My first review is a lovely handmade journal from Central Crafts, a UK-based retailer that offers wonderful handmade gifts, including quirky arts and crafts, albums, journals and of course, stationery, sourced ethically from all over the world. Among their many journals offerings is the Cortona handmade leather-bound one, crafted from fine Italian Spazzolato leather, with exquisite hand-stitched details in contrast piping that goes all the way around the edges.  Spazzolato leather is supposed to be the same top grain used in luxury handbags, and these artisan journals are made by a Florentine family business with over half a century’s operation. The cover feels cool, smooth, and supple to the touch, with the “Leatherkind” brand debossed on the back cover and the front cover carrying the On Fountain Pens (OFP) personalization in silver. I love details like that! You know how there are journals that are so nice you almost hesitate to write in it?  That’s almost the case with this Cortona journal… I did “feel it up” quite a bit, flipping through and stroking the pages, which are luxuriously thick but not too stiff.  Bonus points for the subtle leather scent when you hold it up close! The journal does feel a […]
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