I’m a book girl, through and through.  From old ones where the pages are so thin and brittle that you have to turn them with slow and deliberate delicacy, right through to crisp new ones which smell of bleachy chemicals and freshly printed ink, their razor sharp newly sliced pages carrying the promise of a paper cut if you dare not treat them right. Reading books and being able to immerse yourself into someone else’s world and escape your own is a pleasure second only to one thing – creating your own. Whether you’re journaling the most private of thoughts, or jotting down your day-to-day, or even just doodling, that book needs to be something special, and beautiful. Life is too short for ugly books.

This gorgeous nude leather journal from Flourish ticks all my boxes. The entire book is handmade – the pages are stitched into sections, which in turn are stitched to the spine. A riempie ties your book closed, which mean you’re not getting bent pages or handbag shmutz all up in your notes.  Also, every time you open it it’s like unwrapping a gift. And you can even tie your fancy pen up in the bow. Dayum! They’re available in a range of sizes and colours, which means you can take accessorizing to the next level. Notebook matching your shoes, matching your bag? Totes.