.  A dark green colour leather with light blue straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is a rich gold brown colour. Has a silver key charm with a tarnish finish.

13.  A rich gold brown colour leather with deep red straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is a quite dark green colour with a tarnish finish silver horse charm.  SOLD

14.  A deep medium brown colour leather with dark blue straps around the spine, and the wrapping strap is of the same leather with a shiny silver coloured leaf charm.

Leather Journals with a leather sliding button closure

15.  A rich gold brown colour leather with dark blue straps around the spine, and a sliding strap metal button closure.

16.  A deep medium brown colour leather with a sliding strap and gold coloured metal button closure.

17.  A rich gold brown colour leather with a sliding button closure. Button is repurposed, black with a coat of arms.

18.  A deep medium brown colour leather with a sliding strap metal button closure. Repurposed gold coloured button, with shiny pearl-look centres.   SOLD

19.  A dark green colour leather with a sliding button closure—repurposed gold coloured button with pearl-look centre. SOLD

20.  A rich gold brown colour leather with sliding closures - two brushed gold-coloured buttons. SOLD

21.  A dark green colour leather with sliding closures—two repurposed shiny gold-coloured button.

Leather Journals with cotton cord sliding button closure

22.  A dark green colour leather with dark blue straps around the spine, and a repurposed metal button with a sliding cotton cord and small gemstone.   SOLD

23.  A deep medium brown colour leather with deep red straps around the spine, and a repurposed metal button with a sliding cotton cord and small gemstone.  SOLD

24.  A dark green colour leather with dark purple straps around the spine, and a repurposed metal button with a sliding cotton cord and small gemstone.

25.  A deep medium brown colour leather with dark purple straps around the spine, and a repurposed metal button with a sliding cotton cord and small gemstone.  SOLD

26.  A rich gold brown colour leather with brown straps around the spine, and a cameo button with a sliding cotton cord and small gemstone.

27.  A rich gold brown colour leather with deep red straps around the spine, and a repurposed metal button with a sliding cotton cord and small gemstone.   SOLD

If you are interested in purchasing any of these journals, please contact me by leaving a comment below. They are 8.75 x 6".  The pages are made from  acid-free paper, so it is suitable for sketching, journalling, and even mounting photographs. Cost per journal is $65.00 Canadian plus shipping. I accept etransfer. You can also contact me on instagram whatthesehandsmake

Smaller Leather Journals

I have a few journals that are a bit smaller, but with the same acid-free paper. Each book is 6" wide by 7.25" high. Price of each is $55.00 Canadian plus shipping.

28.  Khaki coloured leather cover with button strap closure and pink gemstone bookmark.

29.  Red brown coloured leather cover with wrap strap closure and labradorite gemstone bookmark.

30.  Red brown coloured leather cover with wrap strap closure and labradorite gemstone bookmark.   SOLD

31.  Shiny purple leather cover with green strap button closure and amazonite gemstone bookmark.   SOLD

Make Custom Skin Creme with Natural Ingredients

If you are like me and have sensitive skin, it is wonderful to be able to make a skin creme/moisturizer yourself. With a basic recipe, you can choose the ingredients that work for you.  And you can vary them from batch to batch.  

DIY creme/lotion recipes are composed of oils and waters, and they do not mix together naturally—oil is lighter and floats on water.  So a way to emulsify these ingredients is needed.  There are two ways to do this: 

• Use a chemical emulsifier such as borax.
• Use a mechanical method to emulsify, such as a blender.

Even when using borax, you will still need to do a bit of mixing by hand—or with a hand-mixer—to make sure that the creme is evenly emulsified.

The recipe I am sharing is from Herbal Healing for Women by Rosemary Gladstar, an American herbalist. I highly recommend her books. I have used many of the recipes in this particular book to great effect for myself. This recipe involves using a stick blender (my variation).  It is very similar to making mayonnaise.

Both methods benefit from using a wax to help thicken the creme.

DIY Natural Skin Creme 

Group 1 Ingredients (oils and waxes)

• 2/3 cup liquid oil (grapeseed, sweet almond, apricot kernel, olive, etc.)
• 1/3 cup solid oils (coconut oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, mango butter, or other oils that are solid at room temperature.)
• 1/2 ounce grated beeswax (There are vegan wax substitutes. Just make sure they are good for skin care.)

Group 2 Ingredients (waters)

• 1 cup distilled water (or combination of distilled water, hydrosols, aloe vera gel, herbal teas)
• Essential oils, if desired.  I generally use about 10-15 drops per recipe.  Use whatever combination pleases you, but make sure that the essential oils you choose are also good for skincare. If you are sensitive to scent, just leave it out and the creme will smell of beeswax—which I love.

Group 1: There are lots of quality oils—borage oil, evening primrose oil, calendula infused oil, etc.,—that are suitable for different skin conditions and problems. They may be a bit pricier than other oils, but even substituting a small amount of one of them can change the creme in ways your skin will love. You can add small amounts of Vitamin E oil by piercing a couple of Vitamin E capsules, and squeezing it into the oil ingredients. You can start by using less expensive oils—olive oil, apricot kernel oil, and sweet almond oil—for a large part of the recipe, and then use a tablespoon or two of pricier oils to add a little extra to your creme. 

Group 2: The water mixture can include distilled water, hydrosols (lavender, rose, orange blossom), herbal teas, etc. Please don't use tap water because it can introduce bacteria that may cause your creme to mould. The water mixture can also include aloe vera gel. When using aloe vera, use purchased gel, not the fresh plant. The fresh plant can also introduce bacteria to your creme. It is important not to use aloe, or creme made with aloe, on staph infections. Although aloe is excellent for many skin infections, it provides a perfect medium for staph to grow in, and will actually spread the infection. If you want to use aloe gel or hydrosol, only use 1/3 cup, and use water for the remaining 2/3 cup

Please note before blending Group 1 into Group 2

• The basic proportions of the creme recipe should be about one part Group 1 (oils) to one part Group 2 (waters).
• In Group 1, the oil proportions should be approximately 2/3 cup liquid oil and 1/3 cup solid oil.

To Make:

Step 1 — Melt Group 1 ingredients over low heat in a double boiler (glass measuring cup in a pot half-filled with water). Heat the ingredients just enough to melt them. Never use a microwave to melt your oils. It will destroy the beneficial properties of the oils.

Step 2 — Remove the cup with the heated oils from the pot, and let cool to room temperature. This can take a few hours, so I often let it sit overnight alongside the waters so they are both the same temperature. This is key to successfully emulsifying the ingredients.

Step 3 — At this point, the Group 1 ingredients will be very thick, and somewhat firm.  Stir them up a bit, but leave it in the glass cup (as long as the cup is twice as large as the total recipe—in this case that would be a 4 cup container).  Pour all the waters into the same cup, along with the essential oils, if using. Mix by moving the stick blender up and down through the ingredients. You can easily over-mix this way, so I always have the stick blender on as I push it down, then leave it off as it pull it up. This allows you to easily move it around for even mixing, but prevents over-mixing. You want creme, not a kind of butter!

Step 4 — Pour into sterilized creme or lotion jars, and store in a cool place. This creme should not go bad stored at room temperature.  However, if you make more than you can use in a month or two, I recommend storing the extra in the fridge.

Notes:

• You will only need a very small amount of this creme at a time—much less than with commercial cremes and lotions. If you use too much, your skin will not absorb it all, and it will feel oily.
• Make sure that your hands are clean before sticking your fingers into your creme.  Dirty hands can also add bacteria to the creme, causing it to spoil
• Don't leave your creme in a hot car, or any other area that will cause it to become overly hot. The oils and waters will separate. Also, there are no preservatives in the creme, and it is an oil-based product, so it's possible for it to become rancid. 
• If your creme does become rancid, throw it out! Your skin is one big absorbing organ, and I know of cases where using rancid creme caused the person to develop a severe sensitivity to the ingredients of the creme.