After winning a subscription to Pocket Notebooks, I decided I needed something to keep the notebooks in whilst out and about. After a search on the internet and a browse around Etsy, I settled on the Snowbell Deluxe Traveller’s Journal.
These traveller’s journals are handmade to order by Mike at Meadowgate Leather and so I was able to have mine made to my own specifications. I went with the deep violet leather in pocket size with pink peony stitching and mid purple elastic. I also chose to have a name tag fitted to the closure band, with “Notes of Life” stamped on.
Being handmade, I thought I’d be in for a long wait, but instead, I was in for a surprise. I ordered the traveller’s journal on Thursday 30th June, it was dispatched on Tuesday 5th July and arrived on Wednesday 6th July. Just under a week for a handmade leather traveller’s journal? Excellent customer service!
The leather is wonderfully soft and is lovely to hold. The stitching is hand-stitched to perfection. The deep violet colour is beautiful, although there is some blue streaking inside (*I’ve asked Mike to comment on this – see this at the end of the review). All in all, it’s a lovely journal to hold my pocket notebooks.
The pocket notebooks slot easily into the purple elastic bands and Mike at Meadowgate Leather has even supplied some spare elastic, should I need it.
The inside front cover has 4 slots sized perfectly for business cards or train tickets, as well as a full-size pocket behind them. The inside back cover has another full-size pocket and a pen loop. This traveller’s journal really is perfect for what I wanted. There’s plenty of room for me to tuck in tickets and receipts while I’m out and about.
The name tag on the front is optional but free if you choose to have one. I was lucky that “Notes of Life” fit perfectly.
The Snowbell Deluxe Traveller’s Journal cost me £34.35 + £4.60 postage. It’s Meadowgate Leather’s most expensive journal, but it’s handmade, custom-made and hand-stitched. Best of all? It’s made to last and I expect to be using it for years to come.
Funnily enough, when I told my friend, Lisa, where I’d ordered my traveller’s journal from, she told me that’s where she’d got hers from and, likewise, she was very pleased with it.
If you’re looking for a traveller’s journal to keep your notebooks in, I’d definitely recommend Meadowgate Leather. Check out the different ones you can choose from and customise!
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*Mike’s comments on the streaking: “It is as if the dye is giving out some of it’s constituent base colours as maybe it continues to dry as the days go by?
The Deep Violet is a water-based dye, which is very eco-friendly, but will not penetrate the leather structure like an oil dye would. So some colour variation can be expected when these dyes are used.
Certainly, if it stays like that and you don’t like the effect it gives, I would be more than happy to re-make the item for you.”
I’m actually beginning to quite like the streaking and think it adds something to the inside of the traveller’s journal, so I’ve told Mike I’ll see how it goes over the next week or so, but I don’t think it will need to be re-made. Once again, top-notch customer service!
It’s beautiful and I love it!! I also love that in this electronic day and age you choose to still use “old school” items. I will always have a weakness for things like this and I feel the price was reasonable for something that should last you many, many years.
Stationery is definitely a weakness! 🙂
It looks amazing to me! I’d love to have a journal like this 🙂
-Leta | The Nerdy Me
It’s great, isn’t it? I’d definitely recommend one 🙂
Compared to the ‘official’ Midori Traveler’s Notebook that begun the craze, the ones that Meadowgate make are superb value, they’re better made imo and of course are so customisable, and are actually cheaper.
I know I said it earlier as well, but I really do like the blue run of the dye on the inside. Dye is a strange chemical, I know that only too well, and natural dyes are even more unpredictable at times.
You sure picked a beauty 😀
It looks really lovely! I love the colour you chose. And that’s excellent service!
Oh these are so pretty, I love the colour! I’ve never seen anything like this to put your notebooks in – I have so many so this would be extremely handy!
http://laurenslittleblogs.blogspot.co.uk/
Hi Nikki! OMG It’s been a while! I was reading some of my old entries and saw your comment, clicked it and lo! I found out you’re still active. I got back to blogging around Feb. and working my way to update more.
That’s a really cute journal and I love the colour! I would love to have one, but knowing me I’ll end up not using it due to smartphones.
Hey Charles, it’s great to hear from you again. Good to see you’re back blogging again 🙂
Hi Nikki,
Great item, although for the price I’m not sure I would be happy with the dye streaking.
I do like the added touch of getting your brand name stamped onto the cover and of course, that all important customer service is priceless!
Just this evening, I was listening to a report on the car radio, which had been surveying customer service satisfaction, against a large number of diverse companies, both in size and product base. The results were staggeringly bad, regardless of the company, with under 10% of those asked, being happy with the level of customer service they had received, either over the phone or face to face.
I think you’ll agree that those statistics are terrible and most people walked with their feet, which in these days of austerity driven retail downturn, sounds the death knell for many businesses.
Well Done to Mike and I hope that you enjoy your journal, no matter what you decide to do 🙂
Yvonne
Nikki
Would you be good enough to email me back re: blogging?
Thank you so much.
Susanne