I started making 'horse' journals at the request of the daughter of one of my close friends. She told me she wanted a scrapbook in which she could put all the 'stuff' to do with her beloved horse. She used to keep a diary about her horse; she also collected photos, articles, certificates, programmes, prescriptions, bills - all sorts of 'horsey' things, and she wanted a book in which she could keep them all in one place. O, and the book had to have a picture of her horse on the front cover..... That's how I came to make the first journal.

The cover is handmade from vintage buffalo hide and is coloured with a natural 'Spanish Brown' dye. The cover has a metal concho of a horse's head. I think that brass and vintage leather complement each other well.

The journal contains 100 pages/200 usable sides of plain, unlined 150gsm cartridge art paper. The cover is approx A5 size and measures 8x6 inches (20x15cm). There is a cast brass swivel lock to close it.

This is a tough and durable book that would make an excellent travelling journal, sketchbook or scrapbook - you could even use it as a small photo album or guestbook. The 'folios' of paper are stitched into the leather cover with a traditional 'Italian' stitch - a style of binding that guarantees a long life. There is a cast brass swivel 'c-lock' for fastening, and the edge of the cover is sewn with matching leather thong.

I love working with leather, but for ethical reasons I only use vintage leather for my books- ie leather from working animals that have come to the end of their lives.