Quick Specs
- Type: Leather journal with latch closure
- Size: Approximately 3 x 5 inches
- Pages: 240, unlined
- Material: Leather
- Color: Blue cover with teal-green lacing
- Closure: Brass-toned swing latch
A Blue Leather Cover Laced in Teal and Closed with a Brass-Toned Latch
The cover is blue leather with a turquoise cast, deeper in some patches and lighter in others, so the color varies across the cover. The surface is smooth with a soft sheen, so the lacing and the latch carry the decoration. Teal-green lacing runs along the top and bottom edges in slanting stitches and zigzags down a seam on the front. The lacing loops over the top edge as well, passing through holes punched along the cover. At the middle of the front seam sits the closure, a brass-toned latch: a curved metal arm pivots on a plate at one side and swings over a post on the other to hold the cover shut, and round brass-toned heads show on each plate. The metal has a warm, antiqued tone that sits well against the cool blue. Inside are 240 pages with no printed lines. A page can hold a paragraph, a sketch, a diagram, or all three, and you choose where to start and how to arrange them. At 3 x 5 inches the book is compact enough to carry in a bag.
A 3 x 5 page is narrow, and that shapes how you write in it. Lines run short, entries stay brief, and a page fills quickly, which suits a book you open often for a few minutes at a time. At a page a day, 240 pages last about eight months, long enough to see patterns in what you’ve written and drawn. Because the pages have no ruling, you decide the scale of your handwriting: small letters to fit more on a page, or large ones for headings and short lines. You can also turn the book sideways and give a wide sketch or a spread diagram the long side. The blue is the first thing you notice, and the lacing is the second. The teal stitches trace the edges and the front seam in a lighter, greener shade than the cover, so they outline the shape of the book and draw the eye to the latch at the center. Set it on a shelf of dark spines and it stands out.
Practical Ritual Applications
Give it a single job and it will earn its place. A Tarot card drawn each morning with a line or two about what you noticed fits a small page well, and so does a dream log kept on a night table, a moon diary, or a list of intentions dated on the first page. The unlined pages are the right surface for a quick sketch of a spread that surprised you. Carry it in a bag so a thought has somewhere to go when you’re away from your desk. If you’d like a bigger page, my full journal collection includes larger sizes and other closures. As a gift, it suits a friend who keeps notes, draws, or reads cards, and the latch gives it the feel of a private book.
How to Start and Carry Your Blue Leather Journal
Three small steps turn the empty pages into a book with a purpose.
- Open the latch and label the book
Lift the latch arm off its post, open the cover, and write your name and the date on the first page. The cover carries no label, so the first page does that job. Add a line about what the book is for, whether a Tarot log, a dream journal, or general notes. A stated purpose keeps later entries focused.
- Build your own structure
Unlined pages have no built-in order, so make one. Number the pages in a corner as you write, and leave the first two or three pages empty for an index. Each time you start a new topic, add a line to the index with its page number. By the time the book is half full, you'll be able to find any entry in a few seconds.
- Latch it before you carry it
Swing the latch arm back over its post and check that it sits fully down before the book goes into a bag. Keep keys and other hard objects from pressing on the cover, and don't stack heavy things on the journal. A closed latch keeps the book shut while it travels.
The Tarot Fellow Standard
I stock this journal for its small size and its finish: blue leather, teal-green lacing, a brass-toned latch, and 240 unlined pages in a 3 x 5 inch book. It works as a first journal, since blank pages ask for no particular format, and as a second, smaller book to keep beside a larger one. For something to write with, browse my stationery and writing supplies.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conservators who look after leather bindings agree on a few habits. Keep the book out of direct sunlight, since light damage is cumulative and irreversible, and away from radiators and other heat. Very dry air makes leather brittle, while damp encourages mold, so avoid basements, attics, and garages, where conditions swing. Dust it with a soft, dry brush or cloth.
A 3 x 5 inch page matches the most common index card size in North America and the UK, which is 3 by 5 inches, or 76 by 127 millimeters. A page that size suits short entries, a quick sketch or a small spread diagram, and the whole book stays easy to hold in one hand. Turn it sideways when a drawing needs the long side.
A commonplace book is a personal notebook where you collect passages and ideas you find useful, usually filed under topic headings. Early modern readers copied quotations from their reading into them, and after John Locke wrote on the method in 1685, publishers sold blank ones with space for headings and an index. Many owners ignored the templates and mixed in ink recipes and handwriting samples. Unlined pages let you set your own headings.
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