LEATHER VILLAGE Journal – Vintage Journal – Book of Shadows – Bound Journal – Sketchbook – Antique/Vintage Deckle Edge Handmade Paper of 200 GSM – 13.5 X 8.5 inches

Short review:This is a beautiful journal. It is 90% what you see in the pictures. A couple of things (not clearly explained) gave it a slight star deduction - but it might just be my copy. I give it 4 stars - it is just a really interesting and fun book to hold and look at even before you make it your own. I deducted a star for some very minor "QC" issues. I'll list them below.Minus 1/2 star: Not truly "full grain" buffalo leather - its just not. Yes, I know what full grain buffalo leather is like, and it is much thicker than what is being included here. If this is important for you, you may even want to give this a full 1 star deduction. It does not mean that this cover is bad. It is just not "full grain" as advertised. Considering the overall beauty of the book itself, it does not detract significantly from its overall appearance. However, in terms of durability, the current cover cannot match the durability found with "full grain" leather.Minus 1/2 star: The pages for my book were significantly misaligned. As in, there are several instances where the top of the page is off by around 3/4 inch and the bottom part of the page has been folded over by 3/4 inch because it is sticking out of the leather cover so much. I understand that the pages are supposed to look "uneven" but this is simply a case of misalignment. It is different. "Uneven" meaning the pages may differ in size, but you do not have a slanted and folded page in your book. Misaligned means your pages are bound in the book off center, and though it is a "rectangular page" it is completely skewed so that you get an angular fold in the pages that stick out. Think of it like: "Slightly uneven" adds to the interesting nature of this book. "Misaligned" just makes it feel cheap and hastily put together."Longer review:"I say "longer" but this is not necessarily "longer." I'm just adding some further details and opinions about this book - it is not the basic skeletal structure of my "short" review, so if you are pressed for time, feel free to skip over this part. This just makes the review "longer than it has to be."So I really like this book. The texture, paper, coloring, artificial ageing of the book is all very interesting to look at. Super fun. Leather cover, I would like really liked if it were truly full grain buffalo leather - it is not. The paper on mine is askew - I do not think that every single copy will be like this, so you could probably ignore this if it isn't something greatly important for you. In terms of how many pages - there is 100 in the one I received. Ten larger sheets, folded into halves, and 5 sectional "halves" total in the whole book. It looks like they used leather strips to bind the pages. Use these pages wisely, as this makes the price of this book quite high for only 100 pages!Paper looks and feels really thick. There was a sticker on the plastic bag that says they used Egyptian cotton in its composition. Maybe. I haven't had any mileage with this book yet - just received today. Can't say if inks will bleed or feather, BUT, I will update if there is any interest in it (please let me know by clicking on the "helpful" icon). Until then, they are very thick sheets - I do not think ink will bleed through, although feathering could be a different story. I have known cotton "paper" sheets to hold up very well with water colors etc. BUT I do not know how these sheets were put together. They could just fall apart when they come in contact with water. Hopefully not though! As for the price, I do feel it is a bit expensive for what it is - It is important to note the number of pages you are getting in the other offerings here on Amazon.Now, you've read this far, and I don't want to leave you without any suggestions as I feel I owe you that much at least - Not a lot of paper? No problem! Amazon sells 100% cotton sheets of paper right here for around 20 bucks a box! Not as thick, but you kind of want that. Why? Because you can stick these additional pages into your book and they won't affect the "thickness" of the book itself so much - of course this depends upon how many sheets you are planning on sticking in. Not the right color? Sure... but it could be satisfying for you to let your own cotton paper "age" itself! Or maybe you can fill those pages with your marvelous artwork, and nobody will be the wiser as to what the base color of your paper was from the start! Just saying!Thanks for reading this far! If you got some useful suggestions or even just a chuckle out of my review, share the love and click on that "helpful" icon! I might have some more helpful insights going forward!

This journal is AMAZING!... It looks JUST like an actual old book. The paper is thick, and I love the color of it, it’s like it has aged over hundreds of years, and it has a fantastic handmade paper texture. I love the way it is bound, and the leather strap that wraps around the book to keep it closed. My favorite part of the book is the edges of the paper - I love the way they look old. Each page has a different edge, each page has a slightly different texture and color.. It looks naturally aged. I’m going to be using it for an art journal, and I’m so excited about starting it. I also really appreciated the covid-19 note that was tucked inside the front cover, letting me know that it was made in a covid free environment, and has also been disinfected before it was shipped to me. Fantastic customer service. I have my eye on the green one too, once I have finished this one. This is definitely one of my favorite finds & purchases on Amazon. I will be a returning customer!.. I hope you never stop making these!! 😬💜

I initially purchased the brown leather journal and was so pleased at the quality that I purchased one in green for my daughter. Then, I realized I needed another one (in the largest size) and got that as well. So, I can assure you that these are wonderful, value for money journals.They are beautiful, with leather covers, and thick paper that work really well with color pencils. The deckle edges on the journals make for a vintage look. One area I would suggest for improvement is the color of the paper. The brown journal came with paper that was a little lighter in color so it worked well for artwork, but the green one came with slightly darker toned paper (not completely dark but it wasn't white) so that would not really work for creating art pieces. Perhaps the artisans can strive to use lighter colored paper since most of us would prefer those for writing and illustrating.Overall, my daughter and I love our journals and highly recommend them!

Far exceeded my expectations; this journal is beautifully crafted and much larger and thicker than I expected. The leather cover is soft, smooth, and smells fabulous; the pages are of heavy paper with a delightfully rough texture that would stand up to any form of pen, penicl, or paint (would hold mixed media items very well, too). I used it to create a replica of a movie prop (the prop was of a journal from 1880), and it came out looking even more authentic than the one in the movie.Highly recommend to anyone who likes the "old" look, or who simply wants a very sturdy and well-made journal/sketchbook.

This is an excellent product, very good quality, I will purchase more, and recommend this product to anyone. Purchased and arrived within 6 days, unfortunately the non-Amazon courier left the package on the porch in the snow and when I opened the Amazon bag I found moisture inside the manufacturer's package; no apparent damage to the product. I found this product (leather or pages) literally has no odor, like someone previously reported. Leather is dry, soft, and has no oily residue. Leather is approximately 1/16" thick. I purchased the Distressed Brown 8 1/2" wide x 13 1/2" tall x 2" thick option to use as a personal journal that I can pass on to my family when I die; I'm glad I did as the pages provide a large writing space vs. a smaller product. When completely open the product is 18 1/2" wide (showing a side-by-side 2-page section). As a previous reviewer mentioned, I found only 2 pages that were 1 to 1 1/2" off set from the rest of the pages, but that makes the product only the more interesting looking and true to historical form. I looked through each page and did not find any holes or exceptional marks. The pages are thick and vary in slight coloration, but mainly a creamy, very slight orangish or rust tinge color with darkened edges as the photos depict. The leather 7/16" wide closure strap is sufficiently long to provide proper closure unless you end up adding *a lot* of additional documents or photos; the leather strap wraps completely around the circumference of the product plus another half length. For a distressed, circa 1800's, old-style looking journal, this product is less expensive that many others I researched. I use a combination of Pentel EnerGel liquid Gel Ink, Metal Tip 1.0 and Wordsworth & Black fountain (medium nib) pens and I have no issues with writing, tearing, snagging paper fibers, smudging, bleeding through the opposite side of the page, etc. The binding appears to be very good quality; I tugged on each page using 3 pounds of pull weight and not a single page tore out. Leather Village made a great product!